King James Version
Psalms 31
24 verses with commentary
Into Your Hand I Commit My Spirit
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.
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KJV Study Commentary
The declaration 'In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness' expresses covenant confidence. Trust in God provides security against ultimate shame. The petition for deliverance appeals to God's 'righteousness'—His covenant faithfulness and moral perfection. Reformed theology emphasizes that God's righteousness guarantees believers' security—He canno...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(1) The words of this verse are interesting as being the last words of Xavier, and as concluding the *Te Deum.*
Psalm 31:1-3 occur again with slight variations in Psalm 71:1-3.
**Let me never.**—Literally, *let me not for ever be ashamed.*
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**3. bow themselves--**in parturition; bend on their knees (1Sa 4:19).
**bring forth--**literally, "cause their young to cleave the womb and break forth."
**sorrows--**their young ones, the cause of their momentary pains.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 31
Chapter Outline
Job declares his uprightness.(1-8)
His integrity.(9-15)
Job merciful.(16-23)
Job not guilty of covetousness or idolatry.(24-32)
Job not guilty of hypocrisy and violence.(33-40)
**Verses 1-8**
Job did not speak the things here recorded by way of boasting, but in answer to the charge of hypocrisy. He understood the spiritual nature of God's co...
Read full commentary →Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me. my: Heb. to me for a rock of strength
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KJV Study Commentary
The plea 'Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me' uses imagery of God stooping to listen and providing secure refuge. 'Bow down thine ear' depicts God's condescension—He stoops to hear human cries. 'Strong rock' and 'house of defence' emphasize impregnable security. Reformed theology sees divine accommodation—God graciously attends...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **My strong rock.**—Literally,
“Thou art to me for a rock of a stronghold,
For a house of fortresses to save me.”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4. are in good liking--**in good condition, grow up strong.
**with corn--**rather, "in the field," without man's care.
**return not--**being able to provide for themselves.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 31
Chapter Outline
Job declares his uprightness.(1-8)
His integrity.(9-15)
Job merciful.(16-23)
Job not guilty of covetousness or idolatry.(24-32)
Job not guilty of hypocrisy and violence.(33-40)
**Verses 1-8**
Job did not speak the things here recorded by way of boasting, but in answer to the charge of hypocrisy. He understood the spiritual nature of God's co...
Read full commentary →For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me.
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KJV Study Commentary
The petition 'For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me' appeals to God's revealed character as basis for continued guidance. Because God is rock and fortress, He should act consistently—leading and guiding. 'For thy name's sake' means 'according to Your character.' Reformed theology emphasizes that God's glory motivates His actions toward His people...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **Rock.**—As rock in this verse is *selâ *(LXX. and Vulg., “strength”) instead of *tsûr, *as in Psalm 31:2, it is better to render “for thou art my cliff fortress;” literally, *cliff and fortress.*
**For thy name’s sake**—*i.e.*, because Thou hast this name of rock and fortress.
**Lead me, and guide me.**—The future is better,
“Thou wilt lead and guide me.”
To pray for protection and then stou...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5. wild ass--**Two different Hebrew words are here used for the same animal, "the ass of the woods" and "the wild ass." (See on Job 6:5; Job 11:12; Job 24:5; and Jr 2:24).
**loosed the bands--**given its liberty to. Man can rob animals of freedom, but not, as God, give freedom, combined with subordination to fixed laws.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 31
Chapter Outline
Job declares his uprightness.(1-8)
His integrity.(9-15)
Job merciful.(16-23)
Job not guilty of covetousness or idolatry.(24-32)
Job not guilty of hypocrisy and violence.(33-40)
**Verses 1-8**
Job did not speak the things here recorded by way of boasting, but in answer to the charge of hypocrisy. He understood the spiritual nature of God's co...
Read full commentary →Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength.
