Psalm 31's theme is that the Lord is a fortress for us in adversity. It's quite a long psalm, and it is filled with rich imagery in almost every verse and phrase -- the Lord’s ear, the rock of refuge, the fortress, the net, the hand of the enemy, setting feet in a wide place, and more.

The psalmist exposes his feelings of rejection by others, saying again and again that his adversaries are full of hatred towards him. He feels that he is being held in contempt by his enemies, especially by his neighbours. He says that he is a reproach among them; he is repulsive to them; he is forgotten like a dead man, and that he is a broken vessel. He feels that they are against him, because of what he has chosen to stand for and uphold in his life.

This, like every other psalm, is also dealing with the inner states of Jesus in his humanity, in his work of redemption for our spiritual freedom. The Lord knew the opposition and rejection of many people. He also knew and had to deal with the attacks from the hells which took him into severe temptation. And he knew the subtleties and weaknesses of his own inherited humanity and the temptation to give in to their promptings. (Arcana Caelestia 1557)

This is an important challenge in our spiritual life. Our spiritual stands can set us against being accepted by other people who may have been friendly towards us before, but who are now against us. Spiritual commitment can bring us into an loneliness where our love of the Lord is the only fortress of our life. (Divine Providence 61)

When we bring this Psalm, spiritually, inside ourselves, and see our states reflected in what it says, we see that there is a tension between our natural life – fed by merely human values and expectations – and our spiritual life which is fed by the Word and the commands of the Lord. Both are there, co-habiting in us. We need to recognise this and manage the situation. It is a comfort to us to know that the Lord completely understands how it is for us. This is why the Lord feels like our fortress. (Arcana Caelestia 6343)

We’ll now take a look at some of the phrases and images used in this psalm and their spiritual meanings for us and also their correspondences.

Verse 2 says “Be my rock of refuge, a fortress of defence to save me.” The height and hardness of rock give us the idea of the need for refuge, something higher than our confused thoughts, something firmer and steadier than our shifting emotions. This is the prayer to be made to the Lord. (Apocalypse Explained 411)

Verse 4 gives us the picture of a ‘net’: “Pull me out of the net they have secretly laid to trap me.” We know the phrase “a web of lies” in which we can become entangled to the point of not knowing truth from falsity, and a net, like a web, is all interconnected lines with no obvious beginning or end. False ideas create devious pathways to make them seem true.

Verse 8 says “You have set my feet in a wide place”. Our feet carry our body along. They are in touch with the ground. They stand for our life, with its actions, contact, use and dealings. The wideness means firmness, and breadth, which strengthens the balance of the body. To devote ourselves to the Lord sets our life on a sure base. (Apocalypse Revealed 510)

Finally, verse 10 tells us “And my bones waste away.” Our physical body is firmly built on a hard scaffolding on bones which allow us to act and move. Spiritually this stands for the truths we understand and have made our truth which support all our spiritual life and intentions. But here the speaker feels that this sureness is disappearing. It is the plea of one who is overwhelmed by the “smoke and mirrors” of opposing forces, and as the psalm constantly brings out, he can turn only to the Lord to uphold him, and he does. (Arcana Caelestia 9447)

9487. 'Two cubits and a half shall be its length' means all so far as good is concerned. This is clear from the meaning of 'two and a half' as much and as what is complete, and as all when this number has reference to something Divine (the reason why 'two and a half' means much and what is complete is that this number is similar in meaning to five, ten, a hundred, and a thousand, since twice two and a half makes five, twice five makes ten, and ten times ten makes a hundred; for doubles and multiples have a similar meaning to the simple numbers of which they are the products, 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973. For the meaning of 'five' as much and completeness, see 5708, 5956, 9102; likewise 'ten', 3107, 4638; also 'a hundred', 2636, 4400; and a thousand, 2575, 8715. So it is that when these numbers are used in reference to something Divine they mean all); and from the meaning of 'length' as good, dealt with in 1613, 8898.

[2] To say that 'length' in the Word means good and 'breadth' truth may seem to be like nonsense; nevertheless this is indeed what they mean. The reason why they do so is that all things without exception in the Word mean realities such as belong to heaven and to the Church, and so such as are connected with the good of love and with the truth of faith. No spatial dimensions such as 'length' and 'breadth' imply can be attributed to these; but instead of spatial dimensions the state of their essential being (esse), which is a state of good, and the resulting state of manifestation (existere), which is a state of truth, can be attributed to them. Furthermore in heaven spatial dimensions are appearances produced by those states, 4882, 9440. From all this it becomes clear that spiritual realities are meant by the measurements and dimensions given in Chapters 40-48 of Ezekiel, where a new temple and a new land are the subject. They are consequently meant here in Exodus, where the ark, the dwelling-place, the court, the tables there, and the altars are the subject. Such realities are in a similar way meant where the temple in Jerusalem is the subject, also when it says that the holy Jerusalem coming down from heaven was square, its breadth being as great as its length, Revelation 21:16; Zechariah 2:1-2. For 'Jerusalem' means a new Church, the character of its good being meant by the measurement of its length, and the character of its truth by that of its breadth.

[3] The fact that 'breadth' or 'broad place' means truth is plainly evident in David,

In distress I called on Jah; He answered me in a broad place. Psalms 118:5.

In the same author,

You have made my feet stand in a broad place. Psalms 31:8.

In Isaiah,

The outstretchings of Asshur's wings will fill the breadth of the land. Isaiah 8:8.

In Habakkuk,

I am rousing the Chaldeans, a bitter and hasty nation, marching ¹ into the breadths of the earth. Habakkuk 1:6.

'Marching into the breadths of the earth', when said of the Chaldeans, means destroying the truths of faith.

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