You count my wanderings. You put my tears into your container. Aren’t they in your book?
Parallel Translations
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You count my wanderings. You put my tears into your container. Aren’t they in your book?
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Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?
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(56-9) Thou has counted my wanderings; put Thou my tears into Thy bottle; are they not in Thy book?
Cross-references (20)
Passages linked to Psalms 56:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Kings 20:5 “Turn back, and tell Hezekiah the prince of my people, ‘Yahweh, the God of David your father, says, “I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day, you will go up to Yahweh’s house.
- Malachi 3:16 Then those who feared Yahweh spoke one with another; and Yahweh listened, and heard, and a book of memory was written before him, for those who feared Yahweh, and who honored his name.
- Psalms 39:12 “Hear my prayer, Yahweh, and give ear to my cry. Don’t be silent at my tears. For I am a stranger with you, a foreigner, as all my fathers were.
- Revelation 7:17 for the Lamb who is in the middle of the throne shepherds them and leads them to springs of life-giving waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
- Psalms 126:5-6 Those who sow in tears will reap in joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed for sowing, will certainly come again with joy, carrying his sheaves.
- Matthew 10:30 but the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
- Psalms 139:16 Your eyes saw my body. In your book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there were none of them.
- Psalms 121:8 Yahweh will keep your going out and your coming in, from this time forward, and forever more.
- Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and embraced them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
- Isaiah 63:9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and in his pity he redeemed them. He bore them, and carried them all the days of old.
- Job 16:20 My friends scoff at me. My eyes pour out tears to God,
- Psalms 105:13-14 They went about from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people. He allowed no one to do them wrong. Yes, he reproved kings for their sakes,
- Revelation 20:12 I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and they opened books. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works.
- 1 Samuel 22:1-5 David therefore departed from there, and escaped to Adullam’s cave. When his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. Everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented, gathered themselves to him; and he became captain over them. There were with him about four hundred men. David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab, and he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother come out with you, until I know what God will do for me.” He brought them before the king of Moab; and they lived with him all the time that David was in the stronghold. The prophet Gad said to David, “Don’t stay in the stronghold. Depart, and go into the land of Judah.” Then David departed, and came into the forest of Hereth.
- Hebrews 11:38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and the holes of the earth.
- Numbers 33:2-56 Moses wrote the starting points of their journeys by the commandment of Yahweh. These are their journeys according to their starting points. They traveled from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the next day after the Passover, the children of Israel went out with a high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians, while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom Yahweh had struck among them. Yahweh also executed judgments on their gods. The children of Israel traveled from Rameses, and encamped in Succoth. They traveled from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness. They traveled from Etham, and turned back to Pihahiroth, which is before Baal Zephon, and they encamped before Migdol. They traveled from before Hahiroth, and crossed through the middle of the sea into the wilderness. They went three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham, and encamped in Marah. They traveled from Marah, and came to Elim. In Elim, there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there. They traveled from Elim, and encamped by the Red Sea. They traveled from the Red Sea, and encamped in the wilderness of Sin. They traveled from the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah. They traveled from Dophkah, and encamped in Alush. They traveled from Alush, and encamped in Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink. They traveled from Rephidim, and encamped in the wilderness of Sinai. They traveled from the wilderness of Sinai, and encamped in Kibroth Hattaavah. They traveled from Kibroth Hattaavah, and encamped in Hazeroth. They traveled from Hazeroth, and encamped in Rithmah. They traveled from Rithmah, and encamped in Rimmon Perez. They traveled from Rimmon Perez, and encamped in Libnah. They traveled from Libnah, and encamped in Rissah. They traveled from Rissah, and encamped in Kehelathah. They traveled from Kehelathah, and encamped in Mount Shepher. They traveled from Mount Shepher, and encamped in Haradah. They traveled from Haradah, and encamped in Makheloth. They traveled from Makheloth, and encamped in Tahath. They traveled from Tahath, and encamped in Terah. They traveled from Terah, and encamped in Mithkah. They traveled from Mithkah, and encamped in Hashmonah. They traveled from Hashmonah, and encamped in Moseroth. They traveled from Moseroth, and encamped in Bene Jaakan. They traveled from Bene Jaakan, and encamped in Hor Haggidgad. They traveled from Hor Haggidgad, and encamped in Jotbathah. They traveled from Jotbathah, and encamped in Abronah. They traveled from Abronah, and encamped in Ezion Geber. They traveled from Ezion Geber, and encamped at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin. They traveled from Kadesh, and encamped in Mount Hor, in the edge of the land of Edom. Aaron the priest went up into Mount Hor at the commandment of Yahweh and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fifth month, on the first day of the month. Aaron was one hundred twenty-three years old when he died in Mount Hor. The Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the South in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the children of Israel. They traveled from Mount Hor, and encamped in Zalmonah. They traveled from Zalmonah, and encamped in Punon. They traveled from Punon, and encamped in Oboth. They traveled from Oboth, and encamped in Iye Abarim, in the border of Moab. They traveled from Iyim, and encamped in Dibon Gad. They traveled from Dibon Gad, and encamped in Almon Diblathaim. They traveled from Almon Diblathaim, and encamped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo. They traveled from the mountains of Abarim, and encamped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. They encamped by the Jordan, from Beth Jeshimoth even to Abel Shittim in the plains of Moab. Yahweh spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, “When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their stone idols, destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their high places. You shall take possession of the land, and dwell therein; for I have given the land to you to possess it. You shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to the more you shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer you shall give the less inheritance. Wherever the lot falls to any man, that shall be his. You shall inherit according to the tribes of your fathers. “But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those you let remain of them will be like pricks in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will harass you in the land in which you dwell. It shall happen that as I thought to do to them, so I will do to you.”
