I. Introduction
The occasion of this Psalm of David is not stated in the text, but it is probable that the events surrounding David saving the city of Keilah from the hand of Philistines and Saul thinking he had David hemmed in there are in view as related by 1Samuel 23:1ff.
It is a Psalm of pleading amidst fears and hoping despite tears. A Psalm of God’s mercies and grace to those who hold fast to Him. It shows God to be the only true friend one has down here in the land of sin and sorrow. And in no small way, this Psalm is a window to the sorrows and heaviness of heart our Savior Jesus experienced at the hands of His enemies and…at the hands of His friends and neighbors so-called, in His day.
We will follow this format:
Verse of Scripture utilizing the KJV text followed by an NKJV mouse over of that verse. Key words in the KJV text will be footnoted with a link to a word study based on the Hebrew text, and/or a general discussion relative to the given word (we are not biblical Greek or Hebrew scholars, please consider our grammatical constructions with a critical eye).
Commentary We shall always be commenting on this passage keeping before us the crucial fact that every jot and every tittle comprising these verses came forth under the inspiration of the blessed Holy Spirit. We pray that He, by His grace, helps us along the way.
II. Palms Thirty-one Commentary Verses
31:1-8- Into Thine Hand I Commit My Spirit Great Jehovah God
1 [[To the chief Musician[1], A Psalm[2] of David[3].]] In thee, O LORD[4], do I put my trust[5]; let me never be ashamed[6]: deliver[7] me in thy righteousness[8]. 2 Bow down thine ear to me[9]; deliver me speedily[10]: be thou my strong rock[11], for an house of defence to save[12] me. 3 For thou [art] my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name’s[13] sake lead[14] me, and guide[15] me. 4 Pull[16] me out of the net that they have laid privily[17] for me: for thou [art] my strength[18]. 5 Into thine hand I commit[19] my spirit[20]: thou hast redeemed[21] me, O LORD God of truth[22]. 6 I have hated them that regard[23] lying vanities[24]: but I trust[25] in the LORD. 7 I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy[26]: for thou hast considered[27] my trouble[28]; thou hast known[29] my soul in adversities[30]; 8 And hast not shut me up[31] into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set[32] my feet in a large room. [33](Psalm 31:1-8 KJV, Psalm 31:1-8, NLT)
COMMENTARY: Here is a Psalm of David to the chief Musician, even the Great Conductor. The Great Conductor, whose sweeping baton, like a mighty whirlwind, lays low the high places and makes high the low places. The low places. David is in such a place here, pursued, hounded, desired to be driven lower yet by a hopelessly haughty high one, his enemy, an enemy not by David’s choosing. Desired to be driven down low, lower, unto very loss of life and name; low, lower, lowest, into the grave and ruin and shame[34].
A hopelessly haughty high one in a high place—here is Saul, even king Saul, out of his mind high. Out of his mind high with delusions of grandeur to be secured, secured at the expense of a lovable, lowly, low one in a low place. But this low one in a low place has God’s up high ear[35]. Thus does David cry for deliverance yet again, as oft before, to his Deliverer.
In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness. (cf. 2Timothy 1:12).
Notice what he says, how he puts it: In thee, O LORD. He means Jehovah alone. ‘…In thee, O Lord, I trust for my very life, for my soul; in thy righteousness great Jehovah God, deliver me. In thy righteousness, in thy rightness, do that which is right in thine eyes…’. Here is a confident plea, foremost in God’s incontestable righteousness, a righteousness before which David hangs in the balance his deliverance.
David is before God as a low one, a low one before the Highest One; he must needs straightaway verbalize to God that it is a condescension on His part to hear what he David as to say.
Bow down thine ear to me…
It is entirely necessary that he assumes, that is, owns his lowliness before Almighty God before petitioning Him. And he petitions God via a series of imperatives that bespeak the urgency of the petitions.
deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me. For thou [art] my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me. Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou [art] my strength…
Deliver me. Speedily. ‘…Deliver me speedily—with urgency great God—it is urgent as I perceive it great God. The enemy presumes to hem me in and is at the doorstep…’. What is revealing about David right here is that he asks for defense, not offense; he says not, they kill me, then You kill them, or, lay them waste before they get to me, he says rather, ‘…be thou my House of Defense inside these walls by which they hem me in, thou of a surety canst pull me out of here. Yea, be thou my Strong Rock, immovable, my Fortress, protect me from them great Jehovah God…’. He seeks protection, he is not head hunting (despite the murder plots, calumny, life turned upside-down, and whatnot; note 1Samuel 24:4—here Saul is at David’s mercy, and allowed to live). As one of His, in a spirit of humility, and no bloodlust in the mix, let us ask God to move speedily on our behalf when like David here we perceive an urgent need for God’s protection or His strong helping hand per se. ‘…My Lord, I have this matter that is choking the life out of me, deliver me speedily with thy Righteous Right Arm for thy Glory and may it be for thee a Name this Salvation I seek from thee. I ask in Jesus’ worthy Name, not by my worthless merit, amen…’.
