Psalms 31

1 To the Overseer. -- A Psalm of David. In Thee, O Jehovah, I have trusted, Let me not be ashamed to the age, In Thy righteousness deliver me.

2 Incline unto me Thine ear hastily, deliver me, Be to me for a strong rock, For a house of bulwarks to save me.

3 For my rock and my bulwark [art] Thou, For Thy name's sake lead me and tend me.

4 Bring me out from the net that they hid for me, For Thou [art] my strength.

5 Into Thy hand I commit my spirit, Thou hast redeemed me, Jehovah God of truth.

6 I have hated the observers of lying vanities, And I toward Jehovah have been confident.

7 I rejoice, and am glad in Thy kindness, In that Thou hast seen mine affliction, Thou hast known in adversities my soul.

8 And Thou hast not shut me up, Into the hand of an enemy, Thou hast caused my feet to stand in a broad place.

9 Favour me, O Jehovah, for distress [is] to me, Mine eye, my soul, and my body Have become old by provocation.

10 For my life hath been consumed in sorrow And my years in sighing. Feeble because of mine iniquity hath been my strength, And my bones have become old.

11 Among all mine adversaries I have been a reproach, And to my neighbours exceedingly, And a fear to mine acquaintances, Those seeing me without -- fled from me.

12 I have been forgotten as dead out of mind, I have been as a perishing vessel.

13 For I have heard an evil account of many, Fear [is] round about. In their being united against me, To take my life they have devised,

14 And I on Thee -- I have trusted, O Jehovah, I have said, `Thou [art] my God.'

15 In Thy hand [are] my times, Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, And from my pursuers.

16 Cause Thy face to shine on Thy servant, Save me in Thy kindness.

17 O Jehovah, let me not be ashamed, For I have called Thee, let the wicked be ashamed, Let them become silent to Sheol.

18 Let lips of falsehood become dumb, That are speaking against the righteous, Ancient sayings, in pride and contempt.

19 How abundant is Thy goodness, That Thou hast laid up for those fearing Thee,

20 Thou hast wrought for those trusting in Thee, Before sons of men. Thou hidest them in the secret place of Thy presence, From artifices of man, Thou concealest them in a tabernacle, From the strife of tongues.

21 Blessed [is] Jehovah, For He hath made marvellous His kindness To me in a city of bulwarks.

22 And I -- I have said in my haste, `I have been cut off from before Thine eyes,' But Thou hast heard the voice of my supplications, In my crying unto Thee.

23 Love Jehovah, all ye His saints, Jehovah is keeping the faithful, And recompensing abundantly a proud doer.

24 Be strong, and He strengtheneth your heart, All ye who are waiting for Jehovah!

Psalms 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.