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KJV Study Commentary
The prayer 'Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength' asks for deliverance from hidden traps. Enemies set nets secretly; only God can rescue from unseen dangers. The basis: 'thou art my strength.' Reformed theology emphasizes that believers lack strength to escape spiritual dangers—Satan, world, flesh lay nets that human wisdom cannot detect or strength e...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **The net.**—This image is a common one in the Psalms. (Comp. Psalm 10:9, &c)
**Laid privily.**—Literally, *hidden. *Translate still by the future, *thou wilt pull me out.*
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. barren--**literally, "salt," that is, unfruitful. (So Psa 107:34, Margin.)
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 31
Chapter Outline
Job declares his uprightness.(1-8)
His integrity.(9-15)
Job merciful.(16-23)
Job not guilty of covetousness or idolatry.(24-32)
Job not guilty of hypocrisy and violence.(33-40)
**Verses 1-8**
Job did not speak the things here recorded by way of boasting, but in answer to the charge of hypocrisy. He understood the spiritual nature of God's co...
Read full commentary →Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.</strong> This verse expresses ultimate trust in God's faithfulness and became Jesus' final words from the cross (Luke 23:46), establishing a profound typological connection between David's trust and Christ's perfect surrender.<br><br>The Hebrew word for commit (paqad) means to entrust or deposit for safekeeping...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **I commit.**—Most memorable, even among expressions of the Psalms, as the dying words of our Lord Himself (Luke 23:46), and a long line of Christian worthies. Polycarp, Bernard, Huss, Henry V., Jerome of Prague, Luther, Melancthon, are some of the many who have passed away comforted and upheld by the psalmist’s expression of trust. But death was not in his thought, it was in life, amid its tr...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7. multitude--**rather, "din"; he sets it at defiance, being far away from it in the freedom of the wilderness.
**driver--**who urges on the tame ass to work. The wild ass is the symbol of uncontrolled freedom in the East; even kings have, therefore, added its name to them.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 31
Chapter Outline
Job declares his uprightness.(1-8)
His integrity.(9-15)
Job merciful.(16-23)
Job not guilty of covetousness or idolatry.(24-32)
Job not guilty of hypocrisy and violence.(33-40)
**Verses 1-8**
Job did not speak the things here recorded by way of boasting, but in answer to the charge of hypocrisy. He understood the spiritual nature of God's co...
Read full commentary →I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the LORD.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the LORD.</strong> This verse declares a fundamental choice between worthless idols and the faithful covenant God. The Hebrew phrase "lying vanities" (<em>havlei-shav</em>, הַבְלֵי־שָׁוְא) combines two words for emptiness, falsehood, and worthlessness—describing idols as deceptive nothings that promise much but deliver nothing. T...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **Lying vanities.**—Literally, *breath of lies *(Jonah 2:8), undoubtedly *idols, *as the parallelism in Jeremiah 8:19 shows. It was the term adopted by the Deuteronomist (Deuteronomy 32:21) and apparently brought into use by him.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8. The range--**literally, "searching," "that which it finds by searching is his pasture."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 31
Chapter Outline
Job declares his uprightness.(1-8)
His integrity.(9-15)
Job merciful.(16-23)
Job not guilty of covetousness or idolatry.(24-32)
Job not guilty of hypocrisy and violence.(33-40)
**Verses 1-8**
Job did not speak the things here recorded by way of boasting, but in answer to the charge of hypocrisy. He understood the spiritual nature of God's co...
