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It is probable that David penned this psalm when he was persecuted by Saul; some passages in it agree particularly to the narrow escapes he had, at Keilah (1Sa 23:13), then in the wilderness of Maon, when Saul marched on one side of the hill and he on the other, and, soon after, in the cave in the wilderness of En-gedi; but that it was penned upon any of those occasions we are not told. It is a mixture of prayers, and praises, and professions of confidence in God, all which do well together and are helpful to one another. I. David professes his cheerful confidence in God, and, in that confidence, prays for deliverance out of his present troubles, Ps 31:1-8. II. He complains of the very deplorable condition he was in, and, in the sense of his calamities, still prays that God would graciously appear for him against his persecutors, Ps 31:9-18. III. He concludes the psalm with praise and triumph, giving glory to God, and encouraging himself and others to trust in him, Ps 31:19-24.

This psalm is addressed to "the chief Musician," and purports to be a psalm of David. On the meaning of the phrase "To the chief Musician," see the notes at the title to Psalm 4:1-8. There can be no doubt that the inscription which ascribes it to David is correct, and that he was the author. The occasion, however, on which it was composed is unknown, and cannot now be ascertained. Most of the Jewish and many Christian interpreters have supposed that it was written when David was in the wilderness of Maon, and when, having been betrayed (as to the place of his retreat) by the Ziphites, he was hotly pursued by Saul and his host, 1 Samuel 23:19-26. There is, however, no particular reason for referring it to this period of his life, for there were many occasions to which it would be equally applicable.

Its general purpose is to inspire confidence in God in other hearts - from the experience of the psalmist - from that manifested favor by which he had been brought through his troubles. See Psalm 31:23-24. The psalm refers to the dangers which surrounded its author at the time referred to; his fears and apprehensions in those dangers; his calm confidence in God amid his dangers; the deliverance from trouble which was vouchsafed to him; his joy and gratitude for deliverance; and the lessons which others might learn in their trials from the divine dealings toward him in his. That the psalmist was in trouble or danger when he penned this psalm there can be no reason to doubt; that he prayed earnestly at that time for deliverance is clear; but it is also plain that in the psalm he refers to former troubles, and to the deliverance which God had granted to him in those troubles, and that he seeks and derives consolation and assurance from the dealings of God with him then. In some parts of the psalm he refers to his present afflictions; in other parts to the trials of other days, and to his deliverances in those trials; in the entire psalm he inculcates the duty of confiding in God, from his own experience of His mercy, and from his own reliance upon Him.

The contents of the psalm are as follows:

I. Prayer to God for deliverance from his sufferings and his enemies, on the ground of his confidence in Him, and his previous experience of His mercy, Psalm 31:1-8.

II. Description of his troubles and of the calamities under which he was oppressed; or an enumeration of his present distresses, Psalm 31:9-13. He says that he is in trouble, and that his eye is consumed with grief, Psalm 31:9; that his life is spent with grief, and his years with sighing, that his strength failed, and that his bones were consumed, Psalm 31:10; that he is a reproach among his neighbors and an object of dread to his acquaintances, or that they fled from him, he was so abject, forsaken, and afflicted, Psalm 31:11; that he was forsaken and forgotten like a dead man who had passed away from the recollection of mankind, Psalm 31:12; that he was slandered, and that people conspired together to take away his life, Psalm 31:13.

III. Calm confidence in God in these times of trouble; or a calm committing of all into His hands, under an assurance which he felt that all would be well, Psalm 31:14-20. He says that he trusted in God, Psalm 31:14; and that his times were in the hand of God, Psalm 31:15; he prays that God would deliver him, Psalm 31:15-18; he finds comfort and peace in the assurance of the divine goodness and mercy, Psalm 31:19; and in the assurance that God would hide them that trusted in Him from the pride of man, and would keep them safely in His pavilion, Psalm 31:20.

IV. Thanks for deliverance, Psalm 31:21-22. He seems to have found the deliverance, even while he prayed, or to have had such an assurance of it that he could speak of it as if it were already his. He felt that he had been hasty in supposing that he would be cut off; and seems to have reproached himself for even a momentary doubt in regard to the goodness of God, Psalm 31:22.

V. The lesson furnished to others by his experience, Psalm 31:23-24. It is a lesson of encouragement to all in similar circumstances, prompting them to be of good courage; to be cheered by his example and experience; never to despond; never to cease to trust God. Because He had found God to be a refuge and strength, he calls upon all others to believe that they would also find him such if they likewise trusted in Him.

The psalmist, with strong confidence in God, in a time of distress prays earnestly for deliverance, Psalm 31:1-5. He expresses his abhorrence of evil, Psalm 31:6; gratefully mentions former interpositions of God, Psalm 31:7, Psalm 31:8; continues to detail the miseries of his case, Psalm 31:9-18; points out the privileges of them that fear God, Psalm 31:19, Psalm 31:20; shows that God had heard his prayers, notwithstanding he had given himself over for lost, Psalm 31:21, Psalm 31:22; calls on the saints to love God, and to have confidence in him, because he preserves the faithful, and plentifully rewards the proud doer, Psalm 31:23, Psalm 31:24.

This Psalm contains no notes of time or place, to help us to ascertain when, where, or on what account it was written. Nor have we any certain evidence relative to the author: it might have been written by David during his persecution by Saul. Some think Jeremiah to have been the author: the thirteenth verse begins exactly with the same words as Jeremiah 20:10. There are several other apparent references to passages in the book of Jeremiah, which shall be produced in the notes.

