Psaume 31

1 Au maître-chantre. Psaume de David.

2 Éternel, je me suis retiré vers toi; que je ne sois jamais confus! Délivre-moi par ta justice!

3 Incline ton oreille vers moi; hâte-toi de me délivrer; sois mon rocher, ma retraite, ma forteresse où je puisse me sauver!

4 Car tu es mon rocher et ma forteresse; pour l'amour de ton nom, tu me guideras et me conduiras.

5 Tu me tireras du piège qu'on m'a tendu; car tu es ma retraite.

6 Je remets mon esprit entre tes mains; tu m'as racheté, ô Éternel, Dieu de vérité!

7 Je hais ceux qui s'adonnent aux vanités trompeuses; pour moi, je me confie en l'Éternel.

8 Je triompherai, je me réjouirai en ta bonté, toi qui as regardé mon affliction, qui as pris connaissance des détresses de mon âme.

9 Tu ne m'as pas livré aux mains de l'ennemi; tu as mis au large et tu as assuré mes pas.

10 Éternel, aie pitié de moi, car je suis dans la détresse! Mon œil dépérit de chagrin, mon âme aussi et mes entrailles.

11 Car ma vie se consume dans la douleur, et mes ans dans les soupirs; ma force est déchue à cause de mon iniquité, et mes os dépérissent.

12 A cause de tous mes ennemis je suis un objet d'opprobre, de grand opprobre pour mes voisins, et un objet d'horreur pour mes amis; ceux qui me voient dehors s'enfuient loin de moi.

13 J'ai été mis en oubli dans les cœurs comme un mort; je suis comme un vase de rebut.

14 Car j'entends les propos secrets de beaucoup de gens; la frayeur m'environne; ils se concertent ensemble contre moi, et complotent de m'ôter la vie.

15 Mais moi, Éternel, je me confie en toi; j'ai dit: Tu es mon Dieu.

16 Mes temps sont en ta main; délivre-moi de la main de mes ennemis et de mes persécuteurs.

17 Fais luire ta face sur ton serviteur; délivre-moi par ta bonté.

18 Éternel, que je ne sois point confus, car je t'ai invoqué; que les méchants soient confus, qu'ils aient la bouche fermée dans le Sépulcre!

19 Qu'elles soient muettes, les lèvres menteuses qui profèrent contre le juste des paroles impudentes, avec orgueil et mépris!

20 Oh! qu'ils sont grands, les biens que tu as réservés pour ceux qui te craignent; que tu répands, aux yeux des fils des hommes, sur ceux qui se retirent vers toi!

21 Tu les caches dans le secret de ta face, loin des complots des hommes; tu les abrites dans ta tente contre les langues qui les attaquent.

22 Béni soit l'Éternel! Car il a signalé sa bonté envers moi, et m'a mis comme dans une ville forte.

23 Je disais dans ma précipitation: Je suis retranché de devant tes yeux; mais tu as exaucé la voix de mes supplications, quand j'ai crié à toi.

24 Aimez l'Éternel, vous tous ses bien-aimés! L'Éternel garde les fidèles, mais il rend à celui qui agit avec orgueil tout ce qu'il a mérité.

25 Demeurez fermes, et que votre cœur se fortifie, vous tous qui vous attendez à l'Éternel!

Psaume 31 Commentary

Chapter 31

Confidence in God. (1-8) Prayer in trouble. (9-18) Praise for God's goodness. (19-24)

Verses 1-8 Faith and prayer must go together, for the prayer of faith is the prevailing prayer. David gave up his soul in a special manner to God. And with the words, ver. 5, our Lord Jesus yielded up his last breath on the cross, and made his soul a free-will offering for sin, laying down his life as a ransom. But David is here as a man in distress and trouble. And his great care is about his soul, his spirit, his better part. Many think that while perplexed about their worldly affairs, and their cares multiply, they may be excused if they neglect their souls; but we are the more concerned to look to our souls, that, though the outward man perish, the inward man may suffer no damage. The redemption of the soul is so precious, that it must have ceased for ever, if Christ had not undertaken it. Having relied on God's mercy, he will be glad and rejoice in it. God looks upon our souls, when we are in trouble, to see whether they are humbled for sin, and made better by the affliction. Every believer will meet with such dangers and deliverances, until he is delivered from death, his last enemy.

Verses 9-18 David's troubles made him a man of sorrows. Herein he was a type of Christ, who was acquainted with grief. David acknowledged that his afflictions were merited by his own sins, but Christ suffered for ours. David's friends durst not give him any assistance. Let us not think it strange if thus deserted, but make sure of a Friend in heaven who will not fail. God will be sure to order and dispose all for the best, to all those who commit their spirits also into his hand. The time of life is in God's hands, to lengthen or shorten, make bitter or sweet, according to the counsel of his will. The way of man is not in himself, nor in our friend's hands, nor in our enemies' hands, but in God's. In this faith and confidence he prays that the Lord would save him for his mercies's sake, and not for any merit of his own. He prophesies the silencing of those that reproach and speak evil of the people of God. There is a day coming, when the Lord will execute judgment upon them. In the mean time, we should engage ourselves by well-doing, if possible, to silence the ignorance of foolish men.

Verses 19-24 Instead of yielding to impatience or despondency under our troubles, we should turn our thoughts to the goodness of the Lord towards those who fear and trust in Him. All comes to sinners through the wondrous gift of the only-begotten Son of God, to be the atonement for their sins. Let not any yield to unbelief, or think, under discouraging circumstances, that they are cut off from before the eyes of the Lord, and left to the pride of men. Lord, pardon our complaints and fears; increase our faith, patience, love, and gratitude; teach us to rejoice in tribulation and in hope. The deliverance of Christ, with the destruction of his enemies, ought to strengthen and comfort the hearts of believers under all their afflictions here below, that having suffered courageously with their Master, they may triumphantly enter into his joy and glory.

Chapter Summary

To the chief Musician, a Psalm of David. This psalm, according to Arama, was composed by David when in Keilah; but, according to Kimchi and others, when the Ziphites proposed to deliver him up into the hands of Saul; and who, upon their solicitations, came down and surrounded him with his army, from whom in haste he made his escape, and to which he is thought to refer in Psalm 31:22. Theodoret supposes it was written by David when he fled from Absalom, and that it has some respect in it to his sin against Uriah, in that verse.