Read full commentary →I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities.</strong> David moves from petition to praise, demonstrating faith that rejoices before deliverance because God's mercy is already at work in acknowledging suffering.<br><br>The future tense (I will be glad) based on past tense (thou hast considered) reveals faith's logic. D...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9. unicorn--**Pliny [Natural History, 8.21], mentions such an animal; its figure is found depicted in the ruins of Persepolis. The Hebrew reem conveys the idea of loftiness and power (compare Ramah; Indian, Ram; Latin, Roma). The rhinoceros was perhaps the original type of the unicorn. The Arab rim is a two-horned animal. Sometimes "unicorn" or reem is a mere poetical symbol or abstraction; but ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 31
Chapter Outline
Job declares his uprightness.(1-8)
His integrity.(9-15)
Job merciful.(16-23)
Job not guilty of covetousness or idolatry.(24-32)
Job not guilty of hypocrisy and violence.(33-40)
**Verses 1-8**
Job did not speak the things here recorded by way of boasting, but in answer to the charge of hypocrisy. He understood the spiritual nature of God's co...
Read full commentary →And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room.</strong> Divine deliverance using spatial imagery—God prevented confinement and provided spacious freedom, metaphors rich with theological significance for salvation.<br><br>Hast not shut me up (Hebrew sagar—to confine) celebrates that God didn't deliver David to enemies' control. This negative state...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **Shut me up into the hand.**—This is the exact phrase used by David (1Samuel 23:11-12) in consulting the Divine oracle by the ephod. But this does not prove the authorship, for it was evidently a common phrase. (See 1Samuel 24:18; 1Samuel 26:8; 2Kings 17:4.)
**Large room.**—Comp. Psalm 4:1; Psalm 18:19.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. his band--**fastened to the horns, as its chief strength lies in the head and shoulders.
**after thee--**obedient to thee; willing to follow, instead of being goaded on before thee.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 31
Chapter Outline
Job declares his uprightness.(1-8)
His integrity.(9-15)
Job merciful.(16-23)
Job not guilty of covetousness or idolatry.(24-32)
Job not guilty of hypocrisy and violence.(33-40)
**Verses 1-8**
Job did not speak the things here recorded by way of boasting, but in answer to the charge of hypocrisy. He understood the spiritual nature of God's co...
Read full commentary →Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly.</strong> David returns to petition, demonstrating that faith's assurance doesn't eliminate honest acknowledgment of suffering. This presents totality of human affliction—emotional, spiritual, physical.<br><br>Have mercy (Hebrew chanan—show favor, be gracious) appeals not to deservin...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **Mine eye is consumed . . .**—Comp. Psalm 6:7. It was an old idea that the eye could weep itself away. It is an actual fact that the disease *glaucoma *is very much influenced by mental emotions.
**Belly.**—Better, *body*—both mind and body were suffering.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11. thy labour--**rustic work.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-18**
David's troubles made him a man of sorrows. Herein he was a type of Christ, who was acquainted with grief. David acknowledged that his afflictions were merited by his own sins, but Christ suffered for ours. David's friends durst not give him any assistance. Let us not think it strange if thus deserted, but make sure of a Friend in heaven who will not fail. God will be sure to o...
Read full commentary →For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.</strong> David traces suffering to root cause—iniquity—while describing all-encompassing effects across time, vitality, physicality. This demonstrates Reformed conviction about sin's destructiveness.<br><br>My life is spent with grief uses economic terminolog...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **Iniquity.**—Gesenius and Ewald understand, the *suffering *that follows on sin rather than the *iniquity *itself, a meaning that certainly seems to suit the context better. The LXX. and Vulg. have “poverty.”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**12. believe--**trust.
**seed--**produce (1Sa 8:15).
**into thy barn--**rather, "gather (the contents of) thy threshing-floor" [Maurer]; the corn threshed on it.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-18**
David's troubles made him a man of sorrows. Herein he was a type of Christ, who was acquainted with grief. David acknowledged that his afflictions were merited by his own sins, but Christ suffered for ours. David's friends durst not give him any assistance. Let us not think it strange if thus deserted, but make sure of a Friend in heaven who will not fail. God will be sure to o...
