The Song of Crisis

Psalm 31 is David’s account of an undefined crisis from which God delivered him, and while it’s a fairly simple psalm to understand, it contains rich and meaningful depths under the surface. For example, this psalm is like a nexus between biblical words and phrases, bringing themes together in a masterful song. It begins, “In you, O LORD, do I take refuge,” recalling the theme of “refuge” that appears in 9 psalms before this one. David bursts into short prayers that he wouldn’t be put to shame (like he prayed in Psalm 25), that God would deliver him in his righteousness (like he prayed in Psalm 5), that God would quickly save and be a rock and fortress for him (like he prayed in Psalm 18). Do you see a pattern? It’s as though David is weaving a tapestry using threads he’s already used, recycling language and giving them fresh meaning when he puts the puzzle pieces together in a new way. He continues, “For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me [using important words from Psalm 23); you take me out of the net they have hidden for me, for you are my refuge [bringing in ideas from Psalm 25 again and ending with that key word ‘refuge’].” But then in verse 5, David says something new. It stands out: “Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God.” In Genesis 2:7, God breathed into human beings the “breath” or “spirit” of life, giving him not only physical air but consciousness and personality. Here in a crisis, David slows down his breathing, feeling the fragility of life, and he confesses that his whole existence is in the hands of the Creator. The preacher Charles Spurgeon wrote that this is “the ultimate surrender of the very animating force of life into the care of the God from whom it comes.” From that confession, David moves to assurance: “I hate those who pay regard to worthless idols, but I trust in the LORD. I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction; you have known the distress of my soul, and you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy; you have set my feet in a broad place.” There are even more allusions to previous psalms here than I have time to list, and it’s abundantly clear that God has brought David out of his distress. David emphatically distances himself from those who oppose God, and he loyally aligns himself with the loyal love of the LORD. The pressures of adversaries that forced him to hide in a refuge have been dispersed; now David walks freely and joyfully in a broad place. It appears that the crisis is over.

In an awful surprise, verse 9 brings us again to the place of trouble: “Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eye is wasted from grief; my soul and my body also” (which is almost a verbatim phrase from Psalm 6). Psalm 31 is an unusual lament because it makes the journey twice from anguish to assurance, and it could either be the same crisis explored in greater depth or a new distress that afflicts David. Whatever is happening, it creates what’s known in biblical scholarship as a chiasm (an idea we explored in Psalm 26). It’s sort of like a bullseye, where the outer parts of a poem mirror each other and point to a central core idea. We might label the sections: A, B, C, B, A. Psalm 31 begins with an opening prayer followed by a statement of trust, and it will end with a statement of trust followed by a prayer. But in the center, there is a lament. David describes bodily pain, emotional suffering, social rejection, solitary isolation, and even worse threats whispering around him. In the middle of the storm, David shouts out, “But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.” The “I” and “you” are emphatic, and it echoes the promises of God to Abraham. David yells, “You have promised to be the God of your covenant people, and I believe that you are my God!” Verse 15: “My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors! Make your face shine on your servant; save me in your steadfast love!” Even while our times change, even while adversity strikes us, even while enemies pursue us, the one thing that never changes is the sovereign, powerful, loyal love of the LORD. “Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God.” As one scholar put it, “change is not chance.” A crisis doesn’t disprove God’s existence or active care; rather, it provides an opportunity for his people to trust and trust again in the faithful God. David moves into prayer once more, this time not for himself but for justice on evil: “Let the wicked be put to shame; let them go silently to Sheol. Let the lying lips be mute, which speak insolently against the righteous in pride and contempt.” Justice in the Bible is giving everyone exactly what they deserve, so David reuses language from his earlier prayers and turns them around. “They wanted to shame me, so let them be put to shame. They whispered against me, so let them be silent in the grave. They lied and slandered me, so quiet their lies. They scorned the righteous, so in your righteousness judge them.” David does not take vengeance upon himself. His trust is complete; he trusts in God’s deliverance, and he trusts in God’s judgment.

There are many other artistic subtleties in this psalm, like how the covenant name of Yahweh appears ten times (a biblical number of completeness) or how David repeats certain words like “refuge” or “deliver” twice to nuance their meaning. Perhaps my favorite feature is that he uses the Hebrew word ki (which means “because” or “for”) seven times. “For you are my rock,” “for I am in distress,” and so on. It’s like David is reasoning through his suffering and his trust at the same time, wrestling with God. The psalm comes to a satisfying end in an epilogue of six verses, with three pairs of themes, like a self-contained poem of praise. The first pair sings of God’s protection for his people: Verses 19-20: “Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind! In the cover of your presence you hide them from the plots of men; you store them in your shelter from the strife of tongues.” The word “store” is repeated, which gives us the image of God packing his goodness and mercy for a rainy day and leads us to trust in his timing. The second pair is David’s summary of how God delivered him: “Blessed be the LORD, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me when I was in a besieged city. I had said in my alarm, ‘I am cut off from your sight.’ But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy when I cried to you for help.” David has a story to share about the steadfast love (the hesed) that met him even when he was on the brink of ruin. His panic wasn’t telling him the truth, as God’s salvation proved. Telling this story leads David to turn to his listeners (including us) and, in the final two verses, call us to trust as he did: “Love the LORD, all you his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride. Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD!” Once more, David pulls from existing language in the Torah — the anthem of Moses and Joshua — to rally us to wait for the Lord’s timing in all things. Really, it’s a call to live out what we say we believe. If we are able to commit our life and breath to the LORD, then we must trust that he will take care of all things. So take courage! Love the LORD! Wait for the LORD! He will always preserve the faithful.