19 O how great is your grace, which you have put in store for your worshippers, and which you have made clear to those who had faith in you, before the sons of men!
But as it says in the holy Writings, Things which the eye saw not, and which had not come to the ears or into the heart of man, such things as God has made ready for those who have love for him.
Will you not have mercy on him who takes pleasure in doing righteousness, even on those who keep in mind your ways? Truly you were angry, and we went on doing evil, and sinning against you in the past.
They are new every morning; great is your good faith. I said to myself, The Lord is my heritage; and because of this I will have hope in him. The Lord is good to those who are waiting for him, to the soul which is looking for him.
Give ear, my dear brothers; are not those who are poor in the things of this world marked out by God to have faith as their wealth, and for their heritage the kingdom which he has said he will give to those who have love for him?
Keep your mind on the higher things, not on the things of earth. For your life on earth is done, and you have a secret life with Christ in God. At the coming of Christ who is our life, you will be seen with him in glory.
You will make clear to me the way of life; where you are joy is complete; in your right hand there are pleasures for ever and ever.
See what great love the Father has given us in naming us the children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not see who we are, because it did not see who he was. My loved ones, now we are children of God, and at present it is not clear what we are to be. We are certain that at his revelation we will be like him; for we will see him as he is.
Their sayings will be full of the memory of all your mercy, and they will make songs of your righteousness. The Lord is full of grace and pity; not quickly angry, but great in mercy. The Lord is good to all men; and his mercies are over all his works.
How good is your loving mercy, O God! the children of men take cover under the shade of your wings. The delights of your house will be showered on them; you will give them drink from the river of your pleasures. For with you is the fountain of life: in your light we will see light. O let there be no end to your loving mercy to those who have knowledge of you, or of your righteousness to the upright in heart.
You make ready a table for me in front of my haters: you put oil on my head; my cup is overflowing.
Your wisdom will be my guide, and later you will put me in a place of honour. Whom have I in heaven but you? and having you I have no desire for anything on earth. My flesh and my heart are wasting away: but God is the Rock of my heart and my eternal heritage.
See then that God is good but his rules are fixed: to those who were put away he was hard, but to you he has been good, on the condition that you keep in his mercy; if not, you will be cut off as they were.
Even those whom he has made free, will come back again; they will come with songs to Zion; on their heads will be eternal joy; delight and joy will be theirs, and sorrow and sounds of grief will be gone for ever.
For you had pity on those who were in prison, and had joy in the loss of your property, in the knowledge that you still had a better property and one which you would keep for ever.
Truly, God is good to Israel, even to such as are clean in heart.
And all the people were quiet while Barnabas and Paul gave an account of the signs and wonders which God had done among the Gentiles by them.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 31
Commentary on Psalms 31 Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalm 31
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 (1 Sa. 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.
To the chief musician. A psalm of David.
Psa 31:1-8
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.
Psa 31:9-18
In the foregoing verses David had appealed to God's righteousness, and pleaded his relation to him and dependence on him; here he appeals to his mercy, and pleads the greatness of his own misery, which made his case the proper object of that mercy. Observe,
Psa 31:19-24
We have three things in these verses:-
In singing this we should animate ourselves and one another to proceed and persevere in our Christian course, whatever threatens us, and whoever frowns upon us.