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Psalms 31

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A Plea for Righteous Deliverance 1–8

1
In thee, O Jehovah, do I take refuge; Let me never be put to shame: Deliver me in thy righteousness. ​
2
Bow down thine ear unto me; deliver me speedily: Be thou to me a strong rock, A house of defence to save me.
3
For thou art my rock and my fortress; Therefore for thy name’s sake lead me and guide me. ​
4
Pluck me out of the net that they have laid privily for me; For thou art my stronghold.
5
Into thy hand I commend my spirit: Thou hast redeemed me, O Jehovah, thou God of truth. ​
6
I hate them that regard lying vanities; But I trust in Jehovah. ​
7
I will be glad and rejoice in thy lovingkindness; For thou hast seen my affliction: Thou hast known my soul in adversities;
8
And thou hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy; Thou hast set my feet in a large place. ​

The Depth of the Psalmist's Distress 9–13

9
Have mercy upon me, O Jehovah, for I am in distress: Mine eye wasteth away with grief, yea, my soul and my body.
10
For my life is spent with sorrow, And my years with sighing: My strength faileth because of mine iniquity, And my bones are wasted away. ​
11
Because of all mine adversaries I am become a reproach, Yea, unto my neighbors exceedingly, And a fear to mine acquaintance: They that did see me without fled from me.
12
I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel. ​
13
For I have heard the defaming of many, Terror on every side: While they took counsel together against me, They devised to take away my life.

Renewed Trust and Specific Petitions 14–18

14
But I trusted in thee, O Jehovah: I said, Thou art my God.
15
My times are in thy hand: Deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me. ​
16
Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: Save me in thy lovingkindness.
17
Let me not be put to shame, O Jehovah; for I have called upon thee: Let the wicked be put to shame, let them be silent in Sheol.
18
Let the lying lips be dumb, Which speak against the righteous insolently, With pride and contempt.

Glorifying God's Great Goodness 19–24

19
Oh how great is thy goodness, Which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee, Which thou hast wrought for them that take refuge in thee, Before the sons of men! ​
20
In the covert of thy presence wilt thou hide them from the plottings of man: Thou wilt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.
21
Blessed be Jehovah; For he hath showed me his marvellous lovingkindness 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
Oh love Jehovah, all ye his saints: Jehovah preserveth the faithful, And plentifully rewardeth him that dealeth proudly.
24
Be strong, and let your heart take courage, All ye that hope in Jehovah. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Psalms 31

Verse 1

do I put my trust — Chasah, to take refuge, as one runs to shelter; it comes again in v.19, 'them that trust in thee'. Ps 71:1–3 opens with nearly the same words. 'Ashamed' (bosh) is the disappointment of a hope; the assurance is stated in Rom 10:11, 'Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed'.

Verse 3

my rock and my fortress — 'Rock' is sela, a crag, and 'fortress' metsudah, a stronghold; Ps 71:3 repeats the pair. 'Lead' (nachah) and 'guide' (nahal) are the two verbs of Ps 23:2–3, where he 'leadeth' beside the waters and 'in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake'.

Verse 5

Into thine hand I commit my spirit — Christ said the first line from the cross, 'Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit' (Luke 23:46); Stephen prays 'receive my spirit' (Acts 7:59). 'Commit' is paqad, to entrust for keeping. The psalmist adds 'thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth' (emeth; Deut 32:4 has 'a God of truth' with emunah).

Verse 6

lying vanities — Hebel shav, a breath of falsehood: an idol and what it promises. Jonah 2:8 has the same phrase, 'They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy', with the same verb shamar that is 'regard' here. The hatred is set against trust in the LORD in the same verse.

Verse 8

a large room — Merchav, a broad place, the opposite of being 'shut up' (sagar) in the enemy's hand. The word is in Ps 18:19, 'He brought me forth also into a large place', and Ps 118:5, 'the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place'.

Verse 10

my strength faileth because of mine iniquity — The psalm names iniquity (avon) beside the grief; 'my bones are consumed' echoes v.9, 'mine eye is consumed' (both ashesh). Ps 38:3 joins bones and sin, 'any rest in my bones because of my sin'. 'Faileth' is kashal, to stumble.

Verse 12

like a broken vessel — The Hebrew has 'a vessel that is lost' (abad), the verb of 'a lost sheep' in Ps 119:176. 'Out of mind' is literally 'out of the heart' (lev): forgotten as the dead are. The psalmist says what he is like; v.14 answers, 'Thou art my God'.

Verse 15

My times are in thy hand — Ittim, times in the plural: the seasons and events of one life, as in 'a time to every purpose' (Eccl 3:1). The verse sets two hands against each other, 'thy hand' and 'the hand of mine enemies'. Acts 1:7 puts times and seasons in the Father's 'own power'.

Verse 19

thy goodness, which thou hast laid up — Tsaphan, to store as treasure, the verb of Prov 2:7, 'He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous'. 'Them that trust in thee' is chasah again (v.1), and the goodness is wrought 'before the sons of men', in public. V.20 says where it is kept: the 'secret of thy presence'.

Verse 22

I said in my haste — Chaphaz, to start away in alarm; Ps 116:11 has the same words, 'I said in my haste', for a different saying. 'Cut off from before thine eyes' is the fear of v.12 stated; 'the voice of my supplications' (tachanun) is the phrase of Ps 28:2, 6, where it is also answered.

Verse 24

Be of good courage — Nearly word for word Ps 27:14, 'be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart', with 'hope' (yachal, wait) here for 'wait on' there. The verbs are chazaq, be strong, and amats, strengthen. The call is made to 'all ye that hope in the LORD', not to the psalmist alone.