Psalms 31
1 Unto the end. A Psalm of David according to an ecstasy. In you, Lord, I have hoped; let me never be confounded. In your justice, deliver me.
To the chief music-maker. A Psalm. Of David. In you, O Lord, have I put my hope; let me never be shamed; keep me safe in your righteousness.
2 Incline your ear to me. Hasten to rescue me. Be for me a protector God and a house of refuge, so as to accomplish my salvation.
Let your ear be turned to me; take me quickly out of danger; be my strong Rock, my place of strength where I may be safe.
3 For you are my strength and my refuge; and for the sake of your name, you will lead me and nourish me.
For you are my Rock and my strong tower; go in front of me and be my guide, because of your name.
4 You will lead me out of this snare, which they have hidden for me. For you are my protector.
Take me out of the net which they have put ready for me secretly; for you are my strength.
5 Into your hands, I commend my spirit. You have redeemed me, O Lord, God of truth.
Into your hands I give my spirit; you are my saviour, O Lord God for ever true.
6 You have hated those who practice emptiness to no purpose. But I have hoped in the Lord.
I am full of hate for those who go after false gods; but my hope is in the Lord.
7 I will exult and rejoice in your mercy. For you have looked upon my humility; you have saved my soul from needfulness.
I will be glad and have delight in your mercy; because you have seen my trouble; you have had pity on my soul in its sorrows;
8 And you have not enclosed me in the hands of the enemy. You have set my feet in a spacious place.
And you have not given me into the hand of my hater; you have put my feet in a wide place.
9 Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am troubled. My eye has been disturbed by wrath, along with my soul and my gut.
Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble; my eyes are wasted with grief, I am wasted in soul and body.
10 For my life has fallen into sorrow, and my years into sighing. My virtue has been weakened in poverty, and my bones have been disturbed.
My life goes on in sorrow, and my years in weeping; my strength is almost gone because of my sin, and my bones are wasted away.
11 I have become a disgrace among all my enemies, and even more so to my neighbors, and a dread to my acquaintances. Those who catch sight of me, flee away from me.
Because of all those who are against me, I have become a word of shame to my neighbours; a cause of shaking the head and a fear to my friends: those who saw me in the street went in flight from me.
12 I have become forgotten, like one dead to the heart. I have become like a damaged utensil.
I have gone from men's minds and memory like a dead man; I am like a broken vessel.
13 For I have heard the harsh criticism of many who linger in the area. While assembled together against me in that place, they deliberated on how to take away my life.
False statements against me have come to my ears; fear was on every side: they were talking together against me, designing to take away my life.
14 But I have hoped in you, O Lord. I said, “You are my God.”
But I had faith in you, O Lord; I said, You are my God.
15 My fate is in your hands. Rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from those who are persecuting me.
The chances of my life are in your hand; take me out of the hands of my haters, and of those who go after me.
16 Shine your face upon your servant. Save me in your mercy.
Let your servant see the light of your face; in your mercy be my saviour.
17 Do not let me be confounded, Lord, for I have called upon you. Let the impious be ashamed and be drawn down into Hell. (Sheol h7585)
Let me not be shamed, O Lord, for I have made my prayer to you; let the sinners be shamed, and let their mouths be shut in the underworld. (Sheol h7585)
18 May deceitful lips be silenced: those that speak iniquity against the just, in arrogance and in abusiveness.
Let the false lips be shut, which say evil against the upright, looking down on him in their pride.
19 How great is the multitude of your sweetness, O Lord, which you keep hidden for those who fear you, which you have perfected for those who hope in you, in the sight of the sons of men.
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!
20 You hide them in the concealment of your face, from the disturbance of men. You protect them in your tabernacle, from the contradiction of tongues.
You will keep them safe in your house from the designs of man; in the secret of your tent will you keep them from angry tongues.
21 Blessed is the Lord. For he has shown his wonderful mercy to me, in a fortified city.
May the Lord be praised, because he has made clear to me the wonder of his grace in a strong town.
22 But I said in the excess of my mind: “I have been cast away from the glance of your eyes.” And so, you heeded the voice of my prayer, while I was still crying out to you.
And as for me, I said in my fear, I am cut off from before your eyes; but you gave ear to the voice of my prayer, when my cry went up to you.
23 Love the Lord, all you his saints. For the Lord will require truth, and he will abundantly repay those who act with arrogance.
O have love for the Lord, all you his saints; for the Lord keeps safe from danger all those who are true to him, and gives the workers of pride their right reward.
24 Act manfully, and let your heart be strengthened, all you who hope in the Lord.
Put away fear and let your heart be strong, all you whose hope is in the Lord.
