“It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!’ And having said this he breathed his last.”
Luke 23:44-46
From noon until 3 p.m., when the sun should have been at its highest point, darkness covered the land. The ground trembled and the six inch thick purple curtain in the temple tore vertically from top to bottom, as if the hand of God Himself was tearing it. At the height of His agony, bearing the full weight of your sin and mine, Jesus uttered this cry of deepest anguish and total surrender. He quoted Psalm 31, intending for his followers to study that Psalm to understand what He was doing for us on the cross.
This Psalm serves as a guide for us in our pain – a map to orient us as we follow in the footsteps of our Lord. We will follow it in our Good Friday service tonight (April 2, 2021) but it is available for us every day as a guide to our personal prayers.
1.CRY FOR HELP
“In you, O Lord, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me! Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily! Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me.”
Psalm 31:1-2
2. PRAY IN FAITH
“For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me; you take me out of the net they have hidden for me, for you are my refuge. Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.”
Psalm 31:3-5
3. EXPRESS YOUR PAIN
“Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eye is wasted from grief; my soul and my body also. For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones waste away… I have been forgotten like one who is dead; I have become like a broken vessel.”
Psalm 31:6-13
4. SURRENDER TO THE LORD
“But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors! Make your face shine on your servant; save me in your steadfast love!”
Psalm 31:14-16
5. CONCLUDE WITH WORSHIP
“Blessed be the Lord, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me when I was in a besieged city… Love the Lord, all you his saints! The Lord preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride. Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!”
Psalm 31:21-24
Consider this pathway from the perspective of King David, who wrote it. He knew the pain of isolation, betrayal and suffering. In the midst of terrible doubt and fear, running for his life and uncertain about his future, David took refuge in the Lord his God.
Consider this prayer from the lips of Jesus on the cross. The pain we experience and the suffering David endured are raindrops next to the ocean of misery in which Jesus was drowning. Even as the just wrath of God for the sins of all people through all history crushed him, Jesus still turned to the Father in submissive faith.
This is the exhortation and invitation of Psalm 31: bring your pain to the Lord. He knows what you are feeling better than anyone. And when you come to Jesus, He will walk with you along this path of faith and surrender, through the darkness and into the light of worship and hope.