19 Ps 56.8 God's providence amid persecution

Psalm 56:8 (NASB) You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book?

Wanderings: the context is a persecuted life.  Vs 1-7 refer to David's enemies and how they persistently sought his demise, including the many years he was forced to spend as a fugitive from King Saul.  In this context "wanderings" could refer to the unplanned, unexpected, and unwelcome deviations from one's plans caused by enemies and persecutions; and could also refer to the wanderings of the mind and heart as they continue to have to adjust to and accommodate fears and disappointments caused by enemies and persecutions.  In either case, two realities persist.  First, God through David is telling us that He is with us in these wanderings, taking them into account and insuring, if He allows them to happen to us at all, that they will work together with everything else for the good result of making us like Christ (Rom 8.28-29).  Second, none of the forces against us that cause these wanderings of circumstance or of mind and heart can separate us from God's agape, His unconditional love toward us in Christ Jesus (Rom 8.38-39).

"Put my tears in your bottle." Here God has inspired David to admit these many hardships and persecution-induced wanderings have taken a toll -- he has cried many tears. To collect such tears in a bottle is a picture of someone not forgetting the tears shed and the sorrows they express. God is telling us that He does not trivialize, nor forget the sorrows He permits us to experience. In David's case God did take the full measure of the hardships and sorrows David suffered, and He didn't discount nor forget any of them. He "collected David's tears in His bottle" so to speak. And He wants you to know He does the same for you.

Note J. V. McGee's quotation about this psalm.