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Psalm 31:17
Let me not be disappointed, LORD, for I have called on you. Let the wicked be disappointed. Let them be silent in Sheol.
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!
Notice
The plea for help turns into a plea for enemies to be silenced in death, exposing how severe prayer can sound under persecution.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What fear would you bring to God through the words, “Let me not be disappointed”?
Write on thisHow does the mention of persecution and lying lips shape your response to the prayer about Sheol?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 25:3Yes, no one who waits for you will be shamed. They will be shamed who deal treacherously without cause.Both passages seek freedom from shame for those who depend on God, with disgrace falling on those who do wrong.
Psalm 115:17The dead don’t praise the LORD, nor any who go down into silence,Both passages associate death with silence, though Psalm 31 asks for that silence to fall on the wicked.
Psalm 25:2–3My God, I have trusted in you. Don’t let me be shamed. Don’t let my enemies triumph over me.Both prayers appeal to God against the humiliation of a trusting person at the hands of enemies.
Jeremiah 20:11But the LORD is with me as an awesome mighty one. Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and they won’t prevail. They will be utterly disappointed because they …Both passages look to the LORD for help against persecutors and speak of those persecutors being disappointed.
Psalm 34:5They looked to him, and were radiant. Their faces shall never be covered with shame.Both connect turning toward God with freedom from shame, expressed as a plea in Psalm 31 and assurance in Psalm 34.
Isaiah 41:11–12Behold, all those who are incensed against you will be disappointed and confounded. Those who strive with you will be like nothing, and shall perish.Both passages speak of hostile people facing disappointment and death, though Psalm 31 petitions God and Isaiah declares an outcome.
Genesis 2:25The man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.The connection is limited to freedom from shame; Genesis describes the man and his wife, while the psalm pleads amid hostility.
1 Samuel 2:9He will keep the feet of his holy ones, but the wicked will be put to silence in darkness; for no man will prevail by strength.Both passages link God's care for his people with the silencing of the wicked.
Isaiah 45:16–17They will be disappointed, yes, confounded, all of them. Those who are makers of idols will go into confusion together.Both speak of disappointment falling on people opposed to God; Isaiah identifies makers of idols, while the psalm names the wicked.
Daniel 12:2Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.Both mention death and disgrace; Daniel also speaks of awakening from death, which this psalm verse does not address.
Isaiah 50:6–7I gave my back to those who beat me, and my cheeks to those who plucked off the hair. I didn’t hide my face from shame and spitting.Both passages concern humiliation amid hostility; Isaiah describes endured abuse, while the psalm asks God to prevent disgrace.
Matthew 22:12–13and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here not wearing wedding clothing?’ He was speechless.The shared thread is silence: the psalm requests silence in Sheol, while Matthew describes a guest speechless when questioned.
Where this verse fits
Injustice and anger. fear for the future.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
Sheol is the realm of the dead; this is a severe appeal against persecutors and their lies. The speaker brings his plea for judgment to YHWH, whose help he seeks.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 31:17. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.
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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).