PSALM FIFTY SIX GOD'S LACHRYMARIES. A lachrymary was something which was peculiar to David's day and age. So let us look at the verse of this psalm which gives us this title. "Thou tellest my wanderings, put Thou my tears in Thy bottle; are they not in thy Book?" The Greeks and Romans had a peculiar habit. They had little bottles which they could seal up. When someone they loved much died, and they were crying a lot, they would let their tears fall into these little bottles. These tear bottles were called "Lachrymaries." These bottles, full of tears, were sealed up and buried with the dead. It does seem strange for David to ask God to put his tears in God's bottle. But, he was in a situation where he thought he was as good as dead, and he cries, "You can see my tears Lord, put them in your bottle, no-one else is going to remember me when I am gone. You have already put them in your Book." There lies the secret - God has no lachrymaries, He has a RECORD. God had not forgotten David, He was in The Book. But this thought intensifies the meaning of this psalm. Just as human beings copiously weep for those who have departed, David says in effect, I am not going to weep for the departing of good things; I want my tears to go into God's bottle, because my remembrance is in His Book. If we died and nobody remembered us, God would still have our record and remember us. God is still in charge, and He remembers us while we are still alive. I shudder to think of who will weep when I die. The reason for this is, that I have been in so many funerals where I have seen people weeping copiously, who did not seem to care two hoots for the departed when they were alive. In David's time there were professional mourners who went along to funerals - their qualifications were - they were good criers. David is here singing about his own tears in God's bottle. The occasion behind this psalm is recorded in 1 Samuel 21:10-15. David fled to Gath, where Achish was king, for fear of Saul who was threatening his death. But Achish's servant recalled the song that had been sung about David. A song which said that Saul had slain his thousands, but David his tens of thousands. That servant put into the mind of Achish, "Isn't he king of the land?" and David, in fear of his life, had to pretend he was mad. That was how he got away from Achish. If they of Gath had thought he was sane, they would have slain him, because he had slain their giant, and he was the future king. They knew there was a king on the throne, but they recognised that David was "The king of the land." Then David cries to the Lord that He will remember him. He says, "Lord you tell my wanderings. When is it going to stop? I am wandering around everywhere, being chased by Saul continually." After this occasion he went to the cave of Adullam. There, God gave him a peculiar army - all the misfits in the land. God turned that rabble into an army. They were the people who in the end stood firm by David. David must have cried copiously. Some people say that if you weep, you are not trusting God. How wrong they are. There are times when crying clears your vision. Crying waters your eyes, clears your vision, and it takes all the 'self-reliance' out of you, fixing your heart upon the One who controls all things. In God we Trust. He is our safety. He is our deliverance. The title of the Psalm has a mystical or enigmatic quality. "Upon Jonath-Elem-Rechokim." "The dove of silence in far off places." Calvin puts it:- "The silent Dove in Distant Places." Was DAVID THE SILENT DOVE AT GATH ?. Note the Daily Fighting in verse one. "He fighting daily oppresseth me." It seems that all the world was against David. "Mine enemies would daily swallow me up." He was on the move, on the go, on the run, day after day, there was no let up in his situation. Even today there is no let up in the business of serving God. No-one can take a holiday from being a Christian - a child of God. David knew that God's mark was upon him. "Every day they wrest my words," he says in verse five. "All their thoughts are against me. They twist my words." So, to escape the pressure, he pretended he was mad. The daily conflict is still on. The god of this world is determined to destroy God's people, but we are kept by the power of God. This is the time to trust the Lord. Notice what he sings in verse three - "What time I am afraid - I will trust in Thee." There are times when it seems that everything you have planned, and everything God has promised has gone out of the window. All collapses around you. David knew he was the anointed king, and here he was - one wrong word and Achish would have slain him. Today there is no need to pretend we are mad as God's children, the world will tell you that you are mad. But, In God we trust. David says, "In God I will praise His word." I will boast in His Word. I will boast in the promise of God. God has made me the king of the land. "I have put my trust in Him." That is the preterite tense = have put my trust in Him and keep on putting my trust in Him. It is the habit of a lifetime. It is very good to make a habit of trusting God. When things go utterly wrong say, "I still trust God!" When the promise seems to be impossible of fulfilment - I trust God. God has a wonderful way of turning everything topsy turvey in a couple of days and you find yourself right in the fulfilment of His Pr! omises. David did sit on the throne - in God's time. In verses ten and eleven there is reference to how he walked in the light of the promises of God's Word. "In God will I praise HIS WORD" "In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid of what man can do unto me." God is going to keep His word. No matter what is happening now, I shall see the fulfilment of what He has promised. Again and again I have said to myself that God has never broken any promise He has made to any person living on earth. Therefore He is not going to start with me. He will keep His promise to me. "Thou tellest my wanderings". What a phrase that is. David is telling God that he knows He has taken account of his wanderings. HE had taken account of what David had been through. There are times when we all feel the necessity of telling somebody who would listen. But so often when you are in the middle of pouring out your heart, you can see the eyes of the person listening glazing over, and you know you've lost their interest. God never loses interest. When we talk to Him, He has sympathy with us. David was constantly fleeing from Saul, and he knew that God knew, and it kept him going. It is wonderful to come to the place in all your predicaments, that you know that God knows. THIS is your anchor - I know that God knows. Then David says, "Put my tears in your bottle." Remember my tears. You know how grievous this is for me, I might as well be dead Lord! Its almost like saying, "Don't cry for me when I'm gone - cry for me now!" What a pity we cannot show more sympathy now, than keeping it for the day of burial. This is the time to show others love and sympathy - while they are still alive. At the funeral, everybody turns up, people the deceased has never seen for years. AS far as God is concerned, He will never bury me. David emphasises the point that God keeps a record. "Are they not in Thy Book." This is important. There are three things which the people of God should ever keep in mind. 1/ The Angels 2/ The Watchers 3/ The Book. The Angels are those who are sent to minister unto the heirs of salvation. Even if you are only one in a situation, you are not alone. There is an angel allotted to you to minister to you. In the Book of Daniel it is revealed that there are Watchers. They are angelic beings with a particular ministry. Not just to minister to the heirs of salvation, but to watch, to see that the Will of God is carried out. They determine that the Will of God is carried out in every situation. Here was David, on the verge of extinction, when God had determined that he should be put on the throne. The Watchers were there to see that God's Will was carried out. Then David remembered something - God has a Book. In our diaries, we write things after they have happened, or things we hope will happen. BUT God has a Book in which He writes the things which are GOING TO HAPPEN. God's diary is written in advance - we call this prophecy. The story of my life is written in God's Book. I can trust Him to bring it to pass. So when David told the Lord that his wanderings were written in His Book, he did not mean to say that God had made a diary of what had passed, but he did mean that God knew when those wanderings would end, and he, David, would sit on the throne. Our God knows the end from the beginning. In Him I trust. Copyright (c) 1996, Hedley Palmer. All rights reserved. ---------------------------------------------------- file: /pub/resources/text/hpalmer/psalms: ps-056.txt .