Псалом 31

The psalm belongs to David. Its content is a revelation of that satisfied inner state of the author, which appeared as a result of the forgiveness of his sin by the Lord. If we compare this psalm with L, which sets out repentance and a prayer for forgiveness, then the present psalm should be considered written after L, after receiving this forgiveness. The sin that historical books point to David and is similar to the present one - Psalm L, must be considered his sin with Uriah and Bathsheba. Inscription in Hebrew The Bible “maskil” can be translated as “admonition, instruction”, or as in the Russian Bible – “teaching”. This inscription indicates the nature of the content of the psalm, representing the teaching of man in true conduct, which David arrived at through his personal experience and reflection. The psalm, like the sixth, is repentant. Blessed is the man whose sins the Lord has forgiven (1–2). When I hid my sin, I experienced great torment (3–4). When I revealed it to the Lord, I felt relief and found protection in Him (5-7). The Lord is merciful to people and commands them not to resist His will and influence, as wild horses resist taming, and then the righteous will rejoice before Him, and the wicked will experience many sorrows (8-11). Ps.31:1. Blessed is he whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered! Ps.31:2. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute sin, and in whose spirit there is no guile! “Whose iniquities are forgiven”, “whose sins are covered”, “sin will not be imputed” - must be understood in the sense of complete moral cleansing of a person, and not an external legal justification, according to which a person is recognized only as not subject to punishment, but free from that moral shortcoming for which he is responsible before God. Such complete purification is indicated by the last expression of the verse - “in whose spirit there is no guile,” i.e., blessed is only the one who has purified his spirit, has been morally reborn, and not just outwardly justified. Ps.31:3. When I was silent, my bones became worn out from my daily groaning, Ps.31:4. for day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me; My freshness disappeared, like in a summer drought. “When I was silent” - David’s repentance for his crime took place a year later, which can be seen from the comparison of chapters XI and XII. 2 Books of Samuel - “My bones are worn out because of my daily groaning.” The voice of conscience tormented David and he was daily tormented by the consciousness of the offense he had committed. These torments of conscience are considered by him as the burden of the hand of the Lord, the consequence of which was the physical exhaustion of David - the loss of vigor and freshness. Ps.31:5. But I revealed my sin to You and did not hide my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my crimes to the Lord,” and You took away from me the guilt of my sin. Ps.31:6. For this reason, every righteous person will pray to You at the time of need, and then the flood of many waters will not reach him. As hard as David felt when concealing his offense before God, it became so easy for him after repentance, since the Lord “removed from him the guilt of sin.” By the guilt of sin here we must again understand not exemption from responsibility, not legal justification, since David suffered punishment in the death of his son born of Bathsheba and subsequently in the rebellion of Absalom, but moral and complete cleansing from the offense. From the legal side, there was not even a crime in David’s marriage: Bathsheba’s husband was killed, she became free, and David could marry her, and if there was no corpus delicti of a legal crime, then there could be no legal justification, but there was complete, real and moral cleansing. - “He will pray for this” - it is better to translate - “therefore let him pray.” Based on the torment of conscience experienced by David, he advises everyone “the righteous,” the one who is affected by the voice of conscience, “at the right time,” at the right time to ease the conscience, i.e. at her first call, to repent before God, in order to thereby achieve both moral peace and prevent “the overflow of many waters,” the force of disasters with which the Lord will punish him. (“Waters” in the Bible constantly mean numerous and severe disasters, as in the flood that washed away all the wicked). Ps.31:8. “I will admonish you, I will guide you on the path you should follow; I will guide you; My eye is upon you.” Ps.31:9. “Do not be like a horse, like a foolish mule, whose jaws must be bridled with bridle and bit so that they obey you.” God appears to be speaking. The Lord always watches and provides for man, directing him to the path of truth. One of such influences of God on man is the voice of conscience, which must be obeyed, and not stubborn, like wild horses and hinnies, whose jaws must be bridled in order to make these animals suitable for serving man. Such a bridle should be considered the disasters sent by God to a person in order to admonish the latter, shorten, and curb his wild sinful inclinations. God desires and expects from man voluntary obedience to Himself, sincere repentance before Him. You might be interested in: