Scripture Daily

Context No. 681 of 4322 · Psalms

Context · Reflection

Psalms 31:17-24: in context

17Let me not be disappointed, LORD, for I have called on you. Let the wicked be disappointed. Let them be silent in Sheol. 18Let the lying lips be mute, which speak against the righteous insolently, with pride and contempt. 19Oh how great is your goodness, which you have laid up for those who fear you, which you have worked for those who take refuge in you, before the sons of men! 20In the shelter of your presence you will hide them from the plotting of man. You will keep them secretly in a dwelling away from the strife of tongues. 21Praise be to the LORD, for he has shown me his marvelous loving kindness in a strong city. 22As for me, I said in my haste, “I am cut off from before your eyes.” Nevertheless you heard the voice of my petitions when I cried to you. 23Oh love the LORD, all you his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful, and fully recompenses him who behaves arrogantly. 24Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the LORD.

Psalm 31 is a prayer of trust worked out in the middle of trouble, and it is known for a line just before this section, into your hand I commit my spirit, the words Jesus would speak from the cross. These verses carry that trust forward through slander and fear. The threat here is the tongue. Let the lying lips be silenced, the psalmist prays, the ones that speak against the righteous with contempt. And the refuge he names is a hidden one: God stores up goodness for those who fear him, and shelters them in his presence from the strife of tongues.

Then the psalm does something honest. It admits a moment it is not proud of. As for me, I said in my haste, I am cut off from before your eyes. There was a moment of panic when the psalmist concluded God had stopped looking at him, had written him off. And the next word undoes it: nevertheless, you heard the voice of my pleading when I cried to you. The fear was real and the conclusion was wrong. He turns the whole thing into an exhortation to everyone else: be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the LORD.

The psalmist confessed the panicked moment when he was sure God had looked away, and then admitted God had not. What have I concluded in a hurry about God's turning from me, that simply was not so?

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