In You, O LORD, I Seek Refuge
Devotional
Companion to the Psalter
A Devotional Guide to the Psalms
Object:
... in your righteousness deliver me ...
take me out of the net that is hidden for me,
for you are my refuge.
Into your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God ...
My times are in your hand.
-- Psalm 31:1b, 4, 5, 15a
Theme: Protected and preserved by the LORD
Outline
1-8 -- Beginning with a plea for deliverance, he remembers with joy God's past mercies to him.
9-18 -- Once again his need is extremely urgent.
19-24 -- Looking back on his faint-heartedness, he praises God with grateful joy for having preserved him, telling us to take courage!
Notes
• Lament
• "In your righteousness deliver me" (v. 1) -- This phrase deeply disturbed Luther as he was preparing a summary of this psalm. He thought of it as punitive and condemning, until he read of it in Romans, where Saint Paul speaks of it as "rather the forgiving righteousness of God by which in his mercy he makes us just" (righteous). Luther discovered the gospel! "As much as I had heretofore hated the words 'righteousness of God,' so much the more dear and sweet it was to me now."1
For Reflection
• Verse 5 includes a prayer Jesus learned probably from childhood. He prayed it in his last breath. From his example many famous Christians have prayed it at the approach of death: Saint Basil, Saint Bernard, Huss, Luther, Melancthon, and surely, countless others!
• "My times are in your hand" (vv. 14-15) are great words to remember when confronted with threats, omens, fortune-telling, the occult, and even hypochondria.
Prayer
You are a mighty fortress, O God, for all who take refuge in your forgiving righteousness. In all the troubles of heart and life, we will take courage in knowing our times are in your redeeming hands. We rejoice with anticipation for the abundant goodness you have laid up for us in Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen.
____________
1. Heinrich Boehmer, Road to Reformation! Martin Luther to the Year 1521 (Philadelphia: The Muhlenberg Press, 1946), p. 111.
take me out of the net that is hidden for me,
for you are my refuge.
Into your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God ...
My times are in your hand.
-- Psalm 31:1b, 4, 5, 15a
Theme: Protected and preserved by the LORD
Outline
1-8 -- Beginning with a plea for deliverance, he remembers with joy God's past mercies to him.
9-18 -- Once again his need is extremely urgent.
19-24 -- Looking back on his faint-heartedness, he praises God with grateful joy for having preserved him, telling us to take courage!
Notes
• Lament
• "In your righteousness deliver me" (v. 1) -- This phrase deeply disturbed Luther as he was preparing a summary of this psalm. He thought of it as punitive and condemning, until he read of it in Romans, where Saint Paul speaks of it as "rather the forgiving righteousness of God by which in his mercy he makes us just" (righteous). Luther discovered the gospel! "As much as I had heretofore hated the words 'righteousness of God,' so much the more dear and sweet it was to me now."1
For Reflection
• Verse 5 includes a prayer Jesus learned probably from childhood. He prayed it in his last breath. From his example many famous Christians have prayed it at the approach of death: Saint Basil, Saint Bernard, Huss, Luther, Melancthon, and surely, countless others!
• "My times are in your hand" (vv. 14-15) are great words to remember when confronted with threats, omens, fortune-telling, the occult, and even hypochondria.
Prayer
You are a mighty fortress, O God, for all who take refuge in your forgiving righteousness. In all the troubles of heart and life, we will take courage in knowing our times are in your redeeming hands. We rejoice with anticipation for the abundant goodness you have laid up for us in Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen.
____________
1. Heinrich Boehmer, Road to Reformation! Martin Luther to the Year 1521 (Philadelphia: The Muhlenberg Press, 1946), p. 111.
