Psalm 31:01-10 – Saved!

Translation & Sermon By Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 7 Jan 2018

Introduction:

Then the Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, "Is David not hiding with us in strongholds in the woods, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon? Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of your soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him into the king's hand." And Saul said, "Blessed are you of the LORD, for you have compassion on me. Please go and find out for sure, and see the place where his hideout is, and who has seen him there. For I am told he is very crafty. See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hides; and come back to me with certainty, and I will go with you. And it shall be, if he is in the land, that I will search for him throughout all the clans of Judah." So they arose and went to Ziph before Saul. But David and his men were in the Wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon. When Saul and his men went to seek him, they told David. Therefore he went down to the rock, and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued David in the Wilderness of Maon. Then Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. So David made haste to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men were encircling David and his men to take them. But a messenger came to Saul, saying, "Hurry and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land!" Therefore Saul returned from pursuing David, and went against the Philistines; so they called that place the Rock of Escape. Then David went up from there and dwelt in strongholds at En Gedi. (1 Samuel 23:19-29, NKJV)

§ The Jewish Soncino commentary on the Psalms suggests that this was the occasion of which David wrote Psalm 31, and indeed the historical account of 1 Samuel 23 has a number of key words in common with Psalm 31, like “stronghold,” “deliver,” “take knowledge,” “rock,” “pursue,” “make haste,” “get away,” “enclose,” and “escape.”

§ But, as Dr. Cohen went on to note in that commentary, “These were written for the benefit of anyone who might find himself surrounded by enemies and deems it necessary to reaffirm his belief that God can extricate him from any predicament.” Are you in any predicaments right now? or recently delivered from any predicaments? Listen closely to what this psalm has to say.

§ Psalm 31 begins “It is in You, Yahweh, that I have taken refuge; I will not ever be ashamed. Deliver me in Your righteousness!” Right away, the central figure in providing refuge and salvation is introduced, namely Yahweh – the LORD in all caps.

§ What does David’s request mean when he asks God to deliver him “in Your righteousness”?

Four meanings to “IN” describe our salvation (v. 1)

“In” = “during” “Deliver me while you remain righteous.” Certainly God will remain righteous throughout His rescue operation.

The Hebrew word for “righteous” is tsadiq. Dr. Harold Stigers, in his entry on tsadiq in the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament noted: “This root basically connotes conformity to an ethical or moral standard… and of course, in the OT, that standard is the nature and will of God. ‘The lord is righteous in all His ways and holy in all His works’ (Ps. 145:17).”
Throughout God’s dealings with humans tainted by sin, He does not stoop to unrighteousness Himself, nor does he overlook any infraction of His commandments in His work as a judge, no charge of corruption will ever stick to Him, He remains perfectly righteous.

“In” = “as a result of” or “as characterized by” “Deliver me in order to maintain your reputation of being righteous.”

It will be righteous for God to deliver David because of the covenantal responsibilities God had taken on with David to preserve him and establish his royal dynasty forever.
As David says in v.5, God is the God of emet – this Hebrew word is sometimes translated “truth” and sometimes translated “faithfulness” because it carries both of those meanings. I’m focusing more on the faithfulness side as I look at this facet of being saved by God’s righteousness. God will be faithful to His covenant and will indeed save those He promises salvation to.
v.3 “for your name’s sake [lema’an shimka] You will guide & lead me” plays into this.

i. This may be an allusion to the praise song the Israelites made up after God brought them across the Red Sea on dry ground and drowned the pursuing Egyptian army some 700 years before David. They sang, “You in Your mercy have led forth (נחה) The people whom You have redeemed; You have guided (נהל) them in Your strength To Your holy habitation.” (Exodus 15:13, NKJV)

ii. It’s what David has already recognized in Psalm 23:1-3, “Yahweh being my shepherd, I will not be lacking. He will cause me to bed down in pastures of sprouting-grass. He will guide (נהל) me to water along pooled waters. It is my soul that He will refresh! He will guide (נחה) me in tracks of righteousness for the sake of His reputation.” (NAW)

iii. And Isaiah picked up the same theme in his book 300 years later: “Like a shepherd He will shepherd His flock: With His arm He will gather lambs, And in His bosom carry; Those who are nursing He will lead gently (נהל).” (Isa. 40:11, NAW)

But I think there is a still deeper meaning. “In” can also be translated “by means of.” “Save me by means of your righteousness.”

