Psalms 31:11-21

11 I have become a disgrace because of all my opponents. I have become someone dreaded by my friends, even by my neighbors. Those who see me on the street run away from me.

12 I have faded from memory as if I were dead and have become like a piece of broken pottery.

13 I have heard the whispering of many people-- terror on every side-- while they made plans together against me. They were plotting to take my life.

14 I trust you, O LORD. I said, "You are my God."

15 My future is in your hands. Rescue me from my enemies, from those who persecute me.

16 Smile on me. Save me with your mercy.

17 O LORD, I have called on you, so do not let me be put to shame, Let wicked people be put to shame. Let them be silent in the grave.

18 Let [their] lying lips be speechless, since they speak against righteous people with arrogance and contempt.

19 Your kindness is so great! You reserve it for those who fear you. Adam's descendants watch as you show it to those who take refuge in you.

20 You hide them in the secret place of your presence from those who scheme against them. You keep them in a shelter, safe from quarrelsome tongues.

21 Thank the LORD! He has shown me the miracle of his mercy in a city under attack.

Psalms 31:11-21 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.