Daily Devotional Friday 15th October 2021

by William Moody

Psalm 31

Into Your Hand I Commit My Spirit

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

31:1   In you, O LORD, do I take refuge;
    let me never be put to shame;
    in your righteousness deliver me!
  Incline your ear to me;
    rescue me speedily!
  Be a rock of refuge for me,
    a strong fortress to save me!
  For you are my rock and my fortress;
    and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;
  you take me out of the net they have hidden for me,
    for you are my refuge.
  Into your hand I commit my spirit;
    you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God.
  I hate1 those who pay regard to worthless idols,
    but I trust in the LORD.
  I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love,
    because you have seen my affliction;
    you have known the distress of my soul,
  and you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy;
    you have set my feet in a broad place.
  Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress;
    my eye is wasted from grief;
    my soul and my body also.
10   For my life is spent with sorrow,
    and my years with sighing;
  my strength fails because of my iniquity,
    and my bones waste away.
11   Because of all my adversaries I have become a reproach,
    especially to my neighbors,
  and an object of dread to my acquaintances;
    those who see me in the street flee from me.
12   I have been forgotten like one who is dead;
    I have become like a broken vessel.
13   For I hear the whispering of many—
    terror on every side!—
  as they scheme together against me,
    as they plot to take my life.
14   But I trust in you, O LORD;
    I say, “You are my God.”
15   My times are in your hand;
    rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!
16   Make your face shine on your servant;
    save me in your steadfast love!
17   O LORD, let me not be put to shame,
    for I call upon you;
  let the wicked be put to shame;
    let them go silently to Sheol.
18   Let the lying lips be mute,
    which speak insolently against the righteous
    in pride and contempt.
19   Oh, how abundant is your goodness,
    which you have stored up for those who fear you
  and worked for those who take refuge in you,
    in the sight of the children of mankind!
20   In the cover of your presence you hide them
    from the plots of men;
  you store them in your shelter
    from the strife of tongues.
21   Blessed be the LORD,
    for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me
    when I was in a besieged city.
22   I had said in my alarm,2
    “I am cut off from your sight.”
  But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy
    when I cried to you for help.
23   Love the LORD, all you his saints!
    The LORD preserves the faithful
    but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.
24   Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
    all you who wait for the LORD!

Footnotes

[1] 31:6 Masoretic Text; one Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint, Syriac, Jerome You hate
[2] 31:22 Or in my haste

(ESV)

In this psalm there is wonderfully weaved a mixture of David’s calling upon the Lord and David giving thanks for past deliverances.

David uses strong terms to describe his hope in God such as refuge, rock and fortress (v1-4). Verse 5 contains words that Jesus quoted on the cross.  This shows us that Jesus, in His time of greatest suffering was using the Psalms to help and strengthen Him. We would do well to follow His example.

David’s expresses his strong opposition to those who worship idols (v6), not because of personal animosity to them but out of his faith in God’s glory.

The Psalm should bring home to us the reality of enemies that we have to face. Paul reminds us that today our primary enemies are not people but the spiritual forces of wickedness (Ephesians 6 v12). These are real enemies who will scheme and do whatever they can to bring us down. In this battle we must constantly flee to God as our refuge, rock and fortress.

The Psalm gives us a great lesson as to how we can pray with confidence, it is by focusing on God’s nature and giving thanksgiving for what God has done in the past. As we pray we need to let God’s truth about Himself minister to our hearts to guide, strengthen and encourage us as we pray.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®),
copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.