The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament also comments on this meaning: “[T]his righteousness, actually possessed by Messiah is bestowed by him, thus pointing toward the NT doctrine of Christ our righteousness.” Jeremiah 23:5-6 “Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.” (NKJV)
The righteous Lord substituting His righteousness for our unrighteousness is also expounded on in 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (NKJV)
David – the same as any of us – could not be saved by doing good things. He needed God’s righteousness interposed to replace all of his unrighteousness. Only by means of Jesus transferring His righteousness to our account (so that we “become the righteousness of God in Him”) can we be safe spiritually and eternally.

A fourth way of looking at this preposition is in relation to David. David understood that moral righteousness was something which God could transfer to him such that David would be in a state of righteousness once he was saved. “Save me into your righteousness” (cf. Psalm 51:7b “wash me and I shall be whiter than snow”)

REVIEW: God saves us “while” remaining righteous Himself, He saves us “in order to” maintain His integrity as a savior, He saves us “by” substituting His own righteousness for our unrighteousness, and He saves us “into” a state of righteousness.

Seven words describing salvation in vs.1-10:

Paleltaniy (v.1) deliver, cause to escape/slip away from harm (Piel Imperative- no Qal form)
Hatsiyleni (v.2a) from natsal, rescue, snatch, take away (KJV translates it “deliver” the same as the palat verb in v.1) (Hiphil Imperative)
Heyay liy letsur… lehoshiy’ayniy (v2.b) “be [here’s another Imperative] a rock [and then the lamed preposition plus an infinitive verb at the end of the verse indicate action done for a definite purpose] in order to cause me to be saved [this is the word most commonly translated “save” and it shares the same root with the word Hosanna]”

The lamed prepositions before “rock” and “house” together with the imperative verb-of-being create the image of God morphing Himself into these shapes of safe places for the benefit of David to help Him escape from enemies.
One shape is that of a rock that is strong – and that word for “rock” is the Hebrew word tsur for big rocks that mountains are made of, and the other shape is that of a building you can live in, but one that’s full of secret passages and hideouts – saferooms [the Hebrew word is plural] that nobody can break into.
Now, it’s not like David’s prayer is going to change God. David has recognized in Psalm 18:1 that God already is these things “…my stronghold, and my deliverer, my God, my landmark-rock,” and he says much the same thing in verse 3 here about God being His “rock and fortress/secure-place,” but in Psalm 31:2 he’s saying, “Be these things for me once again – for me – because I need to be saved.”

Toe-tsi-ay-ni (v.4) “You will get me out” (from יצא). This word’s meaning is focused on getting outside of a certain environment – in this case, a dangerous capture-net.

Cf. Psalm 25:15 “My eyes will always be [looking] to Yahweh, because it is He who will get my feet out from the capture-net.” (NAW)

Padiytah (v.5) “You will redeem/ransom me.”

This is the answer to the prayer of Ps. 26:11b “Redeem me and be gracious to me!”
A ransom is a payment to free someone who has been captured.
This was Jesus’ work: Mathew 20:28 “In this way the Son of Man ….came in order to serve and to give His soul to be a ransom in the place of many.” (NAW)
He paid His soul as a ransom for what? Galatians 3:13 explains: “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us…” (NKJV)
“[He] gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” (Titus 2:14, NKJV)
When Jesus died on the cross, He paid His soul to God as a sin-offering in order to satisfy the justice of God in respect to our sins which called for the penalty of death, and by that payment Jesus bought us out of bondage to sin and Satan and brought us into His household to belong with Him.
That’s why, when Jesus died on the cross, He quoted Psalm 31:5, “Into your hand I commit my spirit.” The Hebrew word for “commit” (פקִיד) has to do with association and accountability. Jesus paid His righteous soul into the account of justice which God the Father held and trusted that this plan which they had made before the dawn of time (2 Tim. 1:9) would result in redeeming the souls of many from our slavish rebellion against God to make us His beloved children instead!

He’emadta (v.8) – “caused [my feet] to stand” in a broad, wide, large, spacious place.

God’s salvation is not merely to get us out of trouble and leave us on our own to establish our own security from there. God delivers us from the hand of the enemy and sets our feet upon a rock; He delivers us from darkness into the kingdom of the Son He loves. He not merely saved me from sin; He established me into righteousness – which is the fourth meaning of the preposition “in” that I mentioned earlier in this sermon.