- 1 Samuel 19:18 Now David fled and escaped, and came to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. He and Samuel went and lived in Naioth.
- 1 Samuel 27:1 David said in his heart, “I will now perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me any more in all the borders of Israel. So shall I escape out of his hand.”
- 2 Corinthians 11:26 I have been in travels often, perils of rivers, perils of robbers, perils from my countrymen, perils from the Gentiles, perils in the city, perils in the wilderness, perils in the sea, perils among false brothers;
- Hebrews 11:8 By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out to the place which he was to receive for an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he went.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 8. Thou hast taken account of my wanderings The…
8. Thou hast taken account of my wanderings The words run in the form of an abrupt prayer. Having begun by requesting God to consider his tears, suddenly, as if he had obtained what he asked, he declares that they were written in God’s book. It is possible, indeed, to understand the interrogation as a prayer; but he would seem rather to insinuate by this form of expression, that he stood in no need of multiplying words, and that God had already anticipated his desire. It is necessary, however, to consider the words of the verse more particularly. He speaks of his wandering as having been noted by God, and this that he may call attention to one remarkable feature of his history, his having been forced to roam a solitary exile for so long a period. The reference is not to any one wandering; the singular number is used for the plural, or rather, he is to be understood as declaring emphatically that his whole life was only one continued wandering. This he urges as an argument to commiseration, spent as his years had been in the anxieties and dangers of such a perplexing pilgrimage. Accordingly, he prays that God might put his tears into his bottle It was usual to preserve the wine and oil in bottles: so that the words amount to a request that God would not suffer his tears to fall to the ground, but keep them with care as a precious deposit. The prayers of David, as appears from the passage before us, proceeded upon faith in the providence of God, who watches our every step, and by whom (to use an expression of Christ)
“the very hairs of our head are numbered,” (Matthew 10:30.)
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Unless persuaded in our mind that God takes special notice of each affliction which we endure, it is impossible we can ever attain such confidence as to pray that God would put our tears into his bottle, with a view to regarding them, and being induced by them to interpose in our behalf. He immediately adds, that he had obtained what he asked: for, as already observed, I prefer understanding the latter clause affirmatively. He animates his hope by the consideration that all his tears were written in the book of God, and would therefore be certainly remembered. And we may surely believe, that if God bestows such honor upon the tears of his saints, he must number every drop of their blood which is shed. Tyrants may burn their flesh and their bones, but the blood remains to cry aloud for vengeance; and intervening ages can never erase what has been written in the register of God’s remembrance.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain If God keep the tears of his Saints in…
If God keep the tears of his Saints in store, much more will he remember their blood, to avenge it: and though tyrants burn the bones, yet can they not blot the tears and blood out of God’s register.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 56:8 Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my…
Psa 56:8 Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: [are they] not in thy book?
Ver. 8. Thou tellest my wanderings] Or, thou cipherest up my flittings, and hast them in numerato, ready told up; my vagaries while hunted up and down like a partridge, and hushed out of every bush, so that I have nowhere to settle. St Paul was at the same pass, αστατουμεν, saith he, we have no certain abode, 1Co 4:11; and so were sundry of the holy martyrs and confessors, who wandered about in sheep skins and goat skins, &c., driven from post to pillar, from one country to another, God all the while noting and numbering all their flittings, yea, all their footings, bottling up their tears, booking down their sighs, as here, and Mal 3:16; see Mat 10:30. The Septuagint, for my wanderings, or flittings, have my life, ζωην, to teach us, saith one, that our life is but a flitting.
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Put thou my tears into thy bottle] Heb. my tear, that is, every tear of mine; let not one of them be lost, but kept safe with thee, as so much sweet water. It is a witty observation of one, that God is said in Scripture to have a bag and a bottle, a bag for our sins, a bottle for our tears; and that we should help to fill this as we have that. There is an allusion here in the original that cannot be translated into English.
Are they not in thy book?] sc. Of providence; where they cannot be blotted out by any time or tyrants.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain My wanderings: here I have been hunted from place…
My wanderings: here I have been hunted from place to place, and am now driven hither.
Put my tears into thy bottle; regard, and remember, and pity them.
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Are they not in thy book? but why do I pray to God to do that which I am well assured he is of himself inclined to do, and hath already done?
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Several things David here comforts himself with in the…
Several things David here comforts himself with in the day of his distress and fear.
I. That God took particular notice of all his grievances and all his griefs, Psa 56:8. 1. Of all the inconveniences of his state: Thou tellest my wanderings, my flittings, so the old translation. David was now but a young (under thirty) and yet he had had many removes, from his father's house to the court, thence to the camp, and now driven out to sojourn where he could find a place, but not allowed to rest any where; he was hunted like a partridge upon the mountains; continual terrors and toils attended him; but this comforted him, that God kept a particular account of all his motions, and numbered all the weary steps he took, by night or by day. Note, God takes cognizance of all the afflictions of his people; and he does not cast out from his care and love those whom men have cast out from their acquaintance and converse. 2. Of all the impressions thus made upon his spirit. When he was wandering he was often weeping, and therefore prays, "Put thou my tears into thy bottle, to be preserved and looked upon; nay, I know they are in thy book, the book of thy remembrance." God has a bottle and a book for his people's tears, both those for their sins and those for their afflictions. This intimates, (1.) That he observes them with compassion and tender concern; he is afflicted in their afflictions, and knows their souls in adversity. As the blood of his saints, and their deaths, are precious in the sight of the Lord, so are their tears, not one of them shall fall to the ground. I have seen thy tears, Kg2 20:5. I have heard Ephraim bemoaning himself, Jer 31:18. (2.) That he will remember them and review them, as we do the accounts we have booked. Paul was mindful of Timothy's tears (Ti2 1:4), and God will not forget the sorrows of his people. The tears of God's persecuted people are bottled up and sealed among God's treasures; and, when these books come to be opened, they will be found vials of wrath, which will be poured out upon their persecutors, whom God will surely reckon with for all the tears they have forced from his people's eyes; and they will be breasts of consolation to God's mourners, whose sackcloth will be turned into garments of praise. God will comfort his people according to the time wherein he has afflicted them, and give to those to reap in joy who sowed in tears. What was sown a tear will come up a pearl.
