Fathers

Psalms 31

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In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness. Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me. For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me. Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength. Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth. I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the LORD. I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities; And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room. Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly. For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed. I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance: they that did see me without fled from me. I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel. 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. But I trusted in thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my God. My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies' sake. 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. Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous. 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! 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. Blessed be the LORD: for he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city. 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. O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer. Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.

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What the Fathers say

Psalms 31:22

Western Saints

Augustine of Hippo

"I said in my ecstasy" [Psalm 31:22]. Whence that people again speaking says, I said in my fear, when the heathen were raging horribly against me. "I have been cast forth from the sight of Your eyes." For if You had regard to me, You would not suffer me to endure these things. "Therefore You heard, O Lord, the voice of my prayer, when I cried unto You." Therefore putting a limit to correction, and showing that I have part in Your care, You heard, O Lord, the voice of my prayer, when I raised it high out of tribulation.

Exposition on Psalm 31 ↗

Thomas Aquinas

Second, when he says, "Therefore you have heard," he presents the answer to prayer; as if to say, therefore, because I said this, "you have heard": Ps. 10: "He has had regard for the prayer of the humble." So the publican in Lk. 18, because he acknowledged himself a sinner, went down to his house justified: Sir. 35: "The prayer of him who humbles himself shall pierce the clouds." Or, according to Jerome, it is put interrogatively: "I said," and so on. Will you therefore not hear? …

Exposition on the Psalms of David ↗

Hippolytus of Rome

The mercy of God is not so "marvellous" when it is shown in humbler cities as when it is shown in "a strong city," and for this reason "God is to be blessed."

Fragments from Commentaries on Various Books of Scripture - On Psalm XXXI. 22 ↗