Can you help me with the meaning of Psalms 56:8, especially the part “tears into thy bottle?”<\/p>\n\t
“You number my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle; are they not in Your book?<\/em>” (Psalm 56:8).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Each phrase is a reference to God remembering or recording what has happened to David. This particular Psalm, we are told is “A Michtam of David when the Philistines captured him in Gath<\/em>” (Psalm 56).<\/p>\n
Number My Wanderings<\/h3>\n
Making an ordered list of where David has gone. David was constantly on the move trying to escape Saul, yet God has kept constant track of him during these hard times.<\/p>\n
Put My Tears into Your Bottle<\/h3>\n
Commentator Adam Clarke noted, “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.”<\/p>\n
So in other words, this was another method people used in the past to remember, in this case, to remember grief. David is saying that God has kept track of all his sorrows and remembers them. Just as God told Hezekiah, “Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD<\/em>” (II Kings 20:5).<\/p>\n
Are They Not in Thy Book<\/h3>\n
This is an allusion to the Book of Life. “And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books<\/em>” (Revelation 20:12). Thus David is saying that God has also kept a record of everything he has done. “Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who meditate on His name<\/em>” (Malachi 3:16).<\/p>\n
David’s point is that God cares. He knows what is going on and He hasn’t forgotten His children or lost track of what has happened to them.<\/p>\n
“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained; what is man, that you think of him? What is the son of man, that you care for him?<\/em>” (Psalm 8:4).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Can you help me with the meaning of Psalms 56:8, especially the part “tears into thy bottle?” Answer: “You number my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle; are they not in Your book?” (Psalm 56:8). Each phrase is a reference to God remembering or recording what has happened to David. This particular Psalm,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[90,516,182,76,188],"class_list":["post-15967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-god","tag-psalms","tag-suffering","tag-terminology","tag-trials"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":33427,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-have-put-my-trust-in-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":15967,"position":0},"title":"I Have Put My Trust in God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 11, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Psalms 56 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is far too easy to read the stories in the Bible and not think about the feelings of the people involved. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Joshua was chosen to follow Moses as leader of Israel, but he must have been very nervous - Joshua 1:2,9 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53291,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/whose-word-i-praise\/","url_meta":{"origin":15967,"position":1},"title":"Whose Word I Praise!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 3, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton David was on the run. The king of Israel, Saul, was determined to see him dead. His best friend, Saul's son, confirmed that Saul would not be deterred. The threat was so severe that David decided to flee into Philistine territory. The Philistines were no friends\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63273,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/sowing-in-tears-reaping-in-joy\/","url_meta":{"origin":15967,"position":2},"title":"Sowing in Tears, Reaping in Joy","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 15, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Psalm 126 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Psalm 126 is one of a series of psalms devoted to the return of the Israelites from captivity. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The sadness of the captivity made the joy of return to freedom so much greater. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is the end of this psalm which captures\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69689,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-would-the-jews-know-that-psalms-110-is-talking-about-the-messiah\/","url_meta":{"origin":15967,"position":3},"title":"How would the Jews know that Psalms 110 is talking about the Messiah?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 7, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello Jeffrey, I hope you're doing well by the grace of God. 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