Psalm 31 commentary

PSALM 31 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
1 In you, Lord, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
deliver me in YOUR righteousness.
BAR ES, "In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust - This is the ground of the
petitions which follow; or the reason why the psalmist thus appeals to God. It was his
firm confidence in Him; in His character; in His promises; in His ability to deliver Him
in the time of danger. Compare the notes at Psa_7:1.
Let me never be ashamed - That is, let me never have occasion to be ashamed for
having put this confidence in Thee. Let Thy 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 (compare
Rom_1:16; Rom_5:5; 2Ti_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 Isa_30:5; Jer_2:26; Jer_14:3-4. The psalmist prays
that God would interpose in his behalf in answer to his prayers, and that he would show
that He was worthy of the confidence which he had reposed in him, or that He was a God
who might be trusted in the time of trial; in other words, that he might not be subjected
to the reproach of the wicked for having in his troubles relied upon such a God.
Deliver me in thy righteousness - In the manifestation of Thy righteous
character; in the exhibition of that character as righteous; as doing justice between man
and man; as pronouncing a just sentence between me and my enemies.
CLARKE, "In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust - I confide in thee for every good I
need: let me not be confounded by not receiving the end of my faith, the supply of my
wants, and the salvation of my soul.
GILL, "In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust,.... Not in any creature, but in the Lord
Jehovah; the Targum, "in thy Word"; the essential Logos, or Word, which was in the
beginning with God, and was God, and so an equal object of faith, trust, and confidence,
as Jehovah the Father: this act includes a trusting all with God, body and soul, and the
welfare of them, in time, and to eternity; and a trusting him for all things, both of

providence and grace, and for both grace and glory, and is a continued act; for the
psalmist does not say, "I have trusted", or "I will trust", but "I do"; and this was a very
consider able thing to do in this time of his distress: the Lord is to be trusted in at all
times;
let me never be ashamed; neither in this world, nor in that to come. The believer has
no reason to be ashamed of anything in this life but sin, and the imperfection of his own
righteousness, and his trust in it; not of the Lord, in whom he trusts; nor of his Word, or
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom he believes as his Saviour and Redeemer; nor of the
Spirit, and his work of grace upon him; nor of his faith, hope, trust, and confidence in
them; nor of the Gospel, the means of faith, and of the support of it; nor of, the
reproaches, afflictions, and sufferings, he endures for the sake of Christ and his Gospel;
nor of his ordinances and his people; nor will he be ashamed hereafter at the coming of
Christ, when he will appear in his righteousness, be clothed with white robes, have
palms in his hands, and shall stand at his right hand, and be received into glory;
deliver me in thy righteousness; not in his own, by which he knew there was no
acceptance with God, no justification before him, nor any deliverance and salvation from
sin and death; but by the righteousness of God, which the Son of God has wrought out,
God the Father accepts of and imputes, and the Spirit of God reveals and applies; by this
there is deliverance from sin, its guilt, and damning power, and from the curses and
condemnation of the law, and from wrath to come, and from the second death.
HE RY, "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
(Psa_31:1), 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, Psa_31:2. 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, Pro_
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 (Psa_31:3), 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 (Psa_31:4): “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 (Psa_31:1): “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 (Psa_31:3): “Thou art my rock and my fortress, by thy
covenant with me and my believing consent to that covenant; therefore be my strong
rock,” Psa_31:2. 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, Psa_31:4. 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 (Psa_31:5): 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,” Psa_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 (2Co_4:16), and that we may keep possession of our
souls when we can keep possession of nothing else, Luk_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 (Psa_31:4) 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 (2Ti_1:12): “Thou hast redeemed
me, O Lord God of truth! redeem me according to a promise which thou wilt be true to.”
JAMISO , "Psa_31:1-24. The prayer of a believer in time of deep distress. In the first
part, cries for help are mingled with expressions of confidence. Then the detail of griefs
engrosses his attention, till, in the assurance of strong but submissive faith, he rises to
the language of unmingled joyful trust and exhorts others to like love and confidence
towards God.

Expresses the general tone of feeling of the Psalm.
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, "In Thee, O Lord, do I put my trust.
Man trusting in Jehovah
I. Here is man trusting in Jehovah Is great trials.
1. It seems strange that God should allow a man who trusts in Him to become
involved in trials. Love is the reason. He knows that oven the best of His children are
so fractious and wayward that they need the chastening rod.
2. It seems strange that a man should be able to trust God when in trial. Good men
can, and have done so. Job: Paul.
II. Here is man trusting in Jehovah and earnestly praying—
1. For the vindication of his trust.
2. For deliverance from trial.
3. For an audience with the Almighty.
4. For protection from danger.
5. For guidance in perplexity.
6. For extrication from the snares of enemies.
III. Here is man trusting in Jehovah and surrendering himself.
1. The language of dedication.
2. The motive—gratitude.
IV. Here is man trusting in Jehovah and abhorring sinners. A God-loving soul must ever
recoil with profound disgust from the false, the dishonest, the mean, the profane,
whenever or wherever they appear. The soul cannot love moral opposites. To hate
characters, however, does not necessarily imply the hating of man. Man’s bad character
is of himself, he made it: but his nature is of God, He formed it.
V. Here is man trusting in Jehovah, and rejoicing in deliverance. 1, When deliverance
comes to a good man, it comes from mercy.
2. The soul in deliverance rejoices in its freedom and security. (Homilist.)
EBC, "THE swift transitions of feeling in this psalm may seem strange to colder natures
whose lives run smoothly, but reveal a brother-soul to those who have known what it is
to ride on the top of the wave and then to go down into its trough. What is peculiar to the
psalm is not only the inclusion of the whole gamut of feeling, but the force with which
each key is struck and the persistence through all of the one ground tone of cleaving to
Jehovah. The poetic temperament passes quickly from hope to fear. The devout man in
sorrow can sometimes look away from a darkened earth to a bright sky, but the stern
realities of pain and loss again force themselves in upon him. The psalm is like an April
day, in which sunshine and rain chase, each other across the plain.
"The beautiful uncertain weather,
Where gloom and glory meet together"

makes the landscape live, and is the precursor of fruitfulness."
The stream of the psalmist’s thoughts now runs in shadow of grim cliffs and vexed by
opposing rocks, and now opens out in sunny stretches of smoothness; but its source is
"In Thee, Jehovah, do I take refuge" (Psa_31:1): and its end is "Be strong, and let your
heart take courage, all ye that wait for Jehovah" (Psa_31:24).
The first turn of the stream is in Psa_31:1-4, which consist of petitions and their
grounds. The prayers reveal the suppliant’s state. They are the familiar cries of an
afflicted soul common to many psalms, and presenting no special features. The needs of
the human heart are uniform, and the cry of distress is much alike on all lips. This
sufferer asks, as his fellows have done and will do, for deliverance, a swift answer, shelter
and defence, guidance and leading, escape from the net spread for him. These are the
commonplaces of prayer, which God is not wearied of hearing, and which fit us all. The
last place to look for originality is in the "sighing of such as be sorrowful." The pleas on
which the petitions rest are also familiar. The man who trusts in Jehovah has a right to
expect that his trust will not be put to shame, since God is faithful. Therefore the first
plea is the psalmist’s faith, expressed in Psa_31:1 by the word which literally means to
flee to a refuge. The fact that he has done so makes his deliverance a work of God’s
"righteousness." The metaphor latent in "flee for refuge" comes into full sight in that
beautiful plea in Psa_31:3, which unsympathetic critics would call illogical, "Be for me a
refuge rock, for Thou art my rock." Be what Thou art; manifest Thyself in act to be what
Thou art in nature: be what I, Thy poor servant, have taken Thee to be. My heart has
clasped Thy revelation of Thyself and fled to this strong tower. Let me not be deceived
and find it incapable of sheltering me from my foes. "Therefore for Thy name’s sake," or
because of that revelation and for its glory as true in men’s sight, deliver me. God’s
nature as revealed is the strongest plea with Him, and surely that cannot but be potent
and acceptable prayer which says; Be what Thou art, and what Thou hast taught me to
believe Thee.
HAWKER, "The last verse of these five becomes a key to open to us the four preceding.
Nothing can be more evident than that the whole must have been written by David,
under the spirit of prophecy, in direct reference to the Lord Jesus Christ; for Christ
closed his ministry on the cross with those very words: Luk_23:46: as if to show to
whom this scripture pointed. How delightful is it to view Christ in this scripture! We see
him here as our Surety; we behold him at prayer, agreeably to the covenant engagements
of support from his Father, through the whole of his great undertaking; and thereby
manifesting, that while he was and is the salvation of his people, he was and is Jehovah’s
salvation, in all the merits of his work. We behold him no less our glorious example, in
all the circumstances of our exercises, and are hereby most plainly taught, how, in his
name and righteousness, we are to look up to the Rock of our Salvation, and commit our
cause into his hands, as Jesus did into the hands of his Father. See Isa_49:6; Psa_89:21-
23; Heb_2:17-18.
E-SWORD, "“In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust.” Nowhere else do I fly for shelter,
let the tempest howl as it may. The Psalmist has one refuge, and that the best one. He
casts out the great sheet anchor of his faith in the time of storm. Let other things be
doubtful, yet the fact that he relies upon Jehovah, David lays down most positively; and
he begins with it, lest by stress of trial he should afterwards forget it. This avowal of faith
is the fulcrum by means of which he labours to uplift and remove his trouble; he dwells
upon it as a comfort to himself and a plea with God. No mention is made of merit, but

