psalm 31

Psalm 31 (NRSV)
9 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;
my eye wastes away from grief,
my soul and body also.
10 For my life is spent with sorrow,
and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my misery,b
and my bones waste away.
11 I am the scorn of all my adversaries,
a horrorc to my neighbors,
an object of dread to my acquaintances;
those who see me in the street flee from me.
12 I have passed out of mind like one who is dead;
I have become like a broken vessel.
13 For I hear the whispering of many—
terror all around!—
as they scheme together against me,
as they plot to take my life.
14 But I trust in you, O Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in your hand;
deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.
16 Let your face shine upon your servant;
save me in your steadfast love.
17 Do not let me be put to shame, O Lord,
for I call on you;
let the wicked be put to shame;
let them go dumbfounded to Sheol.
18 Let the lying lips be stilled
that speak insolently against the righteous
with pride and contempt.

Lord,
The poet is having a really bad day and he is in a battle for his own soul. Despair or faith, which will claim his core identity?
Thank you for his honesty. He feels as worthless as worthless can be. He feels that everybody is against him and that his life has been wasted. Is there an objective reality to his complaint? I don’t know. It really doesn’t matter. He is honestly confessing the reality of his soul to You.
But he refuses to stop with whining. He chooses to remember your faithfulness and he deliberately baptizes himself in the recollections of your goodness and grace. He chooses to place his trust in you. He chooses to trust in you rather than allow himself to be defined by the despair of the day.
Lord, let it be so with me. I know well the dark times of the soul. There are seasons when the emotions of the poet are my emotions too. Let me choose with the poet to trust in you – to trust you. And grant me the joy and hope of that constant trust.
PERSONAL PRAYERS:
Give the darkness of your soul to God and ask for the ability to trust God.
Say with the poet, “But I trust in you.”
Name 5 things for which you are grateful and say “thank you” to God.
In Christ’s name,
Amen.


[1]


b Gk Syr: Heb my iniquity

c Cn: Heb exceedingly

[1] The Holy Bible : New Revised Standard Version. Nashville : Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989