To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. This Psalm was meant to be sung, therefore it was dedicated to the chief musician; yet it is a Psalm of which at least half is very sorrowful. All our hymns were not meant to be joyous ones; God permits us to take a wide range in our psalmody, and to express the feelings of our heart whatever they may be. You will see here and there the light of Christ shining on this Psalm. If it does not shine on him, at any rate he shines on it.
Psalms 31:1. In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust;
Is that true of you, dear friends? Never take your trust upon trust, but be quite sure that you do trust in God; if it is so, avow it, and never be ashamed to say, «In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; «
Psalms 31:1-3. Let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness. Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defense to save me. For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me.
See how logical David is with his «for» and «therefore.» It is the very essence of prayer to be able to urge pleas with God, and to say to him, «Do it for this reason,» or, «Therefore, do it for such another reason.» I would that we all of us studied more fully this blessed art of pleading with God, bringing forth sound arguments as we approach him.
Psalms 31:4. Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength.
How sweetly and blessedly he pleads! «'Thou art my strength.' I cannot get out of this net, I am entangled in it; but thou canst pull me out, for ‘thou art my strength.'»
Psalms 31:5. Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.
This is a blessed prayer, a holy resolution, which we may use every day in the week all through our lives.
Psalms 31:6. I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the LORD.
«In Jehovah.» David had no patience with those who trusted in gods of wood and stone; he knew very little indeed of that spurious charity which leads some men to speak respectfully even of idolatry. David was «a good hater»; and there is something gracious about that when the thing hated is really hateful, and something which ought to be hated.
Psalms 31:7. I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy:
David makes the cymbals clash together: «I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: «
Psalms 31:7. For thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;
It is said to be the highest wisdom to know yourself; but, to my mind, it is a much better thing for God to know you. You may know yourself, and fall into despair; but if God knows you, and you know God, there is abundant room for you to hope in his mercy.
Psalms 31:8. And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room.
«Thou hast given me a broad place to live in, and thou hast given me abundance to eat there.» So David praises and blesses his God; but now see how the note falls. From the highest point of the scale he suddenly descends to the very lowest. «We spend our years as a tale that is told f» and such a tale is sometimes very joyful, and anon it is full of woe.
Psalms 31:9-10. Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly. For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing:
Sighing is better than sinning any day. Though we may deplore that our life melts away in sighs, it is better that it should go so than that it should be wasted in sins.
Psalms 31:10-11. My strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed. 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.
He was in such a sorry plight that men would not own him. They were afraid that they should be disgraced by being found in his company. It is a sad condition for a man of God, like David, to be found in, for others to be afraid to be seen speaking to him.
Psalms 31:12. I am forgotten us a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel.
An old pot, flung on the dunghill, as of no further use.
Psalms 31:13-14. For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: awhile they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life. Bet I trusted in thee, O LORD:
Now the strain will mount again. It is faith that tunes the royal singer, so that he rises to heights of joy though just now he had sunk so low.
Psalms 31:14-15. I said; Thou art my God. My times are in thy hand:
He had put his spirit there: «Into thine hand I commit my spirit;» and now he says, «My times are in thy hand.»
Psalms 31:15-19. Deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies' sake. 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. Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous. Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee;
If he was not tasting of it just then, he blessed God that it was laid up for him, put by in store.
Psalms 31:19-20. Which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men! 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.
What a blessing that is, to be separated from the noise and strife and the malignant calumny of wicked men! God has a blessed way of keeping his servants away from all such evils.
Psalms 31:21-22. Blessed be the LORD: for hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city. 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.
«If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.» The psalmist was full of doubts, and he said, «I am cut off;» but, nevertheless, God hoard the prayer of his poor mistrusting servant, and brought him out of his distresses.
Psalms 31:23-24. O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer. Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.