Hannayniy (v.9) – “Be gracious to me/have mercy on me” (back to Imperatives again)

Grace is related to the previous thing on the list in that it is positive action done by God to benefit you without you having done anything to deserve it. It is God taking someone who deserves punishment and instead showering lovingkindness on them.
The words David uses in vs.9-10 are words from the curses in the law, “I am Yahweh, y’all’s God who delivered y’all out of the land of Egypt from being slaves to them – yes, I shattered the bondages of y’all’s yoke; I caused y’all to rise up and walk. But if y’all don’t give heed to me and y’all don’t do all of these commands… such that y’all break my covenant… I will visit dismay upon y’all, emaciation and scarlet fever that fades out eyes and causes a soul to pine away... So they will stumble, each with his brother, as from the blade of a sword – even when there is no one pursuing, and there will not be for them any uprising before the faces of their enemies.” (Leviticus 26:13-16 & 37, NAW)
John 1:16 “And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.” (NKJV)
Romans 3:24 “being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (NKJV)
Ephesians 1:7 “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (NKJV)
Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (NKJV)
Hebrews 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (NKJV)
Without God’s grace there can be no salvation. We will be in “trouble” and “distress,” “dead in our sins and trespasses” (Eph. 2:1) if we don’t get it! As David says in vs.9-10, it is absolutely “critical” to ask God for grace, (The NIV misses the point by translating sin as “affliction” and saying that it merely makes us “weak.”) David uses the Hebrew word for “iniquity” and says it “decays” and “consumes” us until we are “wasted.” We are in desperate need of this salvation, and it is free for the asking!

David’s expectation of salvation is based upon God’s character

Notice the six descriptions of God’s character which David lists, verse by verse from 3-7:

v.3 “For You are my sala’ ” – mountain-sized rock – there was one such sala' in the Judean dessert that Judges 20:47 describes that was large enough to hide 600 men from the tribe of Benjamin. It’s also where David and his 600 outlaws hid out from King Saul (1 Sam 23:25), so when you think of this kind of rock, think of something gigantic!

It reminds me of Jesus’ words, “In my Father’s house are many mansions” (John 14:2).
Psalm 18:2 “Yahweh is my rock-mountain, my stronghold, and my deliverer, my God, my landmark-rock. I will take refuge in Him, my shield and horn of my salvation, my high tower!” (NAW)
Psalm 71:3 NKJV “Be my strong refuge, To which I may resort continually; You have given the commandment to save me, For You are my rock and my fortress.”

v.3 “and You are my metsudah” – my fortress with secure places in it

David used the word metsudah to describe his mountain hideout caves in the wilderness of Judea, and he also used it later to describe the city of Jerusalem when it became his fortified city as a king.
But he knew that God was his ultimate safe-place. Perhaps he kept in mind the old Psalm of Moses, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.’ Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence” (Psalm 91:1-3, NKJV).

v.4 “for You are my ma’uz” – strength/might

Psalm 28:8 “Yahweh is the strength of His people, and He is the source of strength behind the salvations of His anointed one.” (NAW)

v.5 “Yahweh is אֵל אֱמֶת” – the God of truth” (as the King James aptly put it) and also the “the faithful God” (as the ESV put it).

In English our word “true” carries both of those meanings too “he is a true friend” means that he is a faithful friend who will never desert you in trouble but will always watch your back for you, and a faithful friend also speaks the truth – doesn’t butter you up with lies or try to trick you.

v.6 “You hate those who regard/cling to/literally ‘keep’ vain, worthless idols.”

The 10th century Masoretic text which the KJV, NASV, NIV, and ESV used as their basis for the Old Testament text is different from all the versions of the Old Testament which are older. The Septuagint and Syriac which date back to the first century and earlier read “You hate,” and when Jerome translated the Psalms into Latin around the year 400, the Hebrew manuscript he was looking at also said “You hate.” So Christians for the first 1,500 years (and more) of church history read Psalm 31:6 as saying that God hates idol-worshippers (which is true according to the second of the 10 Commandments), and for the last 500 years or so of church history, Christians have read this verse as saying that David hated idol-worshippers, which may also be true because those who are after God’s own heart will align themselves to love what God loves and hate what God hates.

v.7 “Your chesed” – mercy/lovingkindness/steadfast love

Conclusion: 4 Action Points

1. Trust in God instead of anything else (v.6) and commit your spirit to the true God (v.5). This results in confidence that God will deliver/rescue/get out of trouble/redeem/save you and thus that you will never be ashamed.

