Psalms 31
Summary for Ps 31:1-24: Ps 31 a The psalmist encourages the godly to find refuge in the Lord and wait for his salvation. Despite having had a death-like experience, he testifies to the Lord’s faithfulness. This psalm foreshadows the suffering of Jesus (Luke 23:46 b).Summary for Ps 31:1-5: 31:1-5 c The Lord offers refuge to anyone who comes to him for protection. The psalmist trusts in and submits to the Lord. See also 71:1-3 d.
31:2 e The psalmist issues an urgent call for the Lord to pay attention to his desperate situation (71:2 f; 88:2 g; 102:2 h).
31:5 i I entrust my spirit into your hand: Whether he lives or dies, the psalmist will trust his Lord. Jesus uttered these words on the cross just before he died (Luke 23:46 j).
Summary for Ps 31:6-8: 31:6-8 k Trust in the Lord requires confidence that he has our best interests at heart.
31:8 l A safe place literally means a broad place, in contrast to a “narrow” or constricted place of distress (see 18:19 m).
Summary for Ps 31:9-13: 31:9-13 n In this prayer for mercy, the psalmist wedges a description of the intensity of suffering and the pain of rejection between two affirmations of trust (31:6 o, 14 p).
31:10 q wasting away from within: This is a powerful description of how despair takes a toll on our physical well-being.
Summary for Ps 31:14-18: 31:14-18 r Hope does not confide in frail and changeable human beings but only in the Lord. The sufferer entrusts himself to God while waiting for the Lord’s justice.
31:15 s My future is in your hands: To relinquish control of timing is one way to express submission.
31:17 t The psalmist, who did not deserve to be disgraced, invokes the principle of retribution (see study note on 1:6; see also thematic note for Prayers for Vengeance at end of chapter).
Summary for Ps 31:19-24: 31:19-24 u The psalmist thanks the Lord for answering his prayer (31:1-18 v) and rescuing him.
Summary for Ps 31:19-20: 31:19-20 w Since the godly are under the Lord’s protection and shelter, evil has no power over them.
Summary for Ps 31:21-22: 31:21-22 x Praise the Lord: The psalmist expresses his joy at the experience of God’s goodness and love. Throughout his ordeal, the Lord has cared for him.
Summary for Ps 31:23-24: 31:23-24 y Out of his own pain and renewed awareness of the Lord’s goodness, the psalmist turns to others who suffer. He holds out the promise of God’s loving care for those who persevere in hoping for the Lord.
Thematic note: Prayers for Vengeance
The psalmists sometimes asked the Lord to execute vengeance against their adversaries. It was not unusual for a psalmist to pray for the violent destruction of their enemies as a manifestation of God’s justice. How can this kind of prayer be okay?
These prayers for the destruction of the wicked arose out of concern for justice and righteousness and out of confidence in God. Divine justice is defined in Psalm 1:6 z: The Lord loves the righteous and destroys the wicked. The wicked are subversive, corrupt, and thoroughly committed to evil; they live in opposition to God and to everything that God does. The wicked shake the foundations of ethics, of society, and of God’s kingdom. The psalmists argued that evil is inconsistent with God’s nature and that the removal of evil is the only way for his kingdom to thrive. However, the poets of Israel did not simply invoke God’s judgment on anyone with whom they could not get along. Instead, the psalmists were guided by God’s standards of justice and righteousness, to which God holds all humans accountable.
The psalmists were intimately acquainted with grief. They had suffered and been oppressed and marginalized by bullies, leaders, and kings from inside and outside of Israel. Their prayers were full of faith and hope, asking how long the Lord would tolerate their suffering and confessing that the Lord alone could rescue them from evil. They expressed deep longing for his redemption. By the principle of retribution, they asked the Lord to inflict upon the wicked the suffering that they had endured (Ps 5:10 aa; 6:10 ab; 7:9 ac; 9:19-20 ad; 28:4 ae; 56:7 af; 104:35 ag; 137:7-9 ah; 139:19 ai). Through these prayers for justice and vindication, the godly may rest in peace as they await God’s rescue.
Do we truly see evil as evil, or do we perceive it merely as an inconvenience? Prayers for the end of evil are appropriate as long as we recognize God as arbiter, judge, and executor. The prayer for the coming of God’s Kingdom implies the removal of evil. But now the cruelty inflicted on the wicked has been transformed through the cruel crucifixion of Jesus Christ. This act of God informs how we pray for those who oppose us. Jesus will indeed judge and bring an ultimate end to evil (see Rev 19:11-21 aj), but while Christians await that final judgment, they are to love as Christ loved (John 13:34 ak), pray for their enemies, and forgive them (Matt 5:38-48 al; Col 3:13 am).
Passages for Further Study
2 Chr 24:22 an; Neh 4:5 ao; Pss 3:7 ap; 9:19-20 aq; 10:15 ar; 12:3 as; 41:10 at; 55:15 au; 69:22-28 av; 79:6 aw; 109:6-20 ax; 110:5-6 ay; 137:1-9 az; Isa 61:2 ba; Jer 11:20-23 bb; 18:19-23 bc; 51:35 bd; Lam 1:22 be; 3:64-66 bf; Acts 1:20 bg; Rom 11:9-10 bh; Rev 6:10 bi
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