Psalms 31:20

Pavilion - Tabernacle; dwelling.

Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence - בסתר פניך besether paneycha, "With the covering of thy countenance." Their life shall be so hidden with Christ in God, that their enemies shall not be able to find them out. To such a hiding-place Satan himself dare not approach. There the pride of man cannot come.

Thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion - Thou shalt put them in the innermost part of thy tent. This implies that they shall have much communion and union with God; that they shall be transformed into his likeness, and have his highest approbation.

Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence - See the notes at Psalm 27:5. The phrase "secret of thy presence" means thy "secret presence." The Hebrew is: "the secret of thy face;" and the idea is, that He would hide them, or withdraw them from public view, or from the view of their enemies, into the very place where He Himself dwelt, so that they would be before Him and near Him; so that His eye would be upon them, and that they would be certain of His protection. The language here is the same as in Psalm 27:5, except that the word "face" or "presence" is used here instead of the word "tabernacle." The idea is the same.

From the pride of man - The Hebrew word here rendered "pride" - רכס rôkes - means properly "league" or "conspiracy;" then, "snares" or "plots." It occurs nowhere else in the Scriptures, though the corresponding verb - רכס râkas - occurs twice, meaning to "bind on" or "to," Exodus 28:28; Exodus 39:21. The word here means "league" or "conspiracy," and the idea is, that when the wicked form a conspiracy, or enter into a league against the righteous, God will take them, as it were, into His own immediate presence, and will protect them.

Thou shalt keep them secretly - Thou wilt "hide" them as with Thyself.

In a pavilion - In Thy tent, or dwelling-place. See the notes at Psalm 27:5.

From the strife of tongues - Slander; reproach; calumny. This does not mean the strife of tongues among themselves, or their contentions with each other, but the united clamors of the whole against Himself. God would guard the righteous from their reproaches, or their efforts to ruin them by slander. Compare Psalm 37:5-6.

31:20 The secret — Or, as in the secret of thy presence: either, 1. As if they were in thy presence chamber, where thine own eye and hand girdeth them, from all the assaults of their enemies; called his secret, partly, because the greatest part of the world are strangers to God and his presence: and partly, because it is a safe and secure place, such as secret and unknown places are. Or, 2. As if they were in the secret of God's tabernacle, as it is called, Psalms 27:5, the place of God's special presence, where none might enter save the high-priest. With thy secret favour and providence, which saves them by hidden and unknown methods.

From — From their vain-glorious boasting and threats, and from their bad and insolent attempts.

Pavilion — Or, tabernacle.

Strife — From contentious and slandering tongues.