Psalms 31

LORD, I have come to you for safety. Never let me be put to shame. You do what is right, so rescue me.

1In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.

Note"Put to shame" in Hebrew is not about embarrassed feelings. It means being publicly humiliated, exposed as someone who relied on the wrong protector and was left standing there with nothing. The opposite of shame here is rescue, not confidence.

2Listen closely to me. Come quickly and save me. Be the rock I hide behind, the strong place that keeps me safe.

2Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me.

NoteThe land these poems come from is full of rocky crags and caves where a hunted person could get above his pursuers and out of reach. "Rock" and "stronghold" are literal places of escape before they are images for God.

3You are my rock and my fortress. So lead me and guide me, for the sake of your name.

3For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me.

NoteA name meant a reputation, what people knew you to be. Asking God to act "for your name's sake" is asking him to act in keeping with the character he is known by, so that his reputation as a rescuer stands.

4Get me out of the trap they hid for me, because you are my safe place.

4Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength.

NoteThe trap is a hunting net, spread on the ground and hidden, then pulled shut when the animal steps on it. The image is of being caught by a plan laid in advance and out of sight.

5I place my spirit in your hands. You have bought me back and set me free, LORD, God who tells the truth.

5Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.

Note"Spirit" here translates a word meaning breath, the life in a person, not a part of them separate from the body. Handing it over is entrusting one's life to God's keeping, and the line is a prayer of a living person in danger. "Redeemed" is a commercial word: paying a price to get back a person or property that had passed into someone else's hands, as when a relative bought a family member out of slavery.

6I hate people who cling to worthless idols, but I trust the LORD.

6I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the LORD.

NoteThe Hebrew word behind "worthless idols" means something empty, a puff of breath, things that look like they can help and cannot. Ancient manuscripts differ on the first word here: some read "I hate," others "you hate," addressed to God.

7I will be happy and full of joy because of your faithful love. You have seen how much I am suffering. You have known the pain inside me.

7I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;

Note"Faithful love" translates the Hebrew word *chesed*, which recurs in verses 16 and 21. It means committed loyalty to someone you are bound to, the dependable kindness of a person who keeps their obligations, not a passing warm feeling.

8You have not handed me over to my enemy. You have set my feet in a wide, open place.

8And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room.

9Be kind to me, LORD, because I am in trouble. My eyes are worn out with grief. So are my whole self and my body.

9Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly.

NoteHebrew locates emotion in the body's organs. "My whole self" translates *nephesh*, the throat or breath, and so the living person; "body" is literally the belly or inner organs, where grief was felt. The verse describes a person whose distress has worked its way through eyes, life, and gut alike.

10My life is used up by sorrow, and my years by groaning. My own wrongdoing has drained my strength, and my bones are wasting away.

10For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.

NoteBones stand for the frame that holds a person up, and so for their strength and stamina. "My bones are wasting away" says the speaker's whole capacity to keep going is draining out.

11All my enemies look down on me, and my neighbors look down on me even more. My friends are afraid of me. When they see me on the street, they run away.

11I 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.

12People have forgotten me, the way they forget someone who has died. I am like a jar that has been smashed.

12I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel.

NoteA broken clay jar could not be mended and had no value as scrap; it was swept out with the rubbish. The comparison is to something discarded past any hope of use, not merely damaged.

13I hear many people spreading lies about me. There is terror all around. They plot together against me and plan to kill me.

13For 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.

Note"Terror on every side" is a set phrase in Hebrew, used elsewhere for a town surrounded by an army with no direction left to run. It names encirclement, not just fear.

14But I trust in you, LORD. I say, "You are my God."

14But I trusted in thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my God.

15My whole life and all its moments are in your hands. Save me from my enemies and from the people chasing me.

15My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.

Note"Times" means the turns and seasons of a life, how long it lasts and what happens in it. The speaker is saying the timing of his rescue, or his death, is not in his enemies' control.

16Look on me, your servant, with kindness. Save me because of your faithful love.

16Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies’ sake.

NoteA shining face is an idiom for favor, drawn from court life: a ruler whose face lifts and brightens toward a petitioner has decided in his favor, while a turned or darkened face means rejection. The same words appear in the ancient priestly blessing in Numbers 6.

17LORD, do not let me be put to shame, because I have called out to you. Let the wicked be put to shame. Let them lie silent in the place of the dead.

17Let 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.

Note"The place of the dead" is Sheol, where the Hebrew scriptures picture everyone going at death, a shadowy, silent place below, not a place of punishment. Its silence is the point here.

18Make lying lips be quiet, lips that speak against good people with pride and scorn.

18Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.

19How great is the good you have stored up for those who respect you! You have given it, in full view of everyone, to those who come to you for safety.

19Oh 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!

NoteTo "fear" God in these poems means reverent loyalty, taking him seriously enough to order your life by him, rather than being frightened of him. "In full view of everyone" is literally "before the sons of men": the rescue happens publicly, where the onlookers who mocked can see it.

20You hide them close to you, safe from the schemes of people. You keep them in your shelter, away from quarreling tongues.

20Thou 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.

NoteThe picture is of a host's tent. In this culture a guest taken inside a tent came under the owner's protection, and an enemy who wanted him had to get through the host first. "Quarreling tongues" are accusations and hostile talk, the specific danger the speaker faces.

21Praise the LORD, because he showed me his wonderful love when I was in a city under attack.

21Blessed be the LORD: for he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city.

NoteThe Hebrew phrase can mean either a fortified city that kept him safe or a city under siege where he was trapped; the rendering takes the second, but both readings are old and defensible.

22In my panic I said, "You have cut me off from your sight!" But you heard me begging for mercy when I called to you for help.

22For 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.

Note"Cut off from your sight" uses seeing as a figure for attention and care. The complaint is not that God cannot see him but that God has stopped taking any notice.

23Love the LORD, all you who belong to him. The LORD keeps safe those who stay faithful, but he pays back in full those who act with pride.

23O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.

NoteThe word rendered "all you who belong to him" is *chasidim*, formed from the same root as the "faithful love" of verses 7, 16 and 21. It means people bound to God in that loyalty and expected to return it, not people who are morally spotless. "Pays back in full" is a neutral accounting word: they receive exactly what is owed them.

24Be strong and take heart, all of you who put your hope in the LORD.

24Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.

NoteIn Hebrew the heart is the seat of thinking, willing and nerve, not of feeling as in modern English. To have your heart strengthened is to be given the resolve to hold your position.