July 30, 2014
Tom Lowe
Psalm 31 (KJV)
Title: Life’s Ups and Downs
A Psalm of David.
Psalm 31 (KJV)
1 In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.
2 Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me.
3 For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me.
4 Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength.
5 Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.
6 I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the LORD.
7 I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;
8 And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room.
9 Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly.
10 For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.
11 I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance: they that did see me without fled from me.
12 I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel.
13 For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life.
14 But I trusted in thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my God.
15 My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.
16 Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies' sake.
17 Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave.
18 Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.
19 Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!
20 Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.
21Blessed be the LORD: for he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city.
22 For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.
23 O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.
24 Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.
Introduction
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 grief 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 have similar love and confidence towards God.
Commentary
1 In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust ; let me never be ashamed : deliver me in thy righteousness.
In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust
“In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust,” not in any creature, but in the Lord Jehovah. The Targum has “in thy Word, do I put my trust,” the essential Logos , or Word, which was in the beginning with God, and was God, and is an equal object of faith, trust, and confidence, as Jehovah the Father: this act includes trusting everything with God, body, and soul, and their welfare, in time, and to eternity; and trusting in him for all things, including Providence and grace, and glory, and is a continuous act; for the psalmist does not say, “I have trusted,” or “I will trust,” but “I do trust;” and this was a very considerable thing to do in this time of his distress: the Lord is to be trusted in at all times.
“In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust”—this is the basis for the petitions which follow; or the reason why the psalmist makes these 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. This verse sounds very much like Psalm 7:1: “O LORD my God, in you do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me.” All my hope and confidence are in your kindness, and faithfulness to fulfil the promises you made to me.
“In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust.” Nowhere else do I flee for shelter, let the tempest howl. The Psalmist has one refuge, one place to go, and that the best one. He casts out the great anchor of his faith in the time of storm. Let other things be doubtful, but not the fact that he relies upon Jehovah. This affirmation of faith is the fulcrum by means of which he labors to uplift and remove his trouble; he dwells upon it as a comfort to himself and a plea made to God. No mention is made of merit, but faith relies upon divine favor and faithfulness, and upon that alone. “O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in you” (Psalm 25:20). In spite of the extreme danger he is in, his belief in the coming overthrow of his enemies is firm, as is his own deliverance and restoration.
Let me never be ashamed
“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 except his own sin, and the imperfection of his own righteousness, and his trust in it; not of the Lord, in whom he trusts; nor His Word, or Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom he believes is 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 rebukes, afflictions, and sufferings, he endures for the sake of Christ and His Gospel. And “let me never be ashamed” of His ordinances and His people; nor will he ever be ashamed of the coming of Christ, when he will appear in His righteousness, be clothed with white robes, have palm branches in his hands, and shall stand at His right hand, and be received into glory.
Let Thy dealings with me 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 Romans 1:16; Romans 5:5; 2 Timothy 1:12), but in the sense of being so "disappointed" that he would be ashamed that he had relied on One who was unworthy of confidence. The psalmist prays that God would intervene in his behalf in answer to his prayers and that He would show that He was worthy of the confidence which he had placed 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 placing in his troubles in the hands of such a God.
“Let me never be ashamed.” How can the Lord permit the man to be ultimately put to shame who depends upon him alone? This would not be dealing like a God of truth and grace. It would bring dishonor upon God Himself if faith was not rewarded in the end. It will be a bad day indeed for religion when trust in God brings no consolation and no assistance. Compare:
• Psalm 31:17: “Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called on you: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave.”
• Psalm 25:2: “O my God, I trust in you: let me not be ashamed, let not my enemies triumph over me.”
• Psalm 25:20: “O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in you.”
• Psalm 22:5: “They cried to you, and were delivered: they trusted in you, and were not confounded.”
Deliver me in thy righteousness
“Deliver me in thy righteousness”—not in his own, which he knew was unacceptable to God; but by the righteousness of God, which the Son of God has accomplished, and God the Father accepts of and imputes. Faith dares to look even to the sword of justice for protection—as long as God is righteous, faith will not be futile. How sweetly does the declaration of faith sound in this first verse, 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. For God to desert His people (v. 16) would be inconsistent with His righteousness.
Verses 1–8 is a prayer of faith, and verses 1-3 are repeated in that beautiful montage, Psalms 71; and verse 1 forms the close of the Te Deum . David’s prayer is “Deliver me in thy righteousness, seeing that my cause is a righteous one.
