Psalms 31:19, commentary and pictures

God's goodness is exceedingly great and abundant, kept in store and reserved for those who reverence him and openly displayed before all people for those who put their trust in him. That goodness is not given all at once but is preserved until it is needed and then bestowed in due measure and at the right time, with part of it enjoyed along the daily path and part of it sheltering his people in his presence from human pride and hostile speech. The good seen in believers is his own work prepared for them to walk in by faith, for righteousness and eternal life and peace and joy and rest are freely provided in Jesus Christ rather than earned by human effort. What is laid up will be fully revealed when the redeemed inherit the restored earth without sorrow and death, so making God a refuge gives reason to sing of his bounty even amid care and uncertainty and frees the heart to sympathize with others.

Promise Stored and Shown

God's goodness is exceedingly great and abundant, laid up, stored and reserved for those who fear him, and wrought and shown openly before the sons of men for those who trust in him. That stored goodness continues even while people murmur against God, and making him a refuge gives reason to sing that he is good despite care, anxiety and apparent uncertainty. It is also future goodness contemplated by faith beyond what can be seen in present circumstances.

The good works with which believers appear before God are his own works laid up and prepared for them to walk in through faith, not works they produce to earn righteousness. As he dwells in those who trust him, he lives out his own life in them, and what he has laid up he himself has wrought for them openly before others. His goodness is thus both reserved for those who fear him and abundantly provided and worked out for those who fear him and trust him openly.

To be laid up means to be preserved and kept until needed and then received as a treasure, bringing comfort when recognized. It is like love kept in store for years and ready to share when friends meet. This goodness is not all received at once, for God gives it in due measure and at the right time, with some of it enjoyed along the daily path rather than kept only for eternity.

In connection with the next verse, this abundant goodness includes shelter in God's presence, where he hides those who fear and trust him from human pride and keeps them safe from hostile words and speech.

Gift Freely Wrought

The goodness laid up for those who fear God and wrought for those who trust him openly is abundantly provided, and the good works in which believers stand before God are that very provision. Those works are not produced by human effort in order to earn righteousness, but are God's own works prepared beforehand for His people to walk in through faith. For God Himself dwells in those who trust Him, and living in them He lives out His own life in them. What He has stored and openly worked before others is therefore received by faith rather than achieved by striving.

That stored goodness is great and actively supplied to those who fear and trust Him, and it includes righteousness and eternal life given freely rather than earned by human works. It is abundant and enduring, belonging to His glory and character, stored for those who fear Him and actively displayed for those who trust Him even before other people. In Jesus Christ its fullness is bestowed, so that no good thing is withheld from His people. Through Christ there begin even in this life peace and joy and rest from doubt and sorrow, together with love, a mercy prepared for those who fear Him and made known before others that must not be rejected or despised.

Psalm 31 belongs among the prophetic psalms that open Christ's inner experience in His conflict with the enemy. What was foreseen and felt in prophetic vision discloses what the disciples themselves often failed to perceive. The abundant goodness reserved for those who fear God and already wrought for those who trust Him openly gives assurance that God and Christ, as creators of the human family, are pledged to serve their children in love. The creation Sabbath stands as the sign of that pledged relationship of loving service.

Hope and Daily Trust

The verse speaks of a future goodness held in reserve that is grasped by faith beyond what present circumstances allow to be seen. Great and glorious blessings are laid up for those who fear God, while that same goodness is also shown openly for those who trust Him. Familiar pictures such as rivers of pleasure, the tree of life, crowns, feasts, treasures, and triumphs give only a faint idea of the heavenly glory prepared, for the reality is greater than those images can convey.

That prepared goodness will be displayed when the redeemed inherit the restored earth, where sorrow and death are gone and everlasting joy fills their life. It is great both as laid up for those who fear Him and as wrought openly for those who trust Him. Those saved through His blood will possess a priceless closeness to Christ, a relationship closer than that of any celestial being.

God's goodness remains exceedingly great and kept for those who fear Him even while people murmur against Him. Making God a refuge gives reason to join in singing that God is good despite care, anxiety, and apparent uncertainty. The blessedness of the one who makes the Lord his trust meets a ready response in every obedient heart, for the Lord deals bountifully with those who fear Him and hope in His mercy.

This goodness, both stored up for those who fear Him and actively shown to those who trust Him openly before others, frees the heart from self-concern and enables it to soothe and sympathize with others. It is wrought for those who trust even through events that appear to be calamities. So the relocation of the publishing work to Washington, though seeming a calamity, prepared Christians to defend religious liberty against religious-political domination.