Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 31:15

"My times are in thy hand: Deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me." — Psalms 31:15 (ASV)

My times are in your hand — That is, I said this in my trouble, when my friends forsook me, and when my enemies came around me and threatened my life. The meaning is that all that pertained to him was under the control and at the disposal of God. He would live as long as God should please. It was His to give life, His to preserve it, His to take it away. All in relation to life—its origin, its continuance, its changes, its seasons, childhood, youth, middle age, old age—all was in the hand of God. No one, therefore, could take his life before the time that had been appointed by God, and he might calmly commit the whole to him.

This we may feel in all seasons of life and in all times of danger, of sickness, of feebleness. We shall live as long as God has appointed; we shall pass through such changes as he directs; we shall die when and where and how he chooses. In the faithful discharge of our duty, therefore, we may commit all these things to him, and leave all at his disposal.

Deliver me from the hand of my enemies — That is, since all these things are under your control, since you have power over my life and over all that pertains to me, I pray that your power may be exerted on my behalf, and that my life may be rescued from danger. This was his prayer in the midst of his troubles, and this prayer was heard.