This Psalm has so many powerful moments in it. While reading it, memories flooded in, causing me to remember a very terrible period in my life and also remembering how God delivered me from it.

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Psalms 33

Here is the transcript used to produce this podcast:

Psalm 31

God, my fortress

Throughout this devotional I find myself referring to an analogy of a Medieval fortress, where the Lord of the Castle lives. Me? I find myself outside the castle walls fighting for my life.

1 In you, Lord, I have taken refuge;
    let me never be put to shame;

Also means “disgraced”  – to have fallen from favor or a position of power or honor.

I know what this feels like – I was fired from a company after being promoted to a managerial position. I had very much fallen from favor with upper management. In all my working life I had never experienced disgrace before, and it is an experience I wish on no one. In many aspects of that firing, the fault was mine – I had failed to meet my upper management’s expectations, and in all honesty, I was the wrong person for that job. Regardless of whose feet I could lay the blame of my firing at, the end result was the same… a real sense of shame and disgrace. I felt very much disgraced as I cleaned out my desk and was escorted to the door by the head of the Human resources department.

I had to go home and tell my wife I had been fired and there was no hope – that I cold see – of finding new work in my field. Mixed in with that disgrace and shame, therefore, was fear. That was a frightening time for me.

That was in 2002. My best – and only – defense was to take refuge, like a knight of old entering the castle of his Lord. Only in Him was there safety. I have to be honest, I didn’t know how. I had not been close to the Lord for a good while. I wasn’t reading His word. I was a child who was not on talking terms with his Father. In the epistles, we read about how we are citizens of God’s Kingdom, which makes us an enemy of the world we live in now. The king of this world – Satan – seeks to “kill and destroy” us. He will seek to disgrace me and render me ineffective any way he can. He had fought with some success to separate me from the influence of my Heavenly Father (that soon changed!) and now the enemy of my soul was working on destroying my family. I was surrounded by the forces of the enemy. To fight this I needed to seek refuge in the Lord.

1 In you, Lord, I have taken refuge;
    let me never be put to shame;

deliver me in your righteousness.

2 Turn your ear to me,
    come quickly to my rescue;
be my rock of refuge,
    a strong fortress to save me.

Looking back at those years and having a bit of an imagination, my mind turns to an old Medieval era castle. Tall imposing walls, towers, a moat with a drawbridge – the works. If I could just get behind the castle walls, I would be safe!! But the enemy is around me – almost overwhelming me, there is no way I can get behind the castle walls in time. I am desperate. As doom approaches, the drawbridge lowers, and the King and His army come charging out of the castle, falling upon the enemy that has me cornered, giving me the respite I need to get into the castle and safety.

To me this is a picture of my life. Why was the writer of this Psalm outside the safety of the castle when the enemy is near? I don’t know. But there have been times in my life when I left the security and safety of God’s Words and His explicit instructions to go out on my own, only to find myself trapped and afraid – just as I have detailed above. – only for God to miraculously appear and rescue me. I have mentioned it before, but my “Bankruptcy” period – as I call it – following on the heels of my firing, is a perfect example. I had walked away from what God had taught me about money and its use, and foolishly NOT saved, spending foolishly and being careless. Caught in a situation of my own making , I was outside the protection of His castle walls, only to find myself trapped by the foolishness of my own decisions. Just as I had reached the point when I could do no more, He sallied forth and saved me. He was indeed a 

“…a strong fortress to save me…”

Keeping that picture in mind, of being trapped outside of the castle walls, going down in defeat to an enemy army, only to have the Lord of the castle lead an army to my rescue, now read verses three thru five.

3 Since you are my rock and my fortress,
    for the sake of your name lead and guide me.

4 Keep me free from the trap that is set for me,
    for you are my refuge.

5 Into your hands I commit my spirit;
    deliver me, Lord, my faithful God.

Wow…

Keep me free from the trap that is set for me

The trap of financial ruin had been well planned and set in place by the enemy for the Garwood family. Yes, so much blame can be laid on me for what transpired, because even though Satan set up the scenario for my destruction, I still had to “pull the trigger”. Ultimately the fault was mine. The tempter can only tempt, I have to choose to follow him. However, I still needed for God to deliver me. I reached the point where I could pray as the Psalmist did, 

“Into your hands I commit my spirit…”

 

I Trust in the Lord

6 I hate those who cling to worthless idols;

שָׂנֵא śānē’, v. [146] [→ 2190, 6171, 6176, 8534, 8535; 10686]. [Q] to hate, be an enemy; [Qp] to be unloved; [N] to be hated, be shunned; [P] to be an adversary, be a foe; “hate” can be active, as an enemy or adversary; or passive, as someone unloved or shunned:

This word translated “hate” is an interesting word… it not only means the Psalmist hates something, but carries connotations of being the one who is hated. So not only does the Psalmist hate those who “…cling to worthless idols…” but as an undercurrent, the Psalmist himself is being hated by those who “…cling to worthless idols…”.

In 1 Peter chapter 2 we read the following:

11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 

Peter is telling his constituency that we believers WILL be at odds with the world, which is actively engaged in spiritual warfare against our souls. War is not waged between two parties that love each other. As a result I don’t believe I am out of bounds to read v6 of Psalm 31 as

6 I hate those  – and am hated by – who cling to worthless idols;

After all, we are exiles in a land that does not want us, living among enemies who are waging war with us.

