3For You are my rock and my fortress;
         For Your name’s sake You will lead me and guide me.

4You will pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,
         For You are my strength.

5Into Your hand I commit my spirit;
         You have ransomed me, O LORD, God of truth.

6I hate those who regard vain idols,
         But I trust in the LORD.

7I will rejoice and be glad in Your lovingkindness,
         Because You have seen my affliction;
         You have known the troubles of my soul,

8And You have not given me over into the hand of the enemy;
         You have set my feet in a large place.

9Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress;
         My eye is wasted away from grief, my soul and my body also.

10For my life is spent with sorrow
         And my years with sighing;
         My strength has failed because of my iniquity,
         And my body has wasted away.

11Because of all my adversaries, I have become a reproach,
         Especially to my neighbors,
         And an object of dread to my acquaintances;
         Those who see me in the street flee from me.

12I am forgotten as a dead man, out of mind;
         I am like a broken vessel.

13For I have heard the slander of many,
         Terror is on every side;
         While they took counsel together against me,
         They schemed to take away my life.

14But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD,
         I say, “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 upon Your servant;
         Save me in Your lovingkindness.

17Let me not be put to shame, O LORD, for I call upon You;
         Let the wicked be put to shame, let them be silent in Sheol.

18Let the lying lips be mute,
         Which speak arrogantly against the righteous
         With pride and contempt.

19How great is Your goodness,
         Which You have stored up for those who fear You,
         Which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You,
         Before the sons of men!

20You hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the conspiracies of man;
         You keep them secretly in a shelter from the strife of tongues.

21Blessed be the LORD,
         For He has made marvelous His lovingkindness to me in a besieged city.

22As for me, I said in my alarm,
         “I am cut off from before Your eyes”;
         Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications
         When I cried to You.

23O love the LORD, all you His godly ones!
         The LORD preserves the faithful
         And fully recompenses the proud doer.

24Be strong and let your heart take courage,
         All you who hope in the LORD.

Parallel Verses

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
Incline Your ear to me, rescue me quickly; Be to me a rock of strength, A stronghold to save me.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
Turn your ear toward me. Rescue me quickly. Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me.

King James Bible
Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Bow down thy ear to me: make haste to deliver me. Be thou unto me a God, a protector, and a house of refuge, to save me.

Darby Bible Translation
Incline thine ear to me, deliver me speedily; be a strong rock to me, a house of defence to save me.

English Revised Version
Bow down thine ear unto me; deliver me speedily: be thou to me a strong rock, an house of defence to save me.

Webster's Bible Translation
Bow down thy ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for a house of defense to save me.

World English Bible
Bow down your ear to me. Deliver me speedily. Be to me a strong rock, a house of defense to save me.

Young's Literal Translation
Incline unto me Thine ear hastily, deliver me, Be to me for a strong rock, For a house of bulwarks to save me.

Cross References

2 Kings 19:16 "Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God.

Psalm 17:6 I have called upon You, for You will answer me, O God; Incline Your ear to me, hear my speech.

Psalm 18:2 The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Psalm 71:2 In Your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; Incline Your ear to me and save me.

Psalm 71:3 Be to me a rock of habitation to which I may continually come; You have given commandment to save me, For You are my rock and my fortress.

Psalm 86:1 A Prayer of David. Incline Your ear, O LORD, and answer me; For I am afflicted and needy.

Psalm 88:2 Let my prayer come before You; Incline Your ear to my cry!

Psalm 102:2 Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress; Incline Your ear to me; In the day when I call answer me quickly.

Psalm 116:2 Because He has inclined His ear to me, Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live.

Psalm 119:170 Let my supplication come before You; Deliver me according to Your word.

Commentary

Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary

PSALM 31

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 (1 Sa. 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 (v. 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 (v. 9-18). III. He concludes the psalm with praise and triumph, giving glory to God, and encouraging himself and others to trust in him (v. 19-24).

To the chief musician. A psalm of David.

Verses 1-8

Faith and prayer must go together. He that believes, let his pray-I believe, therefore I have spoken: and he that prays, let him believe, for the prayer of faith is the prevailing prayer. We have both here.

