Psalm 31:6

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 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. I. David, in distress, is very earnest with God in prayer for succour and relief. This eases a burdened spirit, fetches in promised mercies, and wonderfully supports and comforts the soul in the expectation of them. He prays, 1. That God would deliver him (Ps. 31:1), that his life might be... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 31:6

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 Ezekiel 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... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 31:6

I have hated them - That is, I have abominated their ways. Idolaters are the persons of whom David speaks. I trust in the Lord - While they trust in vanities vain things; (for an idol is nothing in the worid); and in lying vanities; (for much is promised and nothing given); I trust in Jehovah, who is God all-sufficient, and is my Shepherd, and therefore I shall lack no good thing. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 31:6

Verse 6 6.I hate all that give heed to lying vanities. In order the better to express that his faith was firmly fixed on God, he affirms that he was free from the vile affections which usually turn away our minds from God, and under which unbelievers for the most part labor. For we know that by contrasting things which are opposite, a subject is better illustrated. To restrict the Hebrew word הבל, hebel, which we have rendered vanities, to magical arts, as some interpreters do, is absurd. (641)... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 31:1-8

A prayer for grace in trouble. Authorship uncertain. Some give it to David, in Ziklag; others to Jeremiah. Three divisions. I. THE PSALMIST 'S PRAYER . The trouble that oppressed him had been of long duration, as appears from the tenth verse. 1 . He prays for deliverance from his trouble. (Verse 1.) Does not qualify the prayer, but seeks absolute deliverance. It was to him an unqualified evil, and, as evil, he had no thought it could be working any good for him. So the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 31:1-24

but part 1. might be further subdivided into three, and part 2. into two portions. The psalm thus fails into six divisions: Part 1. ( Psalms 31:1-4 ), prayer; Part 2. ( Psalms 31:5-8 ), self-encouragement; Part 3. ( Psalms 31:9-13 ), causes of his trouble; Part 4. ( Psalms 31:14-18 ), profession of faith and prayer; Part 5. ( Psalms 31:19-22 ), praise of God's goodness; Part 6. ( Psalms 31:23 , Psalms 31:24 ), exhortation to the people to praise God. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 31:1-24

The saint rehearsing his experience of the great Protector's care There is no good reason to doubt that this is one of David's psalms. Its forms of expression bear the marks of his pen, £ and the "undesigned coincidences " £ between it and the history of his life are both interesting and striking. The old interpreters supposed the psalm to belong to the time when David fled from Saul into the wilderness of Maon; others attribute it to the time of his deliverance from being shut up in... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 31:5-15

Duty and destiny. Let us place these two texts together, and we shall find that they become the more intelligible and the richer in instruction and comfort. I. OUR TIMES ARE FIXED BY GOD . We have no choice in the matter, no more than as to when we should be born. God is Sovereign. It is his prerogative to settle all things that concern us. Whatever comes of prosperity or adversity, or joy or sorrow is of his ordering. It is for him to rule, it is for us to trust and to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 31:6

I have hated them that regard lying vanities . By "lying vanities" are meant idolatrous practices, or possibly such superstitious usages as recourse to witch-craft and divination. (For David's hatred of such persons as are here glanced at, see Psalms 26:5 .) But I trust in the Lord. Who is the direct opposite of all "lying vanities," being at once Almighty, and the "God of truth" ( Psalms 31:5 ). read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 31:6

I have hated them that regard lying vanities - This is evidently stated as a reason for the prayer offered in the previous verses. It is a reference by the psalmist to his own past life; to his general aim and conduct. The meaning is, that he had been a friend of God; that he had separated himself from wicked men; and he now prays in return for His protection and interposition. The sentiment is similar to that which occurs in Psalms 26:3-5. See the notes at that passage. The word rendered... read more

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