Psalms 31:14
in Psalms 31But I trust in You, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But I trusted in thee, O Jehovah: I said, Thou art my God.
KJV
But I trusted in thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my God.
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This verse in Psalms 31
Commentary
11 notes on this verseBut I trusted in thee, O Lord. Notwithstanding all afflicting circumstances, David's faith maintained its hold, and was not turned aside from its object. What a blessed saving clause is this! So long as our faith, which is our shield, is safe, the battle may go hard, but its ultimate result is no matter of question; if that could be torn from us, we should be as surely slain as were Saul and Jonathan upon the high places of the field. I said, Thou art my God. He proclaimed aloud his determined allegiance to Jehovah.
This site's exposition
But I trust in You
on Psalms 31:14-16
My times are in Your hands is the widest claim the psalm makes, the whole course of his days held by God. Make Your face shine on Your servant asks for the priestly blessing of Numbers 6:25 in his own words. What he asks it on is God's loving devotion.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"But I have hoped in You, O Lord; I have said, You are my God" [Psalm 31:14]. For You have not changed, that You should not save, Who dost correct.
The order of the words is wonderful and most holy. When his enemies … held on to a hope in their own strength, he says that he put his hope in the Lord, since he knew that their power was nothing and by the plots …
The Medieval Church1 voice
"But I." Above, the Psalmist narrated the evils he was suffering; here he takes refuge in prayer. And because prayer is empty unless it rests upon sure hope, therefore he first sets forth hope and then adds the prayer, at "Deliver me from the hand," …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Two things he comforted himself with in his straits, and he went to God and pleaded them with him:-- 1. " Thou art my God; I have chosen thee for mine, and thou hast promised to be mine;" and, if he be ours and we can by faith call him so, it is enough, when we can call nothing else ours.
But I trusted in thee, O Lord,.... His faith revived again under all the discouraging views he had of things, and was exercised upon the Lord; he committed himself to him, believing he was able to help him in his time of trouble, and deliver him; I said, thou art my God; he claimed his covenant interest in him, and used it as an argument with him to have regard unto him, and as a support to his faith in his present distress; See Gill on Psa 7:1.
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
In this section of the Psalm he renews his prayers, urging the same pleas as at first: earnest wrestlers attempt over and over again the same means of gaining their point.
But I trusted in thee, O Lord. Notwithstanding all afflicting circumstances, David's faith maintained its hold, and was not turned aside from its object. What a blessed saving clause is this! So long as our faith, which is our shield, is safe, the battle may go hard, but its ultimate result is no matter of question; if that could be torn from us, we should be as surely slain as were Saul and Jonathan upon the high places of the field. I said, Thou art my God. He proclaimed aloud his determined allegiance to Jehovah. He was no fair weather believer, he could hold to his faith in a sharp frost, and wrap it about him as a garment fitted to keep out all the ills of time. He who can say what David did need not envy Cicero his eloquence: "Thou art my God, "has more sweetness in it than any other utterance which human speech can frame. Note that this adhesive faith is here mentioned as an argument with God to honour his own promise by sending a speedy deliverance.
But I trusted in thee - Hitherto thou hast been my Helper, and thou art my God; I have taken thee for my eternal portion.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
But I trust in thee, O Lord - In these times of trial - when Psa 31:9 his eye was consumed with grief; when Psa 31:10 his years were spent with sighing, his strength failed, and his bones were consumed; when Psa 31:11 he was a reproach among his neighbors, and dreaded by his acquaintances; when Psa 31:12 he was forgotten as a dead man; and when Psa 31:13 he was surrounded with causes of alarm. Then he trusted in God. His confidence did not fail. He believed that God was his Father and Friend; that He was on the throne; that He could protect and defend him; and he left himself and his cause with Him. In such circumstances as these there is no other sure refuge but God; at such times the strength of faith is shown, and then is seen pre-eminently the power and value of religion. I said, Thou art my God - Thou art all that is implied in the name “God;” and thou art mine. He felt assured that God would not forsake him, though men did; that he might confide in Him, though his earthly friends all turned away. There is always one (God) who will not leave or forsake us; and the friendship and favor of that One is of more value to us than that of all other beings in the universe combined.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
like a lost utensil Which is in the process of becoming lost.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַאֲנִ֤י׀ | vaani | and I | H589 → | 874 times |
| עָלֶ֣יךָ | ʾaleikha | on you | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| בָטַ֣חְתִּי | vatachti | I rely | H982 → | 120 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אָ֝מַ֗רְתִּי | ʾamarti | I say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֱלֹהַ֥י | ʾelohai | [are] God my | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אָֽתָּה׃ | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
וַאֲנִ֤י׀and I
vaaniH589 →874 times
עָלֶ֣יךָon you
ʾaleikhaH5921 →5755 times
בָטַ֣חְתִּיI rely
vatachtiH982 →120 times
יְהוָ֑הO Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אָ֝מַ֗רְתִּיI say
ʾamartiH559 →5305 times
אֱלֹהַ֥י[are] God my
ʾelohaiH430 →2601 times
אָֽתָּה׃you
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 18:2The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
it leads to
- Psalms 144:2
He is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer. He is my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.
- Psalms 62:7
My salvation and my honor rest on God, my strong rock; my refuge is in God.
- Proverbs 18:10
The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
- Psalms 19:14
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
- Psalms 91:2
I will say to the LORD, “You are my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
- Psalms 144:2
Through
Psalms 43:5Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.
it leads to
- Psalms 42:5
Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him for the salvation of His presence.
- Psalms 42:11
Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.
- Psalms 42:5
Through
Psalms 140:6I say to the LORD, “You are my God.” Hear, O LORD, my cry for help.
it leads to
- Psalms 16:2
I said to the LORD, “You are my Lord; apart from You I have no good thing.”
- Psalms 16:2
About Psalms
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 31; Cassiodorus, EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 31:15-16; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.