I. David, in distress, is very earnest with God in prayer for succour and relief. This eases a burdened spirit, fetches in promised mercies, and wonderfully supports and comforts the soul in the expectation of them. He prays, 1. That God would deliver him (v. 1), that his life might be preserved from the malice of his enemies, and that an end might be put to their persecutions of him, that God, not only in his mercy, but in righteousness, would deliver him, as a righteous Judge betwixt him and his unrighteous persecutors, that he would bow down his ear to his petitions, to his appeals, and deliver him, v. 2. It is condescension in God to take cognizance of the case of the greatest and best of men; he humbles himself to do it. The psalmist prays also that he would deliver him speedily, lest, if the deliverance were long deferred, his faith should fail. 2. That if he did not immediately deliver him out of his troubles, yet he would protect and shelter him in his troubles; "Be thou my strong rock, immovable, impregnable, as a fastness framed by nature, and my house of defence, a fortress framed by art, and all to save me." Thus we may pray that God's providence would secure to us our lives and comforts, and that by his grace we may be enabled to think ourselves safe in him, Prov. 18:10. 3. That his case having much in it of difficulty, both in respect of duty and in respect of prudence, he might be under the divine guidance: "Lord, lead me and guide me (v. 3), so order my steps, so order my spirit, that I may never do any thing unlawful and unjustifiable-against my conscience, nor unwise and indiscreet-against my interest." Those that resolve to follow God's direction may in faith pray for it. 4. That his enemies being very crafty, as well as very spiteful, God would frustrate and baffle their designs against him (v. 4): "Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me, and keep me from the sin, the trouble, the death, they aim to entrap me in."

II. In this prayer he gives glory to God by a repeated profession of his confidence in him and dependence on him. This encouraged his prayers and qualified him for the mercies he prayed for (v. 1): "In thee, O Lord! do I put my trust, and not in myself, or any sufficiency of my own, or in any creature; let me never be ashamed, let me not be disappointed of any of that good which thou hast promised me and which therefore I have promised myself in thee." 1. He had chosen God for his protector, and God had, by his promise, undertaken to be so (v. 3): "Thou art my rock and my fortress, by thy covenant with me and my believing consent to that covenant; therefore be my strong rock," v. 2. Those that have in sincerity avouched the Lord for theirs may expect the benefit of his being so; for God's relations to us carry with them both name and thing. Thou art my strength, v. 4. If God be our strength, we may hope that he will both put his strength in us and put forth his strength for us. 2. He gave up his soul in a special manner to him (v. 5): Into thy hands I commit my spirit. (1.) If David here looks upon himself as a dying man, by these words he resigns his departing soul to God who gave it, and to whom, at death, the spirit returns. "Men can but kill the body, but I trust in God to redeem my soul from the power of the grave," Ps. 49:15. He is willing to die if God will have it so; but let my soul fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercies are great. With these words our Lord Jesus yielded up the ghost upon the cross, and made his soul an offering, a free-will offering for sin, voluntarily laying down his life a ransom. By Stephen's example we are taught in, our dying moment, to eye Christ at God's right hand, and to commit our spirits to him: Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. But, 2. David is here to be looked upon as a man in distress and trouble. And, [1.] His great care is about his soul, his spirit, his better part. Note, Our outward afflictions should increase our concern for our souls. Many think that while they are perplexed about their worldly affairs, and Providence multiplies their cares about them, they may be excused if they neglect their souls; whereas the greater hazard our lives and secular interests lie at the more we are concerned to look to our souls, that, though the outward man perish, the inward man may suffer no damage (2 Co. 4:16), and that we may keep possession of our souls when we can keep possession of nothing else, Lu. 21:19. [2.] He thinks the best he can do for the soul is to commit it into the hand of God, and lodge that great trust with him. He had prayed (v. 4) to be plucked out of the net of outward trouble, but, as not insisting upon that (God's will be done), he immediately lets fall that petition, and commits the spirit, the inward man, into God's hand. "Lord, however it goes with me, as to my body, let it go well with my soul." Note, It is the wisdom and duty of every one of us solemnly to commit our spirits into the hands of God, to be sanctified by his grace, devoted to his honour, employed in his service, and fitted for his kingdom. That which encourages us to commit our spirits into the hand of God is that he has not only created, but redeemed, them; the particular redemptions of the Old-Testament church and the Old-Testament saints were typical of our redemption by Jesus Christ, Gen. 48:16. The redemption of the soul is so precious that it must have ceased for ever if Christ had not undertaken it; but, by redeeming our souls, he has not only acquired an additional right and title to them, which obliges us to commit them to him as his own, but has shown the extraordinary kindness and concern he has for them, which encourages us to commit them to him, to be preserved to his heavenly kingdom (2 Tim. 1:12): "Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth! redeem me according to a promise which thou wilt be true to."

