Psalms 31:1-24

The writer of this Ps. gratefully records God's past deliverances (Psalms 31:1), appeals to God for help against the enemies who assail him in the present (Psalms 31:9), and ends with fervent thankfulness and serene assurance (Psalms 31:19). The language suggests a later age than David's, and has many parallels with the book of Jeremiah, the most evident being in the words 'terror on every side' (Psalms 31:13; Jeremiah 20:10). These parallels are mostly in the central section (Psalms 31:9), and possibly this is an insertion in the middle of an earlier Davidic Ps. In the closing vv. there are several resemblances to Psalms 27.