Psalms 31 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Psalm 31

Into Your Hand I Commit My Spirit

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

31:1   In you, O LORD, do I take refuge;
    let me never be put to shame;
    in your righteousness deliver me!
2   Incline your ear to me;
    rescue me speedily!
  Be a rock of refuge for me,
    a strong fortress to save me!
3   For you are my rock and my fortress;
    and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;
4   you take me out of the net they have hidden for me,
    for you are my refuge.
5   Into your hand I commit my spirit;
    you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God.
6   I hate¹ those who pay regard to worthless idols,
    but I trust in the LORD.
7   I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love,
    because you have seen my affliction;
    you have known the distress of my soul,
8   and you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy;
    you have set my feet in a broad place.
9   Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress;
    my eye is wasted from grief;
    my soul and my body also.
10   For my life is spent with sorrow,
    and my years with sighing;
  my strength fails because of my iniquity,
    and my bones waste away.
11   Because of all my adversaries I have become a reproach,
    especially to my neighbors,
  and an object of dread to my acquaintances;
    those who see me in the street flee from me.
12   I have been forgotten like one who is dead;
    I have become like a broken vessel.
13   For I hear the whispering of many—
    terror on every side!—
  as they scheme together against me,
    as they plot to take my life.
14   But I trust in you, O LORD;
    I say, “You are my God.”
15   My times are in your hand;
    rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!
16   Make your face shine on your servant;
    save me in your steadfast love!
17   O LORD, let me not be put to shame,
    for I call upon you;
  let the wicked be put to shame;
    let them go silently to Sheol.
18   Let the lying lips be mute,
    which speak insolently against the righteous
    in pride and contempt.
19   Oh, how abundant is your goodness,
    which you have stored up for those who fear you
  and worked for those who take refuge in you,
    in the sight of the children of mankind!
20   In the cover of your presence you hide them
    from the plots of men;
  you store them in your shelter
    from the strife of tongues.
21   Blessed be the LORD,
    for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me
    when I was in a besieged city.
22   I had said in my alarm,²
    “I am cut off from your sight.”
  But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy
    when I cried to you for help.
23   Love the LORD, all you his saints!
    The LORD preserves the faithful
    but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.
24   Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
    all you who wait for the LORD!

Footnotes

[1] 31:6 Masoretic Text; one Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint, Syriac, Jerome You hate
[2] 31:22 Or in my haste

Commentary

A psalm of personal trust in God, in a time of trial and affliction.

v1-5: A personal psalm, 'I', 'me', 'my' appear 18 times in these verses. The psalmist has a personal, first-hand, experience of God. David had hidden in the stronghold (1 Sam 22.4) and in the cave (1 Sam 24.3), finding a "rock of refuge" and a "strong fortress"; he saw that God was his rock and his fortress. He committed himself safely into God's hands.

v6-8: David knew God's mercies in his trials, see also 2 Sam 24.14, where he testified that God's mercies are great. At the same time, he avoided close contact with those who worshipped idols. Such would have an unholy affect on our lives.

v9-13: David's sufferings point us forward to Christ's sufferings, and they remind us too of Job's and Jeremiah's sufferings, see Job 16.12-13; 19.13-17.

Christ was made a reproach of the people, despised by men, abandoned by friends, slandered, conspired against, murdered; I can never say that He has not endured what I may experience.

Persecution is often the deliberate act of wicked men; this was Christ's experience also; Mark 3.6; 14.1.

v14-16: The response to the attacks of the ungodly, first by prayer; a renewed dependence on God. Although all our times are in His hands, we can and must pray specifically about our circumstances. We do not look to man to bless, but trust in God, that His face will shine.

The psalmist finds he has enemies, some are visible and some are invisible. What is true for the OT saint is also true for the NT saint.

v17-18: The second response is to express confidence that God will judge the wicked. Wickedness will be returned on the head of the wicked; this is not a prayer of personal vengeance but of personal vindication, as the enemy is put to silence.

v19-20: Personal confidence in God in the midst of troubles. God has great goodness laid up for His people. There is the secret place of His presence (Ps91.1; Luke 9.18; John 14.23); there is a closer walk, a deeper experience to be enjoyed. The psalmist refers to "accusing tongues," which theme is common in the Psalms. We should be aware of the powerful effect of our words.

v21-22: The testimony of deliverance; God's wonderful love demonstrated. Notice too the danger of hasty words, Matt 12.36-37; they are often unwise, unkind, or untrue. Though God may not show us His face, He will lend us His ear.

v23-24: There is no reason to doubt the faithfulness of God; here is love and faith and hope for us (1 Cor 13.13).