Psalm 31

Psalm 31:1-5
1.In You, O LORD, I have taken refuge ; Let me never be ashamed ; In Your righteousness deliver me.
2.Incline Your ear to me, rescue me quickly ; Be to me a rock of strength, A stronghold to save me.
3.For You are my rock and my fortress ; For Your name's sake You will lead me and guide me.
4.You will pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me, For You are my strength.
5.Into Your hand I commit my spirit ; You have ransomed me, O LORD, God of truth.

As I read these ten psalms (31-40), I was impressed by the richness of them. There are so many familiar verses, deeply meaningful phrases, reminders of Jesus our Savior, and tenets of theology in the Psalms.
As I read Psalm 31, I was emotionally drawn into the feelings David expressed, and I was intellectually interested in David’s descriptions of the character of Yahweh. This Psalm reminded me that God is strong, a refuge, righteous, trustworthy, gracious, and much more.
In verses 1-5, David describes God’s character in a way that lays the foundation for trusting God. The Lord is the God I can run to and be safe. Because of His righteousness, He is the only One who is able to deliver me. He is completely perfect, so He will never fail and no one will ever find a fault in Him to bring Him down. The Lord not only hears and listens to me, but He is willing to rescue me by His mighty strength. God is not disinterested in my life, but will lead and guide me for His purposes- and His purposes are always good. Even when times are hard and I slip into disaster, He will rescue me and be the strength I need to go on. Though I am poor and weak, God has ransomed me. The concept of ransom makes a big impression on me- it is amazing that God would pay a price to get me back, miserable as I am. Above all, He is the God of truth.
Because of who God is as David has described, he can commit his spirit (his very life) into God’s hand. Jesus repeats these words on the cross, knowing that in the darkest hour of human history, God is still trustworthy. And because God does not change, I can commit my spirit to God today. I can be completely confident because of who my God is.