God Put My Tears in His Bottle (Psalm 56)

Our Tears are in His Bottle
Psalm 56

INTRODUCTION:
Sonja Lyubomirsky is a professor of psychology at the University of California-Riverside and she does research into what makes people happy. She has written at least two books. In one of them, The Myths of Happiness, she deals with a number of situations which we experience as humans that we often feel like steal happiness permanently from our hearts…

I’ll be happen when… I’m married to the right person.
I can’t be happy when… my relationship has fallen apart.
I’ll be happy when… I have kids.
I can’t be happy when… I don’t have a partner.
I’ll be happy when… I find the right job.
I can’t be happy when… I’m broke.
I’ll be happy when… I’m rich.
I can’t be happy when… the test results were positive.
I can’t be happy when… I know I’ll never play shortstop for the Yankees.
I can’t be happy when… the best years of my life are over.

These ten life events happen to us as Christians all the time, as a church family. Surely someone in our church family is experiencing one of these very situations right this minute.

And because we are Christians, sometimes that makes these situations even worse. Because we feel like because we are Christians, bad things aren’t supposed to happen to us! We tell ourselves - one of the lies we sometimes tell ourselves - that if we are faithful to God, He will give us everything we think we need to be happy.

Let’s meditate on the words of David from Psalm 56… a psalm which he wrote when he was trapped by the Philistines in the village of Gath…

Consider the different translations for the superscript:

“according to the Mikhtam of David” (NASV)
“on the dumb dove far off” (YLT)
“according to the dove on far-off terebinths” (ESV)
“according to the yonath-elem-rechovim style” (NET)
“Set to “The Silent Dove in Distant Lands” (NKJV)
“To the tune of “A Dove on Distant Oaks” (NIV)
“according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths” (NRSV)

We do not know what event is happening here; “Gath,” of course, was the village of Goliath. This event appears to have happened at some point besides that battle. We have an incident where David actually finds refuge among the Philistines, which certainly put his own life in danger (1 Sam. 21:10-22:1). It appears that this text (1 Sam. 21:12) is the only occasion where the text says David feared man. The Philistines were perpetual enemies of Israel before and during the reigns of Kings David and Saul. According to 2 Samuel 8, David eventually subdued the Philistines. But that didn’t last very long!

DAVID FILLS PINNED IN - 56:1-2:
Have you ever felt like you were pinned in and had nowhere to go? You did not know what to do and you did not see a way forward?

Eighteen times this verb is used in the psalms: “Be gracious to me!” We need God’s grace sometimes to get through our day, sometimes through each hour!

David feels that he is being trampled. His foes trample on him and notice he states twice that this happens “all day long.” He can’t catch a break! And twice he states that they are “fighting” against him and in verse 2, he says they fight “proudly.”

THE SOLUTION TO HIS TROUBLE - 56:3-4:
“In the day,” the time-frame of his troubles, is the same time frame of his trust! The day “I fear,” he states, I myself (it is emphatic), You, I will trust.” Forty-six times the psalmist talks about trust.

Not only will David trust God, but he will also praise Him, that is, he will worship God. Specifically, David says he will praise God’s word, His message - because man cannot live solely by physical bread! The verb “to praise” is found 88 times in Psalms!

Because David trusts in God and His word, he will not fear what “flesh” will do to him. When David uses the word “flesh,” he is denoting what in man is opposite of what is in God: weakness, temporariness, impotence, ignorance…

MORE TROUBLE- 56:5-6:
David’s enemies distort his words - “all day long.” Have you had someone who could not seem to get any conclusion to their attacks on you? It seems like every time they show up, they have to say or do something that attacks you? David felt that way. They distorted his words “all the time” and their thoughts were against him to do evil toward him.

In a series of verbs in verse 6, David talks about what they do against him:

They attack
They lurk
They watch my steps
They have waited to take my life (literally, “soul”)

THE SOLUTION - 56:7-13:
Because they are wicked (ver. 7), David calls on God to “cast them forth.” An enemy of God’s people is an enemy of God so David asks God to put down those peoples, specifically the Philistines, in His anger.

But aside from that, David finds his hope, his solace, his comfort in Jehovah God. God has “taken account” of his wanderings. God knows where David goes, where he hides, where he worries, and where he cries. Notice in verse 8, that David calls on God to “put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?” In other words, David wants God to remember what he is going through; “don’t forget me!” David cries to God. Archaeologists have found small bottles which were apparently for tears shed for the dead; the bottles were deposited at the gravesite.

The apostle Peter will write: “cast all your care (anxiety) on Him for he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

In Psalm 39:12, David writes: “Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; Do not be silent at my tears; For I am a stranger with You, A sojourner like all my fathers.”

For another biblical example, see 2 Kings 20:1-6.

Once again in verse 10, David states that he will praise God’s word; Jehovah’s words are David’s life.

So David will put his trust in God and he will not be afraid (ver. 11). Why? What can man do?

The vows, the oaths, the promises which God has made on David, he feels their power. And, as a part of his worship to God, he will offer “thank offerings” to God (ver. 12). This word could refer to thanksgiving sacrifices.

In verse 13, David brings his meditations to a conclusion. He feels that God has delivered his soul from death. God has delivered his feet from stumbling - a metaphor for David’s faith getting so weak that it cannot sustain him.

So with all these thoughts, David says in verse 13 that he wants to walk before God (with God) in the light of the living. “Sheol” was considered a place of darkness and, of course, that’s where souls go when they die. So David says he wants to walk with God in the land of the living, in the light of the living.

CONCLUSION:
What do you do when you your heart is crying?

What do you do when you can’t find the right person to marry?

When your marriage ends in divorce?

When you can’t get pregnant?

When you are in a job you don’t like?

When you don’t have the money you would like?

When you get a diagnosis of a heath condition that is chronic?

When your dreams for life do not come to fulfillment?

When you can’t do what you use to do at one time?

As David did, of course, you go to God and you trust Him.

Let me give you some suggestions in strengthening your faith:

1) God is faithful. While there are a lot of verses that teach about the faithfulness of God, I will direct you to 1 Corinthians 10:13.

2) Remind yourself of other characteristics of God, like His “lovingkindness / steadfast love:” Psalm 136. 4-H

3) Remind yourself of various promises of God in the Bible, like Romans 8:28.

4) Read your Bible and meditate on it daily.

5) Pray daily that God will help your faith to be strong and to trust more in Him.

Take home message: When life attacks you and you cry, remember that God cares. Your tears are in His bottle; trust Him to do the right thing for you.