2. Knowing God’s character - as a rock-mountain, a secure fortress, strong and mighty, faithful and true, loving those in His covenant, yet hating idolatry - will give you that confidence. Study His character so that you can have confidence!

3. “Rejoice and be happy there in [God’s] lovingkindness, in which [He] regarded [your] low condition and considered [your] soul during crises” (v.7)!

4. Share your testimony of times when God did not deliver you over to the hand of an enemy but instead caused you to stand where there is room for freedom!

By writing this psalm, David provided a great example of sharing a testimony
and we have other similar examples where various authors wrote accounts in the Bible of how God delivered them –

from Noah’s deliverance from drowning
to Job’s testimony of healing and redemption from calamity
to Hezekiah’s deliverance from sickness and from the siege of the Assyrian army
to Esther and Mordecai’s deliverance from genocide in Babylon
to Paul and Luke’s deliverances from snakes and lynch mobs and sea-storms and everything else described in the book of Acts,
and finally to the saints around the throne in the book of Revelation “standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’" (Rev. 7:9-10, NKJV)

We have testimonies too. The picture in v.8 of Psalm 31 is that of an enemy reaching out his hand to grab you, but God intervening so that the enemy’s hand closes on thin air and you escape. I just heard the testimony of a saint who literally had that experience a week or so ago [tell the story as it was told to me by our church’s landlady of attempted burglary and assault from which she was delivered by God’s lovingkindness]. Hopefully your testimony isn’t that dramatic, but people love to hear stories, and every good story has a conflict. Any problem that God delivered you from is worth telling the story of in order to magnify His glory as your savior.

Comparison of editions and versions of Psalm 31[A]

