Enduring hope (Psalm 31)

It is a well-known fact that overcoming difficulties that are major but short-term are psychologically easier than dealing with lesser but ongoing challenges that weaken one’s resistance over time. COVID, of course, is on everyone’s minds these days especially as numbers surge again in the northern hemisphere. There may be other, lasting challenges for you that will not go away: health issues, financial struggles, loneliness, tensions in relationships and so on… Psalm 31, as many of the lament psalms, deals with the struggle of maintaining a perspective in the midst of suffering. It moves from a cry for help (vv.1-5), to hope for the future (vv.6-8), distress (vv.9-13), trust and prayer again (vv.14-18) until the psalmist emerges onto a new plateau of confidence (vv.19-22) where he can encourage others from (vv.23-24). This structure expresses in artistic form the kind of up-and-down pattern we experience in real life. It also highlights, however, that resting in God is possible even before a crisis is resolved.

How then do we reach this place of rest? First, the psalmist cries out to God. When things go wrong, our instinctive reaction is to think, how can I fix this, what can I do. While action may be needed, placing our worries into God’s hand first reminds us that God knows and cares about our trouble. Secondly, the psalmist is struggling towards trust by recalling what God is like (Ps 31:3-4). He is a refuge and strength, who guides and saves His entrapped people. He is the God of truth (Ps 31:5), the one who has the true perspective on our lives.

Thirdly, the psalmist consciously chooses to trust God (Ps 31:6) and deliberately dissociates himself from idol worshippers (love-hate language in the OT is often about a stance of allegiance or loyalty). The Hebrew for ‘vain idols’ is actually a curious expression that means something like ‘the futilities of emptiness’ or ‘worthless vapours’; a highly descriptive allusion to idols. When we trust something other than God as if it were a god that could save us, we are grasping air, something that is empty, ineffectual, without real substance. On the other hand, the psalmist’s trust is based on God’s ‘lovingkindness’ (Ps 31:7, 16; the Hebrew ḥesed means covenant love or loyalty). Thus, we can trust God because He is committed to those who are His.

Fourthly, there is a place to express our distress to God and acknowledge our emotions. Trust is not the suppression of sadness or a false gaiety but a clinging to our faithful God even when we feel the waves closing over our heads. Despair is compounded here by ‘enemies’ (people with a false perspective, who sometimes mock or slander) and the isolation even from friends, as well as the physical toll adversity takes on the sufferer (Ps 31:9-13). These aspects we recognise from our experience, too. The ‘enemies’ may also be internal voices telling us that we are no good, that God is punishing us, that somehow we deserve our suffering, that the pain will never end and God does not care; voices that spread despondency and despair.

While the above steps are important, what we crave is a response from God and that is what the psalmist experiences. The troubles are not over yet (note the metaphor of being in a besieged city), but ‘God has made marvelous His lovingkindness’ (Ps 31:21). The verb in the Hebrew combines the sense of revelation with the association of ‘marvel’ or ‘wonder’. It is when we gain a personal insight that God is specifically in our circumstances and we marvel at His extraordinary loyalty that our internal state shifts. Scholars speculate that for the psalmist praying in the Temple, the priest may have brought a word from the Lord. In our context, His encouragement can come through a Bible verse, a sermon, a thought from a friend or the Holy Spirit whispering directly in our hearts during prayer. It may not be a new insight but simply a fresh recognition of His faithfulness. Our faith may wobble from time to time, but when we hear from God, we can hold onto this truth that feels personal and relevant to our situation and find enduring hope and rest in God.

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