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II. That his prayers would be powerful for the defeat and discomfiture of his enemies, as well as for his own support and encouragement (Psa 56:9): "When I cry unto thee, then shall my enemies turn back; I need no other weapons than prayers and tears; this I know, for God is for me, to plead my cause, to protect and deliver me; and, if God be for me, who can be against me so as to prevail?" The saints have God for them; they may know it; and to him they must cry when they are surrounded with enemies; and, if they do this in faith, they shall find a divine power exerted and engaged for them; their enemies shall be made to turn back, their spiritual enemies, against whom we fight best upon our knees, Eph 6:18.
III. That his faith in God would set him above the fear of man, Psa 56:10, Psa 56:11. Here he repeats, with a strong pathos, what he had said (Psa 56:4), "In God will I praise his word; that is, I will firmly depend upon the promise for the sake of him that made it, who is true and faithful, and has wisdom, power, and goodness enough to make it good." When we give credit to a man's bill we honour him that drew it; so when we do, and suffer, for God, in a dependence upon his promise, not staggering at it, we give glory to God, we praise his word, and so give praise to him. Having thus put his trust in God, he looks with a holy contempt upon the threatening power of man: "In God have I put my trust, and in him only, and therefore I will not be afraid what man can do unto me (Psa 56:11), though I know very well what he would do if he could," Psa 56:1, Psa 56:2. This triumphant word, so expressive of a holy magnanimity, the apostle puts into the mouth of every true believer, whom he makes a Christian hero, Heb 13:6. We may each of us boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and then I will not fear what man shall do unto me; for he has no power but what he has given him from above.
IV. That he was in bonds to God (Psa 56:12): "Thy vows are upon me, O God! - not upon me as a burden which I am loaded with, but as a badge which I glory in, as that by which I am known to be thy menial servant - not upon me as fetters that hamper me (such are superstitious vows), but upon me as a bridle that restrains me from what would be hurtful to me, and directs me in the way of my duty. Thy vows are upon me, the vows I have made to thee, to which thou art not only a witness, but a party, and which thou hast commanded and encouraged me to make." It is probably that he means especially those vows which he had made to God in the day of his trouble and distress, which he would retain the remembrance of, and acknowledge the obligations of, when his fright was over. Note, It ought to be the matter of our consideration and joy that the vows of God are upon us - our baptismal vows renewed at the Lord's table, our occasional vows under convictions, under corrections, by these we are bound to live to God.
V. That he should still have more and more occasion to praise him: I will render praises unto thee. This is part of the performance of his vows; for vows of thankfulness properly accompany prayers for mercy, and when the mercy is received must be made good. When we study what we shall render this is the least we can resolve upon, to render praises to God - poor returns for rich receivings! Two things he will praise God for: - 1. For what he had done for him (Psa 56:13): "Thou has delivered my soul, my life, from death, which was just ready to seize me." If God have delivered us from sin, either from the commission of it by preventing grace or from the punishment of it by pardoning mercy, we have reason to own that he has thereby delivered our souls from death, which is the wages of sin. If we, who were by nature dead in sin, are quickened together with Christ, and are made spiritually alive, we have reason to own that God has delivered our souls from death. 2. For what he would do for him: "Thou hast delivered my soul from death, and so hast given me a new life, and thereby hast given me an earnest of further mercy, that thou wilt deliver my feet from falling; thou hast done the greater, and therefore thou wilt do the less; thou hast begun a good work, and therefore thou wilt carry it on and perfect it." This may be taken either as the matter of his prayer, pleading his experience, or as the matter of his praise, raising his expectations; and those that know how to praise in faith will give God thanks for mercies in promise and prospect, as well as in possession. See here, (1.) What David hopes for, that God would deliver his feet from falling either into sin, which would wound his conscience, or into the appearance of sin, from which his enemies would take occasion to wound his good name. Those that think the stand must take heed lest they fall, because the best stand no longer than God is pleased to uphold them. We are weak, our way is slippery, many stumbling-blocks are in it, our spiritual enemies are industrious to thrust us down, and therefore we are concerned by faith and prayer to commit ourselves to his care who keeps the feet of his saints. (2.) What he builds this hope upon: "Thou hast delivered my soul from death, and therein hast magnified thy power and goodness, and put me into a capacity of receiving further mercy from thee; and now wilt thou not secure and crown thy own work?" God never brought his people out of Egypt to slay them in the wilderness. He that in conversion delivers the soul from so great a death as sin is will not fail to preserve it to his heavenly kingdom. (3.) What he designs in these hopes: That I may walk before God in the light of the living, that is, [1.] "That I may get to heaven, the only land of light and life; for in this world darkness and death reign." [2.] "That I may do my duty while this life lasts." Note, This we should aim at, in all our desires and expectations of deliverance both from sin and trouble, that we may do God so much the better service - that, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, we may serve him without fear.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Thou tellest my wanderings,.... Not his sins; though these…
Thou tellest my wanderings,.... Not his sins; though these are aberrations or wanderings from the ways of God's commandments; yet these are not told by the Lord: he takes no account of them; the number of them is not kept by him; they are blotted out, cast behind his back, and into the depths of the sea; though sometimes his people think they are told and numbered by him, Job 14:16; but David's moves and flights from place to place are meant, through Saul's pursuit of him, as a partridge on the mountains. Some writers reckon twelve of these moves. The Targum renders it,
"thou numberest the days of my wandering;''