III. He disclaimed all confederacy with those that made an arm of flesh their confidence (v. 6): I have hated those that regard lying vanities-idolaters (to some), who expect aid from false gods, which are vanity and a lie-astrologers, and those that give heed to them, so others. David abhorred the use of enchantments and divinations; he consulted not, nor even took notice of, the flight of birds or entrails of beasts, good omens or bad omens; they are lying vanities, and he not only did not regard them himself, but hated the wickedness of those that did. He trusted in God only, and not in any creature. His interest in the court or country, his retreats or strongholds, even Goliath's sword itself-these were lying vanities, which he could not depend upon, but trusted in the Lord only. See Ps. 40:4; Jer. 17:5.

IV. He comforted himself with his hope in God, and made himself, not only easy, but cheerful, with it, v. 7. Having relied on God's mercy, he will be glad and rejoice in it; and those know not how to value their hope in God who cannot find joy enough in that hope to counterbalance their grievances and silence their griefs.

V. He encouraged himself in this hope with the experiences he had had of late, and formerly, of God's goodness to him, which he mentions to the glory of God; he that has delivered doth and will. 1. God had taken notice of his afflictions and all the circumstances of them: "Thou hast considered my trouble, with wisdom to suit relief to it, with condescension and compassion regarding the low estate of they servant." 2. He had observed the temper of his spirit and the workings of his heart under his afflictions: "Thou hast known my soul in adversities, with a tender concern and care for it." God's eye is upon our souls when we are in trouble, to see whether they be humbled for sin, submissive to the will of God, and bettered by the affliction. If the soul, when cast down under affliction, has been lifted up to him in true devotion, he knows it. 3. He had rescued him out of the hands of Saul when he had him safe enough in Keilah (1 Sa. 23:7): "Thou hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy, but set me at liberty, in a large room, where I may shift for my own safety," v. 8. Christ's using those words (v. 5) upon the cross may warrant us to apply all this to Christ, who trusted in his Father and was supported and delivered by him, and (because he humbled himself) highly exalted, which it is proper to think of when we sing these verses, as also therein to acknowledge the experience we have had of God's gracious presence with us in our troubles and to encourage ourselves to trust in him for the future.

Calvin's Commentary

1. In thee, O Jehovah! have I put my trust, let me not be ashamed for ever: deliver me in thy righteousness. 2. Incline thine ear unto me, deliver me speedily; be unto me a strong rock, a house of defense to save me. 3. For thou art my rock and my fortress: and for thy name's sake thou wilt lead and guide me. [635] 4. Pluck me out of the net which they have hidden for me; for thou art my strength.

