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Psalm 31

Psalm 31 brings grief and mortal danger before God, whose faithfulness sustains trust even when the speaker feels abandoned.

David cries to YHWH while enemies plot his death and neighbors draw away from him. The heading names David as the writer, though the event behind the prayer is uncertain. He asks for rescue, describes grief that wears down his body, and entrusts his life to God. Trust and distress alternate through the psalm. After recalling how God heard him when he felt cut off, he calls God’s people to love YHWH and take courage.

grieffear for the futureinjustice and anger
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1For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. In you, LORD, I take refuge. Let me never be disappointed. Deliver me in your righteousness.
2Bow down your ear to me. Deliver me speedily. Be to me a strong rock, a house of defense to save me.
3For you are my rock and my fortress, therefore for your name’s sake lead me and guide me.
4Pluck me out of the net that they have laid secretly for me, for you are my stronghold.
5Into your hand I commend my spirit. You redeem me, LORD, God of truth.
6I hate those who regard lying vanities, but I trust in the LORD.
7I will be glad and rejoice in your loving kindness, for you have seen my affliction. You have known my soul in adversities.
8You have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy. You have set my feet in a large place.
9Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am in distress. My eye, my soul, and my body waste away with grief.
10For my life is spent with sorrow, my years with sighing. My strength fails because of my iniquity. My bones are wasted away.
11Because of all my adversaries I have become utterly contemptible to my neighbors, a horror to my acquaintances. Those who saw me on the street fled from me.
12I am forgotten from their hearts like a dead man. I am like broken pottery.
13For I have heard the slander of many, terror on every side, while they conspire together against me, they plot to take away my life.
14But I trust in you, LORD. I said, “You are my God.”
15My times are in your hand. Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me.
16Make your face to shine on your servant. Save me in your loving kindness.
17Let me not be disappointed, LORD, for I have called on you. Let the wicked be disappointed. Let them be silent in Sheol.
18Let the lying lips be mute, which speak against the righteous insolently, with pride and contempt.
19Oh how great is your goodness, which you have laid up for those who fear you, which you have worked for those who take refuge in you, before the sons of men!
20In the shelter of your presence you will hide them from the plotting of man. You will keep them secretly in a dwelling away from the strife of tongues.
21Praise be to the LORD, for he has shown me his marvelous loving kindness in a strong city.
22As for me, I said in my haste, “I am cut off from before your eyes.” Nevertheless you heard the voice of my petitions when I cried to you.
23Oh love the LORD, all you his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful, and fully recompenses him who behaves arrogantly.
24Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the LORD.
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Key verses
Psalm 31:19David’s praise widens from his own rescue to God’s goodness toward all who fear him and take refuge in him.
Psalm 31:20God’s presence becomes shelter against the plots and hostile speech that have filled the speaker’s life with fear.
Psalm 31:5David places his spirit in God’s hand while asking for rescue, grounding his trust in the God of truth.
Where this chapter reaches

Luke records Jesus using the opening words of verse 5 as he dies, linking David’s prayer of trust with Jesus’ death. In 1 Peter, those who suffer are urged to entrust themselves to their faithful Creator, sharing this psalm’s trust in God amid danger.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

Where do you notice grief and trust standing side by side in David’s prayer?

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What would you want to place in God’s hand after reading verses 14–16?

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Questions people ask about Psalm 31

Who wrote Psalm 31, and what was happening?

The heading identifies Psalm 31 as a psalm by David and directs it to the Chief Musician. The prayer describes threats to his life, slander, rejection by acquaintances, and severe grief. It names no particular event, so attempts to connect it with one episode in David’s life remain uncertain.

What does “Into your hand I commend my spirit” mean?

In verse 5, David entrusts his life and spirit to YHWH, whom he calls the God of truth. The surrounding verses ask for escape from a hidden net and rescue from enemies. Within this psalm, the words express trust amid mortal danger; they do not establish that David is dying.

What does “My times are in your hand” mean in Psalm 31?

Verse 15 places the course and circumstances of David’s life under God’s rule. The next sentence asks for deliverance from enemies, so this confession accompanies an urgent plea for help. David acknowledges God’s authority over his life while naming the human threats that surround him.

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What the Bible says about grief →What the Bible says about fear →What the Bible says about anger →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).