Mazmur 31:21-24

31:21 The Lord deserves praise ¹ 

for he demonstrated his amazing faithfulness to me when I was besieged by enemies. ² 

31:22 I jumped to conclusions and said, ³ 

“I am cut off from your presence!” ⁴ 

But you heard my plea for mercy when I cried out to you for help.

31:23 Love the Lord, all you faithful followers ⁵  of his!

The Lord protects those who have integrity,

but he pays back in full the one who acts arrogantly. ⁶ 

31:24 Be strong and confident, ⁷ 

all you who wait on the Lord!

[31:21]  ¹ tn Heb “blessed [be] the Lord.”

[31:21]  ² tn Heb “for he caused his faithfulness to be amazing to me in a besieged city.” The psalmist probably speaks figuratively here. He compares his crisis to being trapped in a besieged city, but the Lord answered his prayer for help. Verses 19-24 were apparently written after the Lord answered the prayer of vv. 1-18.

[31:22]  ³ tn Heb “and I, I said in my haste.”

[31:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “from before your eyes.”

[31:23]  ⁵ tn A “faithful follower” (חָסִיד, khasid) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 12:1; 16:10; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).

[31:23]  ⁶ tn The participial forms in the second and third lines characterize the Lord as one who typically protects the faithful and judges the proud.

[31:24]  ⁷ tn Heb “be strong and let your heart[s] be confident.”