Salmos 31

1 Em ti, Senhor, me refugio; nunca seja eu envergonhado; livra-me pela tua justiça!

2 Inclina para mim os teus ouvidos, livra-me depressa! Sê para mim uma rocha de refúgio, uma casa de defesa que me salve!

3 Porque tu és a minha rocha e a minha fortaleza; pelo que, por amor do teu nome, guia-me e encaminha-me.

4 Tira-me do laço que me armaram, pois tu és o meu refúgio.

5 Nas tuas mãos entrego o meu espírito; tu me remiste, ó Senhor, Deus da verdade.

6 Odeias aqueles que atentam para ídolos vãos; eu, porém, confio no Senhor.

7 Eu me alegrarei e regozijarei na tua benignidade, pois tens visto a minha aflição. Tens conhecido as minhas angústias,

8 e não me entregaste nas mãos do inimigo; puseste os meus pés num lugar espaçoso.

9 Tem compaixão de mim, ó Senhor, porque estou angustiado; consumidos estão de tristeza os meus olhos, a minha alma e o meu corpo.

10 Pois a minha vida está gasta de tristeza, e os meus anos de suspiros; a minha força desfalece por causa da minha iniqüidade, e os meus ossos se consomem.

11 Por causa de todos os meus adversários tornei-me em opróbrio, sim, sobremodo o sou para os meus vizinhos, e horror para os meus conhecidos; os que me vêem na rua fogem de mim.

12 Sou esquecido como um morto de quem não há memória; sou como um vaso quebrado.

13 Pois tenho ouvido a difamação de muitos, terror por todos os lados; enquanto juntamente conspiravam contra mim, maquinaram tirar-me a vida.

14 Mas eu confio em ti, ó Senhor; e digo: Tu és o meu Deus.

15 Os meus dias estão nas tuas mãos; livra-me das mãos dos meus inimigos e dos que me perseguem.

16 Faze resplandecer o teu rosto sobre o teu servo; salva-me por tua bondade.

17 Não seja eu envergonhado, ó Senhor, porque te invoco; envergonhados sejam os ímpios, emudeçam no Seol.

18 Emudeçam os lábios mentirosos, que falam insolentemente contra o justo, com arrogância e com desprezo.

19 Oh! quão grande é a tua bondade, que guardaste para os que te temem, a qual na presença dos filhos dos homens preparaste para aqueles que em ti se refugiam!

20 No abrigo da tua presença tu os escondes das intrigas dos homens; em um pavilhão os ocultas da contenda das línguas.

21 Bendito seja o Senhor, pois fez maravilhosa a sua bondade para comigo numa cidade sitiada.

22 Eu dizia no meu espanto: Estou cortado de diante dos teus olhos; não obstante, tu ouviste as minhas súplicas quando eu a ti clamei.

23 Amai ao Senhor, vós todos os que sois seus santos; o Senhor guarda os fiéis, e retribui abundantemente ao que usa de soberba.

24 Esforçai-vos, e fortaleça-se o vosso coração, vós todos os que esperais no Senhor.

Salmos 31 Commentary

Chapter 31

Confidence in God. (1-8) Prayer in trouble. (9-18) Praise for God's goodness. (19-24)

Verses 1-8 Faith and prayer must go together, for the prayer of faith is the prevailing prayer. David gave up his soul in a special manner to God. And with the words, ver. 5, our Lord Jesus yielded up his last breath on the cross, and made his soul a free-will offering for sin, laying down his life as a ransom. But David is here as a man in distress and trouble. And his great care is about his soul, his spirit, his better part. Many think that while perplexed about their worldly affairs, and their cares multiply, they may be excused if they neglect their souls; but we are the more concerned to look to our souls, that, though the outward man perish, the inward man may suffer no damage. The redemption of the soul is so precious, that it must have ceased for ever, if Christ had not undertaken it. Having relied on God's mercy, he will be glad and rejoice in it. God looks upon our souls, when we are in trouble, to see whether they are humbled for sin, and made better by the affliction. Every believer will meet with such dangers and deliverances, until he is delivered from death, his last enemy.

Verses 9-18 David's troubles made him a man of sorrows. Herein he was a type of Christ, who was acquainted with grief. David acknowledged that his afflictions were merited by his own sins, but Christ suffered for ours. David's friends durst not give him any assistance. Let us not think it strange if thus deserted, but make sure of a Friend in heaven who will not fail. God will be sure to order and dispose all for the best, to all those who commit their spirits also into his hand. The time of life is in God's hands, to lengthen or shorten, make bitter or sweet, according to the counsel of his will. The way of man is not in himself, nor in our friend's hands, nor in our enemies' hands, but in God's. In this faith and confidence he prays that the Lord would save him for his mercies's sake, and not for any merit of his own. He prophesies the silencing of those that reproach and speak evil of the people of God. There is a day coming, when the Lord will execute judgment upon them. In the mean time, we should engage ourselves by well-doing, if possible, to silence the ignorance of foolish men.

Verses 19-24 Instead of yielding to impatience or despondency under our troubles, we should turn our thoughts to the goodness of the Lord towards those who fear and trust in Him. All comes to sinners through the wondrous gift of the only-begotten Son of God, to be the atonement for their sins. Let not any yield to unbelief, or think, under discouraging circumstances, that they are cut off from before the eyes of the Lord, and left to the pride of men. Lord, pardon our complaints and fears; increase our faith, patience, love, and gratitude; teach us to rejoice in tribulation and in hope. The deliverance of Christ, with the destruction of his enemies, ought to strengthen and comfort the hearts of believers under all their afflictions here below, that having suffered courageously with their Master, they may triumphantly enter into his joy and glory.

Chapter Summary

To the chief Musician, a Psalm of David. This psalm, according to Arama, was composed by David when in Keilah; but, according to Kimchi and others, when the Ziphites proposed to deliver him up into the hands of Saul; and who, upon their solicitations, came down and surrounded him with his army, from whom in haste he made his escape, and to which he is thought to refer in Psalm 31:22. Theodoret supposes it was written by David when he fled from Absalom, and that it has some respect in it to his sin against Uriah, in that verse.