(Thank you to Gemini for the contrasting pencil sketches)
Psalm 31—Every Person’s Psalm at Some Point
Introduction
How are you doing in your personal life struggles? Perhaps like a recent counselee of a supervisee, you have struggled with infertility and then after several adoptions found yourself pregnant only to miscarry in less than three months. Or maybe your manager has been attempting to build a case against you to get you fired. Or perhaps you are reading this somewhere other than an American context and you are experiencing persecution by the state. Or you find yourself the object of your non-Christian parent who is determined to disabuse you of your “stupid newly found religion”. And, like David you are walking in fellowship with the Lord. You are ‘fessed up but experiencing a difficult time in this fallen world. This Psalm is for you and helps you to honestly process your current life experience.
Context of the Psalm
Scanning multiple conservative commentaries yields a common conclusion as to the historical context of Psalm 31. While there two main events suggested (persecution by Saul found in 1 Samuel 19-21) and Absolom’s rebellion (2 Samuel 15-18). These were times of public betrayal, public dishonor intensified by imminent threat of death and virtually daily persecution by Saul and utter destress under Absalom’s rebellion. In addition, David spent years living in alien cultural situations as well.
David’s Model for Us
For the 21st century Christian, whether in America, other culturally Christian nations or under the reign of anti-Christian cultures, David provides a pattern for thinking, framing life and responding to circumstances. Then to, we might think in term of spiritual warfare of which the Apostles wrote and Jesus unmasked as the context of life.
Clarity Is Important
It would not surprise one if some biblical counselor or young seminarian were to outline this psalm with a popular cultural mindset; lament, trust, praise. However, that such an outline imposes the contemporary tendency to address suffering with lamenting, and it misses the nuancing of David’s thinking and relationship with His God who in Psalm 23 he previously characterized as “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.”
Follow the Flow
Here is a suggested outline for this Psalm that begins that will help us implement the model in the 21st century on a very personal level whether committed anti-Christian culture or the multicultural contemporary America that is rapidly becoming increasingly anti-Christian. And, remember, this truth that David articulates applies to what Paul, Peter, and James would warn us—direct spiritual warfare, Ephesians 6:10ff, 1 Peter 5:6-9, James 4:7 where he assures us that we can win, “he (devil) will flee from you), and Paul concludes, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” and has the confidence, “Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7-8).
I. Rehearses Security 1-5
This is the confidence of Psalm 23 and observed in the Apostles as we read the book of Acts.
II. Measures Conduct 6-8
Reminds one of Romans 5:3-6, 1 Peter 4:13 where we learn that our “But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ,”
III. Humble Recognition 9-13
Amid severe angst Peter says, “Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God because he cares for you (1 Pet 5:6) 1 Cor 15:9-10, Phil 3:7-8, 2 Cor 12:7-9)
IV. Refreshed by God’s Faithfulness 19-20
Heb 11:1, many times throughout the OT men are refreshed by remembering God’s faithfulness Ps 89:1-2, for example1. In chapter eleven, the write displays what commentators for centuries have called the Hall of Faith.
VI. Rejoices Amid His Circumstances 21-22
Can you hear Paul, “Rejoice always and again say rejoice (Phil 4:4) and a bit differently but same theme (1 Thes 5:16-18)
VII. Concludes in Hope of Justice 23-24
Once more, think Pauline, and reconsider Rom 12:18-21. Turn over the injustice to God who promises vengeance (justice in His timing) and meanwhile, pile hot coals on the head of the perpetrator by not being overcome by their bad but overcoming it with good (21). That is, the better you handle their bad, the bader (worse) it gets for them because there is more reason for God to execute justice with severity.
Conclusion
David had a powerful model in Moses who in Deuteronomy, recounts God’s works and promises and based upon these observations urges Israel to remember the Lord’s repeated deliverances and His covenant faithfulness (Deuteronomy 4:31–34; 6:12–15). See also Deuteronomy 32 which is essentially a recitation of God’s mighty works. Hence, Moses models this these truths for David reinforcing the amazing truth that the God of the universe is the LORD (Yahew, the personal name of God) is the God who leads, protects, and sustains His people. And now remember that Jesus is God and that he demonstrated this truth, in person, as is as it were caught on film in Mark 4:36-42 (Matt 8:23-27, and Luke 8:22-26)
1 Psalm 13:5, Psalm 18:25, Psalm 25:10, Psalm 31:5, Psalm 33:4, Psalm 36:5, Psalm 40:10, Psalm 57:10, Psalm 71:22, Psalm 86:15, Psalm 92:2, Psalm 96:13, Psalm 98:3, Psalm 100:5, Psalm 115:1, Psalm 117:2 ↩