We are confronted next with what are probably the most amazing and important words in this blessed Messianic Psalm of David (it is not counted as a Messianic Psalm by some). In his prayer to the Almighty, to the LORD, to Yud-He-Waw-He, he says,
into thine hand I commit my spirit…
Spoken some ten centuries later, those were our Savior’s dying words on the Cross as He brought in quintessential Salvation for a hunted humankind beset by a bloodthirsty, haughty enemy. Beset by an enemy, a killer enemy, hemmed in all around, in the flesh, in the spirit, in urgent need of a greater Salvation than David could ever have dreamed possible in the context of his urgent plea for mundane salvation. (Luke 23:46. Every Christian’s dying words.)
31:9-18- My Times Are in Thy Hand Great Jehovah God
9 Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief[36], [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[37], and my bones are consumed. 11 I was a reproach[38] among all mine enemies, but especially[39] among my neighbours[40], and a fear[41] to mine acquaintance[42]: they that did see me without fled[43] from me. 12 I am forgotten[44] as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken[45] vessel. 13 For I have heard[46] the slander[47] of many: fear[48] [was] on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised[49] to take away my life. 14 But I trusted[50] in thee, O LORD: I said, Thou [art] my God. 15 My times[51] [are] in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute[52] me. 16 Make[53] thy face[54] to shine[55] upon thy servant[56]: save[57] me for thy mercies’[58] sake. 17 Let me not be ashamed[59], O LORD; for I have called[60] upon thee: let the wicked[61] be ashamed, [and] let them be silent[62] in the grave. 18 Let the lying[63] lips be put to silence; which speak grievous[64] things proudly[65] and contemptuously[66] against[67] the righteous[68]. (Psalm 31:9-18 KJV, Psalm 31:9-18, NLT)
COMMENTARY: In the previous verse set we find David appealing to Jehovah’s righteousness, here he turns and appeals no less to His righteousness, but to His mercy as well, with great emphasis on that blessed mercy.
Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble.
Mercy. Have mercy upon me, O LORD, thus spoken by a low one, an appeal consistent with a low one’s spirit, one who understands he needs mercy, even, especially, God’s mercy. Such a one, a low one, cries out for mercy, for self, cries not for the blood of wrongdoers, because such a one, before righteous God, in appeal to His righteousness, His rightness, has no case before righteous God, though he be wronged as the petitioner David here is certainly wronged. Before righteous God, David appeals to both His righteousness, and His mercy, lest he rightly be condemned in step with his wrongdoer/s. (Let us not forget the murder of Uriah later in David’s life, an act schemed and carried out before the same righteous God of Appeals David now petitions.) It is wise, nay, necessary, that we fallen mortals make our appeals to the God of Righteousness, of Rightness, by way of an appeal to His mercy, in lowliness.)
Mercy. We all need it. How good it is when others are merciful to us; even more so when Jehovah God extends His mercy to us, which He does in and through our Mercy Seat, even Jesus Christ (“A Letter of Invitation”).
I am in trouble, says David in this context. Straits, deep water, going under is David.
Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble…
It is as though he senses impending doom. It is how one puts it when suddenly one realizes one has crossed the danger threshold, gone beyond it, with no discernible, material/physical means of return to safety. ‘…O dear Lord, I’m in trouble…’. It is how one puts it when that flash of reality lights up the common sensibility and one realizes that one has well-nigh come to one’s end, that close, very close. When that persists, that gut-wrenching flash that starches the entire nervous system, it takes its toll on body, soul, and spirit. Thus is David a wreck right here.
mine eye is consumed with grief, [yea], my soul and my belly. For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.
Tears, he is “sick to his stomach,” and his soul is broken, to the bone as it were, his strength is sapped. And then, as coming out of left field, he puts his iniquity as the cause! Here is lowliness before God, brokenness per offending Him. David must needs appeal to righteous God’s mercy, he full well knows it. (His iniquity here confessed, is privy to him and God, and one should leave it there.) Is he in a manner of speaking at ease now? As in the eye of a hurricane, having confessed his iniquity, that heavy burden, having appealed to God’s mercy, he is somewhat at ease we think, though the storm still rages all about, threatening his physical life, but no more than that. There is a measure of peace between he and his God Jehovah. Confession, and Trust. It is the salvation pattern God lays down here, and it is the Salvation pattern He utilizes Since the Cross, and going forward. Confession of one’s sins, and faith in Jesus Christ, this pattern, is Salvation, for broken souls, sick stomachs, and tears. It is Salvation for whosoever wills it. It is consummate Peace, lasting Peace, forever Peace, and its attendant Rest.
