David begins Psalm 31 with the most wonderful song a believer can sing...
In You, O LORD, I put my trust;
David places His confidence in God. Would that I would follow His example! Oh Lord, at the very beginning of every trial, every fear, every adversity, and even and especially in those moments when my heart sinks from grief remembered and longings unfulfilled, may my heart place its trust in You!
Skipping down from David’s great beginning to verse 9 (where OYB reading begins today) we find David in trouble. David has been brought low but once again cries out to His God who can give him the deliverance he seeks.
Verses 9b-13 describe in painful detail the Psalmist’s despondent condition. David’s eyes waste away with grief and his strength fails. He is forgotten as a dead man and likens himself to a broken vessel—a potsherd that can hold nothing and is flung away upon a dunghill. He hears the slander of many and fear is on every side.
Despite his despondency...despite his circumstances, verses 14-15a, find David again singing the beautiful song of a believing heart.
But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD;
I say, "You are my God."
My times are in Your hand;
David fully surrenders himself into God’s care. God has led David, whose heart is overwhelmed, to the Rock that is higher than He is. David trusted God and he was helped. His feet stand once more on the firm foundation of:
“I trust in You, O LORD”
Verse 15-17 are some of my favorites in the entirety of the Bible.
My times are in Your hand;
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies,
And from those who persecute me.
16 Make Your face shine upon Your servant;
Save me for Your mercies' sake.
17 Do not let me be ashamed, O LORD, for I have called upon You;
The sweet Psalmist of Israel understands that nothing can happen to him that has not first passed through the loving hands of His God. David’s enemies cannot do anything against him without God’s permission. I love what Spurgeon says about these verses:
“Divine Providence is a downy pillow for an aching head, a blessed salve for the sharpest pain. He who can feel that his times are in the hand of God need not tremble at anything that is in the hand of man!”
David prays for God to lift the light of His countenance upon him...he prays for God’s favor because, if he has that, he cares not what man thinks. If God is for him, who can be against him? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
Father,
May I, like David, when I am in trouble, flee to You as a sheep to its Shepherd. May the foundation I lay in each and every one of my trials be as a hymn of faith. Hide me in the secret place of Your Presence. Shine the light of Your countenance upon me..show me Your favor in this dark and dreary land. Let me not be ashamed for I have placed my trust in You. Today, with David then, I will sing:
Oh, how great is Your goodness,
Which You have laid up for those who fear You,
Which You have prepared for those who trust in You
In the presence of the sons of men!
Oh, love the LORD, all you His saints!
For the LORD preserves the faithful,
And fully repays the proud person.
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart,
All you who hope in the LORD.
A Hymn of Faith
Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls—
18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
19 The LORD God is my strength;
He will make my feet like deer's feet,
And He will make me walk on my high hills.—Habakkuk 3:17-19