faith relies upon divine favour and faithfulness, and upon that alone. “Let me never be
ashamed.” How can the Lord permit the man to be ultimately put to shame who
depends alone upon him? This would not be dealing like a God of truth and grace. It
would bring dishonour upon God himself if faith were not in the end rewarded. It will be
an ill day indeed for religion when trust in God brings no consolation and no assistance.
“Deliver me in thy righteousness.” Thou art not unjust to desert a trustful soul, or to
break thy promises; thou wilt vindicate the righteousness of thy mysterious providence,
and give me joyful deliverance. Faith dares to look even to the sword of justice for
protection-while God is righteous, faith will not be left to be proved futile and fanatical.
How sweetly the declaration of faith in this first verse sounds, if we read it at the foot of
the cross, beholding the promise of the Father as yea and amen through the Son; viewing
God with faith's eye as he stands revealed in Jesus crucified.
CALVI , "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 signifyingfor
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, “ 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
ACCORDI G 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’ 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.
SPURGEO , "TITLE. To the Chief Musician—a Psalm of David. The dedication to
the chief musician proves that this song of mingled measures and alternate strains of
grief and woe was intended for public singing, and thus a deathblow is given to the
notion that nothing but praise should be sung. Perhaps the Psalms, thus marked,
might have been set aside as too mournful for temple worship, if special care had
not been taken by the Holy Spirit to indicate them as being designed for the public
edification of the Lord's people. May there not also be in Psalms thus designated a
peculiar distinct reference to the Lord Jesus? He certainly MA IFESTS himself
very clearly in the twenty-second, which bears this title; and in the one before us we
plainly hear his dying voice in the fifth verse. Jesus is chief everywhere, and in all
the holy songs of his saints he is the chief musician. The surmises that Jeremiah
penned this Psalm need no other answer than the fact that it is "a Psalm of David."
SUBJECT. The psalmist in dire affliction appeals to his God for help with much
confidence and holy importunity, and ere long finds his mind so strengthened that
he magnifies the Lord for his great goodness. Some have thought that the occasion
in his troubled life which led to this Psalm, was the treachery of the men of Keilah,
and we have felt much inclined to this conjecture; but after reflection it seems to us
that its very mournful tone, and its allusion to his iniquity demand a later date, and
it may be more satisfactory to illustrate it by the period when Absalom had rebelled,
and his courtiers were fled from him, while lying lips spread a thousand malicious
rumours against him. It is perhaps quite as well that we have no settled season
mentioned, or we might have been so busy in APPLYI G it to David's case as to
forget its suitability to our own.
DIVISIO . There are no great lines of demarcation; throughout the strain
undulates, falling into valleys of mourning, and rising with hills of confidence.
However, we may for convenience ARRA GE it thus: David testifying his
confidence in God pleads for help, Ps 31:1-6; expresses gratitude for mercies
received, Ps 31:7-8; particularly describes his case, Ps 31:9-13; vehemently pleads
for deliverance, Ps 31:14-18; confidently and THA KFULLY expects a blessing, Ps
31:19-22; and closes by showing the bearing of his case upon all the people of God.
EXPOSITIO
Verse 1. In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust. owhere else do I fly for shelter, let the
tempest howl as it may. The psalmist has one refuge, and that the best one. He casts
out the great sheet anchor of his faith in the time of storm. Let other things be
doubtful, yet the fact that he relies on Jehovah, David lays down most positively;
and he BEGI S with it, lest by stress of trial he should afterwards forget it. This
avowal of faith is the fulcrum by means of which he labours to uplift and remove his
trouble; he dwells upon it as a comfort to himself and a plea with God. o mention
is made of merit, but faith relies upon divine favour and faithfulness, and upon that
alone. Let me never be ashamed. How can the Lord permit the man to be ultimately
put to shame who depends alone upon him? This would not be dealing like a God of
truth and grace. It would bring dishonour upon God himself if faith were not in the
end rewarded. It will be an ill day I DEEDfor religion when trust in God brings no

consolation and no assistance. Deliver me in thy righteousness. Thou are not unjust
to desert a trustful soul, or to break thy promises; thou wilt vindicate the
righteousness of thy mysterious providence, and give me joyful deliverance. Faith
dares to look even to the sword of justice for protection: while God is righteous,
faith will not be left to be proved futile and fanatical. How sweetly the declaration of
faith in this first verse sounds, if we read it at the foot of the cross, beholding the
promise of the Father as yea and amen through the Son; viewing God with faith's
eye as he stands revealed in Jesus crucified.
Verse 1. In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust. Let us therefore shun mistrust; doubt is
death, trust alone is life. Let us make sure that we trust the Lord, and never take
our trust on trust. Let me never be ashamed. If David prays against being ashamed,
let us strive against it. Lovers of Jesus should be ashamed of being ashamed. C. H. S.
Verse 1. Deliver me in thy righteousness. For SUPPORTI G thy faith, mark well
whereon it may safely rest; even upon God's righteousness, as well as upon his
mercy. On this ground did the apostle in faith expect the crown of righteousness 2Ti
4:7-8, because the Lord from whom he expected it is a righteous judge; and the
psalmist is bold to appeal to the righteousness of God. Ps 35:24. For we may be well
assured that what God's goodness, grace, and mercy moved him to promise, his
truth, his faithfulness, and righteousness will move him to perform. William Gouge.
Verses 1-3.
Shadows are faithless, and the rocks are false;
o trust in brass, no trust in marble walls;
Poor cots are even as safe as princes' halls.
Great God! there is no safety here below;
Thou art my fortress, thou that seemest my foe,
It is thou that strik'st the stroke, must guard the blow.
Thou art my God, by thee I fall or stand;
Thy grace hath given me courage to withstand
All tortures, but my conscience and thy hand.
I know thy justice is thyself; I know,
Just God, thy very self is mercy too;
If not to thee, where, whither shall I go?
—Francis Quarles.
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, "I. Here is man trusting in Jehovah Is great trials.
1. It seems strange that God should allow a man who trusts in Him to become
involved in trials. Love is the reason. He knows that oven the best of His children
are so fractious and wayward that they need the chastening rod.
2. It seems strange that a man should be able to trust God when in trial. Good men
can, and have done so. JOB: Paul.

II. Here is man trusting in Jehovah and earnestly praying--
1. For the vindication of his trust.
2. For deliverance from trial.
3. For an audience with the Almighty.
4. For protection from danger.
5. For guidance in perplexity.
6. For extrication from the snares of enemies.
III. Here is man trusting in Jehovah and surrendering himself.
1. The language of dedication.
2. The motive--gratitude.
IV. Here is man trusting in Jehovah and abhorring sinners. A God-loving soul must
ever recoil with profound disgust from the false, the dishonest, the mean, the
profane, whenever or wherever they appear. The soul cannot love moral opposites.
To hate characters, however, does not necessarily imply the hating of man. Man’s
bad character is of himself, he made it: but his nature is of God, He formed it.
V. Here is man trusting in Jehovah, and rejoicing in deliverance. 1, When
deliverance comes to a good man, it comes from mercy.
2. The soul in deliverance rejoices in its freedom and SECURITY. (Homilist.)
2 Turn your ear to me,

come quickly to my rescue;
be my rock of refuge,
a strong fortress to save me.
BAR ES, "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
Psa_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 Psa_18:1-2,
note; Psa_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.
CLARKE, "Bow down thine ear - Listen to my complaint. Put thy ear to my lips,
that thou mayest hear all that my feebleness is capable of uttering. We generally put our
ear near to the lips of the sick and dying, that we may hear what they say. To this the text
appears to allude.
Strong rock - Rocks, rocky places, or caves in the rocks, were often strong places in
the land of Judea. To such natural fortifications allusions are repeatedly made by the
Hebrew poetic writers.
GILL, "Bow down thine ear to me,.... Which is said after the manner of men, who,
when they give attention, and listen to anything, stoop, and incline the ear; and this for
God to do, as he sometimes does, is wonderful condescending grace!
deliver me speedily; which shows that he was in great danger, and his case required
haste: the Lord does help right early, and is sometimes a present help in time of need,
and delivers at once, as soon as the mercy is asked for;
be thou my strong rock: for shelter and security from enemies, as well as to build his
everlasting salvation on, and to stand firmly upon, and out of danger;
for an house of defence to save me; both for an house to dwell in, Lord being the
dwelling place of his people in all generations, and a strong habitation to which they may
continually resort; and for protection and safety, their place of defence in him being the
munition of rocks, a strong hold, and a strong tower from the enemy.
JAMISO , "He seeks help in God’s righteous government (Psa_5:8), and begs for an
attentive hearing, and speedy and effectual aid. With no other help and no claim of