Read full commentary →I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance: they that did see me without fled from me.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance: they that did see me without fled from me.</strong> Social death—isolation and rejection compounding physical and emotional suffering. This illustrates how sin and suffering alienate from community, prefiguring Christ's rejection.<br><br>A reproach (cherpah—disgrace, scorn) means D...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) The adverb rendered *especially *seems out of place. It is therefore better to take it as a noun, in the sense of burden, a sense etymologically probable.
“Because of all mine oppressors I have become a reproach,
And to my neighbours a burden,
And a fear to my acquaintance.”
**Fled.**—Literally, *fluttered away like frightened birds.*
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13. Rather, "the wing of the ostrich hen"--**literally, "the crying bird"; as the Arab name for it means "song"; referring to its night cries (Job 30:29; Mi 1:8) vibrating joyously. "Is it not like the quill and feathers of the pious bird" (the stork)? [Umbreit]. The vibrating, quivering wing, serving for sail and oar at once, is characteristic of the ostrich in full course. Its white and black ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-18**
David's troubles made him a man of sorrows. Herein he was a type of Christ, who was acquainted with grief. David acknowledged that his afflictions were merited by his own sins, but Christ suffered for ours. David's friends durst not give him any assistance. Let us not think it strange if thus deserted, but make sure of a Friend in heaven who will not fail. God will be sure to o...
Read full commentary →I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel. a broken: Heb. a vessel that perisheth
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel.</strong> Two powerful metaphors describing complete insignificance and uselessness—forgotten like the dead, discarded like broken pottery. These convey psychological devastation of feeling worthless and purposeless.<br><br>Forgotten as a dead man captures identity erasure. Hebrew shakach means to cease to care for, ignore...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **Broken vessel.**—A favourite image with Jeremiah (Jeremiah 19:11; Jeremiah 22:28; Jeremiah 25:34; Jeremiah 48:38), but not peculiar to him among the prophets. (Comp. Hosea 8:8, and see Introduction to this psalm.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
14-15. Yet (unlike the stork) she "leaveth," &c. Hence called by the Arabs "the impious bird." However, the fact is, she lays her eggs with great care and hatches them, as other birds do; but in hot countries the eggs do not need so constant incubation; she therefore often leaves them and sometimes forgets the place on her return. Moreover, the outer eggs, intended for food, she feeds to her y...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-18**
David's troubles made him a man of sorrows. Herein he was a type of Christ, who was acquainted with grief. David acknowledged that his afflictions were merited by his own sins, but Christ suffered for ours. David's friends durst not give him any assistance. Let us not think it strange if thus deserted, but make sure of a Friend in heaven who will not fail. God will be sure to o...
Read full commentary →For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life.</strong> Organized opposition—not random hostility but coordinated conspiracy. This reveals how slander, fear, and violence converge when God's servants face worldly opposition, prefiguring conspiracy against Christ.<br><br>Slander of many (Hebrew di...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) Again comp. Jeremiah 20:10, which reproduces word for word the first two clauses. The expression rendered “fear on every side” was actually a motto of the prophet (Jeremiah 6:25; Jeremiah 20:3, margin; Jeremiah 46:5; Jeremiah 49:29. Comp. Lamentations 2:22). But the most probable derivation makes the noun mean not *terror *but *conspiracy, *while for *slander *here we must render *whisper.*
“...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
14-15. Yet (unlike the stork) she "leaveth," &c. Hence called by the Arabs "the impious bird." However, the fact is, she lays her eggs with great care and hatches them, as other birds do; but in hot countries the eggs do not need so constant incubation; she therefore often leaves them and sometimes forgets the place on her return. Moreover, the outer eggs, intended for food, she feeds to her y...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-18**
David's troubles made him a man of sorrows. Herein he was a type of Christ, who was acquainted with grief. David acknowledged that his afflictions were merited by his own sins, but Christ suffered for ours. David's friends durst not give him any assistance. Let us not think it strange if thus deserted, but make sure of a Friend in heaven who will not fail. God will be sure to o...