2 Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me.
Bow down thine ear to me
“Bow down thine ear to me,” as a person does when he inclines his ear toward the one he wants to hear. “I have called on you, for you will hear me, O God: incline your ear to me, and hear my speech” (v. 6). For God to stoop, and incline His ear in order to better hear us is a wonderful condescending grace! The same phrase appears in Psalm 71:2: “Deliver me in your righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline your ear to me, and save me.”
In this verse, David seeks help from God's righteous rule—“Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before my face” (Ps 5:8)—and begs for an attentive hearing, and speedy and effective aid. With no other help and no claim of merit, he relies solely on God's concern for His own flawlessness and for safe guidance and release from the snares of his enemies.
Deliver me speedily
“Deliver me speedily” shows that he was in great danger and that his deliverance must come quickly: sometimes the Lord does help early, and is a present help in time of need, and delivers at once, as soon as the blessing is asked for. Compare:
• Psalm 38:22: “Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation.” This is an earnest prayer that God would come immediately to his rescue.
• Psalm 40:17: “But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinks on me: you are my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.” Do not linger or delay in coining to my assistance.
• Psalm 70:1: “Make haste, o God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O Lord.”
• Psalm 71:12: “O God, be not far from me: O my God, make haste for my help.” He knew that his help must come from God, and that there was none for him elsewhere; and that he could obtain help from Him when no one else could help him, and He was a present help in time of trouble, even though his case desperate.
The psalmist does not doubt that the Lord will deliver him, because He has done so many times in the past.
Be thou my strong rock
“Be thou my strong rock” for providing shelter and security from my enemies, as well as to build his everlasting salvation on, and to stand firmly upon, and out of danger. A literal reading of the verse would be, “Thou art to me for a rock of a stronghold, for a house of fortresses to save me.” Concerning the term "rock," compare Psalms 17:2; 18:2, 50; 20:6; 23:3; 25:21.
The parallelism between this clause and the first clause of verse 3 is even stronger in the original than in our Version, for while 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 overhang.
For an house of defense to save me
God is likened to a house to dwell in, since the Lord is the dwelling place of his people in all generations, and a sturdy building to which they may continually take refuge, and where they might find protection and safety; their place of defense is in Him who is the munition of rocks, a stronghold, and a strong tower that protects him from the enemy.
The word rendered “defense” is the same as that which is translated “fortress” in the next clause. So, if we were to combine the two clauses it would read thus: “Be Thou a strong Rock to me, for a house, a fortress, for Thou art my Rock and my Fortress.” This gives the whole force of the parallelism.
“For an house of defense to save me” refers to a fortified house; a house made safe and strong. It is equivalent to praying that he might have a secure abode or dwelling-place in which to live. The psalmist goes on to give the ground of his prayer—thou art my cliff and my fortress, that is, prove Thyself to be what I know Thou art. It is the logic of every believing prayer.
3 For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me.
For thou art my rock and my fortress
He prayed for what he knew God to be, and what He had been in the past, and he could appeal to His concern for him; and therefore he implores the Lord to be to him what he was in Himself, and what He had been to him. David’s prayer was simply that the Lord would act as He always had. David prays for God to be his Rock and Fortress in the future because he has always looked to Him as his Rock and Fortress in the past. Faith establishes a claim to have its anticipations made good. The word rendered Rock in this clause is better rendered Cliff or Fortress.
Therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me
“Lead me, and guide me;” two words expressing the same thing in order to give the idea more emphasis. Direct me clearly and continually in a right and safe path; for without Your shepherding I cannot determine the right way, or continue in it—therefore, “for thy Name's sake lead me, and guide me.” The metaphor is dropped, and God is simply asked for guidance and direction. In the struggle between Absalom and David more depended upon wise counsel than upon mere force (see 2 Samuel 15:31-37; 2 Samuel 16:15-23; 2 Samuel 17:5-23).