merit, he relies solely on God’s regard to His own perfections for a safe guidance and
release from the snares of his enemies. On the terms “rock,” etc., (compare Psa_17:2;
Psa_18:2, Psa_18:50; Psa_20:6; Psa_23:3; Psa_25:21).
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, "Be Thou my strong rook,. . . for Thou art my rock,
“Be . . . for Thou art”
It sounds strange logic, “Be . . . for Thou art,” and yet it is the logic of prayer, and goes
very deep, pointing out both its limits and its encouragements.
If we were to read thus: “Be Thou a strong Rock to me, for a house, a fortress, for Thou
art my Rock and my Fortress,” we should get the whole force of the parallelism. Of
course the main idea is that of the “Rock,” and “Fortress” is only an exposition of one
phase of the meaning of that metaphor.
I. what God is. “A rock, a fortress-house.” What is the force of that metaphor?
1. Stable being is the first thought in it, for there is nothing that is more absolutely
the type of unchangeableness and steadfast continuance. God the Unchangeable
rises, like some majestic cliff, round the foot of which rolls for ever the tide of human
life, and round which is littered the successive layers of the leaves of many summers.
2. Then besides this stable being, and the consequences of it, is the other thought
which is attached to the emblem in Scripture, and that is defence. “His place of
defence shall be the munitions of rocks.” When the floods are out, and all the plain is
being dissolved into mud, the dwellers on it fly to the cliffs. “Lead me to the rock that
is higher than I.”
3. But the Rock is a defence in another way. If a hard-pressed fugitive is brought to a
stand and can set his back against a rock, he can front his assailants, secure that no
unseen foe shall creep up behind and deal a stealthy stab and that he will not be
surrounded unawares.
II. our plea with God, from what he is. “Be Thou to me a Rock . . . for Thou art a Rock.”
Is that not illogical? No, for notice that little word “to me”—be Thou to me what Thou art
in Thyself, and hast been to all generations.” That makes all the difference. It is not
merely “Be what Thou art,” although that would be much, but it is “be it to me,” and let
me have all which is meant in that great Name. But then, beyond that, let me point out to
you how this prayer suggests to us that all true prayer will keep itself within God’s
Revelation of what He is.
III. the plea with God drawn from what we have taken him to be to us. “Be Thou to me a
strong Rock, for Thou art my Rock and my Fortress.” What does that mean? It means
that the suppliant has, by his own act of faith, taken God for his; that he has
appropriated the great Divine revelation, and made it his own. Now a man by faith
encloses a bit of the common for his very own. When God says that He “so loved the
world that He gave His . . . Son,” I should say, “He loved me, and gave Himself for me.”
When the great revelation is made that HE is the Rock of Ages, my faith says: “My Rock
and my Fortress.” Having said that, and claimed Him for mine, I can then turn round to
Him and say, “Be to me what I have taken Thee to be.” (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
For Thy name’s sake lead me and guide me.—

Divine guidance and leading
What a helpless, hopeless thing would a ship be, launched forth upon the deep without a
helm, and without a pilot; how it would be drifted about by every current, and tossed to
and fro by every wind and wave; how speedily it must be driven amid the shoals, or
dashed upon the rocks. No better is man, launched forth on the waves of this
troublesome world. Without a Divine helmsman, how must he inevitably be drifted into
danger, and betrayed into ruin, if he follows his own wit, and will, and wisdom! The very
essence of all Christian life is to walk by faith and not by sight, and the very essence of
Divine wisdom in heaven-taught man is to “trust in the Lord” with all his might, and not
to trust in himself, not to trust in his own understanding. How appropriate, then, is this
prayer for us all.
I. the petition. “Lead me and guide me.” It implies—
1. That a man feels that he cannot guide himself.
2. That he believes God does interpose in the affairs of men, and that He
condescends to guide and lead all who trust in Him.
3. Expectation that God will direct us. Some pray but never wait for the answer.
4. And there must be leading as well as guiding.
II. the plea. Some plead that they do their best: but they do not. This is the true plea—
“Thy name’s sake,” God’s gracious character. It is a believer’s prayer. God’s providence,
word, and spirit will make plain to us our way. Let us each adopt this prayer. (Hugh
Stowell.)
E-SWORD, "“Bow down thine ear to me.” Condescend to my low estate; listen to
me attentively as one who would hear every word. Heaven with its transcendent glories
of harmony might well engross the divine ear, but yet the Lord has an hourly regard to
the weakest moanings of his poorest people. “Deliver me speedily.” We must not set
times and seasons, yet in submission we may ask for swift as well as sure mercy. God's
mercies are often enhanced in value by the timely haste which he uses in their bestowal;
if they came late they might be too late - but he rides upon a cherub, and flies upon the
wings of the wind when he intends the good of his beloved. “Be thou my strong rock.” Be
my Engedi, my Adullam; my immutable, immovable, impregnable, sublime, resort. “For
an house of defence to save me,” wherein I may dwell in safety, not merely running to
thee for temporary shelter, but abiding in thee for eternal salvation. How very simply
does the good man pray, and yet with what weight of meaning! he uses no ornamental
flourishes, he is too deeply in earnest to be otherwise than plain: it were well if all who
engage in public prayer would observe the same rule.
CALVI , "2.incline thine ear unto me. These words express with how much ardor
David’ 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 SOO 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.

SPURGEO , "Verse 2. Bow down thine ear to me. Condescend to my low estate;
listen to me attentively as one who would hear every word. Heaven with its
transcendent glories of harmony might well engross the divine ear, but yet the Lord
has an hourly regard to the weakest moanings of his poorest people. Deliver me
speedily. We must not set times or seasons, yet in submission we may ask for swift as
well as sure mercy. God's mercies are often E HA CED in value by the timely
haste which he uses in their bestowal; if they came late they might be too late—but
he rides upon a cherub, and flies upon the wings of the wind when he intends the
good of his beloved. Be thou my strong rock. Be my Engedi, my Adullam; my
immutable, immovable, impregnable, sublime, resort. For an house of defence to
save me, wherein I may dwell in safety, not merely running to thee for temporary
shelter, but abiding in thee for eternal salvation. How very simply does the good
man pray, and yet with what weight of meaning! he uses no ornamental flourishes,
he is too deeply in earnest to be otherwise than plain: it were well if all who engage
in public prayer would observe the same rule.
Verse 2. Bow down thy ear. Listen to my complaint. Put thy ear to my lips, that thou
mayest hear all that my feebleness is capable of uttering. We generally put our ear
near to the lips of the sick and dying that we may hear what they say. To this the
text appears to allude. Adam Clarke.
Verse 2. Deliver me speedily. In praying that he might be delivered speedily there is
shown the greatness of his danger, as if he had said, All will SOO be over with my
life, unless God makes haste to help me. John Calvin. Verses 2-3. Be thou my strong
rock, etc. What the Lord is engaged to be unto us by covenant, we may pray and
expect to find him in effect. "Be thou my strong rock," saith he, "for thou art my
rock." David Dickson.
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, "Be Thou my strong rook,. . . for Thou art my rock,
“Be . . . for Thou art”
It sounds strange logic, “Be . . . for Thou art,” and yet it is the logic of prayer, and
goes very deep, pointing out both its limits and its encouragements.
If we were to read thus: “Be Thou a strong Rock to me, for a house, a fortress, for
Thou art my Rock and my Fortress,” we should get the whole force of the
parallelism. Of course the main idea is that of the “Rock,” and “Fortress” is only an
exposition of one phase of the meaning of that metaphor.
I. what God is. “A rock, a fortress-house.” What is the force of that metaphor?
1. Stable being is the first thought in it, for there is nothing that is more absolutely

