RR Psalm 31:1,2 Part 1

Rabbi’s Reflections - Sunday, June 8, 2025
Shavuah Tov {{firstName}},

Psalms
Psalm 31:1,2(1) – Part 1

Psalm 31:1 For the music director, a psalm of David. 2 In You, Adonai, have I taken refuge: Let me never be put to shame. In Your righteousness, deliver me.

Like we have seen a lot (like in the previous Psalm for example), the Christian Bible and the Jewish Bible don’t number the verses the same in many places.  Here is another such example.  Verses 1 and 2 in the Jewish Bible are mashed into verse 1 in the Christian Bible.  Verse 1 in the Jewish Bible is made up of only 3 Hebrew words, “Lam’natz’e’ach, (meaning “to the musical director”)…

Rabbi Trail:  The word for “musical director” (Lam’natz’e’ach) is derived from “Netzach” (Nun-Tzadi-Chet) which means eternally.  It is used here as a high honor to indicate the worship leader who is appointed for life to lead the congregation with excellence into eternity, as he, himself, radiates God’s presence.  End RT.

Verse 2 includes some words which are familiar (to some of us) from previous studies.  Psalm 31:2 In You, Adonai, have I taken refuge (from Chasah: Chet-Samech-Hey): Let me never be put to shame (from Boosh: Bet-Vav-Shin). In Your righteousness (from Tzadiq: Tzadi-Dalet-Quf), deliver (from Palat: Pey-Lamed-Tet) me.  

Let’s study the first Scriptural use of each of these four words.  In doing so, we honor the principle of first use, by which we know words have meaning and those meaning are always connected to other uses of the same words.  The first time a word is used (scripturally in our case) it gets its meaning and it is intellectually dishonest to assign another meaning later.  

Chasah - Deuteronomy 32:36 For Adonai will judge His people—for His servants, He will relent when He sees that strength is gone and no one is left, slave or free. 37 He will say, ‘Where are their gods, the “rock” in which they took refuge?  This word for refuge is used negatively near the end of Moses’ great discourse.  Literally, it is a place or person to flee for protection.  Figuratively, it is a person in whom we can confide. This brings to mind the great testimony of Corrie Ten Boom, titled “The Hiding Place.”  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hiding_Place_(biography)  

Boosh - Genesis 2:25 Now both of them were naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed.  As it is used here for the first time, “Boosh” is also in reverse, “they were NOT ashamed, for they had done nothing for which to be ashamed.  Only through sin did shame come into the world.  Also, in our subject verse, we call upon God to keep us from shame.

Tzadiq - Leviticus 19:15a “You are to do no injustice in judgment.”  Tzadiq is a word that means “God’s kingdom principle of fairness.”  Ah, I could write a book on this alone.  (There’s a thought!)  The world teaches fairness is equality (Everyone should be equally poor) while God teaches equality is for each one of us to receive as needed from His wealth for His purposes.  A person is a “Tzadiq” when his/her thoughts align with God’s righteousness.  As Messianic believers, we believe there has only been one person to attain that standard, Yeshua, Himself.

Palat - 2 Samual 22:1 David spoke to Adonai the words of this song in the day that Adonai delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. 2 He said: “Adonai is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer.  The last word, “deliverer” is “Palat” in Hebrew.  It was used by David three times in Psalm 18 and twice in Psalm 22.  It is a word that carries within it God’s promise to remove us from trouble.

These are large concepts used to start Psalm 31.  We’ll soon see how they are further developed as our devotional study continues.  Shalom shalom.

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