Psalms 31:4

Psa 31:4 Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou [art] my strength.

Ver. 4. Pull me out of the net] That noted net, as the Hebrew hath it; Nam Zu denotat rem notam omnibus, saith Kimchi. David was not caught in it; but the enemies presumed he would be, so selling the hide before the beast was taken; as did likewise the proud Spaniards, when, coming against England in 1588, they triumphed before the victory, and sang,

Tu quae Romanas suevisti temnere leges,

Hispano disces subdere cells iugo.

But blessed be God, the net brake, and we escaped, Psa 124:7.

For thou art my strength] As a tree is strongest at the root, and a branch or bough next the trunk or stock, and the farther it groweth out from thence the smaller and weaker it groweth too; so the nearer the creature is to God the stronger; and on the contrary.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5. (Psa 31:4). Thou wilt bring me out from the net which they have hid for me; for thou (art) my strength (or my stronghold). "By thee I confidently hope to be delivered from the craft and malice of my enemies, for my defence and safety are in thee alone." With. the first clause compare Psa 25:15, and with the last Psa 37:1. The change of figure in the last clause shews the whole verse to be highly metaphorical.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Preserve me from the crafty counsels and subtle practice of mine enemies.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 4. Pull me out of the net] They have hemmed me in on every side, and I cannot escape but by miracle.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(4) The net.—This image is a common one in the Psalms. (Comp. Psa_10:9, &c)

Laid privily.—Literally, hidden. Translate still by the future, thou wilt pull me out.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. Thou wilt bring me out of the net … for thou art my strong hold. He compares his insidious enemies to hunters or fowlers, as in Psa_9:15; Psa_25:15.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me,.... The Ziphites, and Saul, and his men; the former intending treacherously to betray him, and the latter encompassing him about in order to take him; and such was his danger and difficulty, that he saw none but God could deliver him; and he it is that breaks the nets of men, and the snares of the devil, which they secretly lay for the people of God, that they may stumble, and fall, and be taken, and delivers them out of them;

for thou art my strength; the author, giver, and maintainer, both of his natural and spiritual strength; and who was able, and was only able, to pull him out of the net, and extricate him out of the difficulties in which he was.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Pull me out of the net - See the notes at Psa 9:15.

That they have laid privily for me - That my enemies have laid for me. The phrase “laid privily” refers to the custom of “hiding” or “concealing” a net or gin, so that the wild beast that was to be taken could not see it, or would fall into it unawares. Thus, his enemies designed to overcome him, by springing a net upon him at a moment when he was not aware of it, and at a place where he did not suspect it.

For thou art my strength - My stronghold. My hope of defense is in thee, and thee alone.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 4. Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me. The enemies of David were cunning as well as mighty; if they could not conquer him by power, they would capture him by craft. Our own spiritual foes are of the same orderthey are of the serpent's brood, and seek to ensnare us by their guile. The prayer before us supposes the possibility of the believer being caught like a bird; and, indeed, we are so foolish that this often happens. So deftly does the fowler do his work that simple ones are soon surrounded by it. The text asks that even out of the meshes of the net the captive one may be delivered; and this is a proper petition, and one which can be granted; from between the jaws of the lion and out of the belly of hell can eternal love rescue the saint. It may need a sharp pull to save a soul from the net of temptation, and a mighty pull to extricate a man from the snares of malicious cunning, but the Lord is equal to every emergency, and the most skilfully placed nets of the hunter shall never be able to hold his chosen ones. Woe unto those who are so clever at net laying: they who tempt others shall be destroyed themselves. Villains who lay traps in secret shall be punished in public. For thou art my strength. What an inexpressible sweetness is to be found in these few words! How joyfully may we enter upon labours, and how cheerfully may we endure sufferings when we can lay hold upon celestial power. Divine power will rend asunder all the toils of the foe, confound their politics and frustrate their knavish tricks; he is a happy man who has such matchless might engaged upon his side. Our own strength would be of little service when embarrassed in the nets of base cunning, but the Lord's strength is ever available; we have but to invoke it, and we shall find it near at hand. If by faith we are depending alone upon the strength of the strong God of Israel, we may use our holy reliance as a plea in supplication.

Ver. 4. Pull me out of the net: that noted net, as the Hebrew hath it. John Trapp.

Ver. 4. Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me. By these words, he intimates that his enemies did not only by open force come against him, but by cunning and policy attempted to circumvent him, as when they put him on, as Saul instructed them, to be the king's son-in-law, and to this end set him on to get two hundred foreskins of the Philistines for a dowry, under a pretence of goodwill, seeking his ruin; and when wait also was laid for him to kill him in his house. But he trusted in God, and prayed to be delivered, if there should be any the like enterprise against him hereafter. John Mayer.

Ver. 4. For thou art my strength. Omnipotence cuts the net which policy weaves. When we poor puny things are in the net, God is not. In the old fable the mouse set free the lion, here the lion liberates the mouse. C. H. S.

Ver. 4. The rescue of the ensnared.

1. The fowlers.

2. The laying of the net.

3. The capture of the bird.

4. The cry of the captive.

5. The rescue.

Ver. 4. (last clause). The weak one girt with omnipotence.

Psalms 31:5*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me. Absalom set an imp for David when he asked permission to go to Hebron for the purpose of paying a vow, whereas his object was to get possession of a strongly fortified city. (2Sa_15:7-9) It was, perhaps, by a device of Ahithophel"s that David was induced to quit Jerusalem and go into exile. For thou art my Strength. (comp. Psa_18:1 Psa_19:1-5 Psa_28:1, Psa_28:7, Psa_28:8, etc.)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

You shall lead me Heb. תנחני, mene moi in French, lead me, as (in Exod. 32:34): “go lead (נחה) the people.”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.