Let’s stay with that visual of the Lord, the castle, with me outside the castle fighting desperately;  maybe not to win, but to just survive.

 as for me, I trust in the Lord.

7 I will be glad and rejoice in your love,
    for you saw my affliction
    and knew the anguish of my soul.

8 You have not given me into the hands of the enemy
    but have set my feet in a spacious place.

This is PRECISELY why our enemy hates us. In spite of us being surrounded by the enemy’s forces, in spite of the enemy’s stated purpose to destroy us, we “trust in the Lord” rather than capitulate to their demands. Referring to my previous picture of a Medieval castle with the Lord of the Castle coming to my rescue –  even though I am in distress because of my being sucked in by the enemy’s wiles, I am still flying the banner of my Lord. I choose to trust and I choose to rejoice because in the midst of the battle surrounding me, I KNOW the Lord of the castle sees my predicament and will not abandon me, and will deliver me from the hands of the enemy.

Be Merciful

9 Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress;
    my eyes grow weak with sorrow,
    my soul and body with grief.

10 My life is consumed by anguish
    and my years by groaning;
my strength fails because of my affliction,
    and my bones grow weak.

Don’t you just hate it when life just seems to pile on you with no end in sight? These two verses seem to be describing an illness that the Psalmist is suffering from (verse 10… maybe verse 7 as well?). This in addition to the attacks of those surrounding him. Private suffering from his illness, public suffering from his enemies… the hits just keep on coming.

11 Because of all my enemies,
    I am the utter contempt of my neighbors
and an object of dread to my closest friends—
    those who see me on the street flee from me.

12 I am forgotten as though I were dead;
    I have become like broken pottery.

Whatever his enemies are saying of him or accusing him of is convincing his friends to abandon him. At the very time he is in need of close friends, they are not there. 

It has been my experience that my trials show me who my friends are. I have discovered I have many acquaintances, and only a handful of true friends. My trials are not only used by God to separate me from my sins, they are also of value in that they (my trials) let me see who are truly my companions in my life-journey. Knowing David’s story, I know that there was always someone close to him who stuck with him. But in times of trouble, there are times when it can seem like there is no one who will stand with you. I know what THAT feels like. It feels like every time you turn around …

13 For I hear many whispering,
    “Terror on every side!”
They conspire against me
    and plot to take my life.

It just seems like everybody is coming after you and there is no hope. Couple this with physical illness as hinted at earlier, and it can seem insurmountable and terminal.

I Trust in You

14 But I trust in you, Lord;
    I say, “You are my God.”

The Psalmist says to himself and God

14 But I trust in you, Lord;

Then follows that internal confession with a verbal one

    I say, “You are my God.”

He tells himself… then he tells the world. Within the framework of that profession, he then prays the following:

15 My times are in your hands;

God is Sovereign – that means every moment of every day of my life is under His control. This is quite possibly the most powerful profession of faith we can attain to. 

15 My times are in your hands;

When we understand that even our trials are part of His plan for us, it shifts our perspective from complaining “Why me?” to looking for the lesson buried in the trial or trouble. It may seem crass, but the amusing story of a young child on Christmas morning comes to mind. He comes downstairs to find horse manure everywhere. He gets excited and starts shouting “I know there’s a pony here somewhere!” 

God has a purpose and a plan for us that includes problems and trials. Paul himself had some kind of physical ailment that he prayed for God to remove only to be told that God’s strength would be made full in Paul’s suffering.

That’s why I love this verse – the Psalmist is declaring privately and publicly his allegiance with God, recognizing all of his times (including the present struggles) are part of God’s plan for him. And in his confidence in God’s sovereignty he can then pray as follows:

    deliver me from the hands of my enemies,
    from those who pursue me.

16 Let your face shine on your servant;
    save me in your unfailing love.

17 Let me not be put to shame, Lord,
    for I have cried out to you;
but let the wicked be put to shame
    and be silent in the realm of the dead.

18 Let their lying lips be silenced,
    for with pride and contempt
    they speak arrogantly against the righteous.

The word righteous does not mean sinless. It means to be in right standing with God. If we know anything about David it was that he was definitely NOT sinless! Yet God said that David was a “man after God’s own heart.” He was in right standing with God… he was righteous. That’s good news for us as well. Even as we wrestle against the sin in our life – sometimes winning, sometimes not – even when we are outside the castle walls, we are still in right standing with God due to the sacrifice of His Son on our behalf. The Lord of the castle will not leave us. 

The Future – OUR Future

From the sorrow and anguish-filled opening stanzas of this Psalm we end with the following anthem of praise.

19 How abundant are the good things
    that you have stored up for those who fear you,
that you bestow in the sight of all,
    on those who take refuge in you.

20 In the shelter of your presence you hide them
    from all human intrigues;
you keep them safe in your dwelling
    from accusing tongues.

21 Praise be to the Lord,
    for he showed me the wonders of his love
    when I was in a city under siege.

You, Lord, did all this (what we just read), even when I said THIS:

22 In my alarm I said,
    “I am cut off from your sight!”
Yet you heard my cry for mercy
    when I called to you for help.

And he finishes with a call to love God.

23 Love the Lord, all his faithful people!
    The Lord preserves those who are true to him,
    but the proud he pays back in full.

24 Be strong and take heart,
    all you who hope in the Lord.

What a glorious example of flowing from despair to praise!

No matter your current situation, overwhelming as it might be, Love the Lord. Be strong and take heart. Your times are in His hands.

In His Grip,

Paige