Psalm 56:8 “Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?”
David had experienced a lot of troubles before he was ever king – and many afterward. The Psalms contain his thoughts and feelings as he went through them. God uses the Psalms to bring comfort to many hearts as they are read.
This verse is one of them. It must be remembered that David loved God and sought to serve Him and live pleasing to God. Over and over in the Psalms David talks about how God delivered him out of his troubles.
The last verse of this chapter reveals David’s confidence in God’s ability to deliver him once again. In verse 13, David said: “For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?” Although this verse is a question, David trusted God.
David’s confidence stemmed from the fact that he knew that God was aware of everything he experienced. He said: “Thou tellest my wanderings,” which means that God counted or numbered everywhere David went – just as He counts your steps.
He also mentioned that God is aware of all his tears and pain. He said: “put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?” Remember that every word of Scripture is inspired. David hints at the fact that God records all our sorrows and pains as we serve Him.
For the believer living for God, this verse lets us know that God cares. He records our pain so that He can reward us for faithfulness to Him. Paul tells us in Romans 8:18: “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” It is a strong declaration that the rewards are so great that they will more than repay us and we will be very glad we kept on serving our great God.