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that is, the days of his pilgrimage and sojourning in this world: the number of our days, and months and years, in which we wander about in this uncertain state of things, is with the Lord, Job 14:5;
put thou my tears into thy bottle; the allusion is to "lachrymatories", or tear bottles, in which surviving relatives dropped their tears for their deceased friends, and buried them with their ashes, or in their urns; some of which tear bottles are still to be seen in the cabinets of the curious. A description of which is given by Gejerus (c), from Olaus Wormius; and who also from Cotovicus relates, that the grave of M. Tullius Cicero was dug up in the island of Zacynthus, A. D. 1544, in which were found two glass urns; the larger had ashes in it, the lesser water: the one was supposed to contain his ashes, the other the tears of his friends: and as this was a custom with the Romans, something like this might obtain among the Jews; and it is a saying with them (d),
"whoever sheds tears for a good man (deceased) the holy blessed God numbers them, and puts them into his treasures, according to Psa 56:8;''
which shows, that they thought that reference is here had to funeral tears. The meaning of the text is, that God would take notice of David's afflictions and troubles, which had caused so many tears, and remember them, and deliver him out of them: these being desired to be put into a bottle was, that they might be kept and reserved; not to make atonement for sin; for as a thousand rivers of oil cannot expiate one sin, could they be come at; so neither as many rivers of brinish tears, could they possibly be shed: nor to obtain heaven and happiness; for there is no comparison nor proportion between the sufferings of the saints and the glory that shall be revealed in them; though there is a connection of grace through the promise of God between them: but rather, that they might be brought forth another day and shown, to the aggravation of the condemnation of wicked men, who by their hard speeches, and ungodly actions, have caused them;
are they not in thy book? verily they are; that is, the tears and afflictions of his people. They are in his book of purposes; they are all appointed by him, their kind and nature, their measure and duration, their quality and quantity; what they shall be, and how long they shall last; and their end and use: and they are in his book of providence, and are all overruled and caused to work for their good; and they are in the book of his remembrance; they are taken notice of and numbered by him, and shall be finished; they shall not exceed their bounds. These tears will be turned into joy, and God will wipe them all away from the eyes of his people.
(c) De Ebr. Luctu, c. 12. s. 5. (d) T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 105. 2.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Wanderings - How I have been hunted from place…
Wanderings - How I have been hunted from place to place. Put - Regard and pity them. Are they not - But why do I pray to God to do that which he hath already done?
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 8. Thou tellest my wanderings] Thou seest how…
Verse 8. Thou tellest my wanderings] Thou seest how often I am obliged to shift the place of my retreat. I am hunted every where; but thou numberest all my hiding-places, and seest how often I am in danger of losing my life.
Put thou my tears into thy bottle] Here is an allusion to a very ancient custom, which we know long obtained among the Greeks and Romans, of putting the tears which were shed for the death of any person into small phials, called lacrymatories or urnae lacrymales and offering them on the tomb of the deceased. Some of these were of glass, some of pottery, and some of agate, sardonyx, c. A small one in my own collection is of hard baked clay.
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Are they not in thy book?] Thou hast taken an exact account of all the tears I have shed in relation to this business and thou wilt call my enemies to account for every tear.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 56:8. Thou tellest my wanderings — “Thou art…
Psa 56:8. Thou tellest my wanderings — “Thou art perfectly acquainted, I am sure, how often I have been forced to flee, like a vagabond, from place to place; which hath cost me many a tear. Good Lord, preserve a kind remembrance of them, and let them not perish as things thou nothing regardest.” — Bishop Patrick. “David’s whole life, from his victory over Goliath till the death of Saul, was almost entirely spent in wandering from place to place. He was now an exile at Gath; he comforts himself, however, in the consideration that God was with him, whithersoever he fled; and that he beheld, as no unconcerned spectator, the distresses of his unhappy situation. He therefore adds, Put thou my tears into thy bottle; which seems to intimate that the custom of putting tears into the ampullæ, or urnæ lacrymales, so well known among the Romans, was more anciently in use among the eastern nations, and particularly among the Hebrews. These urns were of different materials, some of glass, some of earth, and were placed on the sepulchres of the deceased, as a memorial of the distress and affection of their surviving friends and relations. It will be difficult to account for this expression of the psalmist but upon this supposition. If this be allowed when the psalmist prays, Put my tears into thy bottle, the meaning will be, ‘Let my distress, and the tears I have shed in consequence of it, be ever before thee; let them excite thy kind remembrance of me, and plead with thee to grant the relief I stand in need of.’ The allusion is pertinent and expressive:” see Chandler and Calmet. Are they not in thy book — But why do I pray God to do that which I am well assured he is of himself inclined to do, and hath already done? Thus the psalmist signifies “the confidence which he placed in the kind regard of God toward him, as though he took an account of every tear he shed, and would, in due time, remember and comfort him. The continual care and providence which God exercises over his people, is frequently represented by his keeping a book, or register, in which he records their conception, Psa 139:15; their birth, Psa 87:6; their actions, Mal 3:16; and what shall happen to them, Jer 22:30; Dan 12:1.” — Dodd.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Thou tellest my wanderings - Thou dost “number” or…
Thou tellest my wanderings - Thou dost “number” or “recount” them; that is, in thy own mind. Thou dost keep an account of them; thou dost notice me as I am driven from one place to another to find safety. “My wanderings,” to Gath, 1Sa 21:10; to the cave of Adullam, 1Sa 22:1; to Mizpeh, in Moab, 1Sa 22:3; to the forest of Hareth, 1Sa 22:5; to Keilah, 1Sa 23:5; to the wilderness of Ziph, 1Sa 23:14; to the wilderness of Maon, 1Sa 23:25; to En-gedi, 1Sa 24:1-2.
