Psalm 31:1-5

A Plea for Protection

For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.

1 Lord, I seek refuge in You; let me never be disgraced. Save me by Your righteousness.

2 Listen closely to me; rescue me quickly. Be a rock of refuge for me, a mountain fortress to save me.

3 For You are my rock and my fortress;^[a] You lead and guide me because of Your name.^[b]

4 You will free me from the net^[c] that is secretly set for me, for You are my refuge.

5 Into Your hand I entrust my spirit;^[d] You redeem^[e] me, Lord, God of truth.

Psalm 31:1-5 Meaning and Commentary

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.

Footnotes

• [a] Ps 18:2
• [b] Ps 23:3
• [c] Ps 25:15
• [d] Lk 23:46
• [e] Or You have redeemed, or You will redeem, or spirit. Redeem