Ps. 31:11-24 – Regain Your Wonder At God’s Lovingkindness

Translation & Sermon By Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 14 Jan 2018

v Last week we looked at the first half of Psalm 31, and I pointed out that when we see what the nature of God’s salvation is in delivering us from our iniquity, rescuing us from our enemies, getting us out of trouble, and redeeming us from bondage to sin, we grow in committing our souls to this salvation, and when we fill ourselves with the knowledge of God’s character (that He is a rock-mountain, a secure fortress, strong and mighty, faithful and true, loving those in His covenant, yet hating idolatry) then we see we can trust Him to save, and when we experience that deliverance in His righteousness, we can enjoy sharing our testimony of what He did to save us.

v Now I want to look at the second half of Psalm 31. It see it as a testimonial. David is a refugee who has found safety in the midst of crisis – that refuge is in God Himself, and from David’s safe place he calls back to us in this Psalm telling us where to run for refuge ourselves – to Christ who stores up goodness for those who flee to Him and dishes out justice to the wicked.

v This reminds me of a documentary I saw once of Sudan’s “lost boys.” I first heard of them when I was living in Denver a decade or two ago. I actually saw one of them, but since I didn’t know much about their story at the time, I didn’t try to talk with them. Later I saw a documentary about them and was astounded. When they were young boys, their parents were killed by a rival tribe, so they fled into the wilderness. Eventually they made their way into a camp for refugees. From time to time, a truck filled with food and supplies from America would arrive for these children to sustain them. They realized that, if they wanted the goodness of freedom and prosperity, they would have to walk out of their country to a free country in order to get to America, so they set out walking – barefoot over the dessert. They walked for over a thousand miles with nothing but the hope of their destination to sustain them. And some of them made it to America. The documentary I watched ended with footage of some of these guys in an apartment in New York, marvelling at the machine that could make ice in their refrigerator and various other conveniences that we take for granted.

v But for you who have grown up pulling ice cubes out of the freezer, you don’t experience any wonder at the marvel of refrigeration. What would it take for you to come to the realization that it is an absolute marvel to be able to shove your cup against the side of a box in your kitchen and have crushed ice cascade into your cup? What would it take for you to regain that sense of wonder? For me it took hearing the testimony of those lost boys from Sudan and seeing their amazement at what I take so for granted.

v What will it take for you to experience revival in your spiritual life? Do you want renewal? To stop finding Christianity so “ho hum” and really enjoy it again? What will it take to make God’s love marvellous to you again? God has provided a way for us to be re-kindled in our wonder at Him, and that is through hearing the testimony of David in Psalm 31. It took David having to live in a “beseiged city” to experience the marvellousness of God’s lovingkindness.

v These days, we are more excited about ficticious Marvel heroes based on false gods from our pagan European ancestry than we are about the marvels of the lovingkindness of the one true God. How do we get back to that?

11 As a result of all my adversaries I was a stigma even more to my neighbors, and to those with whom I was intimately acquainted I was a terrorist. Upon seeing me in the outdoors they fled from me. 12 I was forgotten from the heart like one who is dead; I was like a piece of trash,

Ø Cf. Psalm 22:6 But I am a worm – hardly even a man, a human stigma, and a one who is despised by [the] people. 7 All those who see me mock at me… (NAW)

Ø Cf. Isaiah 53:3. “He was despised and was the One rejected of men - a sorrowing man also known by grief. And like one from whom there is hiding of faces, He was despised and we did not give Him consideration. 4. Surely our griefs He Himself carried, and our sorrows, He bore them. Yet we, we considered Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted.” (NAW)

Ø This is clearly fulfilled in Christ, but, throughout history, believers in God have also been treated like this.

§ I’ve been treated like a social pariah before in some of the places I’ve lived, but nothing like this.

