8 Trust in him at all times, you people. Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us. Selah.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
Trust in him at all times - This exhortation, addressed to all persons, in all circumstances, and at all times, is founded on the personal experience of the psalmist, and on the views which he had of the character of God, as worthy of universal confidence. David had found him worthy of such confidence; he now exhorts all others to make the same trial, and to put their trust in God in like manner. What he had found God to be, all others would find him to be. His own experience of God's goodness and mercy - of his gracious interposition in the time of trouble - had been such that he could confidently exhort all others, in similar circumstances, to make the same trial of his love.
Ye people, pour out your heart before him - All people. On the meaning of the phrase "pour out your heart," see the notes at Psalm 42:4. The idea is, that the heart becomes tender and soft, so that its feelings and desires flow out as water, and all its emotions, all its wishes, its sorrows, its troubles, are poured out before God. All that is in our hearts may be made known to God. There is not a desire which he cannot gratify; not a trouble in which he cannot relieve us; not a danger in which he cannot defend us. And, in like manner there is not a spiritual want in which he will not feel a deep interest, nor a danger to our souls from which he will not be ready to deliver us. Much more freely than to any earthly parent - to a father, or even to a mother - may we make mention of all our troubles, little or great, before God.
God is a refuge for us - For all. For one as well as another. He is the only refuge; he is all the refuge that we need.
Trust in him - ye people - All ye who are faithful to your king, continue to trust in God. The usurper will soon be cast down, and your rightful sovereign restored to his government. Fear not the threatenings of my enemies, for God will be a refuge for us.
Trust in him at all times; [ye] people, (g) pour out your heart before him: God [is] a refuge for us. Selah.
(g) He admonishes us of our wicked nature, which would rather hide our sorrow and bite the bridle, than utter our grief to God to obtain remedy.
Trust in him at all times, ye people,.... Of the house of Israel, as the Targum; or of God, as Aben Ezra; all that are Israelites indeed, and are the Lord's covenant people; these are exhorted and encouraged to trust in him; not in a creature, nor in any outward thing, in riches, wisdom, strength, birth, privileges, the law, and the works of it; in their own righteousness, in their hearts, in themselves or in others; but in the Lord only, both for temporal and spiritual blessings: the Targum is, "in his Word"; his essential Word, by whom the world was made, and who, in the fulness of time, was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and who is a proper object of trust; in him should the people of God trust; in his person for acceptance with God, in his righteousness for justification, in his blood for pardon, in his grace for supply, and in his strength for support, deliverance, and salvation, and that "at all times": there is no time excepted; there is not a moment in which the Lord is not to be trusted in: he is to be trusted in in adversity as well as in prosperity; in times of affliction, when he is present, and will not forsake; in times of temptation, when his grace is sufficient for them; and in times of darkness, when he will arise and appear unto them;
pour out your heart before him: as Hannah did, 1-Samuel 1:15; and as water is poured out, Lamentations 2:19; it means the desires of the heart, the complaints of the soul, the whole of their case which they should spread before the Lord, and make known unto him; see Psalm 102:1, title, and Psalm 142: 2; the phrase denotes the abundance of the heart, and of its requests, and the freedom with which they should be made to the Lord; for through the blood and sacrifice of Christ a believer may come to the throne of grace with boldness and liberty, and there freely tell the Lord all his mind, and all that is in his heart;
God is a refuge for us; to whom the saints may have recourse in all their times of trouble, and where they find safety and plenty, Isaiah 33:16.
Selah; on this word; see Gill on Psalm 3:2.
Those who have found the comfort of the ways of God themselves, will invite others into those ways; we shall never have the less for others sharing with us. the good counsel given is, to trust wholly in God. We must so trust in him at all times, as not at any time to put that trust in ourselves, or in any creature, which is to be put in him only. Trust in him to guide us when in doubt, to protect us when in danger, to supply us when in want, to strengthen us for every good word and work. We must lay out wants and our wishes before him, and then patiently submit our wills to his: this is pouring out our hearts. God is a refuge for all, even for as many as will take shelter in him. The psalmist warns against trusting in men. The multitude, those of low degree, are changeable as the wind. The rich and noble seem to have much in their power, and lavish promises; but those that depend on them, are disappointed. Weighed in the balance of Scripture, all that man can do to make us happy is lighter than vanity itself. It is hard to have riches, and not to trust in them if they increase, though by lawful and honest means; but we must take heed, lest we set our affections unduly upon them. A smiling world is the most likely to draw the heart from God, on whom alone it should be set. The consistent believer receives all from God as a trust; and he seeks to use it to his glory, as a steward who must render an account. God hath spoken as it were once for all, that power belongs to him alone. He can punish and destroy. Mercy also belongs to him; and his recompensing the imperfect services of those that believe in him, blotting out their transgressions for the Redeemer's sake, is a proof of abundant mercy, and encourages us to trust in him. Let us trust in his mercy and grace, and abound in his work, expecting mercies from him alone.
pour out your heart--give full expression to feeling (1-Samuel 1:15; Job 30:16; Psalm 42:4).
ye people--God's people.
*More commentary available at chapter level.