the type of unchangeableness and steadfast CO TI UA CE. God the
Unchangeable rises, like some majestic cliff, round the foot of which rolls for ever
the tide of human life, and round which is littered the successive layers of the leaves
of many summers.
2. Then besides this stable being, and the consequences of it, is the other thought
which is ATTACHED to the emblem in Scripture, and that is defence. “His place of
defence shall be the munitions of rocks.” When the floods are out, and all the plain
is being dissolved into mud, the dwellers on it fly to the cliffs. “Lead me to the rock
that is higher than I.”
3. But the Rock is a defence in another way. If a hard-pressed fugitive is brought to
a stand and can set his back against a rock, he can front his assailants, SECURE
that no unseen foe shall creep up behind and deal a stealthy stab and that he will not
be surrounded unawares.
II. our plea with God, from what he is. “Be Thou to me a Rock . . . for Thou art a
Rock.” Is that not illogical? o, for notice that little word “to me”--be Thou to me
what Thou art in Thyself, and hast been to all generations.” That makes all the
difference. It is not merely “Be what Thou art,” although that would be much, but it
is “be it to me,” and let me have all which is meant in that great ame. But then,
beyond that, let me point out to you how this prayer suggests to us that all true
prayer will keep itself within God’s Revelation of what He is.
III. the plea with God drawn from what we have taken him to be to us. “Be Thou to
me a strong Rock, for Thou art my Rock and my Fortress.” What does that mean?
It means that the suppliant has, by his own act of faith, taken God for his; that he
has appropriated the great Divine revelation, and made it his own. ow a man by
faith encloses a bit of the common for his very own. When God says that He “so
loved the world that He gave His . . . Son,” I should say, “He loved me, and gave
Himself for me.” When the great revelation is made that HE is the Rock of Ages, my
faith says: “My Rock and my Fortress.” Having said that, and claimed Him for
mine, I can then turn round to Him and say, “Be to me what I have taken Thee to
be.” (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
For Thy name’s sake lead me and guide me.--
Divine guidance and leading
What a helpless, hopeless thing would a ship be, launched forth upon the deep
without a helm, and without a pilot; how it would be drifted about by every current,

and tossed to and fro by every wind and wave; how speedily it must be driven amid
the shoals, or dashed upon the rocks. o better is man, launched forth on the waves
of this troublesome world. Without a Divine helmsman, how must he inevitably be
drifted into danger, and betrayed into ruin, if he follows his own wit, and will, and
wisdom! The very essence of all Christian life is to walk by faith and not by sight,
and the very essence of Divine wisdom in heaven-taught man is to “trust in the
Lord” with all his might, and not to trust in himself, not to trust in his own
understanding. How appropriate, then, is this prayer for us all.
I. the petition. “Lead me and guide me.” It implies--
1. That a man feels that he cannot guide himself.
2. That he believes God does interpose in the affairs of men, and that He
condescends to guide and lead all who trust in Him.
3. Expectation that God will direct us. Some pray but never WAIT for the answer.
4. And there must be leading as well as guiding.
II. the plea. Some plead that they do their best: but they do not. This is the true
plea--“Thy name’s sake,” God’s gracious character. It is a believer’s prayer. God’s
providence, word, and spirit will make plain to us our way. Let us each adopt this
prayer. (Hugh Stowell.)
3 Since you are my rock and my fortress,
for the sake of your name lead and guide me.
BAR ES, "For thou art my rock and my fortress - See the notes at Psa_18:2.
Therefore for thy name’s sake - For the sake of thine own honor, or for the glory
of thy name. See the notes at Psa_23:3. That is, since thou art my rock and my defense -
since I put my trust in thee - show, by leading and guiding me, that my trust is well
founded, or that this is Thy character, and that Thou wilt be true and faithful to those
who commit their all to thee. See the notes at Psa_31:1.

GILL, "For thou art my rock and my fortress,.... What he prayed for he knew him
to be, and to have been in times past, and could claim his interest in him; and therefore
entreats that he would appear to be to him what he was in himself, and what he had been
to him;
therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me; either as a shepherd does
his flock, gently, as they are able to bear it; into the green pastures of the word and
ordinances, and beside the still waters of divine love, and to the overflowing fountain,
and fulness of grace in himself; or as a general leads and guides his army; Christ being a
Leader and Commander of the people, and the great Captain of their salvation, and who
being at the head of them, they fear no enemy; or as a guide leads and directs such as are
ignorant, and out of the way. The psalmist desires the Lord would lead him in the way of
truth and paths of righteousness, according to his word; and guide him with his counsel,
and by his Spirit, that so he might walk in the way in which he should go; and this he
entreats he would do "for his name's sake"; not for any merit or worthiness in him; but
for the glory of his own name, and for the honour of his free grace and mercy, for which
the Lord often does many things; he defers his anger, he purges away the sins of his
people, he forgives their transgressions, and remembers their sins no more, for his
name's sake.
E-SWORD, "“For thou art my rock and my fortress.” Here the tried soul avows yet
again its full confidence in God. Faith's repetitions are not vain. The avowal of our
reliance upon God in times of adversity is a principal method of glorifying him. Active
service is good, but the passive confidence of faith is not one jot less esteemed in the
sight of God. The words before us appear to embrace and fasten upon the Lord with a
fiducial grip which is not to be relaxed. The two personal pronouns, like sure nails, lay
hold upon the faithfulness of the Lord. O for grace to have our heart fixed in firm
unstaggering belief in God! The figure of a rock and a fortress may be illustrated to us in
these times by the vast fortress of Gibraltar, often besieged by our enemies, but never
wrested from us: ancient strongholds, though far from impregnable by our modes of
warfare, were equally important in those remoter ages - when in the mountain
fastnesses, feeble bands felt themselves to be secure. Note the singular fact that David
asked the Lord to be his rock (Psa_31:2) because he was his rock; and learn from it that
we may pray to enjoy in experience what we grasp by faith. Faith is the foundation of
prayer. “Therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me.” The Psalmist argues like
a logician with his fors and therefores. Since I do sincerely trust thee, saith he, O my
God, be my director. To lead and to guide are two things very like each other, but patient
thought will detect different shades of meaning, especially as the last may mean provide
for me. The double word indicates an urgent need - we require double direction, for we
are fools, and the way is rough. Lead me as a soldier, guide me as a traveller! lead me as
a babe, guide me as a man; lead me when thou art with me, but guide me even if thou be
absent; lead; me by thy hand, guide me by thy word. The argument used is one which is
fetched from the armoury of free grace: not for my own sake, but for thy name's sake
guide me. Our appeal is not to any fancied virtue in our own names, but to the glorious
goodness and graciousness which shine resplendent in the character of Israel's God. It is
not possible that the Lord should suffer his own honour to be tarnished, but this would
certainly be the case if those who trusted him should perish. This was Moses' plea,
“What wilt thou do unto thy great name?”

CALVI , "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’ 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 EVE TS, that
it is usual with him to mingle such things in his prayers as may serve to remove his
doubts, and to CO FIRM 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. Hehad 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 ACCOU T 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 CO TI UAL 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’ 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’ 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.
SPURGEO , "Verse 3. For thou art my rock and my fortress. Here the tried soul
avows yet again its full confidence in God. Faith's repetitions are not vain. The
avowal of our reliance upon God in times of adversity is a principle method of
glorifying him. Active service is good, but the passive confidence of faith is not one
jot less esteemed in the sight of God. The words before us appear to embrace and
fasten upon the Lord with a fiducial grip which is not to be relaxed. The two
personal pronouns, like sure nails, lay hold upon the faithfulness of the Lord. O for
grace to have our heart fixed in firm unstaggering belief in God! The figure of a
rock and a fortress may be illustrated to us in these times by the vast fortress of
Gibraltar, often besieged by our enemies, but never wrested from us: ancient
strongholds, though far from impregnable by our modes of warfare, were equally
important in those remoter ages—when in the mountain fastnesses, feeble bands felt
themselves to be SECURE. ote the singular fact that David asked the Lord to be

his rock Ps 31:2 because he was his rock; and learn from it that we may pray to
enjoy in experience what we grasp by faith. Faith is the foundation of prayer.
Therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me. The psalmist argues like a
logician with his fors and therefores. Since I do sincerely trust thee, saith he, O my
God, be my director. To lead and to guide are two things very like each other, but
patient thought will detect different shades of meaning, especially as the last may
mean provide for me. The double word indicates an urgent need—we require
double direction, for we are fools, and the way is rough. Lead me as a soldier, guide
me as a TRAVELLER! lead me as a babe, guide me as a man; lead me when thou
art with me, but guide me even if thou be absent; lead me by thy hand, guide me by
thy word. The argument used is one which is fetched from the armoury of free
grace: not for my own sake, but for thy name's sake guide me. Our appeal is not to
any fancied virtue in our own names, but to the glorious goodness and graciousness
which shines resplendent in the character of Israel's God. It is not possible that the
Lord should suffer his own honour to be tarnished, but this would certainly be the
case if those who trusted him should perish. This was Moses' plea, "What wilt thou
do unto thy great name?"
Verse 3. For thy name's sake. If merely a creature's honour, the CREDIT of
ministers, or the glory of angels were involved, man's salvation would indeed be
uncertain. But every step involves the honour of God. We plead for his name's sake.
If God should begin and not CO TI UE, or if he should carry on but not complete
the work, all would admit that it was for some reason that must bring reproach on
the Almighty. This can never be. God was self moved to undertake man's salvation.
His glorious name makes it certain the top stone shall be laid in glory. William S.
Plumer.
Verse 3. For thy name's sake. On ACCOU T of the fame of thy power, thy
goodness, thy truth, &c. Lead me. As a shepherd an erring sheep, as a leader
military bands, or as one leads another ignorant of the way. See Ge 24:27 e 9:12-13
Ps 23:3 73:24. Govern my counsels, my affections, and my thoughts. Martin Geier,
1614-1681.
MACLARE , "‘BE . . . FOR THOU ART’
It sounds strange logic, ‘Be . . . for Thou art,’ and yet it is the logic of prayer, and goes
very deep, pointing out both its limits and its encouragements. The parallelism between
these two clauses is even stronger in the original than in our Version, for whilst the two
words which designate the ‘Rock’ are not identical, their meaning is identical, and the
difference between them is insignificant; one being a rock of any shape or size, the other
being a perpendicular cliff or elevated promontory. And in the other clause, ‘for a house
of defence to save me,’ the word rendered ‘defence’ is the same as that which is
translated in the next clause ‘fortress.’ So that if we were to read thus: ‘Be Thou a strong
Rock to me, for a house, a fortress, for Thou art my Rock and my Fortress,’ we should get
the whole force of the parallelism. Of course the main idea in that of the ‘Rock,’ and
‘Fortress’ is only an exposition of one phase of the meaning of that metaphor.

