Salmi 31:6 Commento

It is probable that David penned this psalm when he was persecuted by Saul; some passages in it agree particularly to the narrow escapes he had, at Keilah (Sa1 23:13), then in the wilderness of Maon, when Saul marched on one side of the hill and he on the other, and, soon after, in the cave in the wilderness of En-gedi; but that it was penned upon any of those occasions we are not told. It is a mixture of prayers, and praises, and professions of confidence in God, all which do well together and are helpful to one another. I. David professes his cheerful confidence in God, and, in that confidence, prays for deliverance out of his present troubles (Psa 31:1-8). II. He complains of the very deplorable condition he was in, and, in the sense of his calamities, still prays that God would graciously appear for him against his persecutors (Psa 31:9-18). III. He concludes the psalm with praise and triumph, giving glory to God, and encouraging himself and others to trust in him (Psa 31:19-24). To the chief musician. A psalm of David.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 31 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 Psa 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.

I have hated them that regard lying vanities,.... Soothsaying and divination, as Aben Ezra and others think; made use of by kings, and generals of armies, to know when it was proper to go out to war, and what success they should have; see Eze 21:21; but such men and their practices David abhorred; he took no such methods when in distress, but applied to the Lord, and trusted in him; or rather idol gods, as Jarchi, and others, who are vanity, and the work of errors, and are nothing in the world; see Jon 2:8; all will worship and superstition may be included in this phrase, which being not according to the will and word of God, is worshipping in vain, and carries off from true spiritual worship; and so is a lying vanity, and to be detested, and the abettors of it: as also all errors and heresies; these are great swelling words of vanity, and are lies in hypocrisy; and likewise all immorality and wickedness, which spring from the vanity of the mind, and promise much liberty and pleasure, but deceive, and therefore lying; yea, all worldly enjoyments are vanity and vexation of spirit, and are fallacious and deceitful when trusted in; and indeed every false trust and confidence may come under this name; such as trust in riches, in wisdom and knowledge, in carnal descent, 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: now such as regard those lying vanities are they that look to them, love them, embrace them, and put their confidence in them; and such are to be "hated"; not their persons, but their principles and practices, and they themselves are to be shunned and abstained from; but I trust in the Lord; the God of truth, that cannot lie, deny himself, nor deceive; who is unchangeable, and without any variableness, or shadow of turning.

"Thou hatest them that hold to vanity uselessly" [Psalm 31:6]. Thou hatest them that hold to the false happiness of the world. "But I have trusted in the Lord."

You hated them and rebuffed those paying constant attention to doing wrong; far from doing evil in the heat of passion, they involve themselves in the practice of evil as though an obligation (the sense of “paid constant attention”). By “futile things” he refers to the wrongdoing. By “in vain” he means that they got no benefit from their involvement in evildoing because of his hating and punishing them and not allowing them to bring to completion the object of their efforts.

“I will hope in the Lord,” in whom there is nothing empty, … but everything remains fixed and whole.

"But I." Above, he assigned the reason for his hope from the divine condition; here he assigns it from the experience of divine benefits. Concerning which he does two things. First, he proposes hope; second, its effect, at "I will be glad." He says therefore: God hates the wicked; "But I," who do not observe vanities, "have hoped in God alone," not in the god of riches, 1 Tim. 6. The effect of hope is spiritual joy. Rom. 12: "Rejoicing in hope." And he sets forth the manner of joy, because "I will rejoice and be glad." Now exultation is a joy leaping forth outwardly through external signs. Gladness, however, denotes the interior expansion of the heart. Exultation therefore denotes the greatness of the joy; gladness, its moderation. And he places exultation first, because men inflamed with love of God at first rejoice more, and afterward moderately. "I will be glad," not in my justice, but in yours.

"Into your hands." Third, he breaks forth in sudden prayer; and concerning this he does two things. First, he commends himself to the Lord; second, he commemorates the divine benefit, either already received or soon to follow, at "You have redeemed," and so on. He says therefore as to the first, "Into your hands," and so on. What a man holds most dear he commends to his guide. And therefore in this perilous life I commend my spirit to you, God. Christ did this as an example for us; hence on the cross he said, "Into your hands," and so on. 2 Tim. 1: "I know whom I have believed," and so on. This is understood from the person of the Church; as if the Church were to say to its head, Christ: you say, "Into your hands I commend my spirit," and so on. And from this, namely from the cross, our redemption follows. He says moreover, "God of truth," because he fulfilled what he promised. But by comparison to adversaries he says, "You have hated"; as if to say, thus you relate to me, but how toward adversaries? Because you hate them, and rightly, because they observe vanities, and so on -- those, namely, who place and fix their hope in the things of the world. And this they do in vain, because these things fail. Wis. 5: "What has pride profited us?" and so on. Likewise vanities: auguries, or dreams, or pacts with demons; and such people are hated by God, because they are sacrilegious and idolaters. Ps. 39: "Blessed is the man whose trust is the name of the Lord," and so on.

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. (Psa. 31:1-24) Expresses the general tone of feeling of the Psalm.