Put thou my tears into thy bottle - The tears which I shed in my wanderings. Let them not fall to the ground and be forgotten. Let them be remembered by thee as if they were gathered up and placed in a bottle - “a lachrymatory” - that they may be brought to remembrance hereafter. The word here rendered “bottle” means properly a bottle made of skin, such as was used in the East; but it may be employed to denote a bottle of any kind. It is possible, and, indeed, it seems probable, that there is an allusion here to the custom of collecting tears shed in a time of calamity and sorrow, and preserving them in a small bottle or “lachrymatory,” as a memorial of the grief. The Romans had a custom, that in a time of mourning - on a funeral occasion - a friend went to one in sorrow, and wiped away the tears from the eyes with a piece of cloth, and squeezed the tears into a small bottle of glass or earth, which was carefully preserved as a memorial of friendship and sorrow.
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Many of these lachrymatories have been found in the ancient Roman tombs. I myself saw a large quantity of them in the “Columbaria” at Rome, and in the Capitol, among the relics and curiosities of the place. The above engraving will illustrate the form of these lachrymatories. The annexed remarks of Dr. Thomson (“land and the Book,” vol. i. p. 147), will show that the same custom prevailed in the East, and will describe the forms of the “tear-bottles” that were used there. “These lachrymatories are still found in great numbers on opening ancient tombs. A sepulchre lately discovered in one of the gardens of our city had scores of them in it. They are made of thin glass, or more generally of simple pottery, often not even baked or glazed, with a slender body, a broad bottom, and a funnel-shaped top. They have nothing in them but “dust” at present. If the friends were expected to contribute their share of tears for these bottles, they would very much need cunning women to cause their eyelids to gush out with water. These forms of ostentatious sorrow have ever been offensive to sensible people. Thus Tacitus says, ‘At my funeral let no tokens of sorrow be seen, no pompous mockery of woe. Crown me with chaplets, strew flowers on my grave, and let my friends erect no vain memorial to tell where my remains are lodged. ‘“
Are they not in thy book? - In thy book of remembrance; are they not numbered and recorded so that they will not be forgotten? This expresses strong confidence that his tears “would” be remembered; that they would not be forgotten. All the tears that we shed “are” remembered by God. If “properly” shed - shed in sorrow, without murmuring or complaining, they will be remembered for our good; if “improperly shed” - if with the spirit of complaining, and with a want of submission to the divine will, they will be remembered against us. But it is not wrong to weep. David wept; the Saviour wept; nature prompts us to weep; and it cannot be wrong to weep if “our” eye “poureth out” its tears “unto God” Job 16:20; that is, if in our sorrow we look to God with submission and with earnest supplication.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain God is mindful of his exile and remembers his…
God is mindful of his exile and remembers his tears. The custom of bottling the tears of mourners as a memorial, which has existed in some Eastern nations, may explain the figure.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 8. Thou tellest my wanderings—The word for “tellest” means…
8. Thou tellest my wanderings—The word for “tellest” means the numbering and entering upon a roll, or book. To “number” his wanderings is to preserve a record of them as to times, places, distances, circumstances, with the implied idea that they were appointed, accurately measured, and limited. Compare “numberest my steps,” Job_14:16 and Job_31:4, where the same thought occurs. David comforts himself with the assurance that in God’s book was kept a faithful record of his fugitive life, and that it would not exceed the proposed limit.
Put thou my tears into thy bottle—An allusion, probably, to the Oriental practice—once universal—of bottling the tears of mourners at funerals. Thus Van Lennep: “As the mourners are sitting around and weeping, the master of ceremonies presents each one with a piece of cotton wool, with which he wipes off his tears; this cotton is afterwards squeezed into a bottle, and the tears are preserved as a powerful and efficacious remedy for reviving a dying man after every other means has failed. It is also employed as a charm against evil influences.” The practice is still preserved in Persia. “Tear bottles are found in almost every ancient tomb.” Thus David, for the present, sobs out his grief in the bosom of God, who counts and remembers all his tears.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 8. Thou tellest my wanderings] Thou countest the days…
8. Thou tellest my wanderings] Thou countest the days and adventures of my fugitive life, while I am driven from my home as a wanderer and vagabond (Psa_36:11, notes); not one of them escapes Thy notice (Job_31:4; Mat_10:30). Tell, as in Psa_22:17, Psa_48:12, means count.
put thou my tears] Or, my tears are put.