§ Augustine interpreted this passage in light of the persecution that Christians were experiencing from the Romans of his day around the year 400AD: “For my life is to confess Thee, but it failed in pain, when the enemy had said, ‘Let them be tortured until they deny Him’… I want the health of this body, yet racking pains come on me, then I want the dissolution of my body, but death forbears to come, and by this experience my confidence hath been weakened… the wicked are… tortured only till they confess [that Caesar is Lord]: I then have overpassed their reproach, I, whose confession death doth not follow, but racking pains do follow upon it. And to my neighbours… This hath seemed too much to them, who were ready to draw near to know Thee - and to hold the faith that I hold… Yet into my very acquaintance I struck fear by the example of my dreadful tribulation.” If the authorities tortured you for being a Christian, there would understandably be a lot of neighbors who might be interested in the ideas of Christianity, but will keep their distance because they don’t want to be tortured too.

§ I’ve read accounts of this happening in China and in Chiapas Mexico, and in Yemen and Saudi Arabia… Can you imagine the grief that believers bear in the midst of persecution when no one wants to associate with them, and any attempts to associate with others will bring harm to them. Only the wonder of the lovingkindness of God can sustain a person through that!

13 because I had heard the rumor of terror from many around the circle during their session together about me; they planned to take my life.

Ø This is the first time this word “fear/terror/alarm” appears in the OT.

Ø Jeremiah quoted this phrase later when he wrote: “Behold, a people comes from the north country, And a great nation will be raised from the farthest parts of the earth. They will lay hold on bow and spear; They are cruel and have no mercy; Their voice roars like the sea; And they ride on horses, As men of war set in array against you, O daughter of Zion. We have heard the report of it; Our hands grow feeble. Anguish has taken hold of us, Pain as of a woman in labor. Do not go out into the field, Nor walk by the way. Because of the sword of the enemy, Fear is on every side.” (Jeremiah 6:22-25, NKJV)

Ø The picture I get from the Hebrew wording is of a group of guys sitting down in a circle to talk about how to get rid of the political threat that David presented to them - probably King Saul and all his noblemen and advisors. We know that Saul’s son, Jonathan, was reporting to David what was happening in Saul’s council chambers; he must have told David that many of the guys in his dad’s circle of council were encouraging Saul to kill David so that David would not be able to become king after Saul.

Ø What do you do when you feel threatened? Maybe nobody has hired hit men to knock you off, but we all have those things that strike alarm and panic in us,

§ whether it is rejection from a parent, from a spouse or a from brother or sister or a friend,

§ or maybe it’s that boss or co-worker talking bad about you and your work,

§ maybe it’s less personal: a financial failure or a failure to be able to perform in your vocation looming on the horizon,

§ or maybe it’s more spiritual: like a sin that Satan uses to whip you time after time until you afraid you’re hopeless.

§ What should you do under the pressure of these kind of threats?

14 But as for me, it is in You that I trusted; I said, “You are my God, Yahweh; 15 My circumstances are in Your control. Rescue me from the control of my enemies and from those who are hunting me down. 16 Cause Your face to shine upon your servant; cause me to be saved in your lovingkindness!”

Ø V.15 Literally reads “in your hand are my times.”

Ø Augustine, following the Vulgate with its reading of “my lots[1],” applied this verse in terms of God’s sovereign election of him to salvation which was undeserved and therefore as much a matter of fate as the rolling of dice: “I see no desert for which, out of the universal ungodliness of the human race, Thou hast elected me particularly to salvation. And though there be with Thee some just and secret order in my election, yet I, from whom this is hid, have attained by lot unto my Lord’s vesture.”

Ø The idea of times as circumstances which are in God’s hand and therefore under God’s control seems to be the more likely way to understand this verse.

Ø Cf. Psalm 9:9 “And Yahweh will be a stronghold for the one who is beaten down, a stronghold for times when there is a crisis.” (NAW)

Ø Note that the “hand/control” of God is contrasted with the “hand/control” of our enemies.

Ø This seems to be the prayer which comes before God’s deliverance. God’s deliverance was already spoken of in vs. 8 “…You regarded my low condition, and you considered my soul during crises, and You did not let me get enclosed in the hand of an enemy.”

