Psalms 31:9 - Meaning and Application

In the verses before this, David had appealed to God’s righteousness and pleaded his close relationship to God and his dependence on him. Here he appeals to God’s mercy and points to the depth of his misery, which made him fit for that mercy. He says, in effect, “Have mercy on me, Lord, because I am in trouble, and I need your mercy” (Psalm 31:9).

David’s trouble had left a deep mark on his heart and made him a man of sorrow. His grief was so great that it seemed to consume his soul and wear out his life, and he was always sighing (Psalm 31:9, 10). In this he pointed forward to Christ, who knew grief closely and was often in tears. David likely had a naturally cheerful and strong temperament, but trouble had brought him low, until he had almost wept out his eyes and sighed away his breath.

This is a warning for those who are lively and carefree. They should not think lightly of sorrow or treat it as something they will never face. God can bring even such people low if they refuse to become serious in better ways.

His suffering also affected his body. He says that his strength failed, his bones wasted away, and all this came because of his sin (Psalm 31:10). As far as Saul and the quarrel with him were concerned, David could rightly say that he had done nothing wrong. But as an affliction from God, he humbly admits that he deserved it, and that his sin was the root of his pain. The guilt of sin wounded him more deeply than all his outward troubles.

His friends also turned cold toward him. He had become a fear to his acquaintances, and when they saw him, they ran away (Psalm 31:11). They did not dare shelter him, help him, or even be seen with him, because Saul had branded him a traitor and outlaw. They had seen how badly Ahimelech the priest suffered for helping David, even though he did so in ignorance, and so they kept their distance. Though they could not deny that David had been treated unjustly, they lacked the courage to stand with him.

He says he was forgotten, like someone dead and out of mind, and treated like a broken vessel (Psalm 31:12). Those who once showed him honor when he was favored at court now avoided him when he had fallen into disgrace, though that disgrace was unfair. The world is full of these fair-weather friends, who stay only in seasons of comfort. Those who lose their place should not be surprised if they are abandoned. They should make sure they have a friend in heaven who will not fail them.

His enemies also judged him wrongly. They would not have persecuted him as they did unless they had first painted him as a wicked man. He was a reproach among all his enemies, especially among his neighbors (Psalm 31:11). Some who had seen his honesty and knew in their consciences that he was an upright man were still quickest to speak against him, hoping to win Saul’s favor. In this way, he heard the slander of many, and every man had a stone to throw at him, because fear was everywhere. No one dared refuse the crowd’s accusation, since anyone who would not join in was thought to be against Saul. So the best people are often given the worst names by those who mean to treat them worst.

His life itself was in danger, and he lived in constant peril. Fear was on every side, and he knew his enemies were not just trying to trouble him or strip away his freedom. They wanted his life (Psalm 31:13). His life was precious and useful, and Israel owed much to the good he had done, yet it was still hunted. In the same way, the Pharisees and Herodians later plotted against Christ, and their aim was always to take his life. Such is the hatred and cruelty of the serpent’s seed.

Still, David had confidence in God in the middle of all this trouble. Everything around him looked dark and threatening, as if it might push him into despair. Yet he says, “But I trusted in you, Lord” (Psalm 31:14), and that kept him from sinking. His enemies could take his good name from among men, but they could not take away his comfort in God, because they could not drive him from trusting God.

He found comfort in two things, and he brought both before God. First, “You are my God.” He had chosen God as his own, and God had promised to be his. If God is ours, and we can truly say so by faith, then we still have something when everything else is gone. David could say, “You are my God,” and that gave him a place to go for help. Anyone who can make that plea does not need to be cramped in prayer, because if God has taken us as his own, he will do all that his promise includes.

Second, “My times are in your hand.” Joined with the first truth, this makes his comfort complete. If God holds our times in his hand, he can help us. If he is our God, he will help us. What, then, can truly discourage us? It is a great support to those who belong to God to know that their times are in his hand, and that he will order them for the best. This is true of all who also give their spirits into his hand, as David had done earlier (Psalm 31:5). God can lengthen life or shorten it, make it bitter or sweet, according to his wise will. All our times, meaning all the events of our lives and the timing of them, are under his rule. They are not in our own hands, and not in the hands of friends or enemies. The way of a man is not in himself, and every person’s judgment comes from God.

So David does not tell God what to do in prayer, he submits himself to God. “Lord, my times are in your hand, and I am glad they are there. They could not be in better hands. Your will be done.”

From this faith and confidence, David then prays that God would deliver him from the hand of his enemies (Psalm 31:15) and save him (Psalm 31:16), all for the sake of God’s mercy, not because of any merit in himself. Some read the verse as saying that our opportunities are in God’s hand, and if so, that means he knows the best and right time for our rescue. We must be willing to wait for that time. When David once had Saul in his power in the cave, the men with him said, “This is the time when God will deliver you” (1 Samuel 24:4). But David would not take the chance in a sinful way. He said, in effect, that the right time for deliverance had not yet come, because it had to come without sin. He would wait, since God’s time is always the best time.

That God would, for the present, give him the comfort of his favor, as in Psalm 31:16: “Make your face shine on your servant.” He asks for the clear signs of God’s favor, because that would bring joy to his heart in the middle of all his grief.

He also asks that his prayers would be answered and his hope in God would not end in shame, as in Psalm 31:17: “Let me not be put to shame for calling on you.” He had called on God, and he trusted that God had never told his people to seek him in vain or hope in vain.

He then prays that shame and silence would belong to wicked people, especially his enemies. They were sure they would succeed against David and bring him down, so he asks the Lord to shame that confidence by frustrating their plans, like those who opposed the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s wall and then lost heart when it was finished (Nehemiah 6:16). Let them be silenced in death.

Death will stop the rage and shouting of cruel persecutors, which reason would not stop. In the grave, the wicked cease from troubling. In a special way, David prays for, or perhaps predicts, the silencing of those who slander God’s people.

He says, “Let lying lips be silenced,” because they speak harsh and proud things against the righteous (Psalm 31:18). This is a good prayer, and we often have reason to pray it. Those who speak against heaven usually mock the heirs of heaven. Serious and faithful believers are spoken against everywhere.

They speak with great malice, trying to hurt them and hoping to damage them in real ways. They also speak with great falsehood, for they are lying lips, taught by the father of lies and serving his cause. And they speak with scorn and contempt, as if the righteous, whom God has honored, were the least worthy people in the world.

One might think they believe it is no sin to tell a deliberate lie if it helps them stir up hatred or contempt against a good person. So we cry, “Hear us, O our God, for we are despised.”

We can also pray in faith, because these lying lips will be silenced. God has many ways of doing this. Sometimes he convicts the consciences of those who slander his people and turns their hearts. Sometimes, through his providence, he clearly proves their claims false and brings the righteousness of his people into the light.

Even so, a day is coming when God will expose the falsehood of all the harsh words spoken against his people and will judge the wicked for them (Jude 1:14-15). Then this prayer will be fully answered, and we should keep that day in view when we sing it. We should also commit ourselves, by doing good if possible, to silence the ignorance of foolish people (1 Peter 2:15).