I. So let us look first at what God is.
‘A rock, a fortress-house.’ Now, what is the force of that metaphor? Stable being, as it
seems to me, is the first thought in it, for there is nothing that is more absolutely the
type of unchangeableness and steadfast continuance. The great cliffs rise up, and the
river glides at their base-it is a type of mutability, and of the fleeting generations of men,
who are as the drops and ripples in its course-it eddies round the foot of the rocks to
which the old man looks up, and sees the same dints and streaks and fissures in it that
he saw when he was a child. The river runs onwards, the trees that root themselves in
the clefts of the rock bear their spring foliage, and drop their leaves like the generations
of men, and the Rock is ‘the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.’ And God the
Unchangeable rises, if I may so say, like some majestic cliff, round the foot of which rolls
for ever the tide of human life, and round which are littered the successive layers of the
leaves of many summers.
Then besides this stable being, and the consequences of it, is the other thought which is
attached to the emblem in a hundred places in Scripture, and that is defence. ‘His place
of defence shall be the munitions of rocks.’ When the floods are out, and all the plain is
being dissolved into mud, the dwellers on it fly to the cliffs. When the enemy’s banners
appear on the horizon, and the open country is being harried and burned, the peasants
hurry to the defence of the hills, and, sheltered there, are safe. And so for us this Name
assures us that in Him, whatever floods may sweep across the low levels, and whatever
foes may storm over the open land and the unwalled villages, there is always the fortress
up in the hills, and thither no flood can rise, and there no enemy can come. A defence
and a sure abode is his who dwells in God, and thus folds over himself the warm wings
that stretch on either side, and shelter him from all assault. ‘Lead me to the Rock that is
higher than I.’
But the Rock is a defence in another way. If a hard-pressed fugitive is brought to a stand
and can set his back against a rock, he can front his assailants, secure that no unseen foe
shall creep up behind and deal a stealthy stab and that he will not be surrounded
unawares. ‘The God of Israel shall be your rearward,’ and he who has ‘made the Most
High his habitation’ is sheltered from ‘the pestilence that walketh in darkness,’ as well as
from ‘the destruction that wasteth at noon-day,’ and will be cleansed from ‘secret faults’
if he keeps up unbroken his union with God, for the ‘faults’ which are not recognised as
faults by his partially illuminated conscience are known to God. But the Rock is a
defence in yet another way, for it is a sure foundation for our lives. Whoso builds on God
need fear no change. When the floods rise, and the winds blow, and the rain storms
down, the house that is on the Rock will stand.
And, then, in the Rock there is a spring, and round the spring there is ‘the light of
laughing flowers,’ amidst the stern majesty of the cliff. Just as the Law-giver of old smote
the rock, and there gushed out the stream that satisfied the thirst of the whole travelling
nation, so Paul would have us Christians repeat the miracle by our faith. Of us, too, it
may be said, they drank ‘of that Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.’
Stable being, secure defence, a fountain of refreshment and satisfaction: all these
blessings lie in that great metaphor.
II. Now, note our plea with God, from what He is.
‘Be Thou to me a Rock . . . for Thou art a Rock.’ Is that not illogical? No, for notice that
little word, ‘to me’-be Thou to me what Thou art in Thyself, and hast been to all
generations.’ That makes all the difference. It is not merely ‘Be what Thou art,’ although
that would be much, but it is ‘be it to me,’ and let me have all which is meant in that

great Name.
But then, beyond that, let me point out to you how this prayer suggests to us that all true
prayer will keep itself within God’s revelation of what He is. We take His promises, and
all the elements which make up His name or manifestation of His character to the world,
whether by His acts or by the utterances of this Book, or by the inferences to be drawn
from the life of Jesus Christ, the great Revealer, or by what we ourselves have
experienced of Him. The ways by which God has revealed Himself to the world define
the legitimate subjects, and lay down the firm foundation, of our petitions. In all His acts
God reveals Himself, and if I may so say, when we truly pray, we catch these up, and
send them back again to heaven, like arrows from a bow. It is only when our desires and
prayers foot themselves upon God’s revelation of Himself, and in essence are, in various
fashions, the repetition of this prayer of my text: ‘Be . . . for Thou art,’ that we can expect
to have them answered. Much else may call itself prayer, but it is often but petulant and
self-willed endeavour to force our wishes upon Him, and no answer will come to that.
We are to pray about everything; but we are to pray about nothing, except within the
lines which are marked out for us by what God has told us, in His words and acts, that
He Himself is. Catch these up and fling them back to Him, and for every utterance that
He has made of Himself, ‘I am’ so-and-so, let us go to Him and say ‘Be Thou that to me,’
and then we may be sure of an answer.
So then two things follow. If we pray after the pattern of this prayer, ‘Be Thou to me
what Thou art,’ then a great many foolish and presumptuous wishes will be stifled in the
birth, and, on the other hand, a great many feeble desires will be strengthened and made
confident, and we shall be encouraged to expect great things of God. Have you widened
your prayers, dear friend!-and I do not mean by that only your outward ones, but the
habitual aspiration and expectation of your minds-have you widened these to be as wide
as what God has shown us that He is? Have you taken all God’s revelation of Himself,
and translated it into petition? And do you expect Him to be to you all that He has ever
been to any soul of man upon earth? Oh! how such a prayer as this, if we rightly
understand it and feel it, puts to shame the narrowness and the poverty of our prayers,
the falterings of our faith, and the absence of expectation in ourselves that we shall
receive the fulness of God.
God owns that plea: ‘Be . . . what Thou art.’ He cannot resist that. That is what the
Apostle meant when he said, ‘He abideth faithful, He cannot deny Himself.’ He must be
true to His character. He can never be other than He always has been. And that is what
the Psalmist meant when he goes on, after the words that I have taken for my text, and
says, ‘For Thy Name’s sake lead me and guide me,’ What is God’s Name? The collocation
of letters by which we designate Him? Certainly not. The Name of God is the sum total of
what God has revealed Himself as being. And ‘for the sake of the Name,’ that He may be
true to that which He has shown Himself to be, He will always endorse this bill that you
draw upon Him when you present Him with His own character, and say ‘Be to me what
Thou art.’
III. Lastly, we have here the plea with God drawn from what we have taken
Him to be to us.
That is somewhat different from what I have already been dwelling upon. Mark the
words: ‘Be Thou to me a strong Rock, for Thou art my Rock and my Fortress.’ What does
that mean? It means that the suppliant has, by his own act of faith, taken God for his;
that he has appropriated the great divine revelation, and made it his own. Now it seems
to me that that appropriation is, if not the point, at least one of the points, in which real
faith is distinguished from the sham thing which goes by that name amongst so many