Ø “When the sun shines, we do not need candles, and when we have the light of God's countenance, it matters but little, whether men smile or frown, praise or blame, bless or curse.” ~William Plumer

17 I will not be ashamed, Yahweh, because I called out to You. Evil men will be ashamed; they will slip off to hell.

Ø I like what the ESV did at the end of v.17, in combining two textual traditions which both date back as least as far as the first century AD – the Masoretic Hebrew tradition (followed by the KJV, NAS, and NIV) “be silent in the place of the dead,” and the Septuagint, Syriac, and Targum tradition which reads “brought down to the place of the dead.” I tried to do the same thing, combining the ideas of “going” and of being “silent” in the English phrase “slip off.” Either way, the mute button indisputably comes in at verse 18 on the lips of liars.

Ø But don’t miss the main point. This is a faith statement. It echoes the opening statement of this Psalm, “It is in You, Yahweh, that I have taken refuge; I will not ever be ashamed. Deliver me in Your righteousness!” Without yet seeing the outcome of his trust in God, David knows that trust in Yahweh is the great Continental Divide, as it were, between those who will ultimately be vindicated by God’s favor - like the sun - shining on them, and those who will be blushing with shame, unable to say a word in their own defense as they die and go to hell.

§ All the water on this side of the Continental Divide flows East, and all the water on the other side of the Continental Divide flows West. That’s the way it is in the physical world.

§ In the spiritual realm, the watershed is over who you trust. Those who call out to the LORD – and trust in Jesus as He is revealed in the New Testament – will be delivered from shame, no matter how nerdy and uncool and scary people thought they were. Those who focus on what humans say and think - and who take confidence in their smarts and strength and popularity to be in control - are the ones called “wicked” and who will go to hell. That is just as certain spiritually.

18. Lips that speak falsehood against the righteous – licentious-speech with haughtiness and scorn will be shut up.

Ø The only time this “arrogant/grevious/licentous speech” is mentioned in the Bible previous to this Psalm is in the story of Hanna where Peninah was making fun of her for not being able to have a baby. Hanna’s prayer in this situation is exemplary: “Hannah prayed and said: ‘My heart rejoices in the LORD; My horn is exalted in the LORD. I smile at my enemies, Because I rejoice in Your salvation. No one is holy like the LORD, For there is none besides You, Nor is there any rock like our God. Talk no more so very proudly; Let no arrogance come from your mouth, For the LORD is the God of knowledge; And by Him actions are weighed.” (1 Samuel 2:1-3 NKJV)

Ø You are not where the buck stops, so you’d better not take liberties in what you say.

Ø Jesus said, “every do-nothing word – whatever men might utter, they will give an account for it during the day of judgment.” (Matthew 12:36, NAW) There will be no protesters giving speeches on Judgment Day, because Jesus will be so just in handling the law that no one will be able to find fault with Him.

§ Romans 3:19 “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” (NKJV)

§ How can it not rekindle wonder in your heart to think that on that dreadful day, given the undeniable guilt of your sin and the impending doom of the lake of fire, that you could, instead of cringing and cowering, instead run toward the dread judge of all, and take refuge in Him from your own sin and judgeent and find Him hug you into Himself, in the sight of all mankind that is gathered before the great throne, and then have Him share His honor and glory and power and authority with you!

Ø You want spiritual revival? There’s where to look. “How great is Your goodness which You have stored up for those who fear you, which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You before the sons of men!”

19 How great is Your goodness, which You have hidden away for those who respect You, [which] You worked out for the ones who take refuge in You before the children of mankind!

Ø He, who has God for his God, "possesses God, with all his treasures of grace, with all his goodness, and love, and friendship… God withholds nothing from those, who withhold nothing from him.” ~William Plumer

Ø “Even those whom [He] corrects, [He] loves much: but lest they should go on negligently from relaxed security, [He] hides from them the sweetness of [His] love, for whom it is profitable to fear [Him]... So [He] hast perfected this sweetness for them that hope in [Him].” ~Augustine

20 You will cover them with the cover of Your face away from bondage to mankind; You will hide them in a pavilion away from strife of tongues.

Ø Cf. Psalm 17:7-9 “Savior of those who take refuge from adversaries by Your right hand, showcase your lovingkindness. Protect me like You would [the] apple of [your] eye. In the shadow of Your wings You will hide me from the presence of wicked men which have devastated me. As for my enemies, with aspiration they form a circle over me. [In] their callousness they have become closed; as for their mouth, they have spoken with haughtiness.” (NAW)

Ø This “riyv-strife” of accusing tongues is probably speaking of legal controversies where people are trying to sue him – maybe on trumped-up charges, maybe on legitimate grounds (he did commit adultery with Bathsheba and knock off her husband to cover it up).