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into thy bottle] By a bold figure God is said to collect and treasure his tears, as though they were precious wine. Kay quotes St. Bernard’s saying, “Lacrimae poenitentium vinum angelorum.” The ‘bottle’ is the skin bottle of Oriental countries, holding a considerable quantity (Jos_9:4; Jos_9:13; 1Sa_16:20; Psa_119:83). There is no reference to the use of so-called ‘lachrymatories.’
are they not in thy book?] Or, record. For God’s ‘book of remembrance’ see Mal_3:16. Cp. Exo_32:32; Psa_69:28; Psa_139:16. The abrupt question is characteristic of this Psalm. Cp. Psa_56:4; Psa_56:13.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (8) Wanderings.—Rather, in the singular, wandering, which, from the…
(8) Wanderings.—Rather, in the singular, wandering, which, from the parallelism with “tears,” must mean “mental restlessness,” the “tossings to and fro of the mind.” Symmachus, “my inmost things.”
Put thou my tears into thy bottle.—There is a play of words in the original of “bottle,” and “wandering.” We must not, of course, think of the lachrymatories, as they are called, of glass, which have been found in Syria (see Thomson, Land and Book, page 103). If these were really in any way connected with “tears,” they must have formed part of funeral customs. The LXX., “Thou hast put my tears before thee,” and Symmachus and Jerome, “put my tears in thy sight,” suggest a corruption of the text; but, in any case, the poet’s feeling here is that of Constance in Shakespeare’s King John—
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“His grandam’s wrongs, and not his mother’s shames,
Draw these heaven-moving pearls from his poor eyes,
Which heaven shall take in nature of a fee;
Ay, with those crystal beads Heaven shall be brib’d
To do him justice and revenge on you.”
Book.—As in Psa_139:16. Some prefer “calculation.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Thou tellest my wanderings; i.e. thou, O God, takest…
Thou tellest my wanderings; i.e. thou, O God, takest account of my wretched wandering life, (1Sa 21-30) and notest each occasion when I am forced to move from one city, or cave, or wilderness to another. Put thou my tears into thy bottle. Take also note of my tears let them not pass unheeded. Rather, gather them drop by drop, and store them, as costly wine is stored, in a flask. The thought, thus dressed in a metaphor, was, no doubt (as Professor Cheyne observes), "Store them up in thy memory." Are they not in thy book? i.e. hast thou not anticipated my request, and entered an account of every tear that I have shed, in thy book of records? (comp. Psa_69:28 Psa_139:16)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 8. Thou tellest my wanderings. Every step which…
Ver. 8. Thou tellest my wanderings. Every step which the fugitive had taken when pursued by his enemies, was not only observed but thought worthy of counting and recording. We perhaps are so confused after a long course of trouble, that we hardly know where we have or where we have not been; but the omniscient and considerate Father of our spirits remembers all in detail; for he has counted them over as men count their gold, for even the trial of our faith is precious in his sight.
Put thou my tears into thy bottle. His sorrows were so many that there would need a great wineskin to hold them all. There is no allusion to the little complimentary lachrymators for fashionable and fanciful Romans, it is a more robust metaphor by far; such floods of tears had David wept that a leathern bottle would scarce hold them. He trusts that the Lord will be so considerate of his tears as to store them up as men do the juice of the vine, and he hopes that the place of storage will be a special one--thy bottle, not a bottle.
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Are they not in thy book? Yes, they are recorded there, but let not only the record but the grief itself be present to thee. Look on my griefs as real things, for these move the heart more than a mere account, however exact. How condescending is the Lord! How exact his knowledge of us! How generous his estimation! How tender his regard!
Ver. 8. Put thou my tears in thy bottle. Among other things in the collection of Mr. Abbott, of Cairo, he had a lachrymatory, or tear bottle, which had been found in a tomb at Thebes. This interested me very much. The custom in old times was, when a person was ill or in great distress, for his friends to go to see him, and take with them a tear bottle. Then, as the tears rolled down the cheeks of the sufferer, they were caught in these bottles, sealed up, and preserved as a memorial of the event. This is what David referred to in Ps 56:8. Put thou my tears into thy bottle. But it implies much more than at first suggests itself, and much more than I can attempt to write. For instance, it is as if David had said, "Visit me, and behold my tears; "("O visit me with thy salvation!") for without such visit there could be no bottling of his tears. "Thou tellest my wanderings; O visit me, and behold my anguish; put my tears into thy bottle, "for "they have been my meat day and night." Ps 42:3. "Keep them before thee, by way of remembrance, and when thou seest the bottle, O think of him whose tears it contains. Are they not in thy book?" That is, God's book of remembrance, that was written for those "who thought upon his name" (Mal 3:16), just as the kings of old used to keep a book of chronicles of important events. See Es 6:1-11. John Gadsby, 1860.
(We insert this to show what has been said by others; but we do not think there is the slightest allusion to this piece of Roman etiquette in this text. C. H. S.)
Ver. 8. My tear: the singular used collectively. In thy bottle: as if one should say, take care of my tears, as of a kind of wine that is very costly, and very pleasant to thee; or, that hereafter you may measure out to me just that quantity of joys: a metaphor from the keeper of a vineyard, who receives into his vessel the drops of the grapes pressed out by the winepress of affliction. The word dag (iter) (leather or skin bottle) denotes the manner in which they preserved their wine. (1Sa 16:20; Jos 9:4, 13), and milk also (Jud 4:19). Martin Geier.
Ver. 8. Put thou my tears into thy bottle. What a sweet thought is suggested here of God's remembrance of his people's affliction! It is an interesting figure of speech, of bottling their tears. But the sense is, they are remembered. And woe will be to the man that offends one of God's little ones on his account. What are now bottles of tears, will be poured out in the end as so many vials of wrath. But reader! think how the tears of Jesus have been treasured up when shedding for the sins of his people. Robert Hawker, 1753-1827.