1. In thee, O Jehovah! have I put my trust. Some are of opinion that this psalm was composed by David, after he had most unexpectedly escaped out of the wilderness of Maon; to which I do not object, although it is only a doubtful conjecture. Certainly he celebrates one or more of the greatest of his dangers. In the commencement he tells us what kind of prayer he offered in his agony and distress; and its language breathes affection of the most ardent nature. He takes it for a ground of hope that he trusted in the Lord, or continued to trust in him; for the verb in the past tense seems to denote a continued act. He held it as a principle, that the hope which depends upon God cannot possibly be disappointed. Meanwhile, we see how he brings forward nothing but faith alone; promising himself deliverance only because he is persuaded that he will be saved by the help and favor of God. But as this doctrine has been expounded already, and will yet occur oftener than once, it is sufficient at present to have glanced at it. Oh! that all of us would practice it in such a manner as that, whenever we approach to God, we may be able with David to declare that our prayers proceed from this source, namely, from a firm persuasion that our safety depends on the power of God. The particle signifying for ever may be explained in two ways. As God sometimes withdraws his favor, the meaning may not unsuitably be, Although I am now deprived of thy help, yet cast me not off utterly, or for evermore. Thus David, wishing to arm himself with patience against his temptations, would make a contrast between these two things, -- being in distress for a time, and remaining in a state of confusion. [636] But if any one choose rather to understand his words in this way, "Whatever afflictions befall me, may God be ready to help me, and ever and anon stretch forth his hand to me, as the case requires," I would not reject this meaning any more than the other. David desires to be delivered in the righteousness of God, because God displays his righteousness in performing his promise to his servants. It is too much refinement of reasoning to assert that David here betakes himself to the righteousness which God freely bestows on his people, because his own righteousness by works was of no avail. Still more out of place is the opinion of those who think that God preserves the saints according to his righteousness; that is to say, because having acted so meritoriously, justice requires that they should obtain their reward. It is easy to see from the frequent use of the term in The Psalms, that God's righteousness means his faithfulness, in the exercise of which he defends all his people who commit themselves to his guardianship and protection. David, therefore, confirms his hope from the consideration of the nature of God, who cannot deny himself, and who always continues like himself.

2. incline thine ear unto me. These words express with how much ardor David's soul was stimulated to pray. He affects no splendid or ornate language, as rhetoricians are wont to do; but only describes in suitable figures the vehemence of his desire. In praying that he may be delivered speedily there is shown the greatness of his danger, as if he had said, All will soon be over with my life, unless God make haste to help me. By the words, house of defense, fortress, and rock, he intimates, that, being unable to resist his enemies, his hope rests only on the protection of God.

3. For thou art my rock. This verse may be read as one sentence, thus: As thou art like a tower for my defense, for thy name's sake direct and guide me during my whole life. And thus the conjunction, as in many similar cases, would be superfluous. But I rather prefer a different sense, namely, that David, by interjecting this reflection, encourages himself not only to earnestness in prayer, but also in the confident hope of obtaining his requests. We know, at all events, that it is usual with him to mingle such things in his prayers as may serve to remove his doubts, and to confirm his assurance. Having, therefore, expressed his need, he assures himself, in order to encourage and animate himself, that his prayer shall certainly have a happy answer. He had formerly said, Be thou my strong rock and fortress; and now he adds, Assuredly thou art my rock, and my fortress: intimating, that he did not throw out these words rashly, like unbelievers, who, although they are accustomed to ask much from God, are kept in suspense by the dread of uncertain events. From this he also draws another encouragement, that he shall have God for his guide and governor during the whole course of his life. He uses two words, lead and guide, to express the same thing, and this he does (at least so I explain it) on account of the various accidents and unequal vicissitudes by which the lives of men are tried: as if he had said, Whether I must climb the steep mountain, or struggle along through rough places, or walk among thorns, I trust that thou wilt be my continual guide. Moreover, as men will always find in themselves matter for doubt, if they look to their own merits, [637] David expressly asks that God may be induced to help him for his own name's sake, or from regard to his own glory, as, properly speaking, there is no other thing which can induce him to aid us. It must therefore be remembered, that God's name, as it is opposed to all merit whatever, is the only cause of our salvation. In the next verse, under the metaphor of a net, he appears to designate the snares and artifices with which his enemies encompassed him. We know that conspiracies were frequently formed against his life, which would have left him no room for escape; and as his enemies were deeply skilled in policy, and hating him with an inconceivable hatred, were eagerly bent on his destruction, it was impossible for him to be saved from them by any human power. On this account he calls God his strength; as if he had said, He alone is sufficient to rend asunder all the snares with which he sees his afflicted people entangled.

Footnotes:

[635] "Ou, adresse moy et conduy." -- Fr. marg. "Or, do thou direct and guide me."