§ I’ve noticed with the last few Presidents of the United States, there has been an almost constant undertone of criticism and threat of impeachment. I don’t know how I could handle the anxiety of that kind of vicious faultfinding if I were in their shoes.

§ It’s bad enough for me leading a small church and a small homeschool organization. I got an email from an irate homeschooling mom a couple days ago complaining about the way me and my board had done something after we had really sacrificed to do something nice for the organization, and it felt like a punch in the stomach.

§ But God’s lovingkindness is such that He knows when it’s too much for us, and that’s when He will hide us in a safe place away from that strife for a time. (1 Cor. 10:13b …God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tested above what you are able...” NAW)

Ø The synonym for “strife/accusing” is a unique word in Hebrew, which occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament.

§ It is translated “pride” by the KJV, “conspiracies” by the NASB, “intrigues” by the NIV, and “plots” by the ESV.

§ The two times it appears as a verb, it describes the action of tying on a breastplate, so I translated it “bondage” to pick up on the concept of “tying/binding.”

Ø The contrast is between bondage to man vs. protection in God’s presence, between being exposed to people speaking contentiously vs. God hiding you away in a secret place.

Ø Notice that this secret place - this shelter - is God Himself, literally His “panim-face” (the same “face” that “shines upon His servants” in v.16). He Himself is the “covering” that protects us.

Ø Once again this points us to Jesus who is called “the tabernacle” in Hebrews 9:11[2] and whose blood is what covers over our sins

§ Psalm 32:1 “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered[3]” (NKJV)

§ Hebrews 12:24 “[You have come] to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.” (NKJV)

§ 1 John 1:7b “the blood of Jesus His Son is cleansing us from all sin” (NAW).

21 Yahweh be blessed, because He has made His loving-kindness wonderful to me in an enclosed city. 22 Now, as for me, I said in my alarm, “I have been cut off from before Your eyes.” Nevertheless, You heeded the sound of my pleas for mercy when I hollered to You.

Ø “מָצֹור, from צוּר to shut in… signifies both a siege, i.e., a shutting in by siege-works, and a fortifying (cf. Ps. 60:11 with Ps. 108:11), i.e., a shutting in by fortified works against the attack of the enemy (2 Chron 8:5). The fenced city is mostly interpreted as God Himself and His powerful and gracious protection… (Isa. 33:21). But why may not an actual city be intended, viz., Ziklag? The fact, that after long and troublous days, David there found a strong and sure resting-place, he here celebrates beforehand, and unconsciously prophetically, as a wondrous token of divine favour. To him Ziklag was indeed the turning-point between his degradation and exaltation.” ~Keil & Delitzsch

Ø Note that David’s wonder at God’s lovingkindness came in the context of stress…

23 Love Yahweh, all you His godly ones! Those being faithful are the ones Yahweh is protecting, but He is paying back in excess the one who acts out haughtiness[4]. 24 Y’all be strong - and He will cause your heart to be firm, all you who are waiting for Yahweh!

Ø David gives his practical application to God’s people in the form of two commands in the last two verses.

Ø These commands are addressed in verse 23 to those characterized by “faith” in God (rather than by human pride), and in verse 24 to those who “hope in/wait for” the LORD (rather than “acting” in reliance upon themselves).

Ø The commands are:

1) “Love the LORD” (in keeping with the first and greatest commandment, but also in keeping with a rekindled wonder at God’s lovingkindness toward us!), and

2) “Be strong.” It is very much like the way David ended Psalm 27:14 “Wait on Yahweh; be strong and cause your heart to be firm, and wait [קוה] on Yahweh” (NAW) except in the last verse of Psalm 31, the second verb is third person imperfect: “He will cause yall’s heart to be firm,” (as the KJV accurately puts it) or jussive: “let your heart take courage” (as the ESV accurately puts it), not second person: “you cause your own heart to be firm” (I’m not sure why the NASB and NIV translated it that way).