Read full commentary →But I trusted in thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my God.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But I trusted in thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my God.</strong> After thirteen verses of lament, David pivots with but, introducing faith response that transforms perspective. This demonstrates Reformed conviction about trust as appropriate response to all circumstances, grounded in God's covenant relationship.<br><br>But I trusted signals decisive turn. Hebrew batach means to trust, feel...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **But I.**—Emphatic, in contrast to the pretended panic and in spite of the real dangers around him.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
16. On a slight noise she often forsakes her eggs, and returns not, as if she were "hardened towards her young."
**her labour--**in producing eggs, is in vain, (yet) she has not disquietude (about her young), unlike other birds, who, if one egg and another are taken away, will go on laying till their full number is made up.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-18**
David's troubles made him a man of sorrows. Herein he was a type of Christ, who was acquainted with grief. David acknowledged that his afflictions were merited by his own sins, but Christ suffered for ours. David's friends durst not give him any assistance. Let us not think it strange if thus deserted, but make sure of a Friend in heaven who will not fail. God will be sure to o...
Read full commentary →My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.</strong> Divine sovereignty over life's chronology while petitioning for deliverance—demonstrating that trusting God's control doesn't eliminate prayer but grounds it. Core Reformed convictions about providence and prayer.<br><br>My times are in thy hand declares God's sovereignty over Davi...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **My times are in thy hand**—*i.e.*, the vicissitudes of human life (LXX. and Vulg. have “my destinies”) are under Divine control, so that the machinations of the foe cannot prevail against one whom God intends to deliver. For the expression comp. 1Chronicles 29:30, “the times that went over him,” Isaiah 33:6.
The sense of security in this trusting phrase may be contrasted with the feeling of...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17. wisdom--**such as God gives to other animals, and to man (Job 35:11). The Arab proverb is, "foolish as an ostrich." Yet her very seeming want of wisdom is not without wise design of God, though man cannot see it; just as in the trials of the godly, which seem so unreasonable to Job, there lies hid a wise design.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-18**
David's troubles made him a man of sorrows. Herein he was a type of Christ, who was acquainted with grief. David acknowledged that his afflictions were merited by his own sins, but Christ suffered for ours. David's friends durst not give him any assistance. Let us not think it strange if thus deserted, but make sure of a Friend in heaven who will not fail. God will be sure to o...
Read full commentary →Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies' sake.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies' sake.</strong> Petition for God's favorable presence (shining face) and salvation grounded in divine mercy, not human merit. This encapsulates covenant theology—salvation as gift, not wage; grace, not debt.<br><br>Make thy face to shine invokes Aaronic blessing (Numbers 6:25). Shining face represents God's favor, pleasure, b...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **Make thy face to shine.**—As in Psalm 4:6, an echo of the priestly blessing. (Numbers 6:24-26.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
18. Notwithstanding her deficiencies, she has distinguishing excellences.
**lifteth ... herself--**for running; she cannot mount in the air. Gesenius translates: "lashes herself" up to her course by flapping her wings. The old versions favor English Version, and the parallel "scorneth" answers to her proudly "lifting up herself."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-18**
David's troubles made him a man of sorrows. Herein he was a type of Christ, who was acquainted with grief. David acknowledged that his afflictions were merited by his own sins, but Christ suffered for ours. David's friends durst not give him any assistance. Let us not think it strange if thus deserted, but make sure of a Friend in heaven who will not fail. God will be sure to o...
Read full commentary →Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave. silent: or, cut off for
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave.</strong> Prayer for vindication through contrast between righteous who call upon God and wicked who will be silenced. This addresses theodicy—God's justice in distinguishing between His people and enemies.<br><br>Let me not be ashamed (Hebrew bosh—put to shame, disapp...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
19. The allusion to "the horse" (Job 39:18), suggests the description of him. Arab poets delight in praising the horse; yet it is not mentioned in the possessions of Job (Job 1:3; 42:12). It seems to have been at the time chiefly used for war, rather than "domestic purposes."
**thunder--**poetically for, "he with arched neck inspires fear as thunder does." Translate, "majesty" [Umbreit]. Rather ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-18**
David's troubles made him a man of sorrows. Herein he was a type of Christ, who was acquainted with grief. David acknowledged that his afflictions were merited by his own sins, but Christ suffered for ours. David's friends durst not give him any assistance. Let us not think it strange if thus deserted, but make sure of a Friend in heaven who will not fail. God will be sure to o...
Read full commentary →Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous. grievous: Heb. a hard thing
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.</strong> Prayer for divine action against slanderers, targeting their speech—weapon used against God's people. This imprecatory request reveals seriousness of false witness and slander in God's moral economy.<br><br>Let the lying lips be put to silence continues verse 17's th...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(18) **Silence.**—As a different word is used from that rendered *silent *in Psalm 31:17, translate *let the lying lips be made dumb.*
**Grievous.**—Better, *arrogant, *as in 1Samuel 2:3. (Comp. Psalm 94:4.) So in Psalm 75:5, “a stiff neck” is *a neck thrown impudently back.*
**Proudly and contemptuously.**—Literally, *in pride and contempt.*
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**20. make ... afraid--**rather, "canst thou (as I do) make him spring as the locust?" So in Joe 2:4, the comparison is between locusts and war-horses. The heads of the two are so similar that the Italians call the locusts cavaletta, "little horse."
**nostrils--**snorting furiously.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-18**
David's troubles made him a man of sorrows. Herein he was a type of Christ, who was acquainted with grief. David acknowledged that his afflictions were merited by his own sins, but Christ suffered for ours. David's friends durst not give him any assistance. Let us not think it strange if thus deserted, but make sure of a Friend in heaven who will not fail. God will be sure to o...
Read full commentary →Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!</strong> After extended lament, David breaks into praise, contemplating God's stored-up goodness for those who fear and trust Him. This provides both comfort in present suffering and hope for future reward.<br><br>Oh how great expresses ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(19) **Laid up.**—Better, *hidden, *(*Heb. tsaphan; *comp. Psalm 17:14; Obadiah 1:6), as a treasure for the faithful, and now brought out and displayed in the presence “of the sons of men.”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**21. valley--**where the battle is joined.
**goeth on--**goeth forth (Nu 1:3; 21:23).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 19-24**
Instead of yielding to impatience or despondency under our troubles, we should turn our thoughts to the goodness of the Lord towards those who fear and trust in Him. All comes to sinners through the wondrous gift of the only-begotten Son of God, to be the atonement for their sins. Let not any yield to unbelief, or think, under discouraging circumstances, that they are cut off ...
Read full commentary →Thou shalt 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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Thou shalt 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.</strong> God's protective care using imagery of hiddenness and security—secret place of God's presence provides refuge from human pride and verbal assault. This comforts believers facing opposition by emphasizing God's sheltering power.<br><br>Th...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(20) **The secret of thy presence.**—Better, *in the hiding-place of thy countenance, *a beautiful thought and common in the Psalms, although expressed by different images. In Psalm 27:5, “the hiding-place of his tabernacle;*” *61:4, “of his wings;” 91:1, “of his shadow.”
The form the same image takes in the Christian’s hope is beautifully expressed by Tennyson:
“To lie within the light of God as ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 19-24**
Instead of yielding to impatience or despondency under our troubles, we should turn our thoughts to the goodness of the Lord towards those who fear and trust in Him. All comes to sinners through the wondrous gift of the only-begotten Son of God, to be the atonement for their sins. Let not any yield to unbelief, or think, under discouraging circumstances, that they are cut off ...
Read full commentary →Blessed be the LORD: for he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city. strong: or, fenced
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Blessed be the LORD: for he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city.</strong> David's lament transforms fully into praise as he declares God's covenant love demonstrated through deliverance. This models faith journey from petition through trust to thanksgiving—pattern of many Psalms and much Christian experience.<br><br>Blessed be the LORD initiates worship. Hebrew baruk me...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(21) **Shewed me his marvellous kindness . . .**—Better, *made his kindness distinguished *or *manifest, *referring to Psalm 31:19.
**In a strong city.**—Some see a reference to David’s adventures at Ziklag or Keilah; others to Jeremiah’s in Jerusalem (Jeremiah 38). It is, however, better to regard it merely as a general image of the Divine protection.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**23. quiver--**for the arrows, which they contain, and which are directed "against him."
**glittering spear--**literally, "glittering of the spear," like "lightning of the spear" (Ha 3:11).
**shield--**rather, "lance."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 19-24**
Instead of yielding to impatience or despondency under our troubles, we should turn our thoughts to the goodness of the Lord towards those who fear and trust in Him. All comes to sinners through the wondrous gift of the only-begotten Son of God, to be the atonement for their sins. Let not any yield to unbelief, or think, under discouraging circumstances, that they are cut off ...
Read full commentary →For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.</strong> David confesses moment of faithless panic (I am cut off) contrasted with God's actual faithfulness (thou heardest). This models honest acknowledgment of doubt while testifying to God's mercy despite our unbelief.<br><br>For I said introduces...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(22) **In my haste . . .**—Literally, *in my fleeing away in fear. *Jerome, Aquila, and Symmachus, “in my confusion.”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**24. swalloweth--**Fretting with impatience, he draws the ground towards him with his hoof, as if he would swallow it. The parallelism shows this to be the sense; not as Maurer, "scours over it."
**neither believeth--**for joy. Rather, "he will not stand still, when the note of the trumpet (soundeth)."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 19-24**
Instead of yielding to impatience or despondency under our troubles, we should turn our thoughts to the goodness of the Lord towards those who fear and trust in Him. All comes to sinners through the wondrous gift of the only-begotten Son of God, to be the atonement for their sins. Let not any yield to unbelief, or think, under discouraging circumstances, that they are cut off ...
Read full commentary →O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.</strong> David transitions from personal testimony to communal exhortation, calling God's people to love Him based on demonstrated faithfulness. This establishes moral order: God protects faithful and judges proud, making love for God the only wise response.<br><br>O love the...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(23) **Preserveth the faithful.**—Or, perhaps, by rendering by the abstract instead of the concrete, *keeps faith. *The LXX. and Vulg. have “requireth truths.”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**25. saith--**poetically applied to his mettlesome neighing, whereby he shows his love of the battle.
**smelleth--**snuffeth; discerneth (Is 11:3, Margin).
**thunder--**thundering voice.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 19-24**
Instead of yielding to impatience or despondency under our troubles, we should turn our thoughts to the goodness of the Lord towards those who fear and trust in Him. All comes to sinners through the wondrous gift of the only-begotten Son of God, to be the atonement for their sins. Let not any yield to unbelief, or think, under discouraging circumstances, that they are cut off ...
Read full commentary →Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.</strong> Psalm 31 concludes with exhortation to courage grounded in divine strengthening, addressed to all who hope in God. This provides pastoral encouragement for persevering faith—courage is both commanded and enabled by God's empowering grace.<br><br>Be of good courage (Hebrew chazaq—be strong, firm, ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(24) **Be of good courage.**—Cf. Psalm 27:14.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
26. The instinct by which some birds migrate to warmer climes before winter. Rapid flying peculiarly characterizes the whole hawk genus.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 19-24**
Instead of yielding to impatience or despondency under our troubles, we should turn our thoughts to the goodness of the Lord towards those who fear and trust in Him. All comes to sinners through the wondrous gift of the only-begotten Son of God, to be the atonement for their sins. Let not any yield to unbelief, or think, under discouraging circumstances, that they are cut off ...
Read full commentary →