Though there may be peace inside, in the heart, with God, the storm still rages outside. That too is a pattern, but not laid down by God. Storms. Please notice.
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. I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel. 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.
Here confessed iniquity meets, well, iniquity. It is a true saying that iniquity tasted is iniquity understood, and is it not telling that murder pervades these verses. Murder of person, of personhood, of remembrance. David is not king yet, but one day he would look back on these words he wrote. He would remember his appeal for righteous adjudication, and probably most painfully, his appeal for mercy. (Jehovah our God is not mocked.) “…they devised to take away my life…”.
Beyond David, this verse set is a sad window to the treatment that our Lord Jesus would receive at the hands of His enemies, neighbors, and acquaintances. In view are the Jews of Jesus’ day (Psalms 2:1-2—more heads up—Matthew 26:4, 27:1, Luke 23:2, Acts 4:25-26, et al.).
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. I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel. 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.
There is nowhere to turn, nowhere, in desperate circumstances like that, but to God, who shows Himself faithful to His lowly ones—His People. Thus does David, girded up by God’s Spirit in the confidence of Peace that comes from confession of sins and Trust in God, straightaway turn his desperate face toward God’s sheltering, shining face. He places all into the hands that attend that blessed face.
But I trusted in thee, O LORD: I said, Thou [art] my God. My times [are] in thy hand…
‘…My times, my all, are in thy strong hand great Jehovah God…’ (John 10:27-30).
‘…O Jehovah deliver me; but make thy face to shine upon thy servant and all is well…’. David reiterates merciful deliverance-petitions from the present storm that rages to lay him waste and verbalizes the same by asking—so lowly and lovely it is—for God’s approval and attendant blessing (the face metaphor, Fig. 1). He seals the humility in his petition by referring to himself as God’s servant.
Deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant…
Again, he asks for deliverance not based on even a whit of self-merit or some sort of special deserving privilege, but based on God’s goodness, from which flows His mercy, which itself attends trusting Him. God’s goodness is for Him a Name, even His Glory. Importantly, he reiterates his complete trust in God by way of a beggarly call upon God for deliverance.
Save me for thy mercies’ sake. Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called upon thee…
When he asks God that He not let him be ashamed—humiliated further by the foul mouths and wicked schemes of his persecutors—he is confessing out loud that only God has the power to prevent this—and will (cf. Jesus, Matthew 27:43, vindicated by Jesus’ resurrection; as to David, God did indeed rescue him; he lived on and became king of Israel, and inspired author of this text and many others). He says not—Lord, if you do not act, it will be a slur on you and look bad for you—he says, Lord, if you do not act, it will be a further slur on me for I have openly called on you, and I shall look all the worse for it, yea, I be undone (physically speaking).
A change, a turn now; no more defense-petitioning forthcoming—David’s soul is confident in God’s saving Arm and has peace with God (else the former would not hold). He turns, he says, ‘…let the wicked (the ones in this context, in general Godless blasphemers and arrogant, propagandist deniers of Jehovah God, proud persecutors of His people dealing contemptuously and despicably with them), yea the wicked, let them eat the humble pie so to speak; let them eat the humble pie, let them take their lying filth to the grave to rot along with them, their calumny, slander, God-bashing, with their arrogant, anti-God mouths shut up forever…’. This is a noticeable turn from defense to offense, inspired by God for the record for the ages hence.