Ø Don’t be like King Joram who said, “Why should I wait any more on the LORD?” when he grew weary of the Syrians besieging his capital city (2 Kings 6:33).

Ø As the old spiritual goes, “You can’t hurry my God. No, no, no, you just have to wait. You’ve got to trust Him and give Him time, no matter how long it takes. He’s a God you can’t hurry, but He’ll be there, child, don’t you worry. He may not come when you want Him, but He’s right on time!”

Ø Waiting on God to bring His deliverance from your trouble in His timing requires

§ keeping in mind how wonderful His lovingkindness is

§ and keeping your eyes lovingly fixed on Him

§ and trusting Him with that faith which is His own gift to you (Eph. 2),

§ and not giving up and trying to do things your way

§ and not letting anything distract you with the amusements of this world that are designed to take your eyes off of God claim your love instead so that you’re not waiting for Him or loving Him anymore.

Ø He will do His part, in the meantime, of preserving that faith that He gave to you as a gift, and holding your heart steadfast so that you will persevere in waiting for Him.

William Plumer came up with 45 application points for Psalm 31 in his 1872 commentary. Here are a few that impacted me:

v “Genuine trust may always be pleaded as a reason why God should grant our prayers… He never awakens hope or inspires confidence to disappoint them that be far from him.”

v “The righteous have many good and no bad prospects for eternity, (v. 1) They shall never be ashamed. All the good things they receive here are but pledges of better things to come, while the evil they receive here is all the evil that shall ever befall them.”

v “That which made the faith of the penitent thief most remarkable was that he steadily looked to the Sun of righteousness, though he was under an eclipse; believed on a Saviour, who was deserted by his own disciples, dying in ignominy, and confessing that he was forsaken of God. No marvel that such an instance of faith has been celebrated ever since and shall be to the end of the world.”

v “There may be in a soul at one time both grief oppressing and hope upholding; both darkness of trouble and the light of faith ; both deliberate doubting and strong gripping of God's truth and goodness; both a pointing and a fighting; a seeming yielding in the fight and yet a striving of faith against all opposition; both a foolish haste and a steadiness of faith," v. 22.

Comparison of editions and versions of Psalm 31:11-24[A]