The type of guidance pictured here is either the kind of guidance a shepherd provides for his flock—gently, with no more force than they are able to bear; guidance into the green pastures of the Word and ordinances, and beside the still waters of divine love, and to the overflowing fountain, and fullness of grace in Himself. The other kind is the guidance provided by a general who leads and guides his army; Christ being a Leader and Commander of His people, and the great Captain of their salvation, and when He is the head of them, they fear no enemy. The psalmist desires that the Lord would lead him in the way of truth and down paths of righteousness, according to His Word. This is guidance by His counsel, and by His Spirit, so that he might walk in the way in which he should go; and this he prays 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
To pray for protection and then strongly affirm his belief that God would give it, has been called illogical; but it is the logic of the heart if not of the intellect; the logic, it may be added, of every prayer of faith.
4 Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength.
Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me
This could refer to the time when the Ziphites intended to betray him, and Saul and his men surrounded him with the intention of capturing him. This was the danger that he was in and from which he saw only God could deliver him. It is God who breaks the nets of men, and the snares of the devil, which they secretly lay for the people of God, so that they may stumble, and fall, and be seized. It is God who delivers them out of the enemies’ traps.
The image of a net is a common one in the Psalms—“He lies in wait secretly like a lion in its den: he lies in wait to catch the poor: he does catch the poor when he draws them into his net” (Psalm 10:9). He compares his insidious enemies to hunters or fowlers. Compare:
• Psalm 9:15: “The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.” They are trapped in the net which they hid—which they laid for others. The allusion here is to a spring-net made to capture birds or wild beasts.
• Psalm 25:15: “My eyes are ever toward the LORD; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.” The "net" here is that which had been laid for him by the wicked. He trusted in God alone to deliver him from it.
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. Accordingly, his enemies planned to overcome him, by springing a trap for him at a moment when he was not aware of it, and at a place where he did not expect it.
Absalom set a trap for David when he asked permission to go to Hebron for the purpose of paying a vow, but his real purpose was to get possession of a strongly fortified city (2 Samuel 15:7-9). It was, perhaps, by a scheme of Ahithophel's that David was convinced to leave Jerusalem and go into exile.
For thou art my strength.
“For thou art my strength” (compare Psalm 18:1; 19:15; 28:1, 7, 8)—my stronghold; my hope of security is in You, and You alone. Preserve me from the crafty counsels and subtle practices of my enemies. God was the author, giver, and maintainer, both of his natural and spiritual strength; and He was able, and was the only One able, to pull him out of the net, and extricate him out of the difficulties which he was in.
5 Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.
Into thine hand I commit my spirit
“I commit my spirit” means either:
1. his life, which he has committed to a faithful Creator and Preserver, who was the God of his life, who gave him life, and sustained his soul in it; or
2. 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 no one can pluck it; or
3. This he might say, if he was worried about the prospect of immediate death, because of 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 does not die 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 when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into your hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost” (Luke 23:46). These are among the most memorable words in the Bible; the dying words of our Lord and many Christians who have passed away were comforted by them. But death was not on his mind here, rather, it was in life, amid its troubles and dangers, that he trusted his spirit to God. But this does not prove that the psalm was originally a reference to Christ, or that he meant to suggest that the words were originally a prophecy. The language was as appropriate for him, as it is for all others in the hour of death; and Christ’s 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. The word "spirit" may mean either “myself” or “life,” which has the spirit as its animating principle; or it may mean more specifically the "soul," as distinguished from the body. The sense is not materially different by either interpretation. David was not thinking of a final committal of his soul, as distinct from his body, into the hands of the Creator, but only intended solemnly to commit himself, both soul and body, into the Divine keeping, to be preserved from the attacks of his enemies.
Isn’t it wonderful that, at the hour of His death, He condescended to take a singer’s words as His words? What an honor to that old saint that Jesus Christ, when dying, should find nothing that more fully corresponded to His inmost feelings at that moment than the utterance of the Psalmist long ago! How His mind must have been saturated with the Old Testament and with these songs of Israel! And do you not think it would be better for us if our minds were completely steeped in those ancient utterances of devotion?
Peter tells us that it is futile for us to talk about committing the keeping of our soul to God unless we back up the committing with consistent, Christ-like lives. Of course it is vain. How can a man expect God to take care of him when he immerses himself into something that is contrary to God’s laws? Do we think that by committing our souls into God’s hands we are absolved from taking care of them ourselves? There is a very false kind of religious faith, which seems to think that it shuffles off all responsibility upon God. Not at all; you lighten the responsibility, but you do not get rid of it. And no man has a right to say “He will keep me, and so I no longer need to take custody of myself.” He keeps us, for the most part, by helping us to keep our hearts devoted to Him, and our feet on the pathway of truth.
Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth
The words, “Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, thou God of truth,” gives two reasons for his confidence; his own past experiences, and the known character of Jehovah as the God of faithfulness. Redeemed primarily means delivered from earthly distress—“But David said to Recab and Baanah, “The LORD, who saves me from all my enemies, is my witness” (2 Samuel 4:9). For Christians, it is enough to know that we can use language like this in the midst of troubles and danger, and in the hour of death, we are authorized to do so since we have been redeemed by the blood of the Saviour. None of us have any other safe ground that we can trust and have confidence in at the hour of death than the fact that Christ died for our sin. What David may have meant by this word “redeemed” may not be easy to determine with certainty; but there are two possibilities, which we will delve into:
1. Redeemed from troubles and danger.
• He had been rescued from danger in the past, which encouraged him to commit his life into the hands of God.
• We can say, “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” You have experiences, I have no doubt, in your past, on which you may build confidence for the future. Let each of us consult our own hearts and our own memories. Can’t we say, “Thou hast been my Help,” and therefore, we ought to be sure that He will not “leave us nor forsake us” until He manifests Himself as the God of our salvation?
• You have delivered me from great dangers in the past, and therefore I willingly and cheerfully commit myself to You for the future: You have shown Yourself to always make good Your promises.
2. Redeemed from the guilt and punishment for sin.
• There is no reason to doubt that he may have used the phrase to express the idea that he had been restored from the ruin of the fall, and from the dominion of sin, and had been made a child of God. Nor do we doubt that he had such views of the way of salvation that he would feel that he was redeemed from his sins by an atonement, or by the shedding of blood.
• He is referring to spiritual and eternal redemption from sin by the blood of Christ, which the psalmist speaks of as if it was in the past, though it was yet to come. He was as certain of it; as Isaiah who speaks of the incarnation and sufferings of Christ—“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6);--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 been appointed to be the Redeemer, was faithful to Him that appointed Him; and since He was the Lord's, he committed himself into his hands.
• The Psalmist, reasoning from God’s past mercy and eternal faithfulness, is saying substantially what the Apostle said in the triumphant words, “Whom He did foreknow, them He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son . . . and whom He did predestinate them He also . . . justified, and whom He justified them He also glorified.’ ‘Thou hast redeemed me.” “Thou art the God of Truth; Thou wilt not lift Thy hand away from Thy work until Thou hast made me all that Thou didst bind Thyself to make me in that initial act of redeeming me.”
• God is a faithful Creator—He made us to need what we do need, and He is not going to forget the wants that He Himself has incorporated with our human nature. He is obliged to help us because He made us. He is the God of Truth, and He will help us.
• “Thou hast redeemed me” was the reason why the "psalmist" committed himself to God; this reason was not advocated, and could not have been given by the Savior, in his dying moments. He committed His departing spirit to God as His Father, and in virtue of the work which He had been appointed to do, and which he was now about to finish, as a Redeemer; we commit our souls to Him in virtue of having been redeemed. This is appropriate for us to do:
o Because he has redeemed us.
o Because we have been redeemed for him, and we may ask Him to take His own.
o Because this is a basis for our safety, for if we have been redeemed, we may be certain that God will keep us.
o Because this is the only basis for our security in regard to the future world.
“The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God.” Compare:
• John 10:28: “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.”
• 2 Timothy 1:12: “That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.”
• 1 Peter 4:19: “So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.”
“Lord God of truth”— the Lord has been true to His promises and to His covenant. Because You have promised life and salvation to those who are redeemed, they may safely confide in You. “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God.”
6 I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the LORD.
I have hated them that regard lying vanities
Those “that regard lying vanities” does not refer to the persons, but to their ways. “That regard” means that observe; that is, are attached to, depend upon, expect help from, pay respect to, and worship (see Psalm 59:9; Hosea 4:10). “Lying vanities” are vanities of emptiness, or, most vain vanities, which are foolish, deceitful, and fruitless. They love them, embrace them, and put their confidence in them; and David says here that they are to be “hated,” not them, but their principles and practices, and they themselves are to be shunned. “Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate you? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against you? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them my enemies” (Psalm 139:21, 22).
