Psalm 56

The title puts this at the lowest point of David's life. Running out of places to hide in Israel, he crossed into Philistine territory to the city of Gath — Goliath's home town — and was recognised at once by Achish's officers as the man the victory songs named. To get out alive he acted insane, scratching at the doors of the gate and letting spit run into his beard until the king threw him out as a nuisance.

The phrase in the title about a silent dove far away is almost certainly the name of a tune, the way a hymn is set to a familiar melody. Several psalms are labelled this way, which tells us Israel's worship had a standing repertoire of music that everyone could already sing.

Putting tears in a bottle is a household image. Liquids were carried in leather skins and small clay flasks; a mourner's flask was an ordinary object. The claim is that the tears are collected and counted and written down, not spilled and forgotten.

When the psalm says he will praise God's word, the word in view is a promise — the anointing Samuel poured on him years earlier, which at this moment looked like the least likely thing in the world to come true.