Psalms 31
31
Prayer in Distress and Thanksgiving for Escape
1For the leader. A psalm of David.
I
2In you, Lord, I take refuge;#Ps 71:1–3.
let me never be put to shame.
In your righteousness deliver me;
3incline your ear to me;
make haste to rescue me!
Be my rock of refuge,
a stronghold to save me.
4For you are my rock and my fortress;#Ps 18:2.
for your name’s sake lead me and guide me.
5Free me from the net they have set for me,
for you are my refuge.
6#Into your hands I commend my spirit: in Lk 23:46 Jesus breathes his last with this Psalm verse. Stephen in Acts 7:59 alludes to these words as he is attacked by enemies. The verse is used as an antiphon in the Divine Office at Compline, the last prayer of the day.Into your hands I commend my spirit;#Lk 23:46; Acts 7:59.
you will redeem me, Lord, God of truth.
7You hate those who serve worthless idols,
but I trust in the Lord.
8I will rejoice and be glad in your mercy,
once you have seen my misery,
[and] gotten to know the distress of my soul.#Ps 10:14.
9You will not abandon me into enemy hands,
but will set my feet in a free and open space.
II
10Be gracious to me, Lord, for I am in distress;
affliction is wearing down my eyes,
my throat and my insides.
11My life is worn out by sorrow,
and my years by sighing.
My strength fails in my affliction;
my bones are wearing down.#Ps 32:3; 38:10–11.
12To all my foes I am a thing of scorn,
and especially to my neighbors
a horror to my friends.
When they see me in public,
they quickly shy away.#Jb 19:13–19.
13I am forgotten, out of mind like the dead;
I am like a worn-out tool.#Like a worn-out tool: a common comparison for something ruined and useless, cf. Is 30:14; Jer 19:11; 22:28.
14I hear the whispers of the crowd;
terrors are all around me.#Terrors are all around me: a cry used in inescapable danger, cf. Jer 6:25; 20:10; 46:5; 49:29.
They conspire together against me;
they plot to take my life.
15But I trust in you, Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”#Ps 140:7; Is 25:1.
16My destiny is in your hands;
rescue me from my enemies,
from the hands of my pursuers.
17Let your face shine on your servant;#Ps 67:1; Nm 6:24.
save me in your mercy.
18Do not let me be put to shame,
for I have called to you, Lord.
Put the wicked to shame;
reduce them to silence in Sheol.
19Strike dumb their lying lips,
which speak arrogantly against the righteous
in contempt and scorn.#Ps 12:4.
III
20How great is your goodness, Lord,
stored up for those who fear you.
You display it for those who trust you,
in the sight of the children of Adam.
21You hide them in the shelter of your presence,
safe from scheming enemies.
You conceal them in your tent,
away from the strife of tongues.#Ps 27:5.
22Blessed be the Lord,
marvelously he showed to me
his mercy in a fortified city.
23Though I had said in my alarm,
“I am cut off from your eyes.”#Jon 2:5.
Yet you heard my voice, my cry for mercy,
when I pleaded with you for help.
24Love the Lord, all you who are faithful to him.
The Lord protects the loyal,
but repays the arrogant in full.
25Be strong and take heart,
all who hope in the Lord.
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Psalm 31
31
Into Your Hand I Commit My Spirit
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1 # For ver. 1-3, see Ps. 71:1-3 In you, O Lord, do I #See Ps. 11:1 take refuge;
# ver. 17 let me never be put to shame;
in your #Ps. 143:1righteousness deliver me!
2Incline your ear to me;
rescue me speedily!
Be #See Ps. 18:2 a rock of #[Ps. 91:2]refuge for me,
a strong fortress to save me!
3For you are my rock and my fortress;
and for your #See Ps. 23:3name’s sake you lead me and guide me;
4you #Ps. 25:15 take me out of #See Job 18:8 the net they have hidden for me,
for you are my #Ps. 43:2refuge.
5 # Cited Luke 23:46; [Acts 7:59] Into your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O Lord, #Deut. 32:4faithful God.
6I #Ps. 26:5 hate#31:6 Masoretic Text; one Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint, Syriac, Jerome You hate those who pay #Jonah 2:8 regard to worthless #Deut. 32:21; Jer. 8:19; 14:22idols,
but I trust in the Lord.
7I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love,
because you have seen my affliction;
you have #See Ps. 1:6known the distress of my soul,
8and you have not #[Deut. 32:30] delivered me into the hand of the enemy;
you have set my feet in #See Job 36:16a broad place.
9Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am #Ps. 66:14 in distress;
# See Ps. 6:7 my eye is wasted from grief;
my soul and my body also.
10For my life is spent with sorrow,
and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my iniquity,
and #Ps. 6:2; 32:3; 38:3; 102:3my bones waste away.
11Because of all my adversaries I have become #[Ps. 41:7, 8; Isa. 53:3] a reproach,
especially to my #See Job 19:13, 14 neighbors,
and an object of dread to my acquaintances;
those who see me in the street #[Matt. 26:56; Mark 14:50]flee from me.
12I have been #Ps. 88:5; Eccles. 9:5 forgotten like one who is dead;
I have become like #Isa. 30:14a broken vessel.
13For I #Jer. 20:10 hear the whispering of many—
terror on every side!—
# [Matt. 27:1]; See 2 Sam. 17:1-4 as they scheme together against me,
as they plot to take my life.
14But I #ver. 1, 6trust in you, O Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”
15My #1 Chr. 29:30; Job 24:1 times are in your hand;
#
Ps. 7:1
rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!
16 # See Ps. 4:6 Make your face shine on your servant;
save me in your steadfast love!
17O Lord, #ver. 1 let me not be put to shame,
for I call upon you;
let the wicked be put to shame;
let them go #1 Sam. 2:9; [Ps. 94:17; 115:17]silently to Sheol.
18Let the lying lips be mute,
which #[Jude 15] speak #Ps. 17:10insolently against the righteous
in pride and contempt.
19Oh, how abundant is your goodness,
which you have stored up for those who fear you
and worked for those who take refuge in you,
#
Ps. 23:5
in the sight of the children of mankind!
20In #See Ps. 32:7 the cover of your presence you hide them
from the plots of men;
you #See Ps. 27:5store them in your shelter
from the strife of tongues.
21Blessed be the Lord,
for he has wondrously #Ps. 17:7 shown his steadfast love to me
when I was in #[1 Sam. 23:7]a besieged city.
22I had said in my #Ps. 116:11; [2 Sam. 15:14] alarm,#31:22 Or in my haste
“I am #Isa. 38:11, 12; Lam. 3:54 cut off from #Jonah 2:4your sight.”
But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy
when I cried to you for help.
23Love the Lord, all you his #Ps. 30:4 saints!
The Lord preserves the faithful
but abundantly #Deut. 32:41repays the one who acts in pride.
24 # See Ps. 27:14 Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the Lord!
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