Psalm 31 The Antiphon for this coming week’s
Introit is taken from verse 31, Into Your
hands I commit my spirit; redeem me, O lord, the God of truth. This Psalm
is a prayer of deliverance when confronted by conspiracy so powerful and open
that all David’s friends abandoned him. Where do we go when we feel as if we
haven’t a friend? We go to Jesus, our friend and confidante our Savior and our
Redeemer.
Psalm
31 – Shelter from Trouble in the secret places of God’s presence
This psalm is simply titled, To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
The dedication to the chief musician proves that this song of mingled measures
and alternate strains of grief and woe was intended for public singing, and
thus a deathblow is given to the notion that nothing but praise should be sung.
We have no definite marking place in David’s life for this psalm because he was
so often in trouble. It resonates with deep and personal trust in God in the
depths of difficulty.
An interesting feature of this psalm
is that it is often quoted in other passages of Scripture.
The author of Psalm 71 (possibly David
himself) quotes the first three verses of Psalm 31 to start Psalm 71.
Jonah seems to quote Psalm 31:6 in
Jonah 2:8, his prayer from the belly of the great fish.
Jeremiah quoted Psalm 31:13 six times,
in Jeremiah 6:25; 20:3; 20:10; 46:5; 49:29, and Lamentations 2:22.
Paul quoted Psalm 31:24 in 1
Corinthians 16:13 (according to Adam Clarke, this is more clear in the
Septuagint – the early Greek translation of the Old Testament).
Most significantly, Psalm 31:5 was
quoted by Jesus Christ on the cross as His final words before yielding His life
(Luke 23:46). Stephen, the first martyr of the church, also alluded to Psalm
31:5 (Acts 7:59).[2]
Collect
for Psalm 31:
God of kindness and truth, you saved your
chosen one Jesus Christ and you give your martyrs strength. Watch over your
people who come to you now, and strengthen the hearts of those who hope in you,
that they may proclaim your saving acts of kindness in the eternal city; though
your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. [3]
[1]
Palm Sunday Images, © Ed Riojas, Higher Things
[3]
Collect for Psalm 31, For All the Saints, A Prayer Book For and By the Church,
Vol. III © 1995 The American Lutheran Publicity Bureau, Delhi, NY
No comments:
Post a Comment