Lying vanities are all of the following:
1. Soothsaying and divination. This was practiced by kings, and generals of armies, to know when it was the best time to go to war, and whether they would be successful or not—“For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver” (Ezekiel 21:21);--but David abhorred such men and their practices; he did not use such methods when in distress, but instead, he asked the Lord and trusted in Him. This type of lying vanity included idol gods, who are nothing in the world—“They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy” (Jonah 2:8); and all sorts of divination, whether by the stars, or by the entrails of living creatures, or by the dead. Such practices were common and prevalent among the eastern people, and through their example, many of the Israelites adopted the practice. David pitied the Gentiles that observed these vanities, but the Israelites that did so were apostates from God, and professed enemies of His and His laws, and therefore were the proper objects of hatred.
2. Idols. Idols were often called vanities (see Deuteronomy 32:21; Jeremiah 2:5 8:19). He renounces all sympathy and fellowship with the worshippers of false gods. False gods are vanities of nothingness, having no real existence, and deceiving their worshippers; the exact opposite of the God of truth, who constantly proves His faithfulness (Deuteronomy 32:4; Deuteronomy 32:21). Vanity is a common expression for false gods in Jeremiah (Jeremiah 8:19).
3. All will worship and superstition, may be included in this category, which is not according to the will and Word of God; it is worshipping in vain, and deviates from true spiritual worship; and so, it is a lying vanity, and should be detested, as well as those who practice it.
4. All errors and heresies; these are great swelling words of vanity and are lies and hypocrisy.
5. All immorality and wickedness, which spring from the vanity of the mind, and promise much liberty and pleasure, but deceive, and therefore are lying.
6. All worldly enjoyments are vanity and aggravate the spirit, and are untrue and deceitful when trusted in.
7. Every false trust and confidence; such as trust in riches, in wisdom and knowledge, in carnal decline, and privileges, in a moral and legal righteousness, and even in a bare profession of true religion, and a subjection to Gospel ordinances; for there is no true object of trust, no Redeemer and Saviour, but the Lord.
8. All human or carnal helps, any arm of flesh; for he that trusts in them is pronounced cursed (Jeremiah 17:5), and therefore is hated.
but I trust in the Lord
David trusts in the God of truth, Who cannot lie, deny Himself, or deceive; who is unchangeable, and without any variableness, or shadow of turning. 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 De 32:21;1Co 8:4). This is the attitude that should be in all God's children—to hate whatever is not grounded on a sure trust in God, as deceitful and vain. “But I trust in the Lord,” Who is the direct opposite of all "lying vanities;" Almighty, and the "God of truth" (v. 5).
7 I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;
I will be glad, and rejoice in thy mercy
“I will be glad, and rejoice in thy mercy;” there are two reasons for rejoicing:
1. Because of the “nature” of thy mercy, which is large and abundant, free and sovereign, from everlasting to everlasting, and is communicated in and through Christ, and is a good ground of hope and trust.
2. Because of the “effects” of thy mercy, or what it has produced; for it has yielded the covenant of grace, and all the sure mercies of it; the mission of Christ, and redemption by Him; regeneration, and the forgiveness of sins, and even eternal life and glory; besides a multitude of blessings, deliverances, and salvations in Providence.
On account of all which His mercy has given us, there is a great reason for joy and gladness.
“I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy” means, I will triumph and rejoice in thy mercy; that is, in the mercy which he had already experienced, and in that which he still hoped to enjoy. He had had abundant proofs of that mercy; he hoped for still further proofs of it, and he says that he would find his joy in that, and not in what idols could give. Anticipating the "mercy" which he has craved (vs. 2-4), the psalmist determines to "be glad and rejoice in it." In our most demanding trials, we must find breathing room in which to bless the Lord: praise is never a hindrance to prayer, but rather a lively shot in the arm to encourage our persistence in it. Those two words, glad and rejoice, are an instructive repetition, in order to show his joy at receiving God’s mercy.
For thou hast considered my trouble
“For thou hast considered my trouble”—in times past and now. He was sure that his prayer would be considered, and that God would relieve and deliver him. Lord, You have seen the trouble I am in, weighed it, directed it, put boundaries to it, and in every way make it a matter of Your tender consideration. A man's consideration means the full exercise of his mind; what must God's consideration be?
When God looks upon trouble and considers it, he is sure to be compassionate to the sufferer and to grant him some relief. David’s trouble was both inward and outward, arising from indwelling sin, doubts and fears, desertions and darkness, and Satan's temptations; and outward, from the world, and the men of it, and by reason of bodily afflictions. The Lord looks upon the troubles of His people, and upon their effect on them, with an eye of pity and compassion; He sympathizes with them; he considers the nature of their trouble, their weakness, their ability to bear it, and the best way in which to deliver them, and the best time to do it; he works out all things according to the counsel of his own will: “And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows” (Exodus 3:7).
Thou hast known my soul in adversities
"Thou hast known my soul in adversities," that is, had regard for me when I was in trouble, loved me, and cared for me; for words of knowledge commonly imply affection. “For the LORD knows the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish” (Psalm 1:6). God is said to "know" those on whom he looks with approval. “Thou hast known my soul” in the troubles that have come upon me. That is, God had seen and known all the feelings of his heart in the time of adversity; his sorrow and anxiety; his hope and trust; his uncomplaining spirit; his feeling of entire dependence on God, and his belief that He would intervene to save him. God had not turned away from him but had shown that He regarded with interest all his feelings, his desires, his hopes. It is wonderful, in the time of trouble, to know that all our feelings are understood by God, that He sees all our sorrows, and that He will not leave us regardless of them. There are no states of mind more interesting than those which occur in adversities; there is no one who can fully understand the soul in adversities but God; there is no one but God who can entirely meet the needs of the soul at such times.
God owns his saints when others are ashamed to acknowledge them; He never refuses to know his friends. He does not think any less of them for their rags and tatters. He does not misjudge them and cast them off when their faces are lean with sickness, or their hearts heavy from depression. Moreover, the Lord Jesus knows us in our pains in a peculiar sense, by having a deep sympathy towards us in them all; when no one else can share our grief, because they have not experienced anything like it. But Jesus dives into the lowest depths with us, understanding the grimmest of our troubles, because He has felt the same. Jesus is a physician who knows every case; nothing is new to him. When we are so bewildered that we don’t know our own condition, He knows us very well. He has known us and will know us: O for grace to know more of him! "Man, know thyself," is a good philosophic precept, but "Man, thou art known of God," is an unmatched comfort.
8 And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy : thou hast set my feet in a large room.
And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy
“And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy,” that is, has not delivered (or abandoned) me into his hand (1 Sam. 23:11), or into his power. David said something similar to this to the giant Goliath: “This day will the LORD deliver you into my hand; and I will smite you, and take your head from you; and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day to the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel” (1 Samuel 17:46). (Also see 1 Samuel 24:18; 1 Samuel 26:8). “Shut me up into the hand” is the exact phrase used by David (1Samuel 23:11-12) when consulting the Divine oracle by the ephod. But this does not prove the authorship, for it was evidently a common phrase. (See 1 Samuel 24:18; 1 Samuel 26:8; 2 Kings 17:4.)
David may have been thinking of the time when he was in Keilah, in the wilderness of Ziph, and Maon, and surrounded by Saul and his army: “And it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah. And Saul said, God has delivered him into my hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that has gates and bars” (1 Samuel 23:7). The psalmist was in great and imminent danger if the Lord had not delivered him. Neither does the Lord permit his people to be shut up under the power of sin and Satan so that they cannot experience God’s grace, and discharge their duty: but he brings their souls out of prison, so that they may praise his name.
Thou hast set my feet in a large room
David was liberated from his enemies; Saul and his army being called off from pursuing him, by reports of an invasion by the Philistines (1 Samuel 23:27); and this is the case of the saints when they are brought to Christ, to walk by faith in full freedom; when grace is turned into practice, and spiritual knowledge is increased, and they are delivered from their enemies; or, when they can look upon them as if they are already conquered and are sure of victory over them, and at last are entirely delivered from them—“Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: you have enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy on me, and hear my prayer” (Psalm 4:1). (Also see Psalm 18:19; Psalm 18:36)
“Thou hast set my feet in a large room”—in a large place, in a large space, meaning You have made me free, or set me at liberty, put me in a place of safety, made a way for me to escape when I was surrounded by them. Literally, You have made my feet to stand in a large (or, wide) place; enabled me to move and act with freedom; given me plenty of space and freedom to act; not confined me, or cramped me, or hindered me in any way.
Having cheered himself by cataloging these grounds for encouragement (vs. 5-8), the psalmist again returns to prayer (v. 9).