people. A man by faith encloses a bit of the common for his very own. When God says
that He ‘so loved the world that He gave His . . . Son,’ I should say, ‘He loved me, and
gave Himself for me.’ When the great revelation is made that He is the Rock of Ages, my
faith says: ‘My Rock and my Fortress.’ Having said that, and claimed Him for mine, I
can then turn round to Him and say, ‘Be to me what I have taken Thee to be.’
And that faith is expressed very beautifully and strikingly in one of the Old Testament
metaphors, which frequently goes along with this one of the Rock. For instance, in a
great chapter in Isaiah we find the original of that phrase ‘the Rock of Ages.’ It runs thus,
‘Trust ye in the Lord for ever, for in the Lord JEHOVAH is the Rock of Ages.’ Now the
word for trust there literally means, to flee into a refuge, and so the true idea of faith is
‘to fly for refuge,’ as the Epistle to the Hebrews has it, ‘to the Hope set before us,’-that is
(keeping to the metaphor), to the cleft in the Rock.
That act of trust or flight will make it certain that God will be to us for a house of
defence, a fortress to save us. Other rock-shelters may crumble. They may be carried by
assault; they may be riven by earthquakes. ‘The mountains shall depart, and the hills
shall be removed,’ but this Rock is impregnable, and all who take refuge in it are safe for
ever.
And so the upshot of the whole matter is that God will be to us what we have faith to
believe that He is, and our faith will be the measure of our possession of the fulness of
God. If we can only say in the fulness of our hearts-and keep to the saying: ‘Be Thou to
me a Rock, for Thou art my Rock,’ then nothing shall ever hurt us; and ‘dwelling in the
secret place of the Most High’ we shall be kept in safety; our ‘abode shall be the
munitions of rocks, our bread shall be given us, and our water shall be made sure.’
4 Keep me FREE from the trap that is set for me,
for you are my refuge.
BAR ES, "Pull me out of the net - See the notes at Psa_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 gin, so that the wild
beast that was to be taken could not see it, or would fall into it unawares. 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 thee, and thee
alone.
CLARKE, "Pull me out of the net - They have hemmed me in on every side, and I

cannot escape but by miracle.
GILL, "Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me,.... The
Ziphites, and Saul, and his men; the former intending treacherously to betray him, and
the latter encompassing him about in order to take him; and such was his danger and
difficulty, that he saw none but God could deliver him; and he it is that breaks the nets of
men, and the snares of the devil, which they secretly lay for the people of God, that they
may stumble, and fall, and be taken, and delivers them out of them;
for thou art my strength; the author, giver, and maintainer, both of his natural and
spiritual strength; and who was able, and was only able, to pull him out of the net, and
extricate him out of the difficulties in which he was.
E-SWORD, "“Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me.” The
enemies of David were cunning as well as mighty; if they could not conquer him by
power, they would capture him by craft. Our own spiritual foes are of the same order -
they are of the serpent's brood, and seek to ensnare us by their guile. The prayer before
us supposes the possibility of the believer being caught like a bird; and, indeed, we are so
foolish that this often happens. So deftly does the fowler do his work that simple ones
are soon surrounded by it. The text asks that even out of the meshes of the net the
captive one may be delivered; and this is a proper petition and one which can be
granted; from between the jaws of the lion and out of the belly of hell can eternal love
rescue the saint. It may need a sharp pull to save a soul from the net of temptation, and a
mighty pull to extricate a man from the snares of malicious cunning, but the Lord is
equal to every emergency, and the most skilfully placed nets of the hunter shall never be
able to hold his chosen ones. Woe unto those who are so clever at net laying: they who
tempt others shall be destroyed themselves. Villains who lay traps in secret shall be
punished in public. “For thou art my strength.” What an inexpressible sweetness is to be
found in these few words! How joyfully may we enter upon labours, and how cheerfully
may we endure sufferings when we can lay hold upon celestial power. Divine power will
rend asunder all the toils of the foe, confound their politics and frustrate their knavish
tricks; he is a happy man who has such matchless might engaged upon his side. Our own
strength would be of little service when embarrassed in the nets of base cunning, but the
Lord's strength is ever available; we have but to invoke it, and we shall find it near at
hand. If by faith we are depending alone upon the strength of the strong God of Israel,
we may use our holy reliance as a plea in supplication.
SPURGEO , "Verse 4. Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me. The
enemies of David were cunning as well as mighty; if they could not conquer him by
power, they would capture him by craft. Our own spiritual foes are of the same
order—they are of the serpent's brood, and seek to ensnare us by their guile. The
prayer before us supposes the possibility of the believer being caught like a bird;
and, I DEED, we are so foolish that this often happens. So deftly does the fowler do
his work that simple ones are soon surrounded by it. The text asks that even out of
the meshes of the net the captive one may be delivered; and this is a proper petition,
and one which can be granted; from between the jaws of the lion and out of the
belly of hell can eternal love rescue the saint. It may need a sharp pull to save a soul
from the net of temptation, and a mighty pull to extricate a man from the snares of

malicious cunning, but the Lord is equal to every emergency, and the most skilfully
placed nets of the hunter shall never be able to hold his chosen ones. Woe unto those
who are so clever at net laying: they who tempt others shall be destroyed themselves.
Villains who lay traps in secret shall be punished in public. For thou art my
strength. What an inexpressible sweetness is to be found in these few words! How
joyfully may we E TER upon labours, and how cheerfully may we endure
sufferings when we can lay hold upon celestial power. Divine power will rend
asunder all the toils of the foe, confound their politics and frustrate their knavish
tricks; he is a happy man who has such matchless might engaged upon his side. Our
own strength would be of little service when embarrassed in the nets of base
cunning, but the Lord's strength is ever available; we have but to invoke it, and we
shall find it near at hand. If by faith we are depending alone upon the strength of
the strong God of Israel, we may use our holy reliance as a plea in supplication.
Verse 4. Pull me out of the net: that OTED net, as the Hebrew hath it. John
Trapp.
Verse 4. Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me. By these words, he
intimates that his enemies did not only by OPE force come against him, but by
cunning and policy attempted to circumvent him, as when they put him on, as Saul
instructed them, to be the king's son-in-law, and to this end set him on to get two
hundred foreskins of the Philistines for a dowry, under a pretence of goodwill,
seeking his ruin; and when wait also was laid for him to kill him in his house. But he
trusted in God, and prayed to be delivered, if there should be any the like enterprise
against him hereafter. John Mayer.
Verse 4. For thou art my strength. Omnipotence cuts the net which policy weaves.
When we poor puny things are in the net, God is not. In the old fable the mouse set
FREE the lion, here the lion liberates the mouse. C. H. S.
5 Into your hands I commit my spirit;
deliver me, Lord, my faithful God.
BAR ES, "Into thine hand I commit my spirit - The Saviour used this
expression when on the cross, and when about to die: Luk_23:46. But this does not
prove that the psalm had originally 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 Saviour 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 the people of God, alike in trouble and in death. Compare Act_7:59.
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
Saviour, 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:
(a) because he has redeemed us;
(b) because we have been redeemed for him, and we may ask Him to take His own;
(c) because this is a ground of safety, for if we have been redeemed, we may be certain
that God will keep us; and
(d) 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. To all who are Christians it is enough to authorize
them to use this language in the midst of troubles and dangers, and in the hour of death,
that they have been redeemed by the blood of the Saviour; to 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 thy promises and to thy covenant-engagements. As
thou hast promised life and salvation to those who are redeemed, they may safely
confide in thee. See the notes at 2Co_1:20.
CLARKE, "Into thine hand I commit my spirit - These words, as they stand in
the Vulgate, were in the highest credit among our ancestors; by whom they were used in
all dangers, difficulties, and in the article of death. In manus tuas, Domine, commendo
spiritum meum, was used by the sick when about to expire, if they were sensible; and if
not, the priest said it in their behalf. In forms of prayer for sick and dying persons, these
words were frequently inserted in Latin, though all the rest of the prayer was English; for
it was supposed there was something sovereign in the language itself. But let not the
abuse of such words hinder their usefullness. For an ejaculation nothing can be better;
and when the pious or the tempted with confidence use them, nothing can exceed their
effect. “Into thy hands I commend my spirit; for thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of
truth.” I give my soul to thee, for it is thine: thou hast redeemed it by thy blood; it is safe
nowhere but in thy hand. Thou hast promised to save them that trust in thee; thou art
the God of truth, and canst not deny thyself. But these words are particularly sanctified,
or set apart for this purpose, by the use made of them by our blessed Lord just before he
expired on the cross. “And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Πατερ, εις
χειρας σου παρατιθεµαι το πνευµα µου· ‘Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit,’”

