David Under Stress
Psalm 31
An EasyEnglish Translation with Notes (about 1200 word vocabulary) on Psalm 31
Words in boxes are from the Bible. Words in brackets, ( ), are not in the Hebrew Bible.
Jesus said, "Father, into your hands I give my spirit". (Luke 23:46 Your spirit lives on after your body dies. "Into your hands" means "to you").
(This is) for the music leader.
(It is) a psalm of David
v1 LORD, I am
trusting in you.
Do not let me ever become
ashamed.
Make me free, because you
always do what is right.
v2 Listen to me and
send me help very soon.
LORD, be a rock for me to
hide behind.
Make my house a fortress and
keep me safe.
v3 You really are my
rock and my fortress.
Because of your name, lead me
and be my guide.
v4 You are my
fortress.
Make me free from the trap
that they hid for me.
v5 I put my spirit
into your hand.
Send me help, LORD God of
truth.
v6 I hate people that
believe in false gods.
I am trusting in the LORD.
v7 I am very happy
because of your kind love.
It makes me want to dance.
You saw my trouble.
You knew that I was under
stress.
v8 You did not give
me into the hands of my enemies.
You made my feet to stand in
a wide place.
v9 LORD, give me
mercy because I am in trouble.
My eyes and my stomach and my
whole body
are sick because I am sad.
v10 My life must come to an end
because I am so sad.
My years will finish while I
am crying.
I am so unhappy that I have
become weak.
My bones are weak.
v11 All my enemies hate me.
People that live near me do
not like me.
Even my friends are afraid of
me.
People that see me in the
street run away.
v12 Everybody has forgotten me.
I am just like a broken pot.
v13 I heard people say unkind
things about me.
There is danger everywhere.
They are making bad plans for
me.
They want to kill me.
v14 But I am still trusting in
you, LORD.
I am saying that you are my
God.
v15 My times are in your hand.
Save me from the hand of my
enemies
and from the people that are trying to catch me.
v16 Shine the light of your face
on your servant.
Send help to me because of
your kind love.
v17 LORD, do not let me become
ashamed.
I am shouting out to you for
help.
Let the godless become
ashamed.
Let them be silent in Sheol.
v18 Let the lips that tell lies
become silent.
They say unkind things about
good people.
They think that they are
better than them and they hate them.
v19 You have prepared many good
things
for those that are afraid of you.
You did this in front of
everybody.
You did it for those that
trust in you.
v20 You will hide them from the
bad plans that men make.
They will not hear the bad
things that people say.
They will be in a secret
place with you.
v21 Bless the LORD.
He showed me his kind love
when I was under stress.
v22 I said too soon that you were
not watching over me.
But you did hear my voice
when I prayed to you for help.
v23 Love the LORD, everyone that
has enjoyed his kind love.
He will keep safe those that
are always his servants,
but he will pay back those that are proud.
v24 Everyone that hopes in the
LORD:
be strong and be brave in your heart.
stress ~ illness in the body or mind because life is difficult
fortress ~ a safe place built of stones and rocks
Below is a table of Psalm 31. It shows us the 4 important parts.
|
1 - 6 |
7 - 8 |
9 - 18 |
19 - 24 |
|
David prays for help |
God sends help |
David prays for help AGAIN |
God sends help AGAIN |
In the first part David was in trouble. We are not sure when. Probably it was when Saul was trying to catch him. David prayed to God for help. God sent help and Saul did not catch David. This made David very happy. He put this in the second part of the psalm. But then it happened again. This time it was worse. So, David prayed for help again. This is in the next part of the psalm. The last part of the psalm tells us that God sent help again.
Psalm 31: 1 – 8: In Psalm 31:1 "ashamed" means "let my enemies win". These enemies hid the trap in Psalm 31:4. They wanted to catch David. But God sent help to David, so that he could go anywhere. This is what "the wide place" in Psalm 31:8 means. David believed that God did this because "of your name" (Psalm 31:3). God made his name famous when he answered David.
Psalm 31: 9 – 24: In Psalm 31:9-12 we read about the results of stress. When life is very difficult we have stress. It makes us ill. It made David so ill that he thought that he was going to die. But David still trusted in the LORD. He wrote, "My times are in your hand". (Psalm 31:15) This means that God decided what would happen to David. "Shine the light of your face" is another way of saying "be kind". David is the servant in Psalm 31:16. It is not a bad thing to be afraid of God. (Psalm 31:19) It means that we see how great he is, and how small we are. Some Bibles translate "everyone that has enjoyed his kind love" as "saints". (Psalm 31:23). "Saint" is another word for "Christian". They are people that have enjoyed the kind love of God. We must remember, in Psalm 31:24, that the Jews believed that you thought in your heart.
1. Look for the key words in Psalm 31. They are the special words. Mark them in some way. The words are: trusting; ashamed; kind love; help; and stress.
2. If you are under stress (feeling ill because life is difficult) then be like David . . . TRUST IN THE LORD! Ask him for help.
© 2001, Wycliffe Associates (UK)
This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level A (1200 words)
January 2001
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