INTRODUCTION TO Psalm 31

To the chief Musician, a Psalm of David. This psalm, according to Arama, was composed by David when in Keilah; but, according to Kimchi and others, when the Ziphites proposed to deliver him up into the hands of Saul; and who, upon their solicitations, came down and surrounded him with his army, from whom in haste he made his escape, and to which he is thought to refer in Psalm 31:22. Theodoret supposes it was written by David when he fled from Absalom, and that it has some respect in it to his sin against Uriah, in that verse.

XXXI.

This psalm is full of tantalising expressions, which raise the expectation of a satisfactory historical basis for its composition, only to disappoint by the obscurity of their allusion. On the one hand, the figures of the stronghold and rock (Psalm 31:2-3) not only suggest David as the author, but, from the mode of their introduction, at first seem to point to some definite locality, as Keilah or Ziklag (Psalm 31:7). But we are instantly transported into another circle of images and situations which recall Jeremiah and his fortunes. Moreover, the psalm oscillates between plaintive prayer and assured trust in a way to indicate that we cannot here have the experience of one single event, but the gathered sentiments of a whole lifetime; or, perhaps, which is more likely, the expression of a universal sentiment, the picture of a national situation where power was on one side and right on the other, in which the interests of religion and the discharge of religious duties were opposed by the contemptuous hostility of an idolatrous society. The enemies, at all events, who appear here are those who hate the pious Israelite because they themselves adore other gods (Psalm 31:6)—they are the wicked—their arms are recrimination, calumny, contempt, the insolence of the powerful against the humble and weak. The psalm seems, therefore, to reflect the later times of the monarchy, when the pure religion of Jehovah had to struggle against idolatrous tendencies favoured in high places. The recurrence of phrases very common in his writings show that if Jeremiah was not the author of the psalm, he was very familiar with it, or the writer of the psalm was imbued with his style. The versification is irregular.

Worn out in mind and body, despised, defamed, and persecuted, the Psalmist casts himself upon God. Faith upholds him as he recalls past mercies; despondency overwhelms him as he thinks of his present distress; till the clouds clear, and the sunlight of God’s goodness floods his soul.

The Psalm falls into three divisions.

i. Professions of trust and prayers for deliverance grounded upon the experience of past mercies (Psalm 31:1-8).

ii. Urgent pleading, with a pathetic description of the extremity of his need (Psalm 31:9-18).

iii. Grateful celebration of God’s goodness, once more demonstrated in the deliverance of the Psalmist, who looks back in surprise upon his own faint-heartedness, and concludes by exhorting all the godly to take courage (Psalm 31:19-24).

Most of the earlier commentators suppose that the Psalm was written by David in the wilderness of Maon, and point to the coincidence between in my haste (Psalm 31:22), and “David made haste to flee” (1 Samuel 23:26). The Sept. translators appear to have seen in that verse a reference to the occasion of the Psalm, for they add ἐκστάσεως (for desperation) to the title, and ἐν τῇ ἐκστάσει μου (in my desperation) is their rendering in Psalm 31:22.

But the situation of the Psalmist and the tone of the Psalm would rather suggest that Jeremiah, or some prophet in similar circumstances of persecution, was its author. Comp. Psalm 31:10 with Jeremiah 20:18; ‘the broken vessel’ (Psalm 31:12) with Jeremiah 22:28; Jeremiah 48:38; Psalm 31:13 with Jeremiah 20:10; Psalm 31:17 with Jeremiah 17:18; Psalm 31:22 with Lamentations 3:54. Still it is quite possible that Jeremiah may be using the words of the Psalm which was familiar to him.

The striking difference in the tone of Psalm 31:9-18 from that of 1–8 and 19–24 suggests the possibility that these verses may be a later addition: and it is noteworthy that the parallels with the Book of Jeremiah occur almost exclusively in Psalm 31:9-18, while the first and third divisions resemble Psalms which have good claims to be regarded as Davidic. But the change of tone may only correspond to a change of situation.

The latter part of the Psalm has several parallels with Psalms 28. With Psalm 31:21 a comp. Psalm 28:6 a; with Psalm 31:22 b cp. Psalm 28:2; Psalm 28:6; with Psalm 31:23 cp. Psalm 28:4. Comp. too Psalm 31:22 (as for me) with Psalm 30:6; and the invitation in Psalm 31:23 with Psalm 30:4.

Ps 31:1-24.

The prayer of a believer in time of deep distress. In the first part, cries for help are mingled with expressions of confidence. Then the detail of griefs engrosses his attention, till, in the assurance of strong but submissive faith, he rises to the language of unmingled joyful trust and exhorts others to like love and confidence towards God.

1. Expresses the general tone of feeling of the Psalm.

In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust - This is the ground of the petitions which follow; or the reason why the psalmist thus appeals to God. It was his firm confidence in Him; in His character; in His promises; in His ability to deliver Him in the time of danger. Compare the notes at Psalm 7:1.

Let me never be ashamed - That is, let me never have occasion to be ashamed for having put this confidence in Thee. Let Thy dealings toward me be such as to show that my confidence was well founded. The word is not used here in the sense of being unwilling to confess his faith in God, or his love for Him, as it is often now (compare Romans 1:16; Romans 5:5; 2 Timothy 1:12), but in the sense of being so "disappointed" as to make one ashamed that he had thus relied on that which was unworthy of confidence. See the notes at Job 6:20; compare also Isaiah 30:5; Jeremiah 2:26; Jeremiah 14:3-4. The psalmist prays that God would interpose in his behalf in answer to his prayers, and that he would show that He was worthy of the confidence which he had reposed in him, or that He was a God who might be trusted in the time of trial; in other words, that he might not be subjected to the reproach of the wicked for having in his troubles relied upon such a God.

Deliver me in thy righteousness - In the manifestation of Thy righteous character; in the exhibition of that character as righteous; as doing justice between man and man; as pronouncing a just sentence between me and my enemies.