God’s Bottle
Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me;
all day long an attacker oppresses me;
my enemies trample on me all day long,
for many attack me proudly.
When I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me?
All day long they injure my cause;
all their thoughts are against me for evil.
They stir up strife, they lurk;
they watch my steps,
as they have waited for my life.
For their crime will they escape?
In wrath cast down the peoples, O God!
You have kept count of my wanderings;
put my tears in your bottle.
Are they not in your book?
Then my enemies will turn back
in the day when I call.
This I know, that[d] God is for me.
In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
I must perform my vows to you, O God;
I will render thank offerings to you.
For you have delivered my soul from death,
yes, my feet from falling,
that I may walk before God
in the light of life. ~ Psalm 56
Psalm 56 is one of my favourite passages of scripture. It shows the tenderness of God. David is hiding from those who wish to harm him. From those who slander him and seek his life. So he cries out God, “Be gracious to me!” David is fearful. He had no idea where to run to or who can help humanly speaking, so he runs to God. “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you.”
David, inspired by the Holy Spirit, recorded this for not only his own benefit, but ours also.
This psalm always gets to me, especially verse 8.
You have taken account of my wanderings;
Put my tears in Your bottle.
Are they not in Your book?
“You have taken account of my wanderings;”
Each step he took as he fled and hid from his pursuers, every place he sat, every bush he hid behind, was not merely seen by God, they were worth counting. God took account of his child’s wanderings.
Wanderings!
Think about that!
What do we take account of? Money? RRSP’s? insurance? Benefits? God takes account of our wanderings…when we are confused, unsure, lost, scared, pursued by enemies….Every trial we face…he takes them all into account.
“Put my tears in Your bottle.”
This has always gotten to me. When I really think about this I am utterly bowed down in awe. This is one of my favourite verses which reveals the tenderness of God. David so trusts God, in the midst of his fear, that he knows that God will collect his tears and store them in His bottle. David says, “Your Bottle,” not just any bottle. Not a broken bottle, not our bottle, not some lowly bottle…but God’s bottle.
His own bottle.
Like a winemaker would do with the finest fruit of his labour from the vineyard. David, inspired of the Spirit, is saying that your tears, those which you shed for affliction and for your sin are precious to the Lord, and he will collect them like a bottle of the finest vintage. The tears of his children are like wine. Your tears are like the finest wine!
“Are they not in Your book?”
This is not a question. David is not concerned that God might not take note of his pain. Rather, he is saying to God, “I know they are in Your book, I know You have taken account of these things that troubling me.” God will look upon our afflictions, our trials, our sufferings in mercy. He will remember our pain. The Lord is tender and gracious. It is amazing that he would care for us, that he would lower himself to know us, to suffer for us, you see Jesus died for us. He bore our sins, he knows pain that he ought not to have known, cried tears he need not have cried, except for that he loved us…and he collects our tears in His bottle.
Let us praise him! Let us say with the psalmist,
“I must perform my vows to you, O God;
I will render thank offerings to you.
For you have delivered my soul from death,
yes, my feet from falling,
that I may walk before God
in the light of life.”
