Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil.
Psalm 56:5 exposes the deceit behind David’s persecution. The title places him among the Philistines in Gath, where the danger was real and his enemies were many. He has already confessed, “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee” (v.3). Now he describes one cause of that fear: men were turning his own words against him. They distorted what he said because they sought his harm. David needed God’s protection from malicious tongues as well as violent hands.
“Every day.” The attack was persistent. David had already spoken of enemies fighting and oppressing him daily (vv.1-2). Their repeated distortion of his words belonged to that same pursuit. This was not one unfortunate conversation soon corrected and forgotten. They returned to their work of misrepresentation. Continual accusation can weary a man, but its repetition does not make it true. David’s repeated need must be met by continued trust in God.
“They wrest my words.” To wrest words is to twist them from their true meaning and force them to serve a false one. Peter uses the same word for those who corrupt Paul’s epistles and the other Scriptures, wresting them “unto their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:16). The fault is not in the words being handled, but in the handling of them. David’s enemies made his speech appear to say what it did not mean.
Such deceit does not require inventing every word. A man may quote part of a sentence, omit its explanation, or assign a wicked meaning that the whole statement forbids. He may then claim, Those were his words. The words may indeed have been spoken, while the accusation built from them is false. This is slander: falsehood used to defame another. A true fragment does not make a false report truthful.
Paul suffered this injury when men claimed that he taught, “Let us do evil, that good may come.” He called their accusation a slanderous report and declared, “whose damnation is just” (Romans 3:8). They charged him with teaching what he did not teach. Disagreement gives no man permission to invent another man’s doctrine. Before opposing what someone says, be certain you have represented it faithfully.
“All their thoughts are against me.” David now exposes the purpose beneath their speech. Their plans concerning him were bent toward harm. They did not listen to understand, but to find something they could use against him. The tongue served the malice already cherished within. “The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD” (Proverbs 15:26). Evil is accountable to God before it leaves the heart, and spoken falsehood carries that evil to others.
“For evil.” This names the end they sought. Their purpose was not David’s correction, reconciliation, or good. It was his injury. The next verse shows how serious the danger was: they gathered together, hid themselves, marked his steps, and waited for his soul (v.6). Their words were part of a murderous design. A false report can prepare the way for violence by making an innocent man appear worthy of punishment.
This verse searches our handling of other people’s words. Do I repeat the whole meaning, or only the part that helps my accusation? Do I allow an explanation to correct my first impression? Have I made a man sound worse than he is because I want others to oppose him? The tongue must serve truth even when truth weakens our argument. To condemn another’s supposed sin by a dishonest report is to commit sin ourselves.
Yet disagreement is not itself evidence of malicious wresting. We must hear before judging, seek clarification where the meaning is uncertain, and receive correction when our own words were wrong. “He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him” (Proverbs 18:13). David describes proven hostility, not permission to treat every question as persecution. The same fairness we desire from others is required in our treatment of them.
David’s comfort is that God does not receive the enemy’s account as truth. He knows the speaker, the words, and the heart behind the accusation. David will pray, “put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?” (v.8). The sorrow caused by false reports is not overlooked in heaven. Men may misrepresent his speech, but they cannot corrupt God’s knowledge of it. This is why fear and tears can be brought to God in trust.
The psalm also gives a striking contrast between David’s words and God’s word. His enemies wrest “my words” (v.5), but David says, “In God I will praise his word” (v.4). He does not let their falsehood destroy his confidence in divine truth. He cries to God and confesses, “God is for me” (v.9). There may be a duty to correct a false report, but peace must not depend upon persuading every malicious hearer. God’s faithful word remains a surer refuge than human approval.
The Lord Jesus endured this same kind of false witness. He said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up,” speaking of His body (John 2:19-21). His accusers claimed He had said, “I will destroy this temple that is made with hands” (Mark 14:58). A declaration concerning His death and resurrection was twisted into a threat against the temple. Yet their false report could not defeat His true word. When He rose, His disciples remembered what He had said and believed it (John 2:22). Christ’s resurrection confirmed the word His enemies had distorted.
Psalm 56:5 therefore warns against both the lying report and the malicious heart that produces it. Do not twist words to win a cause. Do not lend your ear to an accusation before examining it. Let the heart reject malice and the mouth preserve truth. When your own words are wrested, remember Christ, speak faithfully, and trust the God who knows the whole matter. Enemies may distort your words; they cannot falsify His judgment or erase your tears from His remembrance.
Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil.
Psalm 56:5 exposes the deceit behind David’s persecution. The title places him among the Philistines in Gath, where the danger was real and his enemies were many. He has already confessed, “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee” (v.3). Now he describes one cause of that fear: men were turning his own words against him. They distorted what he said because they sought his harm. David needed God’s protection from malicious tongues as well as violent hands.
“Every day.” The attack was persistent. David had already spoken of enemies fighting and oppressing him daily (vv.1-2). Their repeated distortion of his words belonged to that same pursuit. This was not one unfortunate conversation soon corrected and forgotten. They returned to their work of misrepresentation. Continual accusation can weary a man, but its repetition does not make it true. David’s repeated need must be met by continued trust in God.
“They wrest my words.” To wrest words is to twist them from their true meaning and force them to serve a false one. Peter uses the same word for those who corrupt Paul’s epistles and the other Scriptures, wresting them “unto their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:16). The fault is not in the words being handled, but in the handling of them. David’s enemies made his speech appear to say what it did not mean.
Such deceit does not require inventing every word. A man may quote part of a sentence, omit its explanation, or assign a wicked meaning that the whole statement forbids. He may then claim, Those were his words. The words may indeed have been spoken, while the accusation built from them is false. This is slander: falsehood used to defame another. A true fragment does not make a false report truthful.
Paul suffered this injury when men claimed that he taught, “Let us do evil, that good may come.” He called their accusation a slanderous report and declared, “whose damnation is just” (Romans 3:8). They charged him with teaching what he did not teach. Disagreement gives no man permission to invent another man’s doctrine. Before opposing what someone says, be certain you have represented it faithfully.
“All their thoughts are against me.” David now exposes the purpose beneath their speech. Their plans concerning him were bent toward harm. They did not listen to understand, but to find something they could use against him. The tongue served the malice already cherished within. “The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD” (Proverbs 15:26). Evil is accountable to God before it leaves the heart, and spoken falsehood carries that evil to others.
“For evil.” This names the end they sought. Their purpose was not David’s correction, reconciliation, or good. It was his injury. The next verse shows how serious the danger was: they gathered together, hid themselves, marked his steps, and waited for his soul (v.6). Their words were part of a murderous design. A false report can prepare the way for violence by making an innocent man appear worthy of punishment.
This verse searches our handling of other people’s words. Do I repeat the whole meaning, or only the part that helps my accusation? Do I allow an explanation to correct my first impression? Have I made a man sound worse than he is because I want others to oppose him? The tongue must serve truth even when truth weakens our argument. To condemn another’s supposed sin by a dishonest report is to commit sin ourselves.
Yet disagreement is not itself evidence of malicious wresting. We must hear before judging, seek clarification where the meaning is uncertain, and receive correction when our own words were wrong. “He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him” (Proverbs 18:13). David describes proven hostility, not permission to treat every question as persecution. The same fairness we desire from others is required in our treatment of them.
David’s comfort is that God does not receive the enemy’s account as truth. He knows the speaker, the words, and the heart behind the accusation. David will pray, “put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?” (v.8). The sorrow caused by false reports is not overlooked in heaven. Men may misrepresent his speech, but they cannot corrupt God’s knowledge of it. This is why fear and tears can be brought to God in trust.
The psalm also gives a striking contrast between David’s words and God’s word. His enemies wrest “my words” (v.5), but David says, “In God I will praise his word” (v.4). He does not let their falsehood destroy his confidence in divine truth. He cries to God and confesses, “God is for me” (v.9). There may be a duty to correct a false report, but peace must not depend upon persuading every malicious hearer. God’s faithful word remains a surer refuge than human approval.
The Lord Jesus endured this same kind of false witness. He said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up,” speaking of His body (John 2:19-21). His accusers claimed He had said, “I will destroy this temple that is made with hands” (Mark 14:58). A declaration concerning His death and resurrection was twisted into a threat against the temple. Yet their false report could not defeat His true word. When He rose, His disciples remembered what He had said and believed it (John 2:22). Christ’s resurrection confirmed the word His enemies had distorted.
Psalm 56:5 therefore warns against both the lying report and the malicious heart that produces it. Do not twist words to win a cause. Do not lend your ear to an accusation before examining it. Let the heart reject malice and the mouth preserve truth. When your own words are wrested, remember Christ, speak faithfully, and trust the God who knows the whole matter. Enemies may distort your words; they cannot falsify His judgment or erase your tears from His remembrance.