Deeper Reflection
Daniel saw in his vision “The court sat, and the books are opened” (v.10). “The books are opened” so that God the Judge “can see the full record of all that is done on earth and evaluate it according to God’s own standards and bring the story to the just and good resolution that only God can accomplish. The fate of the world will be decided not by the boastful claims and power of the beasts [vv.4-8] but by the will and purpose of God and His ultimate judgment on all that takes place in His world.”²⁸The Psalmist was greatly afflicted “all day long”, but he anchored himself in a theological reality: “You must have kept a record of my misery; put my tears in Your bottle”²⁹ (Psa 56:1, 5, 8). These words were expressed against “the background idea of a divine ‘scroll of remembrance’ – God’s book about the behavior of the righteous [see Mal 3:16].”³⁰ With this “assurance that his condition has been recorded in the divine records, though there is no overt response yet from God”³¹ , the Psalmist found encouragement and comfort to keep trusting in God and His Word (Psa 56:3-4, 10-11). God records means God remembers – though at times we feel that He has forgotten about us.But there is the negative side of the divine records. For example, Jesus says, “Every careless word that people speak, they shall give an account for it in the day of judgment” (Matt 12:36). Our words come from our hearts (Matt 12:34-35). Let’s be careful in our hearts in what we say and do.

---

²⁸ Christopher J. H. Wright, 155 ²⁹ Marvin E. Tate, Psalms 51-100, Word Biblical Commentary, Vol 20 (Word Books, 1990), 65 ³⁰ Marvin E. Tate, 71 ³¹ Marvin E. Tate, 70