PM July 8th Psalm 31

July 8^th Psalm 31

A Psalm of David

Commitment to God

1: In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness. 2: Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me. 3: For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me. 4: Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength. 5: Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth. 6: I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the LORD. 7: I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities; 8: And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room. 9: Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly. 10: For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed. 11: I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance: they that did see me without fled from me. 12: I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel. 13: For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life. 14: But I trusted in thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my God. 15: My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me. 16: Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies' sake. 17: Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave. 18: Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous. 19: Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men! 20: Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues. 21: Blessed be the LORD: for he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city. 22: For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee. 23: O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer. 24: Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.

Psalm 32

A Psalm of David, Maschil

Confession & Forgiveness

1: Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2: Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. 3: When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. 4: For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah. 5: I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah. 6: For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him. 7: Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah. 8: I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. 9: Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee. 10: Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about. 11: Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.

Today we have been reading two more Psalms of David, No 31 & 32. In Psalm 31 David writes his testimony of the struggles and troubles and of how the Lord never let him down. He begins saying to the Lord that he has put his trust in the Lord. So don’t let me ever be ashamed, deliver me in your righteousness. Then what follows is a very touching passage in which David expresses some of his deepest feelings. He says for example – Bow down your ear to me. Deliver me speedily. Be my rock etc, etc. He asks to Lord to take him out of the snares that that been laid for him. It’s very difficult today for us to imagine how the evil men of David’s day planned very carefully to capture him and how amazingly David was delivered. In these Psalms we have the secret of how this was accomplished it was due to David’s relationship to the Lord and in direct answer to prayer. This Psalm also has a Messianic significance in that the words that Christ uttered on the cross are first written here. So this may have been prophetic. David is quoted by the Lord when he says into your hands I commend my spirit. Only those who have gone through very difficult times of persecution will be able to empathise with David’s thoughts. Those who think that they can be all jolly in the face of these troubled times need to read what David says when he says My eye is consumed with grief in fact the years are spent in grief and sighing. He says I am forgotten like a dead man and I am like a cracked pot. He says I heard them planning to murder me, but I trusted in the Lord. David says my days are in the hand of the Lord so deliver me from those who persecute me. One can feel the desperation and pain of his words. He encourages the saints of the Lord to be devoted to the LORD because he knows that the LORD will ultimately preserve them and rewards those who are proud according to their sin. So says David to those who wait for the Lord’s deliverance, have courage because the Lord will strengthen you. In the next Psalm David talks about the joy of sins forgiven. He says the blessing of God rests on the man whose sins are forgiven. Then he qualifies it by saying his sin are covered. This passage is quoted by Paul when he is describing what it is like to be declared righteous before God. In the new Covenant the Lord removes the sins of his people clean away and declares the sinner to be righteous in his sight. So therefore this Psalm probably has a prophetic touch. Then David describes what it was like when he stubbornly refused to acknowledge his sin. He said, When I kept silent, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. He says, day and might your hand was heavy on my soul and my moisture turned into the drought of summer. The greatest of spiritual men know what it is like when the soul dries up and prayer becomes impossible and the spirit shrivels up. Then he says, think of that ! Then David describes the restoration of his soul. He says, I acknowledged my sin to the LORD and I made my confession and he restored me to himself. Think of that ! This is the experience of every godly man, says David. Then he describes the LORD as his hiding place and the LORD is his deliverer. Think of that ! Then he hears the encouraging voice of the Lord saying I will guide you with my eye. Don’t be like a stubborn donkey. Those who trust in the Lord will know the mercy of the LORD. So be glad in the LORD and rejoice and shout for Joy, all of you will live righteously before the Lord according to the Law.

• How does David pray in Psa 31?
• What does David say about forgiveness?
• How does David encourage the righteous?