Rashi on TanakhPsalms 31

a stronghold Pleysiz in Old French, a fortress.

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

I entrust Heb. אפקיד, komondere in Old French, I will entrust. I always entrust my spirit because You redeemed me from trouble.

those who await worthless vanities Who await the salvation of pagan deities.

deliver me Heb. הסגרתני, livras moi in French, but Menachem (p. 125) associated it as an expression of closing, and likewise every expression of סגר.

is dimmed Heb. עששה, an expression of a lantern, עששית. If a person puts glass in front of his eyes to see something on the other side of the glass, the appearance (of that thing) is unclear.

and my bones have decayed Heb. עששו, an expression of decay, as though a moth (עש) had eaten them.

From all my tormentors From all my tormentors [not because of my tormentors]. I have become a reproach Heb. חרפה, a reproach.

to my neighbors I am very much a reproach. and fright to my acquaintances A mes connaissances in French, to my acquaintances. They are frightened by what happens to me.

like a lost utensil Which is in the process of becoming lost. Any expression of אבדה, loss, does not refer to the owner of the lost article, saying that he lost it, but that the lost article is lost from him, as is stated (in Deut. 22:3): “which will be lost from him”; (in Ezek. 34:4), “the lost one you did not seek.”

the gossip of many Heb. דבת, the counsel of many. דבת is an expression of (Song 7:10): “making the lips of the sleeping speak (דבב).” Likewise, every דבת in Scripture, parledic in Old French, gossip (so Gen. 37:2, Num. 14:36, Ezek. 36:3).

terror from all sides that they scare and frighten me.

when they take counsel Heb. בהוסדם, when they take counsel.

they plotted Heb. זממו, an expression of thought.

My times are in Your hands The times that pass over me are through Your orders and by Your decrees.

let me not be shamed because I called out to You Since I called You, it is not fitting that I should be shamed.

let them be silenced to the grave Heb. ידמו, let them be silenced and made dumb to die.

that speak against a righteous man falsely That say to Saul concerning me, “David seeks to harm you.”

falsely Heb. עתק, untruth, something unfounded, as (Gen. 12:8): “And he moved (ויעתק) from there” [i.e., something removed from the truth]. Dunash (pp. 17f.) however, interpreted it as an expression of a great and strong thing, as (in Job 21:7): “grow strong (עתקו) and powerfully rich”; (Prov. 8:18), “powerful (עתק) wealth”; (Isa. 23:18), “and for stately (עתקו) clothing.”

How great is Your goodness I knew that those who fear You have good reward in the world to come, nevertheless, in this world, because the wicked surround them, I pray for them that You hide them in the secrecy of Your countenance.

from bands of men Heb. מרכסי, from the groups of wicked men who group together to harm them.

for He has been wondrously kind to me in a beseiged city In Keilah, when Saul said concerning me (I Sam. 23:7): “for he has been shut in by coming into a city with doors and bars.”

But I said in my haste When I left Keilah and came to the desert of Maon, I was hastening to leave because Saul and his men were surrounding me and my men, to seize us.

I said in my heart.

I have been cut off Heb. נגרזתי, I have been cut off, an expression of an ax (גרזן) which cuts the tree. Because of its cutting (גרזתו), it is called גרזן, an ax. This is how Dunash explained it (p. 57). (Menachem, however, defined it like נגרשתי, I have driven out, but it has no parallel in the Torah. (p. 59).

The Lord guards those who believe in His salvation and rely on Him.

with a bowstring Heb. יתר (with measure for measure and with exactitude, like an arrow on a bowstring. Not in all editions.) Or, יתר can be interpreted as a rope for a rope, a line for a line. Another interpretation: יתר is an expression of haughtiness, as (in Isa. 15:7): “Because of the haughtiness (יתרה) with which they acted.”

Strengthen yourselves, and He will give your heart courage as you see that He did for me, to save me because I hoped for Him.