Tears in Your Bottle

“You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?”

— From Psalm 56, a Miktam of David

Scholars debate when various scribes added the superscriptions over some of the Psalms, and whether we can trust them all to the same degree. They note, for example, that the translators of the Septuagint a few centuries before Christ both edited and freely supplemented existing Hebrew superscriptions.

The superscription to Psalm 56 indicates David wrote it “when the Philistines seized him in Gath”. In this instance, the superscription, the accompanying history and the content of the psalm are all in harmony. I judge the “superscriber”, whomever he was, was likely correct about the circumstances in which David wrote these words.

Two Visits to Gath

David was in Gath twice when on the run from Saul, the first time in 1 Samuel 21 and for a more extended visit six chapters later. Neither account mentions the Philistines seizing him, but the reference in Psalms is probably to the first occasion, when David was alone and fearful, and behaved like a madman in order to allay the suspicions of his hosts. The later trip to Gath went much better for David. He came with 600 men, received his own Philistine city to live in, and became the trusted bodyguard of Achish king of Gath.

But on that first visit, David had nobody on his side in whom he could put his trust. Anyone might betray him to his murderous father-in-law. He was so desperate that he had to look to his former enemies for help, only to find his reputation had preceded him. The servants of Achish said, “This is a man whose claim to fame is that he struck down tens of thousands of us. Why are we harboring him here?”

It’s no wonder David wept and could not sleep. His situation was perilous and he had nowhere to turn. He did not stay in Gath long.

The Man Who Did Not Anoint Himself

If you recall the story, David was not on the run because of anything he had done to Saul. Quite the opposite: he served Saul faithfully, and even after many attempts to murder him, David refused to fight back. He would not touch the Lord’s anointed no matter how great the risk to his own life and no matter the potential benefits of a convenient regicide. So then, David suffered for putting the will of God first and for behaving in a way that would honor the Lord.

Moreover, David did not anoint himself. The Lord sent Samuel to anoint him king while Saul was still on the throne. God could certainly have waited. In anointing him so early, the Lord ensured David years of persecution and misery, the loss of his place in Saul’s family and confidence, not to mention the loss of his new wife and his dearest friend. His anointing may have been covert, but it quickly became common knowledge, so much so that even the Philistines had heard about it. God effectively put a target on David’s back, and to good purpose: David’s suffering and rejection became the emotional and spiritual fuel for his Messianic psalms.

A Bottle and a Book

When we set Psalm 56 against the context of 1 Samuel 21, statements like “many attack me proudly” and “all day long an attacker oppresses me” come to life for the reader. At the same time, David says to God, “I put my trust in you.” Rightly so. He was God’s man behaving in a godly way to accomplish the Lord’s purposes in Israel. His sufferings were not all about him. They came about because he sided with the Lord and put his trust in God to deliver him from Saul and to vindicate him before his nation at the time of the Lord’s choosing and not a moment before. He was serving God’s interests, not his own, and he paid a steep price for that faithful service.

David mentions both a bottle and book. The bottle is for his tears, and the book is the heavenly record of David’s suffering. Both bottle and book may be metaphors — I have difficulty picturing warehouses full of literal tear-bottles in heaven, and if one reference is figurative, probably so is the other. Still, David’s observation is no less significant whether or not a physical or material commemoration of his sorrow exists. His tears and fears on that lonely trip to Gath are part of the heavenly record. God has taken note. He will never forget the anguish experienced by his servant on his account.

Records of Faithful Service

This is far from the only time scripture mentions that the Lord keeps records of faithful service. Early Hebrew Christians suffered just as David did, having taking a position that offended the leaders of their nation. To these it is written, “God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.” Don’t worry, it says, there’s a record.

When God rebuked Judah through the prophet Malachi, a small group of Jews feared the Lord and discussed what they had heard. Malachi writes, “The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name.” What did these people do? They merely had a conversation, but it was a conversation out of keeping with the spirit of the age in which they lived; a conversation with the Lord’s interests foregrounded and his glory their desire. So the Lord said, “They shall be mine in the day when I make up my treasured possession.” He will forget no service, however trivial.

Jesus and the Record

The Lord Jesus is just like his Father. He too keeps records and commemorates loyal service and love shown to him. When a woman poured expensive ointment on his head as he reclined at the table of Simon the leper, he promised, “Wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.” The world has forgotten many good deeds. Two thousand years after the fact, that one is on record, in print, and still being read by tens of millions around the world. It even made it to the big screen. It’s not enough for God to remember and reward; he wants his children to agree with him about the deeds he values. He wants the world to know.

We could multiply cases, but these examples may suffice. What a privilege to serve a God who never forgets. I’ve shed many tears over the unexpected consequences of my own sins, and comparatively few in the service or worship of Christ, but not one of the latter has ever evaporated without the Lord making a note of it for eternal reference.

Not one of yours has either.