Psalms 31:18-24

18 Let the lying lips become dumb, which speak insolently against the righteous in pride and contempt.
19 [Oh] how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee, [which] thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee, before the sons of men!
20 Thou keepest them concealed in the secret of thy presence from the conspiracies of man; thou hidest them in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.
21 Blessed be Jehovah; for he hath shewn me wondrously his loving-kindness in a strong city.
22 As for me, I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes; nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.
23 Love Jehovah, all ye his saints. Jehovah preserveth the faithful, and plentifully requiteth the proud doer.
24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all ye that hope in Jehovah.

Psalms 31:18-24 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 2

  • [a]. See Ps. 83.3.
  • [b]. Or 'agitation,' 'terror,' 'alarm.'
The Darby Translation is in the public domain.