Luk_23:46. The rest of the verse was not suitable to the Savior of the world, and
therefore he omits it; but it is suitable to us who have been redeemed by that sacrificial
death. St. Stephen uses nearly the same words, and they were the last that he uttered.
Act_7:59.
GILL, "Into thine hand I commit my spirit,.... Either his life, as to a faithful
Creator and Preserver, who was the God of his life, gave him it, and upheld his soul in it;
or his soul, and the eternal salvation of it, which he committed into the hand of the Lord
his Redeemer, where he knew it would be safe, and out of whose hands none can pluck;
or this he might say, as apprehensive of immediate death, through the danger he was in;
and therefore commits his spirit into the hands of God, to whom he knew it belonged,
and to whom it returns at death, and dies not with the body, but exists in a separate
state, and would be immediately with him. Our Lord Jesus Christ used the same words
when he was expiring on the cross, and seems to have taken them from hence, or to refer
to these, Luk_23:46;
thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth; which may be understood, either of
the temporal redemption of his life from destruction in times past, which encouraged
him to commit his life into the hands of God now, who was the same, and changed not;
or of spiritual and eternal redemption from sin by the blood of Christ, and which the
psalmist speaks of as if it was past, though it was to come, because of the certainty of it;
just as Isaiah speaks of the incarnation and sufferings of Christ, Isa_9:6; and of which he
was assured, because the Lord, who had provided, appointed, and promised the
Redeemer, was the God of truth, and was faithful to every word of promise; and Christ,
who had engaged to be the Redeemer, was faithful to him that appointed him; and
having an interest therefore in this plenteous redemption, by virtue of which he was the
Lord's, he committed himself into his hands.
HE RY, "He gave up his soul in a special manner to him (Psa_31:5): 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,” Psa_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 (2Co_4:16), and that we may keep possession of our souls when
we can keep possession of nothing else, Luk_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 (Psa_31:4) 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 (2Ti_1:12): “Thou hast redeemed
me, O Lord God of truth! redeem me according to a promise which thou wilt be true to.”
JAMISO , "commit my spirit — my life, or myself. Our Savior used the words on
the Cross [Luk_23:46], not as prophetical, but, as many pious men have done, as
expressive of His unshaken confidence in God. The Psalmist rests on God’s faithfulness
to His promises to His people, and hence avows himself one of them, detesting all who
revere objects of idolatry (compare Deu_32:21; 1Co_8:4).
EBC, "Psa_31:5-8 prolong the tone of the preceding, with some difference, inasmuch as
God’s past acts are more specifically dwelt on as the ground of confidence. In this turn of
the stream, faith does not so much supplicate as meditate, plucking the flower of
confidence from the nettle of past dangers and deliverances, and renewing its acts of
surrender. The sacred words which Jesus made His own on the cross, and which have
been the last utterance of so many saints, were meant by the psalmist to apply to life, not
to death. He laid his spirit as a precious deposit in God’s hand, assured that He was able
to keep that which was committed to Him. Often had he done this before, and now he
does it once more. Petitions pass into surrender. Resignation as well as confidence
speaks. To lay one’s life in God’s hand is to leave the disposal of it to Him, and such
absolute submission must come as the calm close and incipient reward of every cry for
deliverance. Trust should not be hard to those who can remember. So Jehovah’s past
redemptions-i.e., deliverances from temporal dangers-are its ground here; and these
avail as pledges for the future, since He is "the God of truth," who can never falsify His
past. The more nestlingly a soul clings to God, the more vehemently will it recoil from
other trust. Attraction and repulsion are equal and contrary: The more clearly it sees
God’s faithfulness and living power as a reality operating in its life, the more penetrating
will be its detection of the falseness of other helpers. "Nothingnesses of emptiness" are
they all to one who has felt the clasp of that great, tender hand; and unless the soul feels
them to be such, it will never strongly clutch or firmly hold its true stay. Such trust has
its crown in joyful experience of God’s mercy even before the actual deliverance comes to
pass, as wind-borne fragrance meets the traveller before he sees the spice gardens from
which it comes. The cohortative verbs in Psa_31:7 may be petition ("Let me exult"), or
they may be anticipation of future gladness, but in either case some waft of joy has
already reached the singer, as how could it fail to do, when his faith was thus renewing
itself, and his eyes gazing on God’s deeds of old? The past tenses in Psa_31:7-8 refer to
former experiences. God’s sight of the psalmist’s affliction was not idle contemplation,
but implied active intervention. To "take note of the distresses of my soul" (or possibly,
"of my soul in distresses") is the same as to care for it. It is enough to know that God sees
the secret sorrows, the obscure trials which can be told to none. He loves as well as

knows, and looks on no griefs which He will not comfort nor on any wounds which He is
not ready to bind up. The psalmist was sure that God had seen, because he had
experienced His delivering power, as he goes on joyfully to tell. The figure in Psa_31:8 a
points back to the act of trust in Psa_31:5. How should God let the hand of the enemy
close round and crush the spirit which had been entrusted to His own hand? One sees
the greedy fingers of the foe drawing themselves together on their prey as on a fly, but
they close on nothing. Instead of suffering constraint the delivered spirit walks at liberty.
They who are enclosed in God’s hand have ample room there; and unhindered activity,
with the ennobling consciousness of freedom, is the reward of trust.
SBC, "(with Luke xxiii., ver. 46, and Acts vii., ver. 59)
I. Regard the words as supplying the true watchword of life. When we commit our spirit
into the hand of God, three results accrue. (1) We approach the duties of life through a
series of the most elevating considerations, (a) We are not our own. (b) We are parts of a
great system. (c) We are servants, not masters. (d) The things that are round about us
are beneath our serious notice except for momentary convenience or instruction. (2) We
accept the trials of life with the most hopeful patience. They are disciplinary; they are
under control; they are needful. (3) We recognise the mercies of life with the most joyous
thankfulness.
II. Regard the words as supplying the true watchword of death. This watchword, as
spoken by Jesus and as spoken by Stephen, shows (1) their belief in a state of being at
present invisible; (2) their assurance of the limitations of human malice. In view of these
considerations, there are four points of practical application. (1) Where the spirit is fit
for the presence of God, there is no fear of death. (2) All who have lived in the faith are
present with the Lord. (3) Jesus Himself knows what it is to pass through the valley of
the shadow of death. (4) The prayer for entrance amongst the blest may come too late.
Parker, City Temple, vol. ii., p. 14 (see also Pulpit Notes, p. 106).
E-SWORD, "“Into thine hand I commit my spirit.” These living words of David
were our Lord's dying words, and have been frequently used by holy men in their hour of
departure. Be assured that they are good, choice, wise, and solemn words; we may use
them now and in the last tremendous hour. Observe, the object of the good man's
solicitude in life and death is not his body or his estate, but his spirit; this is his jewel, his
secret treasure; if this be safe, all is well. See what he does with his pearl! He commits it
to the hand of his God: it came from him, it is his own, he has aforetime sustained it, he
is able to keep it, and it is most fit that he should receive it. All things are safe in
Jehovah's hands; what we entrust to the Lord will be secure, both now and in that day of
days towards which we are hastening. Without reservation the good man yields himself
to his heavenly Father's hand; it is enough for him to be there; it is peaceful living and
glorious dying to repose in the care of heaven. At all times we should commit and
continue to commit our all to Jesus' sacred care, then, though life may hang on a thread,
and adversities may multiply as the sands of the sea, our soul shall dwell at ease, and
delight itself in quiet resting places. “Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.”
Redemption is a solid basis for confidence. David had not known Calvary as we have
done, but temporal redemption cheered him; and shall not eternal redemption yet more
sweetly console us? Past deliverances are strong pleas for present assistance. What the
Lord has done he will do again, for he changes not. He is a God of veracity, faithful to his
promises, and gracious to his saints; he will not turn away from his people.

CALVI , "5.Into thy hand I commit my spirit. David again declares his faith to
God, and affirms that he had such high thoughts of his providence, as to cast all his
cares upon it. Whoever commits himself into God’ hand and to his guardianship,
not only constitutes him the arbiter of life and death to him, but also calmly depends
on him for protection amidst all his dangers. The verb is in the future tense, “ will
commit,” and it unquestionably denotes a CO TI UED act, and is therefore fitly
translated into the present tense. It is also to be observed, that no man can possibly
commit his life to God with sincerity, but he who considers himself exposed to a
thousand deaths, and that his life hangs by a thread, or differs almost nothing from
a breath which passes suddenly away. David being thus at the point of despair,
leaves nothing to himself to do but this — to go on his way, trusting in God as the
keeper and governor of his life. It is marvellous, that, although many things distress
us all, scarcely one in a hundred is so wise as to commit his life into God’ hand.
Multitudes live from day to day as merry and careless as if they were in a quiet nest,
free from all disturbance; but as soon as they encounter any thing to terrify them,
they are ready to die for anguish. It thus happens that they never betake themselves
to God, either because they deceive themselves with vain delusions, flattering
themselves that all will yet be well, (639) or because they are so stricken with dread
and stupified with amazement, that they have no desire for his fatherly care.
Farther, as various tempests of grief disturb us, and even sometimes throw us down
headlong, or drag us from the direct path of duty, or at least remove us from our
post, the only remedy which exists for setting these things at rest is to consider that
God, who is the author of our life, is also its preserver. This, then, is the only means
of lightening all our burdens, and preserving us from being swallowed up of over-
much sorrow. Seeing, therefore, that God condescends to undertake the care of our
lives, and to support them, although they are often exposed to various sorts of death,
let us learn always to flee to this asylum; nay, the more that any one is exposed to
dangers, let him EXERCISE himself the more carefully in meditating on it. In short,
let this be our shield against all dangerous attacks — our haven amidst all tossings
and tempests — that, although our safety may be beyond all human hope, God is the
faithful guardian of it; and let this again arouse us to prayer, that he would defend
us, and make our deliverance sure. This confidence will likewise make every man
forward to discharge his duty with alacrity, and constantly and fearlessly to struggle
onward to the end of his course. How does it happen that so many are slothful and
indifferent, and that others perfidiously forsake their duty, but because,
overwhelmed with anxiety, they are terrified at dangers and inconveniences, and
leave no room for the operation of the providence of God?
To conclude, whoever relies not on the providence of God, so as to commit his life to
its faithful guardianship, has not yet learned aright what it is to live. On the other
hand, he who shall entrust the keeping of his life to God’ care, will not doubt of its
safety even in the midst of death. We must therefore put our life into God’ hand, not
only that he may keep it safely in this world, but also that he may preserve it from
destruction in death itself, as Christ’ own example has taught us. As David wished
to have his life prolonged amidst the dangers of death, so Christ passed out of this
transitory life that his soul might be saved in death. This is a general prayer,
therefore, in which the faithful commit their lives to God, first, that he may protect

