My wife and I started reading the Psalms together, doing one a day. We wanted to share in Scripture and bring God’s word into our marriage. In coming across Psalm 31, I found a specific and deep empathy for those suffering. I felt as though it was simultaneously speaking to them and for them. As I read and re-read it, I put myself in the place of one who suffers (in a prior post, the “patient”). This is a longer post but I found it necessary for the audience reading these because we all have and will suffer at some point in our lives.
“In You, Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; in Your righteousness rescue me. Incline Your ear to me, rescue me quickly; be a rock of strength for me, a stronghold to save me. For You are my rock and my fortress; for the sake of Your name You will lead me and guide me. You will pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me, for You are my strength. Into Your hand I entrust my spirit; You have redeemed me, Lord, God of truth.
I hate those who devote themselves to worthless idols, but I trust in the Lord. I will rejoice and be glad in Your faithfulness, because You have seen my misery; You have known the troubles of my soul, and You have not handed me over to the enemy; You have set my feet in a large place.
Be gracious to me, Lord, for I am in distress; my eye is wasted away from grief, my soul and my body too. For my life is spent with sorrow and my years with sighing; my strength has failed because of my guilt, And my body has wasted away. Because of all my adversaries, I have become a disgrace, especially to my neighbors, and an object of dread to my acquaintances; those who see me in the street flee from me. I am forgotten like a dead person, out of mind; I am like a broken vessel. For I have heard the slander of many, terror is on every side; while they took counsel together against me, they schemed to take away my life.
But as for me, I trust in You, Lord, I say, “You are my God.” My times are in Your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me. Make Your face shine upon Your servant; Save me in Your faithfulness.”
The first segment is putting faith in God, affirming with humility He is a fortress that is the strength that we do not possess on our own. It repeats words like rock, stronghold, fortress, strength and refuge; all words common throughout many of the Psalms as David seeks help, divine intervention and counsel of God. The next segment Is more affirmation of trust in God, that He will not let you be overtaken by evil. While David faced more “seen” trials in his life, our trials are more “unseen” By that I mean, we are often not directly “pursued by enemies” but more likely we are tempted, lied to by our own negative narratives, or shamed into guilt and unworthiness of God’s love. This leads into the third segment. To me, this is more physical distress, with phrases like “my eye is wasted away from grief”, “my strength has failed”, “an object of dread”, “I am like a broken vessel”. There is a connection between physical and mental pain but both unfortunately make the other worse in a severe and twisted positive feedback loop. I gleaned from this passage that David was feeling a separation of his body and soul while also feeling distress in each, furthering the separation. His adversaries are the ill feelings and physical pains that alienated him from those around him, also making the former worse. This made him feel as though he was a broken vessel, unable to hold anything and therefore being of no use.
The final segment circles back to trusting in God, knowing that God saves and He is faithful. We can reflect and use the key elements of this passage in our trials, both physical and mental. We CAN trust God, letting His face shine upon us.
Leave a Reply