Into Your Hand (Psalm 31:5)

 


Saturday, July 12, 2025


Psalm 31

1 Samuel 30:7-25

John 4:43-54


Into Your Hand (Psalm 31:5)


Into your hand I commit my spirit;
    you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.


Towards the end of John’s Gospel, after Jesus washes the disciples feet and before his arrest, we read what has been called his “high priestly prayer”; that is, a prayer Jesus offers in his role as high priest on behalf of all Christians. It is worth going back to whenever we feel disheartened, because it gives us a taste of the prayer that Jesus is offering constantly on our behalf right now in heaven.


Yet it might not be the only prayer we have in scripture that he has made on our behalf. We have what is called the “words from the cross”, seven different things Jesus said when he was being crucified, collected from the four gospels. It is widely accepted that he quoted Psalm 22, which helps us understand why he cried out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” But his final words match closely with today’s verse, which comes from Psalm 31. And so this raises the question: did he have the entire Psalm in mind?


If so, what a Psalm to end on. It is filled with confidence that this was the end of his suffering. The hard times are now behind him. He has become a reproach to his neighbours and an object of dread to his acquaintances. He has heard the whispering of many – terror on every side – and suffered their schemes and plots to take his life. God has heard the voice of his pleas for mercy, and he has been taken out of the net that his enemies hid for him. Christ’s death has become life for his people, and his victory over the grave has already begun.


In verses 19 and 20, the blessings spoken of in the Psalm are shared around with all who love the Lord. There is abundant goodness in the protection of the presence of the Lord. As Christ was confident on the cross, so too is he confident on our behalf – and he prays this Psalm because these words capture his confidence perfectly. As our covenant representative, all the blessings of Jesus are shared with us; the words of the Psalmist are for us just as much as they are for him, since we love the Lord as he does, even if it is not to the same degree. Everything is based on him, his objective atoning work, and his objective love for us.


Where else have you seen Christ in the Psalms? How might you use those Psalms as prayers of your own through Christ?


Christ who prays for us: show us where you are in the scriptures, that we might enter into your presence more closely, and gain a greater awareness of your objective love for us

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