Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 31

In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust - This is the ground of the petitions that follow, or the reason why the psalmist thus appeals to God. It was his firm confidence in Him: in His character, in His promises, and in His ability to deliver Him in the time of danger. (Compare the notes at Psalms 7:1).

Let me never be ashamed - That is, let me never have occasion to be ashamed for having put this confidence in You. Let Your dealings toward me be such as to show that my confidence was well founded. The word is not used here in the sense of being unwilling to confess his faith in God, or his love for Him, as it is often now (Romans 5:5; and 2 Timothy 1:12), but in the sense of being so “disappointed” as to make one ashamed that he had thus relied on that which was unworthy of confidence.

See the notes at Job 6:20; compare also Isaiah 30:5, Jeremiah 2:26, and Jeremiah 14:3-4. The psalmist prays that God would intervene on his behalf in answer to his prayers. He asks that God would show He was worthy of the confidence placed in Him, or that He was a God who might be trusted in the time of trial. In other words, he prays that he might not be subjected to the reproach of the wicked for having relied upon such a God in his troubles.

Deliver me in thy righteousness - In the manifestation of Your righteous character; in the exhibition of that character as righteous; as doing justice between man and man; and as pronouncing a just sentence between me and my enemies.

Bow down thine ear to me - As He does who inclines His ear toward one whom He is willing to hear, or whom He is desirous of hearing. See the notes at Psalms 17:6.

Deliver me speedily - Without delay. Or, hasten to deliver me. It is right to pray to be delivered from all evil; equally right to pray to be delivered immediately.

Be thou my strong rock - Margin: “to me for a rock of strength.” See Psalms 18:1-2, note; Psalms 18:46, note.

For an house of defense to save me - A fortified house; a house made safe and strong. It is equivalent to praying that he might have a secure abode or dwelling-place.

For you are my rock and my fortress — see the notes at (Psalms 18:2).

Therefore for your name’s sake — for the sake of your own honor, or for the glory of your name. See the notes at (Psalms 23:3).

That is, since you are my rock and my defense—since I put my trust in you—show, by leading and guiding me, that my trust is well founded, or that this is Your character, and that You will be true and faithful to those who commit their all to you. See the notes at (Psalms 31:1).

Pull me out of the net - See the notes at (Psalms 9:15).

That they have laid privily for me - That my enemies have laid for me. The phrase “laid privily” refers to the custom of “hiding” or “concealing” a net or trap, so that the wild animal that was to be caught could not see it, or would fall into it unexpectedly. Thus, his enemies designed to overcome him, by springing a net upon him at a moment when he was not aware of it, and at a place where he did not suspect it.

For thou art my strength - My stronghold. My hope of defense is in you, and you alone.

Into thine hand I commit my spirit - The Savior used this expression when on the cross, and when about to die (Luke 23:46). But this does not prove that the psalm originally had a reference to him, or that he meant to intimate that the words originally were a prophecy. The language was appropriate for him, as it is for all others in the hour of death; and his use of the words furnished the highest illustration of their being appropriate in that hour. The act of the psalmist was an act of strong confidence in God in the midst of dangers and troubles; the act of the Savior was of the same nature, commending his spirit to God in the solemn hour of death. The same act of faith is proper for all God's people, alike in trouble and in death .

The word “spirit” may mean either “life,” considered as the animating principle, equivalent to the word “myself;” or it may mean more specifically the “soul,” as distinguished from the body. The sense is not materially varied by either interpretation.

Thou hast redeemed me - This was the ground or reason why the “psalmist” commended himself to God; this reason was not urged, and could not have been by the Savior, in his dying moments. He committed his departing spirit to God as his Father, and in virtue of the work which he had been appointed to do, and which he was now about finishing, as a Redeemer; we commit our souls to Him in virtue of having been redeemed. This is proper for us:

1. because he has redeemed us;
2. because we have been redeemed for him, and we may ask Him to take His own;
3. because this is a ground of safety, for if we have been redeemed, we may be certain that God will keep us;
4. and because this is the only ground of our security in reference to the future world.

What “David” may have understood by this word it may not be easy to determine with certainty; but there is no reason to doubt that he may have used it as expressive of the idea that he had been recovered from the ruin of the fall, and from the dominion of sin, and had been made a child of God. Nor do we need to doubt that he had such views of the way of salvation that he would feel that he was redeemed only by an atonement, or by the shedding of blood for his sins.

For all Christians, their redemption by the blood of the Savior is enough to authorize them to use this language in the midst of troubles and dangers, and in the hour of death; for none of us is there any other safe ground of trust and confidence in the hour of death than the fact that Christ has died for sin, and that we have evidence that we are interested in his blood.

O Lord God of truth - True to your promises and to your covenant-engagements. As you have promised life and salvation to those who are redeemed, they may safely confide in you. See the notes on 2 Corinthians 1:20.