Psalm 31 (NIV)
Ever had one of those weeks when it gets to Thursday and you think surely this week can’t get any worse and then along comes Friday - and there’s yet ANOTHER crisis/death/illness staring at you in your face.
And your cry, like David’s is, ‘How much more, Lord? I can’t take this anymore.’ (vs 9-13)
It almost feels like being holed up in a cardboard box and relentlessly pounded and battered with one shock after the other.
In those times of intense suffering and weakness, it can feel much easier to slide into a void of depression, loneliness and anxiety. But in this psalm we read a famous phrase that is used here first, before we hear it from Jesus on that first Good Friday – ‘Into your hands, I commit my spirit.’ (vs 5).
Jesus had just been through the worst possible traumatic experience of His life. Firstly a close friend betrayed Him, then in the face of clear and present danger – He was deserted by all His friends. He faced a court trial on his OWN, a room that was filled with jeering enemies. And not one person came forward to say – ‘Yes, Jesus healed me’, ‘Yes, Jesus delivered me’. Of all the multitudes He healed, fed, restored – not one came to help Him in His time of need. He was then sentenced to death through what has been citied as one of the world’s most horrific methods of execution – crucifixion. And after the horrific beating, when He finally hung there on the cross – stripped of all His strength and dignity and in the final face of death, He said to the Father, ‘Into Your hands, I commit my spirit.’
Jesus had just had one of those weeks too.
And then came Sunday! And what a Sunday that was!
Psalm 31:2 says, ‘Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.’
See, God DOES come to our rescue. Like in the previous psalm (30), from where the song takes this line, ‘There may be pain the night, but joy comes with the morning.’
There is always light at the end of the tunnel. Jesus went through Black Friday to get to Bright Sunday.
That is the beauty of the gospel – there is ALWAYS hope for those who remain faithful to Him. Because He remains faithful to us despite every sling of mud life throws to our face.
23 Love the LORD, all his faithful people!
The LORD preserves those who are true to him,
but the proud he pays back in full.
24 Be strong and take heart,
all you who hope in the LORD.
Ever had one of those weeks when it gets to Thursday and you think surely this week can’t get any worse and then along comes Friday - and there’s yet ANOTHER crisis/death/illness staring at you in your face.
It almost feels like being holed up in a cardboard box and relentlessly pounded and battered with one shock after the other.
In those times of intense suffering and weakness, it can feel much easier to slide into a void of depression, loneliness and anxiety. But in this psalm we read a famous phrase that is used here first, before we hear it from Jesus on that first Good Friday – ‘Into your hands, I commit my spirit.’ (vs 5).
Jesus had just been through the worst possible traumatic experience of His life. Firstly a close friend betrayed Him, then in the face of clear and present danger – He was deserted by all His friends. He faced a court trial on his OWN, a room that was filled with jeering enemies. And not one person came forward to say – ‘Yes, Jesus healed me’, ‘Yes, Jesus delivered me’. Of all the multitudes He healed, fed, restored – not one came to help Him in His time of need. He was then sentenced to death through what has been citied as one of the world’s most horrific methods of execution – crucifixion. And after the horrific beating, when He finally hung there on the cross – stripped of all His strength and dignity and in the final face of death, He said to the Father, ‘Into Your hands, I commit my spirit.’
Jesus had just had one of those weeks too.
And then came Sunday! And what a Sunday that was!
Psalm 31:2 says, ‘Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.’
See, God DOES come to our rescue. Like in the previous psalm (30), from where the song takes this line, ‘There may be pain the night, but joy comes with the morning.’
There is always light at the end of the tunnel. Jesus went through Black Friday to get to Bright Sunday.
That is the beauty of the gospel – there is ALWAYS hope for those who remain faithful to Him. Because He remains faithful to us despite every sling of mud life throws to our face.
23 Love the LORD, all his faithful people!
The LORD preserves those who are true to him,
but the proud he pays back in full.
24 Be strong and take heart,
all you who hope in the LORD.
Let’s not lose hope in the face of trial but preserve with
godliness and look to God to keep going and not give up.
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