Vaticanus (30)	Brenton (LXX)	KJV	NAW	MT
12 παρὰ πάντας τοὺς ἐχθρούς μου ἐγενήθην ὄνειδος καὶ τοῖς γείτοσίν μου σφόδρα καὶ φόβος τοῖς γνωστοῖς μου, οἱ θεωροῦντές με ἔξω ἔφυγον[B] ἀπ᾿ ἐμοῦ.	11 X I became a reproach among all mine enemies, but exceedingly so to my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintanceX: they that saw me without fled from me.	11 I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintanceX: they that did see me without fled from me. [C]	11 As a result of all my adversaries I was a stigma even more to my neighbors, and to those with whom I was intimately acquainted I was a terrorist. Upon seeing me in the outdoors they fled from me.	יב מִכָּל צֹרְרַי הָיִיתִי חֶרְפָּה וְלִשֲׁכֵנַי מְאֹד וּפַחַד לִמְיֻדָּעָי[D] רֹאַי בַּחוּץ נָדְדוּ מִמֶּנִּי.
13 ἐπελήσθην ὡσεὶ νεκρὸς ἀπὸ καρδίας, ἐγενήθην ὡσεὶ σκεῦος ἀπολωλός.	12 I have been forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am become as a broken vessel.	12 I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel.	12 I was forgotten from the heart like one who is dead; I was like a piece of trash,	יג נִשְׁכַּחְתִּי כְּמֵת מִלֵּב הָיִיתִי כִּכְלִי אֹבֵד.
14 ὅτι ἤκουσα ψόγον πολλῶν ~~παροικούντων~~ κυκλόθεν· ἐν τῷ ἐπισυναχθῆναι[E] αὐτοὺς ἅμα ἐπ᾿ ἐμὲ τοῦ λαβεῖν τὴν ψυχήν μου ἐβουλεύσαντο[F].	13 For I heard the slander of many that ~~dwelt~~ round about: when they were gathered together against me, they took counsel to take my life.	13 For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on [every] side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life.	13 because I had heard the rumor of terror from many around the circle during their session together about me; they planned to take my life.	יד כִּי שָׁמַעְתִּי דִּבַּת[G] רַבִּים מָגוֹר מִסָּבִיב בְּהִוָּסְדָם יַחַד עָלַי לָקַחַת נַפְשִׁי זָמָמוּ.
15 ἐγὼ δὲ ἐπὶ σὲ ἤλπισα, κύριε εἶπα Σὺ εἶ ὁ θεός μου.	14 But X I hoped in thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my God.	14 But X I trusted in thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my God.	14 But as for me, it is in You that I trusted; I said, “You are my God, Yahweh;	טו וַאֲנִי עָלֶיךָ בָטַחְתִּי יְהוָה אָמַרְתִּי אֱלֹהַי אָתָּה.
16 ἐν ταῖς χερσίν σου οἱ καιροί μου· ῥῦσαί με ἐκ χειρὸς ἐχθρῶν μου καὶ ἐκ τῶν καταδιωκόντων με.	15 My lots[H] are in thy hands: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, 16 and from them that persecute me.	15 My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.	15 My circumstances are in Your control. Rescue me from the control of my enemies and from those who are hunting me down.	טז בְּיָדְךָ עִתֹּתָי הַצִּילֵנִי מִיַּד אוֹיְבַי וּמֵרֹדְפָי.
17 ἐπίφανον τὸ πρόσωπόν σου ἐπὶ τὸν δοῦλόν σου, σῶσόν με ἐν τῷ ἐλέει σου.	Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me in thy mercy.	16 Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies' sake.	16 Cause Your face to shine upon your servant; cause me to be saved in your lovingkindness!”	יז הָאִירָה פָנֶיךָ עַל עַבְדֶּךָ הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי בְחַסְדֶּךָ.
18 κύριε, μὴ καταισχυνθείην, ὅτι ἐπεκαλεσάμην σε· αἰσχυνθείησαν οἱ ἀσεβεῖς καὶ καταχθείησαν[I] εἰς ᾅδου.	17 O Lord, let me not be ashamed, for I have called upon thee: let the ungodly be ashamed, and brought down to Hades.	17 Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave.	17 I will not be ashamed, Yahweh, because I called out to You. Evil men will be ashamed; they will slip off to hell.	יח יְהוָה אַל אֵבוֹשָׁה כִּי קְרָאתִיךָ יֵבֹשׁוּ רְשָׁעִים יִדְּמוּ לִשְׁאוֹל.
19 ἄλαλα γενηθήτω [τὰ] χείλη τὰ δόλια τὰ λαλοῦντα κατὰ τοῦ δικαίου ~~ἀνομίαν~~ ἐν ὑπερηφανίᾳ καὶ ἐξουδενώσει.	18 Let the deceitful lips become dumb, which speak ~~iniquity~~ against the righteous with pride and scorn.	18 Let [the] lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.	18. Lips that speak falsehood against the righteous -licentious-speech with haughtiness and scorn will be shut up.	יט תֵּאָלַמְנָה שִׂפְתֵי שָׁקֶר הַדֹּבְרוֹת עַל צַדִּיק עָתָק בְּגַאֲוָה וָבוּז.
