Psalms 31

The psalmist, with strong confidence in God, in a time of distress prays earnestly for deliverance, Psalm 31:1-5 . He expresses his abhorrence of evil, Psalm 31:6 ; gratefully mentions former interpositions of God, Psalm 31:7 , Psalm 31:8 ; continues to detail the miseries of his case, Psalm 31:9-18 ; points out the privileges of them that fear God, Psalm 31:19 , Psalm 31:20 ; shows that God had heard his prayers, notwithstanding he had given himself over for lost, Psalm 31:21 , Psalm 31:22 ; calls on the saints to love God, and to have confidence in him, because he preserves the faithful, and plentifully rewards the proud doer, Psalm 31:23 , Psalm 31:24 .

This Psalm contains no notes of time or place, to help us to ascertain when, where, or on what account it was written. Nor have we any certain evidence relative to the author: it might have been written by David during his persecution by Saul. Some think Jeremiah to have been the author: the thirteenth verse begins exactly with the same words as Jeremiah 20:10 . There are several other apparent references to passages in the book of Jeremiah, which shall be produced in the notes.