35 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Psalms 56 To the chief Musician upon Jonathelemrechokim, Michtam of David when the Philistines took him in Gath. The words "jonathelemrechokim" are by our translators left untranslated. Aben Ezra takes them to be the beginning of a song; and others think they are the name of a musical instrument: but they seem rather to design the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Be merciful unto me, O God,.... For David could expect no mercy at the hands of men, among whom he was, whose tender mercies were cruel; he being at Gath, the city of Goliath, whom he had slain, and whose sword he had now with him; and among his brethren and friends, who he might justly fear would revenge his death upon him: wherefore he betakes...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
It seems by this, and many other psalms, that even in times of the greatest trouble and distress David never hung his harp upon the willow-trees, never unstrung it or laid it by; but that when his dangers and fears were greatest he was still in tune for singing God's praises. He was in imminent peril when he penned this psalm, at least when he...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Be merciful unto me, O God for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me. “Man has no mercy upon me, but, O God, be thou merciful unto me! If thy justice doth for a while let loose mine enemies upon me, let thy mercy diminish their power over me, for they are very cruel. They would make a complete end of me if they could, devouring...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up: he fighting daily oppresseth me. Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High. David was in such peril from man that he cried to God to come to our rescue. Man was merciless to him, so he prayed, “Be merciful unto me, O God.” His enemies...
Spurgeon - Treasury of David - Charles H. Spurgeon
Ver. 1. Be merciful unto me, O God. In my deep distress my soul turns to thee, my God. Man has no mercy on me, therefore double thy mercy to me. If thy justice has let loose my enemies, let thy mercy shorten their chain. It is sweet to see how the tender dove like spirit of the psalmist flies to the most tender attribute for succour in the hour of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Mine enemies would daily swallow [me] up,.... For not one man only, but many, were his enemies; who observed and watched him, and were eagerly desirous of his ruin. The believer has many enemies, sin, Satan, and the world, seeking to devour and destroy him, though they cannot; for [they be] many that fight against me, O thou most High; he appeals...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High. What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In God I will praise his word, — David means, “Through his grace, I will praise his word,” for we cannot rightly praise God unless he gives us the grace to do it. To receive from God, is more easy for us;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
What time I am afraid,.... It was a time of fear with him now; he was afraid of Achish king of Gath, 1 Samuel 21:12; so believers have their times of fear; about their interest in the love, and grace, and covenant of God; about their sins and corruptions, and the prevalence of them, fearing they shall perish by them; and about their enemies, who...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. He is a happy man who can trust in God when he is afraid, but he is still happier who can say, “I will trust, and not be afraid.”
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
In God I will praise his word,.... Or praise him for his words for the whole Scripture that was then in being; for those testimonies which were David's counsellors in times of difficulty and distress; and particularly for some word of promise made unto him, he was persuaded would be fulfilled, and in which he gloried and made his boast of, and on...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
; Psa_56:6. In God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. Every day they wrest my words: This is a common calamity of God’s servants and a common crime of the oppressors of God’s people in all ages: “They wrest my words:”
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. The trusting soul is a singing soul, and it soon becomes a courageous soul. Faith in God drives out the fear of man: “In God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.”
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Every day they wrest my words,.... Form, fashion, and shape them at their pleasure; construe them, and put what sense upon them they think fit. The word (u) is used of the formation of the human body, in Job 10:8; They put his words upon the rack, and made them speak what he never intended; as some men wrest the Scriptures to their own...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
All their thoughts are against me for evil. They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul. “They watch to see if they can find some matter of accusation against me, or some opportunity for tempting me to turn aside from my God. ‘They mark my steps,’ as the huntsman follows the trail of the...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil. They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps when they wait for my soul. David had many enemies, Saul, Doeg the Edomite, the Philistines, and some even in his own household, but all their malice and craft were in vain since the Lord was on his...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
They gather themselves together,.... And meet in some one place, to contrive ways and means to do hurt, and then assemble together again to put them in execution; as did the Jews with respect to Christ, Matthew 26:3. Aben Ezra supposes a various reading without any reason; and that, instead of יגורו which Jarchi renders "they lodge", and the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Shall they escape by iniquity?.... Shall such iniquity as this, or persons guilty of it, go unpunished, or escape righteous judgment, and the vengeance of God? No; and much less shall they escape by means of their iniquity; by their wicked subtlety, or by any evil arts and methods made use of, by making a covenant with death, and an agreement with...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Shall they escape by iniquity? is thine anger cast down the people, O God. Thou tellest my wanderings: David’s was a life of wandering, from the sheep-folds to his father’s house, then to the palace of Saul, then to the camp of Israel, then to the palace again, then to the cave Adullam, then among the Philistines, — I scarcely remember all the...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Shall they escape by iniquity? in thine anger cast down the people, O God.? They sought to cast him down, so he prayed to the Lord to cast them down, and we know how graciously the Lord answered his supplication.