Ver. 8. Put thou my tears into thy bottle. It is the witty observation of one, that God is said in Scripture to have a bag and a bottle, a bag for our sins, and a bottle for our tears; and that we should help to fill this, as we have that. There is an allusion here in the original that cannot be Anglicized. John Trapp.
Ver. 8. Are they not in thy book? While we remain in this vale of misery, God keeps all our tears in a bottle; so precious is the water that is distilled from penitent eyes; and because he will be sure not to fail, he notes how many drops there be in his register. It was a precious ointment wherewith the woman in the Pharisee's house (it is thought Mary Magdalene) anointed the feet of Christ; but her tears, wherewith she washed them, were more worth than her spikenard. Abraham Wright, in "A Practical Commentary or Exposition upon the Book of Psalms, "1661.
Ver. 8. Here are--
I. Manifold mercies, to reclaim from wanderings.
II. Tender mercies, putting tears in a bottle.
III. Covenant mercies, "Are they not, "etc. G. R.
Psalms 56:9*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Thou tellest my wanderings: put Thou my tears into…
Psa_56:8
Thou tellest my wanderings: put Thou my tears into Thy bottle; are they not in Thy book?
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Life on the human side and the Divine
There is a description of life given in the Bible which has been objected to as depressing and unreal. Life is represented, it is said, as a scene of unending struggle and sorrow; and men are made to walk under a constant shadow. There is some apparent truth in this. But the question to be first asked is, Has the Bible view of life truth in it? If so, is it not better to take it fairly into account? And it may be a further question, Has the Bible no compensation for the saddening view of life which it sometimes presents?
I. The human side of life. It is described under the form of wandering and tears: its activities as wanderings, its passive side as tears. Still it may be said, What reason can there be in taking Davids life, and making it a copy of all human lives? Has not God given us in the world sunshine as well as cloud, has He not scattered manifold pleasures through it, and should we not thankfully acknowledge this? It is very true, and we must beware of taking any part of the Bible, and pressing it so far as to make it contradict both itself and our experience. Now, there are two things which God in His kindness has sent to the relief of men in the journey of life. There are the natural blessings that are, in a measure, close to all, visiting them often whether they will or not; and there are the helps and hopes which come from a felt relation to Himself. The first may be called the blessings of His hand, the second of His heart. The cloud would be too dark for poor humanity unless God had given it a silver lining, and it is neither good for us, nor grateful to Him, to overlook this. We may begin with the strange, mysterious pleasure God has put into life itself--to live, to breathe, to look on things and have an interest in them, to move, to walk among them--these are roots that go down into the world and hold men on to it by an indescribable attachment. It is one of the kind things in the world that God has given man a liking to life itself. How much there is that is pleasant. Nature, in her varied beauty; the benediction of work, of honest, earnest work, whether it be of hand or head; the kindly affections of the human heart, the love of home and kindred, the solace of friendship, the happiness of doing any good. We seem far enough away now from wandering and tears, and yet they return upon us. It was a saying of the ancients that for every joy granted to man, there are two sorrows, one before and one behind. Have you not felt this description of life true in its changefulness? How few of us are in the homes of our youth! Or, if near them, how far have we wandered in associations! Changes have taken place around and within which make us almost forget what we were. Our fathers, where are they? Or think of life in its constant struggle, perfection never gained, rest never reached. But come--
II. To the divine side of life. What does the view of God secure for the man who looks to Him? Well--
1. A Divine measure. Thou tellest my wanderings. This means not merely that God speaks of them, but takes the tale and number of them. Plato has said that in making the world God mathematizes. All is fixed and sure as is the science of numbers. It does not seem so, but it is.
2. This view of God secures a Divine sympathy in life: Put thou my tears into Thy bottle. However skilful the guide might be, he would not meet our ease unless he had a heart. There are rough defiles and thorny brakes through which the road leads--there is no help for it: these things make it the road; but what concerns us most is the manner of the Guide--that He should take our frailty into account and provide resting-places and refreshment for us as they are needed.
3. This view of God secures a Divine meaning in life--Are they not in Thy book? It is natural to understand this of both the wandering and the tears. They are written down, and therefore have an intelligent and consistent meaning. And by and by we shall see this. (J. Ker, D. D.)
Tears of Jesus
In the cabinets of antiquaries is often to be seen a small bottle found in ancient tombs. It is called a lachrymatory, or tear-bottle, and is supposed to have contained the tears of some bereaved relative of the departed one who was laid in the tomb. The heathen believed that the gods loved to see a good man struggling with adversity, for then the greatness of the human soul comes out. And our God loves to see the faith and patience of His sorrowing servants. But we desire to speak of Jesus, whose language the psalmist, by prophetic anticipation, speaks. The tears of Jesus, then, are our subject. His life was characterized by sorrow. But He did not weep at His crucifixion--there was never moral weakness in His tears. Ha was full of sympathy, and He was full of tenderness, but He was never moved to tears by the cruelty of men. But He wept in the Garden of Gethsemane. The Epistle to the Hebrews tells us of His strong crying and tears. There are tears which we cannot fully understand; but they were tears for the sins of the world, the weight of which in that most mysterious agony He was then bearing. Shall we, then, continue in sin? And He wept at the grave of Lazarus (Joh_11:1-57.). Then it is not inconsistent with spiritual-mindedness--as some say it is--to feel very keenly the sorrows and distress of life. Jesus wept. And thus He assures us of His sympathy. And He wept on His way to Jerusalem, when He beheld the city and wept ever it. It was the day of His triumphal entry, and yet He wept. But it was not for Himself, but for others--for the people of Jerusalem. They were tears of patriotism. He wept for His countrys sorrows. But observe it was not so much the national disasters as the national sins, that He wept. It is the reverse with the tears of ordinary patriotism. And patriotic pride and boasting, how often it is because of prosperity rather than of righteousness. But let our patriotism be sanctified by prayer. Prayer was in the heart of Jesus for His country. Let it be so for ours. (Dean Goulburn.)
