Psalms 31
A Plea for Righteous Deliverance 1–8
The Depth of the Psalmist's Distress 9–13
Renewed Trust and Specific Petitions 14–18
Glorifying God's Great Goodness 19–24
Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain
Study Notes for Psalm 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.