20 ὡς πολὺ τὸ πλῆθος τῆς χρηστότητός[J] σου, [κύριε], ἧς ἔκρυψας τοῖς φοβουμένοις σε, ἐξειργάσω τοῖς ἐλπίζουσιν ἐπὶ σὲ ἐναντίον τῶν υἱῶν τῶν ἀνθρώπων.	19 How abundant is the multitude of thy goodness, [O Lord], which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee! thou hast wrought it out for them that hope on thee, in the presence of the sons of men.	19 Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!	19 How great is Your goodness, which You have hidden away for those who respect You, [which] You worked out for the ones who take refuge in You before the children of mankind!	כ מָה רַב טוּבְךָ[K] אֲשֶׁר צָפַנְתָּ לִּירֵאֶיךָ פָּעַלְתָּ לַחֹסִים בָּךְ נֶגֶד בְּנֵי אָדָם.
21 κατακρύψεις αὐτοὺς ἐν ἀποκρύφῳ τοῦ προσώπου σου ἀπὸ ταραχῆς ἀνθρώπων, σκεπάσεις αὐτοὺς ἐν σκηνῇ ἀπὸ ἀντιλογίας γλωσσῶν.	20 Thou wilt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the vexation of man: thou wilt screen them in a tabernacle from the contradiction of tongues.	20 Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.	20 You will cover them with the cover of Your face from bondage to mankind; You will hide them in a pavilion away from strife of tongues.	כא תַּסְתִּירֵם בְּסֵתֶר פָּנֶיךָ מֵרֻכְסֵי[L] אִישׁ תִּצְפְּנֵם בְּסֻכָּה מֵרִיב לְשֹׁנוֹת.
22 εὐλογητὸς κύριος, ὅτι ἐθαυμάστωσεν τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ X X ἐν πόλει περιοχῆς.	21 Blessed be the Lord: for he has ~~magnified~~ his mercy X X in a fortified city.	21 Blessed be the LORD: for he hath ~~shewed~~ me his marvellous kindness in a strong city.	21 Yahweh be blessed, because He has made His loving-kindness wonderful to me in an enclosed city.	כב בָּרוּךְ יְהוָה כִּי הִפְלִיא חַסְדּוֹ[M] לִי בְּעִיר מָצוֹר.
23 ἐγὼ δὲ εἶπα ἐν τῇ ἐκστάσει[N] μου Ἀπέρριμμαι[O] ἄρα ἀπὸ προσώπου τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν σου. διὰ τοῦτο εἰσήκουσας τῆς φωνῆς τῆς δεήσεώς μου ἐν τῷ κεκραγέναι[P] με πρὸς σέ.	22 But I said in my extreme fear, I am cast out from the sight of thine eyes: therefore thou didst hearken, O Lord, to the voice of my supplicationX when I cried to thee.	22 For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.	22 Now, as for me, I said in my alarm, “I have been cut off from before Your eyes.” Nevertheless, You heeded the sound of my pleas for mercy when I hollered to You.	כג וַאֲנִי אָמַרְתִּי בְחָפְזִי נִגְרַזְתִּי[Q] מִנֶּגֶד עֵינֶיךָ[R] אָכֵן שָׁמַעְתָּ קוֹל תַּחֲנוּנַי בְּשַׁוְּעִי אֵלֶיךָ.
24 ἀγαπήσατε τὸν κύριον, πάντες οἱ ὅσιοι αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἀληθείας ~~ἐκζητεῖ~~[S] κύριος καὶ ἀνταποδίδωσιν τοῖς περισσῶς ποιοῦσιν ὑπερηφανίαν.	23 Love the Lord, all ye his ~~saints~~: for the Lord ~~seeks~~ for truth, and renders a reward to them that deal ~~very~~ proudly.	23 O love the LORD, all ye his ~~saints~~: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.	23 Love Yahweh, all you His godly ones! Those being faithful are the ones Yahweh is protecting, but He is paying back in excess the one who acts out haughtiness.	כד אֶהֱבוּ אֶת יְהוָה כָּל חֲסִידָיו אֱמוּנִים נֹצֵר יְהוָה וּמְשַׁלֵּם עַל יֶתֶר עֹשֵׂה גַאֲוָה.
25 ἀνδρίζεσθε, καὶ κραταιούσθω[T] ἡ καρδία ὑμῶν, πάντες οἱ ἐλπίζοντες[U] ἐπὶ κύριον.	24 Be of good courage, and let your heart be strengthened, all ye that hope in the Lord.	24 Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.	24 Y’all be strong - and He will cause your heart to be firm, all you who are waiting for Yahweh!	כה חִזְקוּ וְיַאֲמֵץ לְבַבְכֶם כָּל הַמְיַחֲלִים לַיהוָה.

[1] Most Greek and Latin translations of this verse read “lots” instead of “times” (“Lot” and “time” sound really different in English, but in Greek the two words have same number of letters, the same first letter, and same last three letters.)

[2] “But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.” NKJV

[4] “The recompense to the incorrigibly wicked will be soon enough and terrible enough, without our making ourselves busy to do them evil, v. 23.” ~William Plumer