[636] "Feroit une antithese entre ces deux choses, Estre en destresse pour un temps, et demeurer confus." -- Fr.

[637] "Si los hommes regardent a leur dignite." -- Fr.

Links

Psalm 31 Commentaries: Barnes • Calvin • Clarke • Darby • Gill • Geneva • Guzik • JFB • Keil / Delitzsch • KJV Translators' • Henry's Concise • Matthew Henry • Scofield • TSK • Treasury of David • Wesley

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New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org.

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Hid in Light
'Thou shall 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.'--PSALM xxxi. 20. The word rendered 'presence' is literally 'face,' and the force of this very remarkable expression of confidence is considerably marred unless that rendering be retained. There are other analogous expressions in Scripture, setting forth, under various metaphors, God's protection of them that love Him. But I know not that there is any …
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St. Augustine—Against Lying

The Death of the Righteous
'For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.' Phil 1:1I. Paul was a great admirer of Christ. He desired to know nothing but Christ, and him crucified. I Cor 2:2. No medicine like the blood of Christ; and in the text, For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.' I. For to me to live is Christ. We must understand Paul of a spiritual life. For to me to live is Christ, i.e.' Christ is my life; so Gregory of Nyssa; or thus, my life is made up of Christ. As a wicked man's life is made up of sin, …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

How they are to be Admonished who Lament Sins of Deed, and those who Lament Only Sins of Thought.
(Admonition 30.) Differently to be admonished are those who deplore sins of deed, and those who deplore sins of thought. For those who deplore sins of deed are to be admonished that perfected lamentations should wash out consummated evils, lest they be bound by a greater debt of perpetrated deed than they pay in tears of satisfaction for it. For it is written, He hath given us drink in tears by measure (Ps. lxxix. 6): which means that each person's soul should in its penitence drink the tears …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

The Nature of Justification
Justification in the active sense (iustificatio, {GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA}) is defined by the Tridentine Council as "a translation from that state wherein man is born a child of the first Adam, to the state of grace and of the adoption of the sons of God through the second Adam, …
Joseph Pohle—Grace, Actual and Habitual

"The Truth. " Some Generals Proposed.
That what we are to speak to for the clearing and improving this noble piece of truth, that Christ is the Truth, may be the more clearly understood and edifying, we shall first take notice of some generals, and then show particularly how or in what respects Christ is called the Truth; and finally speak to some cases wherein we are to make use of Christ as the Truth. As to the first. There are four general things here to be noticed. 1. This supposeth what our case by nature is, and what we are all …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Jesus, My Rock.
When the storm and the tempest are raging around me, Oh! where shall I flee to be safe from their shock? There are walls which no mortal hands built to surround me, A Refuge Eternal,--'Tis JESUS MY ROCK! When my heart is all sorrow, and trials aggrieve me, To whom can I safely my secrets unlock? No bosom (save one) has the power to relieve me, The bosom which bled for me, JESUS MY ROCK! When Life's gloomy curtain, at last, shall close o'er me, And the chill hand of death unexpectedly knock, I will …
John Ross Macduff—The Cities of Refuge: or, The Name of Jesus

The Communion of Saints.
"The Saints on earth, and those above, But one communion make; Joined to their Lord in bonds of love, All of His grace partake." The history of the extension of the Church of Christ from one land to another, and of the successive victories won by the Cross over heathen races from age to age, gives by itself a very imperfect idea of the meaning of the words "The Holy Catholic Church." Because, with the outward extension of the Church, its influence upon the inner man needs always to be considered. …
Edward Burbidge—The Kingdom of Heaven; What is it?

Of Faith. The Definition of It. Its Peculiar Properties.
1. A brief recapitulation of the leading points of the whole discussion. The scope of this chapter. The necessity of the doctrine of faith. This doctrine obscured by the Schoolmen, who make God the object of faith, without referring to Christ. The Schoolmen refuted by various passages. 2. The dogma of implicit faith refuted. It destroys faith, which consists in a knowledge of the divine will. What this will is, and how necessary the knowledge of it. 3. Many things are and will continue to be implicitly …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion