The Meaning of Psalms 56:9 Explained

Psalms 56:9

KJV: When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me.

YLT: Then turn back do mine enemies in the day I call. This I have known, that God is for me.

Darby: Then shall mine enemies return backward in the day when I call: this I know, for God is for me.

ASV: Then shall mine enemies turn back in the day that I call: This I know, that God is for me.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

When  I cry  [unto thee], then shall mine enemies  turn  back:  this I know;  for God  [is] for me. 

What does Psalms 56:9 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 56:1-13 - "what Can Man Do Unto Me?"
This psalm was composed under the same circumstances as Psalms 34:1-22. See 1 Samuel 21:1-15. What a strange medley is here shown-David feigning madness and composing psalms! Commenting on Psalms 56:3, one says that Isaiah's resolve is still better: "I will trust and not be afraid," Isaiah 12:2. Note, the magnificent refrain at the close of each of the first two strophes, Psalms 56:4; Psalms 56:10. The psalmist asks: "What can flesh do?" "Nothing," is the Apostle Paul's emphatic answer. Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers can hurt a man who makes God his stronghold, Romans 8:31.
Let us use the last verse for our life-prayer. Live as one on whom God's vows rest. Thank Him that by His Cross and Passion He has delivered thy soul from death. Could He have done so much at such cost, and then fail? Surely He must deliver our feet from falling, Psalms 116:8, or all the past will have been in vain. Whenever the shadows gather, and past sins threaten, and the enemies of your soul seek to overthrow, plead this prayer: Thou hast"¦ wilt not Thou? [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 56

1  David, praying to God in confidence of his word, complains of his enemies,
9  He professes his confidence in God's word, and promises to praise him

What do the individual words in Psalms 56:9 mean?

when will turn my enemies back then I cry out [to You] this I know because God [is] for me
אָ֥֨ז יָ֘שׁ֤וּבוּ אוֹיְבַ֣י אָ֭חוֹר בְּי֣וֹם אֶקְרָ֑א זֶה־ יָ֝דַ֗עְתִּי כִּֽי־ אֱלֹהִ֥ים לִֽי

יָ֘שׁ֤וּבוּ  will  turn 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: שׁוּב  
Sense: to return, turn back.
אוֹיְבַ֣י  my  enemies 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural construct, first person common singular
Root: אֹיֵב  
Sense: (Qal) enemy.
אָ֭חוֹר  back 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: אָחֹור  
Sense: the back side, the rear.
אֶקְרָ֑א  I  cry  out  [to  You] 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: קָרָא  
Sense: to call, call out, recite, read, cry out, proclaim.
זֶה־  this 
Parse: Pronoun, masculine singular
Root: זֶה  
Sense: this, this one, here, which, this … that, the one … the other, another, such.
יָ֝דַ֗עְתִּי  I  know 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: דָּעָה 
Sense: to know.
כִּֽי־  because 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: כִּי 
Sense: that, for, because, when, as though, as, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely, since.
אֱלֹהִ֥ים  God  [is] 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
לִֽי  for  me 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular