| Psalms 31 TO THE CHIEF MUSICIAN. A SONG OF DAVID [Psalms 31:1] IN THEE, O LORD, DO I PUT MY TRUST; LET ME NEVER BE ASHAMED: DELIVER ME IN THY RIGHTEOUSNESS. We pray to God to save us that we not fail but succeed and that our enemies not rejoice over our fall. We do not necessarily search for respect or honor but neither do we want shame. All those who trust in God and do righteously will be saved. This applies especially to Israel as a body when a large number of people direct their hearts towards the Almighty: BUT ISRAEL SHALL BE SAVED IN THE LORD WITH AN EVERLASTING SALVATION: YE SHALL NOT BE ASHAMED NOR CONFOUNDED WORLD WITHOUT END [Isaiah 45:17]. Sin brings shame. If we do righteously we will avoid it. We should also learn to connect different things that happen to us to our own actions and thoughts. In Hebrew the word for shame is "BUSHAH" from the the root "BOSH". From here in English we have the words "bashful" and possibly "base". The English word "Ashame" may be derived from the Hebrew "asham" meaning "guilty, culpable". Hebrew was once spoken by the ancestors of the English and Western Celtic peoples and by others of their kin. We should be aware of this. The Bible is your book. You have no other ancient heritage. [Psalms 31:2] BOW DOWN THINE EAR TO ME; DELIVER ME SPEEDILY: BE THOU MY STRONG ROCK, FOR AN HOUSE OF DEFENCE TO SAVE ME. [Psalms 31:3] FOR THOU ART MY ROCK AND MY FORTRESS; THEREFORE FOR THY NAME'S SAKE LEAD ME, AND GUIDE ME. Guidance is needed all the time. We ask God to direct us. [Psalms 31:4] PULL ME OUT OF THE NET THAT THEY HAVE LAID PRIVILY FOR ME: FOR THOU ART MY STRENGTH. The Radak says that David composed this Psalm when he was fleeing from Absalom who together with other discontents attempted to take over the kingdom (2-Samuel chapter 15). Absalom was his own son so the anguish was even greater. [Psalms 31:5] INTO THINE HAND I COMMIT MY SPIRIT: THOU HAST REDEEMED ME, O LORD GOD OF TRUTH. God is the God of Truth. We should try to always acknowledge the truth. We should endeavor to always tell the truth. In some cases one can change things and even give misinformation but these are exceptional. On the whole if one does not want to admit something one should learn to avoid doing so without lieing. There is a famous American poem in which the Narrator replies to his wife's questioning: "Them that ask no questions don't get told no lies". Answers like these are also acceptable. Apart from that, people get into the habit of "double thinking" about everything and saying things that are not so when there is no need for it. How many times have we caught ourselves doing the same or almost doing the same? It is not enough that a person sins because he thinks he may gain something but we even end up committing offences without reason or purpose. Make it a habit of trying to tell the truth all the time and it will come naturally and people will respect you for it. Telling the truth will enable you to see the truth and give you clear thinking. [Psalms 31:6] I HAVE HATED THEM THAT REGARD LYING VANITIES: BUT I TRUST IN THE LORD. This is a different matter. Many of those who do not go in the right path use ideological justifications for doing so. They fall back on "lying vanities" that they or others have invented. It is a common phenomenon that when a person first comes across ideas that nullify the Bible and Biblical values he rejects them since they do not ring true. He instinctively knows something is wrong with such vanities. If however he gives into temptation with something else he then falls back on the "lying vanities" to justify himself. I remember when I was young a group of us had a discussion about abortion. One of those present spoke against it and of the intrinsic value of all human life. When however the girlfriend of this same person became pregnant he seemed to change his mind. All of us in some way or other (sometimes in small matters) have tendencies of this nature. We are subject to ideaological bribery when what we perceive to be our own self-interests are involved. [Psalms 31:7] I WILL BE GLAD AND REJOICE IN THY MERCY: FOR THOU HAST CONSIDERED MY TROUBLE; THOU HAST KNOWN MY SOUL IN ADVERSITIES; [Psalms 31:8] AND HAST NOT SHUT ME UP INTO THE HAND OF THE ENEMY: THOU HAST SET MY FEET IN A LARGE ROOM. <<THOU HAST SET MY FEET IN A LARGE ROOM>>: Also translatable as saying: You have set my feet in wide spaces. You have given me my freedom and freedom of action. [Psalms 31:9] HAVE MERCY UPON ME, O LORD, FOR I AM IN TROUBLE: MINE EYE IS CONSUMED WITH GRIEF, YEA, MY SOUL AND MY BELLY. [Psalms 31:10] FOR MY LIFE IS SPENT WITH GRIEF, AND MY YEARS WITH SIGHING: MY STRENGTH FAILETH BECAUSE OF MINE INIQUITY, AND MY BONES ARE CONSUMED. A lot of sicknesses and troubles are caused by sin and incorrect lifestyles and attitudes. We would all be much healthier if we would try harder to go along the right track. It is also not really so difficult and it is even easier in the short term and a hundredfold more so in the long run. Even so we all need the help of the Almighty all the time. [Psalms 31:11] 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. When a person is down people tend to keep away from them. We also have this tendency. [Psalms 31:12] I AM FORGOTTEN AS A DEAD MAN OUT OF MIND: I AM LIKE A BROKEN VESSEL. [Psalms 31:13] 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. People told vicious lies against David and plotted to kill him. So too the pagan Islamic primitives tell horrible untruths against the West and especially against the Israelite nations of the USA and Britain and the Jewish State of Israel and the Jewish people in general. These untruths are actually believed and taken as axiomatic untruths by most pagans. Amongst Latin American Writers and intellectuals (even pro-Jewish ones such as Jorge Luis Borges) Medieval blood libels against the Jews are taken as "Gospel" Truth. It is "hip" to believe the most horrible things against Jews and against Americans. [Psalms 31:14] BUT I TRUSTED IN THEE, O LORD: I SAID, THOU ART MY GOD. In the end that is the only resort we have: to believe in God. God is the God of Truth. [Psalms 31:15] MY TIMES ARE IN THY HAND: DELIVER ME FROM THE HAND OF MINE ENEMIES, AND FROM THEM THAT PERSECUTE ME. [Psalms 31:16] MAKE THY FACE TO SHINE UPON THY SERVANT: SAVE ME FOR THY MERCIES' SAKE. [Psalms 31:17] 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. [Psalms 31:18] LET THE LYING LIPS BE PUT TO SILENCE; WHICH SPEAK GRIEVOUS THINGS PROUDLY AND CONTEMPTUOUSLY AGAINST THE RIGHTEOUS. [Psalms 31:19] 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! [Psalms 31:20] 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. [Psalms 31:21] BLESSED BE THE LORD: FOR HE HATH SHEWED ME HIS MARVELLOUS KINDNESS IN A STRONG CITY. [Psalms 31:22] 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. [Psalms 31:23] O LOVE THE LORD, ALL YE HIS SAINTS: FOR THE LORD PRESERVETH THE FAITHFUL, AND PLENTIFULLY REWARDETH THE PROUD DOER. <<AND PLENTIFULLY REWARDETH THE PROUD DOER>>: From the Hebrew this expression appears to mean: He Requites the Proud for their Superfluity, i.e. Those who are pround and vain assume things that are not so. The word translataed as "superfluity" her is "YETER" or "YeTHeR". It is the root of the English word "other". [Psalms 31:24] BE OF GOOD COURAGE, AND HE SHALL STRENGTHEN YOUR HEART, ALL YE THAT HOPE IN THE LORD. God will help us if we hope for his help. Psalms Index Home |