Vaticanus (30)	Brenton (LXX)	KJV	NAW	MT
1 Εἰς τὸ τέλος[B] ψαλμὸς τῷ Δαυιδ·[ἐκστάσεως]. 2 Ἐπὶ σοί, κύριε, ἤλπισα, μὴ καταισχυνθείην εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα· ἐν τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ σου ῥῦσαί[C] με [καὶ ἐξελοῦ με].	1 For the ~~end~~, a Psalm of David, [an utterance of extreme fear[D]]. O Lord, I have hoped in thee; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness [and rescue me].	1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.	1 For the concertmaster, a psalm by David. It is in You, Yahweh, that I have taken refuge; I will not ever be ashamed. Deliver me in Your righteousness!	א לַמְנַצֵּחַ מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד. ב בְּךָ יְהוָה חָסִיתִי אַל אֵבוֹשָׁה לְעוֹלָם בְּצִדְקָתְךָ פַלְּטֵנִי.
3 κλῖνον πρός με τὸ οὖς σου, τάχυνον τοῦ ἐξελέσθαι με· γενοῦ μοι εἰς ~~θεὸν~~ ~~ὑπερασπιςτὴν~~~~[E]~~ [καὶ] εἰς οἶκον καταφυγῆς τοῦ σῶσαί με.	2 Incline thine ear to me; make haste to rescue me: be thou to me for a ~~protecting~~ ~~God~~, [and] for a house of refugeX to save me.	2 Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defenceX to save me.	2 Incline Your ear toward me; rescue me quickly! Become for me a mighty rock - a house with secure places - in order to cause me to be saved	ג הַטֵּה אֵלַי אָזְנְךָ מְהֵרָה הַצִּילֵנִי הֱיֵה לִי לְצוּר מָעוֹז לְבֵית מְצוּדוֹת לְהוֹשִׁיעֵנִי.
4 ὅτι ~~κραταίωμά~~[F] μου καὶ καταφυγή μου εἶ σὺ καὶ ἕνεκεν τοῦ ὀνόματός σου ὁδηγήσεις με καὶ διαθρέψεις[G] με·	3 For thou art my ~~strength~~ and my refuge; and thou shalt guide me for thy name's sake, and maintain me.	3 For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me.	3 (for You are my rock-mountain and my secure place), so, for the sake of Your reputation, guide me, and lead me.	ד כִּי סַלְעִי וּמְצוּדָתִי אָתָּה וּלְמַעַן שִׁמְךָ תַּנְחֵנִי[H] וּתְנַהֲלֵנִי.
5 ἐξάξεις με ἐκ παγίδος ταύτης, ἧς ἔκρυψάν μοι, ὅτι σὺ εἶ ὁ ὑπεραςπιστής μου [kurie[I]].	4 Thou shalt bring me out of the snare which they have hidden for me; for thou, [O Lord], art my defender.	4 [Pull] me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength.	4. You will get me out of the net which they hid to [capture] me because You are my strength.	ה תּוֹצִיאֵנִי מֵרֶשֶׁת זוּ טָמְנוּ לִי כִּי אַתָּה מָעוּזִּי.
6 εἰς χεῖράς σου παραθήσομαι τὸ πνεῦμά μου ἐλυτρώσω με, κύριε ὁ θεὸς τῆς ἀληθείας.	5 Into thine hands[J] I will commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.	5 Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.	5 It is into Your hand that I will commit my spirit. You, Yahweh the true God, redeem me.	ו בְּיָדְךָ אַפְקִיד רוּחִי פָּדִיתָה[K] אוֹתִי יְהוָה אֵל אֱמֶת.
7 ἐμίσησας τοὺς διαφυλάσσοντας ματαιότητας διὰ κενῆς· ἐγὼ δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ κυρίῳ ἤλπισα.	6 Thou has hated them that idly persist in vanities: but I have hoped in the Lord.	6 I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the LORD.	6. You hate those who keep vain idols, but as for me, it is in Yahweh that I have trusted.	ז שָׂנֵאתִי[L] הַשֹּׁמְרִים הַבְלֵי שָׁוְא וַאֲנִי אֶל יְהוָה בָּטָחְתִּי.
8 ἀγαλλιάσομαι καὶ εὐφρανθήσομαι ἐπὶ τῷ ἐλέει σου, ὅτι ἐπεῖδες τὴν ταπείνωσίν[M] μου, ~~ἔσωσας~~[N]~~~~ ἐκ τῶν ἀναγκῶν τὴν ψυχήν μου	7 I will exult and be glad in thy mercy: for thou hast looked upon mine affliction; thou hast ~~saved~~ my soul ~~from~~ distresses.	7 I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;	7 I will rejoice and be happy there in Your lovingkindness, in which You regarded my low condition[O] and you considered my soul during crises,	ח אָגִילָה וְאֶשְׂמְחָה בְּחַסְדֶּךָ אֲשֶׁר רָאִיתָ אֶת עָנְיִי יָדַעְתָּ בְּצָרוֹת נַפְשִׁי[P].
9 καὶ οὐ συνέκλεισάς με εἰς χεῖρας ἐχθροῦ, ἔστησας ἐν X εὐρυχώρῳ τοὺς πόδας μου.	8 And thou hast not shut me up into the hands of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a wide place.	8 And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room.	8. and You did not let me get enclosed in the hand of an enemy. You caused my foot to stand where there is room!	ט וְלֹא הִסְגַּרְתַּנִי בְּיַד אוֹיֵב הֶעֱמַדְתָּ בַמֶּרְחָב רַגְלָי.
10 ἐλέησόν με, κύριε, ὅτι θλίβομαι· ἐταράχθη ἐν θυμῷ[Q] ὁ ὀφθαλμός μου, ἡ ψυχή μου καὶ ἡ γαστήρ μου.	9 Pity me, O Lord, for I am afflicted: my eye is troubled with indignation, my soul and my belly.	9 Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly.	9 Yahweh, be gracious to me, because it is critical for me; my eye, soul, and body have decayed with grief.	י חָנֵּנִי יְהוָה כִּי צַר לִי עָשְׁשָׁה בְכַעַס עֵינִי[R] נַפְשִׁי וּבִטְנִי.
11 ὅτι ἐξέλιπεν[S] ἐν ὀδύνῃ ἡ ζωή μου καὶ τὰ ἔτη μου ἐν στεναγμοῖς· ἠσθένησεν ἐν ~~πτωχείᾳ~~ ἡ ἰσχύς μου, καὶ τὰ ὀστᾶ μου ἐταράχθησαν[T].	10 For my life is spent with grief, and my years with groanings: my strength has been weakened through ~~poverty~~[U]~~~~, and my bones are troubled.	10 For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.	10 Because they have finished off my life in sorrow, and my years in sighing. My strength has stumbled in my iniquity, and my bones have decayed.	יא כִּי כָלוּ בְיָגוֹן חַיַּי וּשְׁנוֹתַי בַּאֲנָחָה כָּשַׁל בַּעֲו‍ֹנִי כֹחִי וַעֲצָמַי עָשֵׁשׁוּ.