let the wicked be ashamed, [and] let them be silent in the grave. Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous…
31:19-24- Hope in Jehovah
19 [Oh] how great [is] thy goodness[69], which thou hast laid up[70] for them that fear[71] thee; [which] thou hast wrought[72] for them that trust in thee before the sons of men[73]! 20 Thou shalt hide[74] them in the secret of thy presence[75] from the pride of man: thou shalt keep[76] them secretly in a pavilion[77] from the strife[78] of tongues. 21 Blessed[79] [be] the LORD: for he hath shewed[80] me his marvellous[81] kindness[82] in a strong city[83]. 22 For I said in my haste[84], I am cut off[85] from before thine eyes: nevertheless[86] thou heardest[87] the voice of my supplications[88] when[89] I cried unto thee. 23 O love[90] the LORD, all ye his saints[91]: [for] the LORD preserveth[92] the faithful[93], and plentifully[94] rewardeth[95] the proud[96] doer[97]. 24 Be of good courage[98], and he shall strengthen[99] your heart[100], all ye that hope[101] in the LORD. (Psalm 31:19-24 KJV, Psalm 31:19-24, NLT)
COMMENTARY: David probably wrote down his prayers—the former verses—before the matter was settled, and wrote down the rest of the prayer—the following verses—when the matter was settled. Prayer phase 1—beggarly before God, trusting all to Him and trusting fully in Him, whilst under great emotional, physical, and spiritual duress. That’s prayer phase 1. And then, when he saw God’s mighty hand pull him safely out of the storm, with the matter completely settled per his petitions, he bursts forth with arms uplifted in heartfelt thanksgiving and praise, and praise, and praise. He starts out by acknowledging Jehovah’s goodness, to which he had basically appealed throughout, His goodness by way of His terrific, His blessed mercy. David knew he, a sinner, had been shown mercy. And that is how he starts his thanksgiving and praising of God—by acknowledging Jehovah’s goodness, yea, His Name.
[Oh] how great [is] thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee…
Note, for them that fear God; laid up for them that fear God; storehouses of goodness laid up, even pressed down, shaken together, and running over measures of goodness from thee great God, for them that fear thee great Jehovah God. Yea, for them that trust in thee before the watching world thou sayest great God. For them that swim against the tide, the Godly, the brave folk, brave for thee, loving thy Name, trusting in thee. Trusting in thee whilst the gainsayers look on and mock, and ridicule, and hold high their plastic science and tech gods in which they trust exceedingly, and if not the former, then this god, and that god, all alike blessings stolen from thee, hijacked and claimed, as though these stemmed from their little minds and puny hands; and worshiped, yea, straightaway worshiped to their shame and ultimate befuddlement. Thy elegant handiwork shows them to be fools like their daddy.
[which] thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men…
As David can full well attest per his answered prayers, God’s goodness accrues to His faithful ones, who are secure in God’s bosom, thus hidden, protected from the gainsayers, the fat-eyed talking mouths, secure, in a pavilion no less, out of reach, out of harm’s way. He is simply relating what he knows from first-hand experience to be true. Thus the Spirit of God inspired David to write for the encouragement of the persecuted faithful down through the ages.
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…
And more praise, focused on our God’s kindness, even marvelous kindness. Here is friendship—friends are kind to each other; indeed, it bespeaks friendliness, it bespeaks generosity, it bespeaks being especially considerate, which is going to be the proper application of this kindness as we shall see shortly. And he puts a superlative on it…marvelous kindness…. It can hardly be otherwise that Jehovah God did all these things for his servant David who is beside himself in praising God for it. (It is unclear whether the “strong city” is Keilah as posited above, or maybe Jehovah Himself as a Refuge, or something else.)
Blessed] [be] the LORD: for he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city…
David now qualifies Jehovah’s kindness by specifically relating it to He being considerate of David being in the pressure cooker when David had a momentary faith lapse. David thought for sure he was undone, even whilst he was praying for deliverance; there must have been this underlying current of doubt given the seeming hopelessness of it all. How good it is to realize that Jehovah takes our circumstances into consideration when He assesses our trust in Him. It cannot be overstated that trusting in Jehovah God is an essential aspect of our relationship with Him—He cherishes it for sure, but more than cherish it even, He requires it. Let’s face it, trusting is doable, it is not a lot to ask of us is the point, anybody can do it if they want to. And based on that trust, and confession of one’s sins, the floodgates of His blessings, protection, Salvation, swing wide open. As said before, it is confession of one’s sins, and faith in Jesus Christ that brings Salvation in our day (“A Letter of Invitation”).
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.
Notice: …thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee…
As he dwells on that marvelous kindness shown him, David’s heart swells with love for His God Jehovah. It is wonderful how he wants his brethren to love Him too—that says a lot about how much David loved his God—and he wants his brethren to experience the same kindness and goodness that he just experienced, kindness and goodness in the dress of preservation and vindication of proud assaults.
O love the LORD, all ye his saints: [for] the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.
And upon closing prayer phase 2, he reaches back to his frightful experience and the unfolding of his deliverance at the hand of God and stresses the need for courage—courage from God, and for God—and the fruit of that courage as he experienced it, namely strength—strength from God, and for God—with the underlying, critical assumption that hope, hope in Jehovah God, that seemingly feeble intangible, moves Him to do great things for His faithful ones.
Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.
Praised be thy Name great Jehovah God, thou Faithful. Amen.