Mans tears in Gods bottle
Tears are here employed as exponents of sorrows and troubles. But it is not all tears that are treasured up by God.
I. Tears of repentance. When the early years have been marked by transgression, the coming of the days of grace can never be without tears. Take as illustrations the woman who was a sinner; the Philippian jailor; Peter when he went out and wept bitterly on that day which we may regard as the day of his abiding conversion to God.
II. Tears which are wept in the spiritual conflicts of life.
III. Tears wept over the wickedness of men and the apparent slowness with which the kingdom of God makes its way. The greatest and the best men the world has ever known have been the men who have experienced the deepest sorrow. The man who can smile from the cradle to the grave knows neither himself, nor the world, nor God. Ezekiel tells of those on whom the Lord bid him put a mark for that they sigh and cry for all the abominations that be done in the city. Their tears were put into Gods bottle. Never was the truth contained in our text more wonderfully illustrated than in the history of our Blessed Lord and Saviour. Not a tear He shed was lost. He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied. He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hands. (Enoch Mellor, D. D.)
Treasured tears
The so-called lachrymatories, or tear-bottles, found in museums of art, were applied to no such use as their name implies. They probably contained unguents that were used in preparing the dead for burial; which accounts for their presence in tombs. The psalmist rather had in mind the skin bottle of his day, in which, by a bold figure of speech, he conceives of God as treasuring our tears with that same Divine carefulness which numbers the hairs of our heads or notes the falling sparrow. But why should God treasure our tears in His bottle?
1. As a token of prayers to be answered. Tears and prayers are closely connected. Strong crying and tears accompanied the prayers and supplications of Christ in the days of His flesh. The woman that was a sinner said nothing as she bathed the travel-stained feet of her Lord with her tears. Such tears are the guarantee of sincerity, the evidence of moral earnestness, and the token of prevailing prayer. The tears in Gods bottle represent petitions filed away for answer in His own good time.
2. In token of wrongs to be avenged. The tears of martyrs thus treasured up plead like the blood of Abel. It is a perilous thing to make a little child to weep by our cruelty or by injustice to smite the fountain of tears in the widows heart. Every such tear of the poor and needy is gathered into Gods bottle, and will be a swift witness against us, till the wrong is atoned for or avenged. (J. F. Elder, D. D.)
The tenderness of God towards His afflicted people
I. An assurance. Thou tellest my wanderings. They Were numerous and various. But what do these wanderings take in?
1. Moral infirmities, or deviations from duty, What is the whole course of a state of nature but a series of wanderings? It is well if God sees that you feel them to be your afflictions and that you repent of them.
2. These wanderings take in local changes. See Abraham, Israel, David--what wanderings were theirs? Some of the most eminent servants of God were wanderers (Heb_11:1-40.). They wandered about, etc. And it is so still. For conscience sake many have had to wander about seeking how to live. But they are not purposeless; God has taken count of them all. Thou tellest my wanderings. Therefore we are not to think that God disregards all individualities.
II. The prayer. Put Thou my tears into Thy bottle. There are some persons who despise tears as weak and womanly. Do they remember who He was who wept at the grave of Lazarus? Do they remember who He was, who, when He came nigh unto Jerusalem, wept over it, etc.? True greatness, says Lavater, is always simple; and true courage, I am persuaded, is always combined with tenderness. Homer--that matchless painter of men and manners--makes no scruple to represent his bravest of men, Ajax, and his wisest of men, Ulysses, as weeping; and the latter as weeping no less than three times in the course of a few lines. The Easterns wept more readily, and were less ashamed of indulging their tears, than we. David was a man of tears. Of these tears, let us now, if we can, trace out the sources. One source of these tears was affliction. He had many trials and troubles, which his greatness could not prevent, or even alleviate; yea, which his greatness rather increased. Another source of his tears was sin; and a much more plentiful one than his sufferings. My sin, says he, is ever before me. Not only his great sin in his fall, but his daily and hourly failures. Who, says he, can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. And David wept for the sins of others, as well as his own. I beheld the transgressors, says he, and was grieved, Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because men keep not Thy law.
III. The question. Are they not in Thy book?--that is, Are they nob written and recorded there? What book? The book of His providence? Yes, they are all there; their number is there; their quality is there; their degree is there; their duration is there and all their sad memorial is there. The book of His remembrance (Mal_3:16). Now, let us conclude--
1. By admiring the condescension of God.
2. Let us, as Young says, not stop at wonder, but imitate and live.
3. Ye wanderers, ye weepers, repair here. God is able to comfort in all our tribulation. (W. Jay.)
Tear-bottles
There are some very good people who always have their tear-bottle by them, and who always treasure up every little grief and every little disappointment. Whenever you meet them, the first thing you see is the tear-bottle; and you soon see there is more in it than there was last time. Now, of course I am not speaking of those who have indeed great trials, but of those who make a great deal of little ones. I do not want you to get into that gloomy way of living. (D. Davies.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 56:8 The psalmist makes a play on the Hebrew…
56:8 The psalmist makes a play on the Hebrew words translated sorrows (Hebrew nod) and bottle (Hebrew no’d).
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