Psalms 56:10

56:8-13 The heavy and continued trials through which many of the Lord's people have passed, should teach us to be silent and patient under lighter crosses. Yet we are often tempted to repine and despond under small sorrows. For this we should check ourselves. David comforts himself, in his distress and fear, that God noticed all his grievances and all his griefs. God has a bottle and a book for his people's tears, both the tears for their sins, and those for their afflictions. He observes them with tender concern. Every true believer may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and then I will not fear what man shall do unto me; for man has no power but what is given him from above. Thy vows are upon me, O Lord; not as a burden, but as that by which I am known to be thy servant; as a bridle that restrains me from what would be hurtful, and directs me in the way of my duty. And vows of thankfulness properly accompany prayers for mercy. If God deliver us from sin, either from doing it, or by his pardoning mercy, he has delivered our souls from death, which is the wages of sin. Where the Lord has begun a good work he will carry it on and perfect it. David hopes that God would keep him even from the appearance of sin. We should aim in all our desires and expectations of deliverance, both from sin and trouble, that we may do the better service to the Lord; that we may serve him without fear.

10 In God will I praise his word: in the Lord will I praise his word. 11 In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me. 12 Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee. 13 For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I way walk before God in the light of the living? Psalm 56:10 "In God will I praise his word." Now comes the thanksgiving. He is a wretch who, having obtained help, forgets to return a grateful acknowledgment. The least we can do is to praise him from whom we receive such distinguished favours. Does David here mean "by God's grace I will praise him?" If so, he shows us that all our emotions towards God must be in God, produced by him and presented as such. Or does he mean, "that which in God is most the object of my praise is his word, and the faithfulness with which he keeps it?" If so, we see how attached our hearts should be to the sure word of promise, and especially to him who is the Word incarnate. The Lord is to be praised under every aspect, and in all his attributes and acts, but certain mercies more peculiarly draw out our admiration towards special portions of the great whole. That praise which is never special in its direction cannot be very thoughtful, and it is to be feared cannot be very acceptable. "In the Lord will I praise his word." He delights to dwell on his praise, he therefore repeats his song.

The change by which he brings in the glorious name of Jehovah is doubtless meant to indicate that under every aspect he delights in his God and in his word. Psalm 56:11 "In God have I put my trust." This and the former verse are evidently the chorus of the Psalm. We cannot be too careful of our faith, or see too sedulously that it is grounded on the Lord alone. "I will not be afraid what man can do unto me." Faith has banished fear. He views his foes in their most forcible character, calling them not flesh, but indicating them as man, yet he dreads them not; though the whole race were his enemies he would not be afraid now that his trust is stayed on God. He is not afraid of what they threaten to do, for much of that they cannot do; and even what is in their power, what they can do, he defies with holy daring. He speaks for the future, "I will not," for he is sure that the security of the present will suffice for days to come. Psalm 56:12 "Thy vows are upon me, O God." Vows made in his trouble he does not lightly forget, nor should we. We voluntarily made them, let us cheerfully keep them. All professed Christians are men under vows, but especially those who in hours of dire distress have re-dedicated themselves unto the Lord. "I will render praises unto thee." With heart, and voice, and gift, we should cheerfully extol the God of our salvation.

Verse 10. - In God will I praise his word; rather, through God (see the comment on ver. 4). In the Lord (rather, through the Lord) will I praise his word. Professor Cheyne looks upon this as "a feeble Jehovistic interpolation, which interrupts the refrain." But other commentators see in it a certain force. Psalm 56:10

10 . his word ] The omission of the pronoun, which is found in Psalm 56:4 , is difficult. If the text is sound, word must be used absolutely for the divine word of promise. Cp. Proverbs 13:13 ; Proverbs 16:20 . In the Lord will I praise his word ] The line is repeated for emphasis with the substitution of the covenant name Jehovah for God . The two names sometimes occur together in the Elohistic Psalms (e. g. Psalm 55:16 ; Psalm 58:6 ); and a refrain is not always repeated in precisely the same form. But the repetition may simply be a ‘conflate reading,’ the second line being either the survival or the restoration of the original text, while the first line is due to the ‘Elohistic’ editor.

In God will I praise his word - Luther renders this, "I will praise the word of God." The phrase "in God" means probably "in respect to God;" or, "in what pertains to God." That which he would "particularly" praise or celebrate in respect to God - that which called for the most decided expressions of praise and gratitude, was his "word," his promise, his revealed truth. So in Psalm 138:2 , "Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name;" that is, above all the other manifestations of thyself. The allusion in the passage here is to what God had "spoken" to David, or the "promise" which he had made - the declaration of his gracious purposes in regard to him. Amidst all the perfections of Deity, and all which God had done for him, this now seemed to him to have special pre-eminence in his praises. The "word" of God was to him that which impressed his mind most deeply - that which most tenderly affected his heart.

There are times when we feel this, and properly feel it; times when, in the contemplation of the divine perfections and dealings, our minds so rest on his word, on his truth, on what he has revealed, on his gracious promises, on the disclosures of a plan of redemption, on the assurance of a heaven hereafter, on the instructions which he has given us about himself and his plans - about ourselves, our duty, and our prospects, that this absorbs all our thoughts, and we feel that this is "the" great blessing for which we are to be thankful; this, "the" great mercy for which we are to praise him. What would the life of man be without the Bible! What a dark, gloomy, sad course would ours be on earth if we had nothing to guide us to a better world! In the Lord will I praise his word - In "Yahweh." That is, whether I contemplate God in the usual name by which he is known - אלהים 'Elohiym - or by that more sacred name which he has assumed - יהוה Yahweh - that which seems now to me to lay the foundation of loftiest praise and most hearty thanksgiving, is that he has spoken to people, and made known his will in his revealed truth.