are no two characters more closely allied naturally and in spirit than David and Jeremiah; both are servants of Jahve, whose noble, tender spirits were capable of strong feeling, who cherished earnest longings, and abounded in tribulations. We abide, though not without some degree of hesitation, by the testimony of the inscription; and regard the Psalm as a song springing from the outward and inward conflict (lxx ἐκστάσεως, probably by a combination of Psa 31:23, ἐν ἐκστάσει, בחפזי, with 1Sa 23:26) of the time of Saul. While Psa 31:12 is not suited to the mouth of the captive Jeremiah (Hitzig), the Psalm has much that is common not only to Ps 69 (more especially Psa 69:9, Psa 69:33), a Psalm that sounds much like Jeremiah's, but also to others, which we regard as Davidic; viz., the figures corresponding to the life of warfare which David then lived among the rocks and caves of the wilderness; the cheering call, Jer 31:25, cf. Psa 22:27; Psa 27:14; the rare use of the Hiph. הפליא Psa 31:22; Psa 17:7; the desire to be hidden by God, Psa 31:21, cf. Psa 17:8; Psa 64:3; etc. In common with Ps 22 this may be noted, that the crucified Christ takes His last word from this Psalm, just as He takes His last utterance but three from that Psalm. But in Psa 31:10-14, the prefigurement of the Passion is confined within the limits of the type and does not undergo the same prophetical enhancement as it does in that unique Ps 22, to which only Ps 69 is in any degree comparable. The opening, Psa 31:2, is repeated in the centonic Ps 71, the work of a later anonymous poet, just as Psa 31:23 is in part repeated in Psa 116:11. The arrangement of the strophes is not very clear.
Verses 1-8
Psa 31:1-8 (Hebrew_Bible_31:2-9) The poet begins with the prayer for deliverance, based upon the trust which Jahve, to whom he surrenders himself, cannot possibly disappoint; and rejoices beforehand in the protection which he assumes will, without any doubt, be granted. Out of his confident security in God (הסיתי) springs the prayer: may it never come to this with me, that I am put to confusion by the disappointment of my hope. This prayer in the form of intense desire is followed by prayers in the direct form of supplication. The supplicatory פלּטני is based upon God's righteousness, which cannot