them by his power, so long as they are exposed to the dangers of this world; and,
secondly, that he may preserve them safe in the grave, where nothing is to be seen
but destruction. We ought farther to assure ourselves, that we are not forsaken of
God either in life or in death; for those whom God brings safely by his power to the
end of their course, he at last receives to himself at their death. This is one of the
principal places of Scripture which are most suitable for correcting distrust. It
teaches us, first, that the faithful ought not to torment themselves above measure
with unhappy cares and anxieties; and, secondly, that they should not be so
distracted with fear as to cease from performing their duty, nor decline and faint in
such a manner as to grasp at vain hopes and deceitful helps, nor give way to fears
and alarms; and, in fine, that they should not be afraid of death, which, though it
destroys the body, cannot extinguish the soul. This, I DEED, ought to be our
principal argument for overcoming all temptations, that Christ, when commending
his soul to his Father, undertook the guardianship of the souls of all his people.
Stephen, therefore, calls upon him to be his keeper, saying, “ Jesus, receive my
spirit,” (Act_7:59.) As the soul is the seat of life, it is on this ACCOU T, as is well
known, used to signify life.
Thou hast redeemed me. Some translate the past tense here into the future; but, in
my opinion, without any reason. For it is evident to me, that David is here
encouraging himself to CO TI UED confidence in God, by calling to remembrance
the proofs of his favor which he had already experienced. (640) It is no small
encouragement to us for the future, to be assuredly persuaded that God will watch
over our life, because he hath been our deliverer already. Hence the epithet by
which David recognises God. He calls him true orfaithful, because he believes that
he will continue the same to him for ever that he has already been.
ACCORDI GLY, this is as it were a bond by which he joins to the former benefits
which God had conferred upon him confidence in prayer, and the hope of aid for
the time to come: as if he had said, Lord, thou who art ever the same, and changest
not thy mind like men, hast already testified in very deed that thou art the defender
of my life: now, therefore, I commit my life, of which thou hast been the preserver,
into thy hands. What David here declares concerning his temporal life, Paul
transfers to eternal salvation.
“ know,” says he, “ I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that
which I have committed to him,”
(2Ti_1:12.)
And surely, if David derived so much confidence from temporal deliverance, it is
more than wicked and ungrateful on our part, if the redemption purchased by the
blood of Christ does not furnish us with invincible courage against all the devices of
Satan.
(639) “Se faisans a croire que de leur faict ce ne sera que triomphe.” — Fr.

(640) Horsley, while his translation is similar to that of Calvin, “ hast delivered me,”
takes a somewhat different view of the meaning. “ hast, i.e., Thou most surely wilt.
— The thing is as certain as if it were done.”
SPURGEO , "Verse 5. Into thine hand I commit my spirit. These living words of
David were our Lord's dying words, and have been frequently used by holy men in
their hour of departure. Be assured that they are good, choice, wise, and solemn
words; we may use them now and in the last tremendous hour. Observe, the object
of the good man's solicitude in life and death is not his body or his estate, but his
spirit; this is his jewel, his secret treasure; if this be safe, all is well. See what he does
with his pearl! He commits it to the hand of his God; it came from him, it is his own,
he has aforetime sustained it, he is able to keep it, and it is most fit that he should
receive it. All things are safe in Jehovah's hands; what we entrust to the Lord will be
secure, both now and in that day of days towards which we are hastening. Without
reservation the good man yields himself to his heavenly Father's hand; it is enough
for him to be there; it is peaceful living and glorious dying to repose in the care of
heaven. At all times we should commit and CO TI UE to commit our all to Jesus'
sacred care, then, though life may hang on a thread, and adversities may multiply as
the sands of the sea, our soul shall dwell at ease, and delight itself in quiet resting
places. Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth. Redemption is a solid base for
confidence. David had not known Calvary as we have done, but temporal
redemption cheered him; and shall not eternal redemption yet more sweetly console
us? Past deliverances are strong pleas for present ASSISTA CE. What the Lord
has done he will do again, for he changes not. He is a God of veracity, faithful to his
promises, and gracious to his saints; he will not turn away from his people.
Verse 5. Into thine hand I commit my spirit. These were the last words of Polycarp,
of Bernard, of Huss, of Jerome of Prague, of Luther, of Melancthon, and many
others. "Blessed are they, "says Luther, "who die not only for the Lord, as martyrs,
not only in the Lord, as all believers, but likewise with the Lord, as breathing forth
their lives in these words, 'Into thine hand I commit my spirit.'" J. J. Stewart
Perowne.
Verse 5. Into thine hand I commit my spirit. These words, as they stand in the
Vulgate, were in the highest CREDIT among our ancestors; by whom they were
used on all dangers, difficulties, and in the article of death. In manus tuas, Domine,
commendo spiritum meum, was used by the sick when about to EXPIRE, if they
were sensible; and if not, the priest said it in their behalf. In forms of prayer for sick
and dying persons, these words were frequently inserted in Latin, though all the rest
of the prayer was English; for it was supposed there was something sovereign in the
language itself. But let not the abuse of such words hinder their usefulness. For an
ejaculation nothing can be better; and when the pious or the tempted with
confidence use them, nothing can exceed their effect. Adam Clarke.
Verse 5. Into thine hand I commit my spirit, etc. For what are the saints to commit

their spirits into the hands of God by Jesus Christ? 1. That they may be safe; i.e.,
preserved in their passage to heaven, from all the enemies and dangers that may
stand in the way. When saints die, the powers of darkness would, doubtless, if
possible, hinder the ascending of their souls to God. As they are cast out of heaven,
they are filled with rage to see any out of our world going thither. One thing,
therefore, which the saint means in committing his spirit into the hands of God, is,
that the precious depositum may be kept from all that wish or would attempt its
ruin. And they are sure that almighty power belongs to God: and if this is engaged
for their preservation, none can pluck them out of his hand. The Redeemer hath
spoiled PRI CIPALITIES and powers, and proved it by his triumphant ascension
to glory; and hath all his and the believer's enemies in a chain, so that they shall be
more than conquerors in and through him. Angels, for order's sake, are sent forth
to minister to them and be their guard, who will faithfully attend them their charge,
till they are brought to the presence of the common Lord of both. "I know, "saith
the apostle, "whom I have believed; and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that
which I have committed unto him against that day."
2. They commit their soul into the hands of God, that they may be admitted to dwell
with him, even in that presence of his where there is fulness of joy, and where there
are pleasures for evermore: where all evil is excluded, and all good present, to fill
their desires, and find them matter of praise to all eternity.
3. They commit their departing spirits into the hands of God, that their bodies may
be at length raised and reunited to them, and that so they may E TER at last into
the blessedness prepared for them that love him...The grounds on which they may
do this with comfort, i.e., with lively hopes of being happy for ever, are many. To
mention only two:
(a) God's interest in them, and upon the most endearing foundation, that of
redemption. Into thine hand I commit my spirit; for thou hast redeemed me.
Redeemed me from hell and the wrath to come, by giving thy Son to die for me.
Lord, I am not only thy creature, but thy redeemed creature, bought with a PRICE,
saith the saint. Redeemed me from the power of my inward corruption, and from
love to it, and delight in it; and with my consent hast drawn me to be thine, and
thine for ever. Lord, I am thine, save me unchangeably.
(b) His known faithfulness. Into thine hand I commit my spirit, O Lord God of
truth. Into thine hand I commit my spirit, who hast been a God of truth, in
performing thy promises to all thy people that are gone before me out of this world;
and has been so to me hitherto, and, I cannot doubt, wilt CO TI UE so to the end.
Daniel Wilcox.
Verse 5. Into thine hand. When those hands fail me, then I am indeed abandoned
and miserable! When they sustain and keep me, then am I safe, exalted, strong, and
filled with good. Receive me then, O Eternal Father, for the sake of our Lord's
merits and words; for he, by his obedience and his death, hath now merited from
thee everything which I do not merit of myself. Into thy hands, my Father and my

Psalm 31 commentary

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Psalm 31 commentary