Psalm 31: My times are in Your hands

These verses of Psalm 31 are the prayer of someone shunned by friends and neighbours who still trusts that their times are in God’s hands.

Picture: Rembrandt, Saint Paul in Prison, 1627

Plain English

In You, O LORD, I have taken refuge;let me never be put to shame.Deliver me in Your righteousness.

Turn Your ear to me;come quickly to rescue me.Be my strong Rock,a fortress to save me.For You are my Rock and my fortress;for the sake of Your name, lead me and guide me.

Bring me out of the net they have hidden for me,for You are my stronghold.Into Your hands I commit my spirit;You have redeemed me, O LORD, God of truth.

Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress;my eyes are worn out with grief,my soul and my body too.

Because of all my enemies I have become a disgrace,above all to my neighbours,and a dread to those who know me.Those who see me in the street run from me.I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind;I have become like a broken jar.

But I trust in You, O LORD;I say, “You are my God.”My times are in Your hands;rescue me from the hands of my enemiesand from those who pursue me.Let Your face shine on Your servant;save me in Your mercy.

In my alarm I said,“I am cut off from Your sight!”Yet You heard my cry for mercywhen I called to You for help.

Be strong and take heart,all you who hope in the LORD.

Traditional wording, 1906

In Thee, O Lord, have I put my trust; let me never be put to confusion; deliver me in Thy righteousness.

Bow down Thine ear to me; make haste to deliver me.And be Thou my strong rock, and house of defence, that Thou mayest save me.For Thou art my strong rock, and my castle: be Thou also my guide, and lead me for Thy Name’s sake.

Draw me out of the net that they have laid privily for me; for Thou art my strength.Into Thy hands I commend my spirit; for Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, Thou God of truth.

Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am in trouble, and mine eye is consumed for very heaviness; yea, my soul and my body.

I became a reproof among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours;and they of mine acquaintance were afraid of me; and they that did see me without, conveyed themselves from me.I am clean forgotten as a dead man out of mind; I am become like a broken vessel.

But my hope hath been in Thee, O Lord; I have said, Thou art my God.My time is in Thy hand; deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.Show Thy servant the light of Thy countenance, and save me for Thy mercy’s sake.

And when I made haste, I said, I am cast out of the sight of Thine eyes.Nevertheless, Thou heardest the voice of my prayer, when I cried unto Thee.

Be strong, and He shall establish your heart, all ye that put your trust in the Lord.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Hebrew (verses 1 to 5, 9, 11 to 12, 14 to 16, 22 and 24), with Hapgood’s Service Book beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: Isabel F. Hapgood, Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic Church, 1906.

Hapgood’s last line has God “establish your heart”. The Hebrew can also be read “let your heart take courage”, as the Greek Septuagint reads it, and the plain wording follows that.

When it is said

Pray it when friends and family keep their distance and you feel forgotten.

The Church reads it at Great Compline, which on the eves of Christmas and Theophany joins Matins to make the All-Night Vigil.

Where it comes from

Author by tradition

For when friends turn on you

In his letter on praying the Psalms, St Athanasius of Alexandria gives this psalm to anyone hated and hounded by all their friends and relatives for holding to the truth. His advice is not to lose heart or cower, even when acquaintances turn away, but to stand back from it all, look to what is coming and sing this psalm.

St Athanasius, Letter to Marcellinus on the Psalms (the Greek, from the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae)

Prayed from the cross

The fifth verse of this psalm reads, “Into Your hands I commit my spirit.” As He died on the cross, Jesus called out these words with a loud voice and began them with “Father” (Luke 23:46). Then He breathed His last.

The King James Version, Luke’s Gospel

The Scripture in it

In You, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; save me by Your righteousness. Incline Your ear to me; come quickly to my rescue. Be my Rock of refuge, the stronghold of my deliverance. For You are my Rock and my fortress; lead me and guide me for the sake of Your name. You free me from the net laid out for me, for You are my refuge. Into Your hands I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O LORD, God of truth.

Psalm 31:1-5 Quoted He takes refuge in God and commits his spirit into His hands.

Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes fail from sorrow, my soul and body as well.

Psalm 31:9 Quoted His eyes are worn out with grief.

Among all my enemies I am a disgrace, and among my neighbors even more. I am dreaded by my friends—they flee when they see me on the street. I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind. I am like a broken vessel.

Psalm 31:11-12 Quoted His neighbours shun him and he feels forgotten.

But I trust in You, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in Your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me. Make Your face shine on Your servant; save me by Your loving devotion.

Psalm 31:14-16 Quoted He turns to trust, with his times in God’s hands.

In my alarm I said, “I am cut off from Your sight!” But You heard my plea for mercy when I called to You for help.

Psalm 31:22 Quoted He felt cut off from God, yet God heard him.

Be strong and courageous, all you who hope in the LORD.

Psalm 31:24 Quoted He urges all who hope in the LORD to take heart.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.

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