For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.
Parallel translations
- WEB As for me, I said in my haste, “I am cut off from before your eyes.” Nevertheless you heard the voice of my petitions when I cried to you.
- BSB In my alarm I said, “I am cut off from Your sight!” But You heard my plea for mercy when I called to You for help.
- NKJV For I said in my haste, “I am cut off from before Your eyes”; Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications When I cried out to You.
- NASB As for me, I said in my alarm, “I am cut off from Your eyes”; Nevertheless You heard the sound of my pleadings When I called to You for help.
- NLT In panic I cried out, “I am cut off from the Lord!” But you heard my cry for mercy and answered my call for help.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
David admits he hastily thought he was cut off from God, yet God heard his pleas. It confesses weak faith met by God's faithfulness.
Overview
In alarm David assumed God had abandoned him, but his fear proved unfounded when God answered his cry. The verse honestly records a lapse of faith and God's gracious response. It comforts believers that God hears even when, in distress, they wrongly feel forgotten.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Ps 116:11I said in my haste, All men are liars.
- Heb 5:7Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
- Jonah 2:7–9When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.
- Ezek 37:11Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.
- Ps 88:16Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; thy terrors have cut me off.
- Ps 6:9The LORD hath heard my supplication; the LORD will receive my prayer.
- Job 35:14Although thou sayest thou shalt not see him, yet judgment is before him; therefore trust thou in him.
- 1 Sam 23:26And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain: and David made haste to get away for fear of Saul; for Saul and his men compassed David and his men round about to take them.
- Isa 49:14But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.
- Jonah 2:4Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.
- Lam 3:54–55Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off.
- Isa 6:5Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
- Isa 38:10–12I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years.
- 1 Sam 27:1And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand.
- 2 Chr 33:11–13Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
- Ps 31:17Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 31:22 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.