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NOTES for Psa 31

Printable version
1 In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.
2 Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an 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 Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength.
5 Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.
6 I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the LORD.
7 I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;
8 And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room.
9 Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly.
10 For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.
11 I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, 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 slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life.
14 But I trusted in thee, O LORD: 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 for thy mercies' sake.
17 Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave.
18 Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.
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 shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.
21 Blessed be the LORD: for he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city.
22 For 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 O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.
24 Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.
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The psalmist compares the Lord to a secure fortress whose walls shelter from enemy attacks. But fortress walls cannot protect someone who is in no hurry to enter the fortress. There is only one way to enter the fortress and receive its protection: by accepting the Lord and entering into covenant with Him. He is always ready to protect us, but when we move away from Him, we ourselves reject His protection.

Enemies press in from every side and constantly plot evil, but in the face of their threats we can hope in the Lord’s mercy. Yet evil comes not only from external enemies: the psalmist acknowledges that his strength has failed because of his own sins. It is therefore no accident that enemies oppress us; through our sins we strengthen them and bring them upon ourselves.

But even in such sorrowful circumstances, the psalmist continues to hope in the Lord, the reliable protector who hears the prayer even of one who seems rejected in his own eyes. Even in this condition, the one who prays continues to cry out because he remains faithful. And this means that he has already entered within the fortress walls.

Other notes

 
For Psa 31:1-11
1 In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.
2 Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an 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 Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength.
5 Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.
6 I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the LORD.
7 I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;
8 And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room.
9 Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly.
10 For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.
11 I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance: they that did see me without fled from me.
Hide
We can repeat the words of many psalms as our own. This is especially true of a psalm that recounts the experience of repentance...  Read more

We can repeat the words of many psalms as our own. This is especially true of a psalm that recounts the experience of repentance. Everyone who has ever brought a confession of his deeds before the Lord can recognize his own experiences here.

The weight of sin pressing down upon the sinner and felt even physically is shown briefly but vividly in the psalm. But the person who confesses his transgressions is freed from this unbearable burden. A sigh of relief can be heard in the joyful acceptance of the forgiveness that comes from God.

It is no accident that the psalmist places sin and deceit side by side, both equally rejected by the repentant person. Just as genuine repentance is impossible when one deceitfully clings to habitual sins, deceit—the expression of one sin, falsehood—also leads to many other sins.

And so joy embraces the person who is freed from the power of sin. The Lord’s mercy will not forsake him.

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For Psa 31:5
5 Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.
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Humanity has known repentance in every age, long before Abraham and the first Yahwist revelations. And in every age it was considered...  Read more

Humanity has known repentance in every age, long before Abraham and the first Yahwist revelations. And in every age it was considered that repentance lightens guilt. There were, of course, exceptions; in some situations no repentance could help a person. But more often it was otherwise. Why? The simplest answer that comes to mind is this: a person who sincerely repents of what he has done will most likely not act that way again. What is done cannot be taken back, but one can be confident about the future of the repentant person. Yet this, of course, is only if repentance is sincere. And how can sincerity be verified? God, of course, has no such problem: the heart of each of us lies before Him like the palm of a hand. But why does He need our repentance? He perfectly knows all our abilities and possibilities, knows what we can and cannot do; none of our failures is a surprise to Him, so our repentance is not testimony for Him in itself. And still it is necessary. Why? Or perhaps it is more accurate to ask: for whom? For God or for us? What does our repentance express before Him? Perhaps only one thing: a declaration of our intentions. In our promises not to sin in the future, what matters to Him is our choice and our resolve. And the admission that we were wrong and want to correct the situation. Not because our regrets matter to Him, but because such an admission frees His hands, opening the road to our heart. And He will handle the rest.

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