Psalms

Psalms 31: Our times are in His hand

Begin in prayer

Before we think about the days ahead, let us come to the God who holds His people's times. Ask Him to hear our fears, bring us to Jesus and teach us the courage of trusting Him.

In my distress, I called on Yahweh. Yes, I called to my God. He heard my voice out of his temple. My cry came into his ears.

2 Samuel 22:7

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word, and help us to see Christ. Show us that the faithful LORD hears His people and holds the whole course of their lives. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

David takes refuge in the LORD and asks for rescue, guidance and protection from a hidden net. Entrusting his spirit to the God of truth, he rejoices that God has known his affliction and given him room to stand. Yet grief, his own iniquity and the scorn of neighbours leave him feeling like broken pottery while enemies plot his death. He confesses that his times are in God's hand and asks for the light of His face. His plea for the wicked to be shamed turns into wonder at the goodness God keeps for those who fear Him. Remembering that God heard even his hasty cry of abandonment, he calls the saints to love the LORD and take courage.

As you read Psalms 31, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

The faithful LORD holds His people's times and shelters those who take refuge in Him.

David asks the LORD to be his rock because he already knows Him as his rock and fortress. The plea for guidance rests on God's name, joining the servant's safety to the honour of the God he trusts. Trust in the God of truth also means refusing those who cling to worthless idols. A hidden net pictures an enemy's prepared trap, while an open place pictures freedom from the enemy's grasp. Trust does not silence his account of grief, and he admits his own iniquity while telling how friends avoid him. His times are the whole course of his life, which remains in God's hand while he asks for deliverance. He asks that proud lying lips fall silent in the realm of the dead, leaving their judgment with God. God's stored goodness and sheltering presence belong to those who fear Him and take refuge in Him. The heard petition corrects David's hasty fear of abandonment, teaching the saints courage because God preserves the faithful and repays arrogance.

How does Psalm 31 show us that the faithful LORD holds His people's times and shelters those who take refuge in Him?

The LORD holds His servant's life through grief.

David commits his spirit to the God of truth who redeems him. Grief and confessed sin still bring him to ask for mercy. His times remain in God's hand while enemies plot and friends withdraw.

The LORD preserves the faithful and repays the proud.

David asks God to silence the proud lips that accuse the righteous. He then marvels at goodness laid up for those who fear the LORD. Remembered mercy gives the saints reason to love Him and take courage.

Memorise

My times are in your hand. Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me.

Psalm 31:15

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, what part of my future am I refusing to entrust to Jesus?

David prays, “Into your hand I commend my spirit.” His times are in the hand of the God of truth, even when his grief feels overwhelming. Luke 23 verse 46 tells how Jesus entrusted His spirit to the Father as He died.

David confesses iniquity, and we also need mercy for our sin. Jesus was without sin, yet He died in His people's place and bore their punishment. The Father raised Him to life. His people have full pardon through that once for all offering, and His perfect obedience gives them acceptance before God.

Turn from sin and trust Jesus. His faithfulness gives every sinner who trusts Him a sure promise of forgiveness. Bring Him the uncertainty that frightens you and the grief you struggle to name. Those who belong to Him may entrust their times to the Lord who hears their cries and preserves the faithful.

Parent's note

Tell your children that the faithful LORD hears His people and holds the whole course of their lives. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for holding the lives of His people and hearing their cries. Bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are.

John 17:11

Faithful Father, we cannot hold our own future. Please bring us to trust Jesus and find mercy for our sins. Hear those who feel forgotten or overwhelmed by grief. Guard our tongues from pride, and teach us to place each day in Your hand and take courage in Your goodness. Amen.