Psalm 31
In You, O Lord, I put my trust, shamed let me never be;
According to Your righteousness, O Lord, deliver me.
Bow down Your ear to me, with speed send me deliverance;
To save me, my strong rock and fort, my ever sure defense.
Because You are my rock, and are the fortress that I take;
Therefore, O Lord, both lead and guide me for Your own name’s sake.
And since You are my refuge, Lord, pull me out of the net,
Which they in treachery for me so secretly have set.
Into Your hands I do commit my spirit, O my God;
Redeem me, God of truth, who knows the way my feet have trod.
All those who cling to vanities and idols I’ve abhorred;
But as for me, my confidence is fixed upon the Lord.
I’ll in Your mercy gladly joy; You’ve seen my miseries;
You know the anguish of my soul, and my adversities.
You have not turned me over to the enemy’s strong hand;
But You have set my feet within a spacious place to stand.
O Lord, be merciful to me, for I am in distress;
My eyes grow weak, my soul with grief and body have no rest.
My life with anguish is consumed, my years with sighs and groans;
My strength has failed because of guilt, and weakened are my bones.
I am a scorn to all my foes, and to my friends a dread;
Contempt of all my neighbors, for when they saw me, they fled.
I am forgotten as though dead, I’m like a broken pot;
For slander is on ev’ry side; against my life they plot.
But as for me, O Lord, my trust upon You I do lay;
I trust in You – “You are my God,” I confidently say.
My times are wholly in Your hand; O Lord, deliver me
from all those who my enemies and persecutors be.
Let Your face shine upon me, Lord, and save me in Your love.
Let me, O Lord, not be ashamed – I cry to You above.
Let wicked ones be put to shame and silent let them be;
With pride against the righteous ones they speak contemptuously.
How great the goodness You store up, for those who do fear You;
Which You bestow in sight of men on those who trust in You.
In shelter of Your presence, You shall hide them from man’s pride;
From vengeful tongues You safely keep those dwelling by Your side.
All praise and thanks be to the Lord, for He has magnified
His wondrous love to me within a city fortified.
In my alarm, I said, “O Lord, I’m cut off from Your sight!”
You heard my cry for mercy; when I called, You saw my plight.
O love the Lord, all you His saints, because the Lord does guard
the faithful, and He pays in full the proud their just reward.
Be strong and of good courage, strength unto your heart He’ll send;
To all whose hope and confidence does on the Lord depend.
PASSION WEEK #2. Consider This. . .
We know Jesus knew Song #31 by heart. He sings its core affirmation from the cross,
“Father, into your hands I commend my spirit!”
He had practiced this song from his youth. These words literally grooved his deepest inner life. The singing of this song (and the other 149) over and over again throughout His life trained Him in the unconventional warfare of the Spirit.
I can’t overemphasize how essential it is for us who follow Him to develop a fluency in this most holy language of prayer. At times it will seem routine, uninteresting, not spiritual, disconnected and even meaningless. . . DO IT ANYWAY! (This is how it is learning a new language.) We never see those defining moments coming, yet on them so much rests. The Psalms ready us for a response we never imagined was in us. It is a beautiful powerful thing.
Take a look at Song #31 again. At perhaps the most pressing and dire moment in the war that was his life he expressed the essence of #31 (indeed that of the whole Psalter) in these words,
Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
Think about it– all 150 Psalms– right there.
BOOM! Goes the dynamite. That’s a game winner, every time.
Your turn to sing. And sing it like your life depends on it. It well may.CLICK HERE.
J.D. Walt writes daily for Seedbed’s Daily Text. He serves as Seedbed’s Sower in Chief. Follow him @jdwalt on Twitter or email him at jd.walt@seedbed.com.
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