Psalms · psalm 31 of 150
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Psalm 31 is a prayer of David, who takes refuge in the Lord while suffering distress, slander and the schemes of his enemies. He commits his spirit to God, confesses that his times are in God's hands and receives God's mercy. The psalm ends by urging everyone who loves the Lord to be strong and to wait for him.
The title ascribes the psalm to David and addresses it to the choirmaster; the text does not say when in his life he composed it. It is a prayer of lament and trust that moves several times from plea to praise. Verse 5 has a special place in the New Testament, because Jesus made it his own on the cross, according to Luke 23:46.
David begins by asking the Lord to be his rock and fortress and not to let him be put to shame. He asks to be pulled out of the net hidden for him and, in verse 5, commits his spirit to the faithful God who has redeemed him. He rejects those who cling to worthless idols and declares that he will rejoice in God's mercy, because God saw his affliction and set him in a broad place.
The second part describes his pain honestly. His eyes, soul and body waste away; his life is spent in sorrow and his years in sighing. His enemies scorn him, his neighbors dread him and his acquaintances run from him; he is forgotten like a dead man and treated like a broken vessel. He hears slander, terror is on every side and they plot to take his life.
Verse 14 brings the turn: but I trust in you, you are my God, and my times are in your hand. He asks to be rescued from his pursuers, for the Lord's face to shine on him and for the wicked to be silenced. Then he praises the goodness God stores up for those who fear him, who hides them in the shelter of his presence, and admits that in his alarm he said he was cut off from God's sight, yet the Lord heard his cry. He closes by calling the faithful to love the Lord, be strong and wait for him.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
David places his spirit in the Lord's hands, the faithful God who redeems him. It is a total surrender in the middle of danger, and Jesus repeated it on the cross as he died, according to Luke 23:46.
Amid the scorn David says he trusts the Lord and that his times, all that happens to him, are in God's hand. That trust frees him from depending on what his enemies say.
David celebrates the great goodness God has stored up for those who fear him and shows openly to those who take refuge in him. God's goodness is not a theory: it is experienced.
The psalm ends by urging all who wait for the Lord to be strong and take heart. David turns his own experience into an invitation to the whole community of the faithful.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: His spirit. — Psalm 31:5
Answer: That God be his rock and fortress and lead and guide him for his name's sake. — Psalm 31:3
Answer: His eyes, soul and body waste away with grief, his years pass in sighing and his strength fails. — Psalm 31:9-10
Answer: That he trusts the Lord, that God is his God and that his times are in God's hand. — Psalm 31:14-15
Answer: Great goodness, which he shows openly to those who take refuge in him. — Psalm 31:19
Answer: To be strong and take heart. — Psalm 31:24
Psalm 31 teaches us to pray without hiding our pain. David names his weariness, his loneliness and his fear, and still ends in trust. In a small group or Sunday school class you can read the psalm in three movements, refuge, complaint and trust, and ask which one best describes where each person is right now.
It also invites a concrete surrender: placing the future, health, family or work in God's hands. Saying that our times are in his hand does not remove uncertainty, but it puts it under the care of a faithful God.
Psalm 31 moves from distress to praise because its center is trust in a God who listens. Psalm 32 turns to another theme, the joy of the forgiven, and shows how trust is lived when the problem is one's own sin.
According to Luke 23:46, Jesus said aloud that he was placing his spirit in the Father's hands. He used the words of a psalm of trust that Israelites knew well, showing that he died trusting the Father. For Christians this joins David's psalm with Christ's surrender.
The phrase in Psalm 31:15 affirms that the events, seasons and moments of life are under God's care, not under the control of enemies or chance. It does not promise a life without difficulty, but it does say that life never slips out of God's hand.
No. In verse 22 David admits that in his alarm he thought God had put him away, but he adds that God heard his cry. Scripture shows here that a person can doubt in a moment of panic and return to trust through prayer.