311 In you, O Lord, have I put my hope; let me never be shamed; keep me safe in your righteousness. 2 Let your ear be turned to me; take me quickly out of danger; be my strong Rock, my place of strength where I may be safe. 3 For you are my Rock and my strong tower; go in front of me and be my guide, because of your name. 4 Take me out of the net which they have put ready for me secretly; for you are my strength. 5 Into your hands I give my spirit; you are my saviour, O Lord God for ever true. 6 I am full of hate for those who go after false gods; but my hope is in the Lord. 7 I will be glad and have delight in your mercy; because you have seen my trouble; you have had pity on my soul in its sorrows; 8 And you have not given me into the hand of my hater; you have put my feet in a wide place.
9 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble; my eyes are wasted with grief, I am wasted in soul and body. 10 My life goes on in sorrow, and my years in weeping; my strength is almost gone because of my sin, and my bones are wasted away. 11 Because of all those who are against me, I have become a word of shame to my neighbours; a cause of shaking the head and a fear to my friends: those who saw me in the street went in flight from me. 12 I have gone from men's minds and memory like a dead man; I am like a broken vessel. 13 False statements against me have come to my ears; fear was on every side: they were talking together against me, designing to take away my life. 14 But I had faith in you, O Lord; I said, You are my God. 15 The chances of my life are in your hand; take me out of the hands of my haters, and of those who go after me.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 31:1-15
Commentary on Psalm 31:1-8
(Read Psalm 31:1-8)
Faith and prayer must go together, for the prayer of faith is the prevailing prayer. David gave up his soul in a special manner to God. And with the words, ver. 5, our Lord Jesus yielded up his last breath on the cross, and made his soul a free-will offering for sin, laying down his life as a ransom. But David is here as a man in distress and trouble. And his great care is about his soul, his spirit, his better part. Many think that while perplexed about their worldly affairs, and their cares multiply, they may be excused if they neglect their souls; but we are the more concerned to look to our souls, that, though the outward man perish, the inward man may suffer no damage. The redemption of the soul is so precious, that it must have ceased for ever, if Christ had not undertaken it. Having relied on God's mercy, he will be glad and rejoice in it. God looks upon our souls, when we are in trouble, to see whether they are humbled for sin, and made better by the affliction. Every believer will meet with such dangers and deliverances, until he is delivered from death, his last enemy.
Commentary on Psalm 31:9-18
(Read Psalm 31:9-18)
David's troubles made him a man of sorrows. Herein he was a type of Christ, who was acquainted with grief. David acknowledged that his afflictions were merited by his own sins, but Christ suffered for ours. David's friends durst not give him any assistance. Let us not think it strange if thus deserted, but make sure of a Friend in heaven who will not fail. God will be sure to order and dispose all for the best, to all those who commit their spirits also into his hand. The time of life is in God's hands, to lengthen or shorten, make bitter or sweet, according to the counsel of his will. The way of man is not in himself, nor in our friend's hands, nor in our enemies' hands, but in God's. In this faith and confidence he prays that the Lord would save him for his mercies's sake, and not for any merit of his own. He prophesies the silencing of those that reproach and speak evil of the people of God. There is a day coming, when the Lord will execute judgment upon them. In the mean time, we should engage ourselves by well-doing, if possible, to silence the ignorance of foolish men.