We can relate to David’s prayer in Psalm 31, can’t we? Don’t we know what it’s like to have people tell lies about us (verses 13 and 18)? Haven’t we all been worn out with grief from time to time (verse 9)? Aren’t we all too familiar with sorrow and sighing (verse 10)? Haven’t we all made sinful, self-centered choices that have sapped our strength (verse 10)?

Well, no matter what we may be going through, we can take comfort that Jesus understands how we feel (verse 7) because He went through all the same kinds of suffering. Yes, even though He never sinned, He chose to endure all the pain and shame of the cross so that He could rescue us, so that He could be a rock of strength for us (verse 2), so that He could lead us and guide us (verse 3). As He died on the cross, even quoted verse 5 to make it clear that, by His sacrifice, He became a ransom for all who would trust in Him.

That’s wonderful news, but we also need to remember this: Jesus claimed verse 5, entrusting His Spirit to the Father, at the very point of death. And we know that it was only through His death that He was able to gain all the benefits of this psalm, not only for us, but for Himself as well. After all, it was because He humbled Himself, becoming obedient to His Father even to the point of death, that the Father highly exalted Him (Philippians 2:8-9).

In short, the suffering that both David and Christ experienced was all part of God’s plan to accomplish great good, both for them and for us. And we can have the same sort of confidence: that far from being inconsistent with God’s love for us, even the worst of our difficulties can bring us closer to Christ, and can give us even greater reason to trust Him and to praise His name.

So today, no matter what we may be going through, let us rejoice and be glad in the steadfast, promise-keeping love God has displayed for us on the cross (verse 7). And as we hope in the One Who died for us, we can be strong and courageous (verse 23), entrusting our souls to the same One Who raised Christ from the dead.

Psalm 31 (NASB)

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
In Thee, O LORD, I have taken refuge; Let me never be ashamed; In Thy righteousness deliver me.
2 Incline Thine ear to me, rescue me quickly; Be Thou to me a rock of strength, A stronghold to save me.
3 For Thou art my rock and my fortress; For Thy name’s sake Thou wilt lead me and guide me.
4 Thou wilt pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me; For Thou art my strength.
5 Into Thy hand I commit my spirit; Thou hast ransomed me, O LORD, God of truth.
6 I hate those who regard vain idols; But I trust in the LORD.
7 I will rejoice and be glad in Thy lovingkindness, Because Thou hast seen my affliction; Thou hast known the troubles of my soul,
8 And Thou hast not given me over into the hand of the enemy; Thou hast set my feet in a large place.
9 Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; My eye is wasted away from grief, my soul and my body also.
10 For my life is spent with sorrow, And my years with sighing; My strength has failed because of my iniquity, And my body has wasted away.
11 Because of all my adversaries, I have become a reproach, Especially to my neighbors, And an object of dread to my acquaintances; Those who see me in the street flee 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, Terror is on every side; While they took counsel together against me, They schemed to take away my life.
14 But as for me, I trust in Thee, O LORD, I say, “Thou art my God.”
15 My times are in Thy hand; Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me.
16 Make Thy face to shine upon Thy servant; Save me in Thy lovingkindness.
17 Let me not be put to shame, O LORD, for I call upon Thee; Let the wicked be put to shame, let them be silent in Sheol.
18 Let the lying lips be dumb, Which speak arrogantly against the righteous With pride and contempt.
19 How great is Thy goodness, Which Thou hast stored up for those who fear Thee, Which Thou hast wrought for those who take refuge in Thee, Before the sons of men!
20 Thou dost hide them in the secret place of Thy presence from the conspiracies of man; Thou dost keep them secretly in a shelter from the strife of tongues.
21 Blessed be the LORD, For He has made marvelous His lovingkindness to me in a besieged city.
22 As for me, I said in my alarm, “I am cut off from before Thine eyes”; Nevertheless Thou didst hear the voice of my supplications When I cried to Thee.
23 O love the LORD, all you His godly ones! The LORD preserves the faithful, And fully recompenses the proud doer.
24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage, All you who hope in the LORD.