Psalms 56

Be kind to me, God. People are trying to swallow me up. They attack me all day long and keep pressing me down.

1Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me.

Note"Swallow me up" is a standard Hebrew image for total destruction, the way a beast gulps down prey or the ground opens and takes someone under. It is not about eating; it means wiping out completely, leaving nothing.

2My enemies are trying to swallow me up all day long. Many of them fight against me, God, you who are above all.

2Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High.

NoteThe Hebrew word behind "most High" is uncertain here. It can be a title for God ("O Most High"), or a description of the attackers, fighting "from on high," that is, arrogantly or from a position of advantage. Translations split between the two, and the wording allows either.

3When I am afraid, I will trust you.

3What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.

4With God's help I praise his word. I have put my trust in God. I will not be afraid. What can a human being do to me?

4In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.

Note"His word" means what God has said, specifically a promise God has made. The Hebrew line is very compressed, and can be read either as "in God I praise his promise" or "by God's help I praise his promise."

5All day long they twist what I say. Everything they think about me is aimed at hurting me.

5Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil.

6They meet together and they hide. They watch every step I take, waiting for a chance to take my life.

6They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul.

7After doing wrong, will they get away with it? God, in your anger, bring these people down.

7Shall they escape by iniquity? in thine anger cast down the people, O God.

NoteThe first line of this verse is one of the difficult spots in the Hebrew, and translators fill it out differently: roughly "is escape theirs, given such wickedness?" The word rendered "people" is the plural normally used for foreign nations or peoples, not for an individual's personal enemies.

8You have kept count of every time I have wandered from place to place. Collect my tears in your bottle. Are they not written in your book?

8Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?

NoteIn 1611 "tell" meant "count" (as in a bank teller counting money). The "bottle" is a leather waterskin, the ordinary container for liquid, the image is of God saving the speaker's tears rather than letting them fall and vanish. The Hebrew words for "wanderings" and "bottle" sound nearly identical, which is part of the effect. The "book" is a written record, like the registers kings kept of their subjects and their affairs.

9On the day I call to you for help, my enemies will turn and run. This much I know: God is on my side.

9When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me.

10With God's help I praise his word. With the LORD's help I praise his word.

10In God will I praise his word: in the LORD will I praise his word.

Note"LORD" printed in capitals stands for the personal name of Israel's God, four Hebrew consonants often written YHWH. Jewish readers avoided pronouncing it and said "the Lord" instead; English Bibles keep that practice by using the capitalised word.

11I have put my trust in God. I will not be afraid. What can a person do to me?

11In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.

12God, the promises I made to you still bind me. I will bring you my offerings of thanks.

12Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee.

NotePeople in trouble commonly promised God a specific gift or sacrifice if they were rescued; once rescued, the promise had to be paid. "Vows are upon me" means that debt is now due. The "praises" or thank offerings were an actual sacrifice brought to the sanctuary and eaten as a shared meal, with the story of the rescue told publicly.

13You have saved my life from death. Will you not also keep my feet from stumbling, so that I can walk in God's presence, in the light that living people enjoy?

13For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?

Note"Walk before God" is an idiom for conducting one's whole life in God's presence and service, not for taking a walk. "The light of the living" is likewise an idiom: daylight is what living people see, so the phrase simply means being alive, as opposed to the darkness of the realm of the dead.