Psalm 31 – Those Who See Me, Flee from Me
Who are the pariahs of our times? Who do we run from? Perhaps victims of AIDS who are considered unclean? Perhaps those disfigured by war that we don’t want to look at because it upsets us? Or stroke survivors who struggle to create a new normal after the debilitating effects of this attack on their brain. As I grow older and face the weakening of my bones, Psalm 31, especially verses 9-12, takes on new meaning. Are the old among us the new pariahs that we put away into “homes” so that we don’t have to deal with them? Will I someday join their ranks?
Psalm 31 – A Triple Cry for Deliverance
Psalm 31 might be termed an autobiography in three parts, much like Psalm 23. Three psalms join to make one, a triple cry for deliverance.
In verses 1-8 the writer is seeking assurance of protection from some impending trouble. He begins with a statement of trust in God, then he asks God to listen to him and rescue him. “Take me out of the net which is hidden for me, for you are my refuge,” he pleads (4). The psalmist doesn’t know the exact nature of what is about to come, just that evil lies in wait for him.
He commits his spirit, his life, into God’s hands, confident that God will protect him, uttering the words that Jesus himself used before his death with one small change. Jesus added the word Father. Where the writer of Psalm 31 was committing his life into God’s hands, confident that he would escape death, Jesus was committing his life to the Father in his death. As one commentator states: “A psalm which comes into the mind of the Sufferer of all sufferers at the moment of death is a psalm to be reverenced.” (Interpreter’s Bible, Vol 4, p. 163).
As is common in laments, the writer thanks God in advance for all he will do. The writer rejoices for God has not let him fall into the hands of his enemies and has set his “feet in a broad place,” (8) a metaphor found in other Psalms. In this case the writer escapes the snares and traps that had been set for him.
Physical Suffering
Then there is an abrupt change from rejoicing to lament in verse 9. Verses 9-12 are the words of one who is being plagued by physical disease, an ailment that has been long standing. He has been crying his eyes out with grief, his strength is gone, even his bones are wasting away. When dealing with grief and prolonged illness it can feel like your whole life has been like this; that it has been forever, even if it has not been the case.
He has forgotten the joy experienced in verse 7 and now all is sadness. The writer is an object of scorn, even horror. People flee from him. “I am the scorn of all my adversaries, a horror to my neighbors, an object of dread to my acquaintances; those who see me in the street flee from me.” (11)
Plots Against the Author
In verses 13 – 18, the lament shifts to someone who is being lied about. They are whispering together against him he says. They are scheming to take his life. It could be that in his suffering he is paranoid, imagining that people are plotting against him. This is easy to do. The machinations of the mind can be wild indeed. Or it could be that people are plotting against him. He escaped the plots in the first part of his life only to be attacked even stronger later.
Perhaps the writer was afflicted with leprosy or some other disease making him unclean. Later Christians saw Jesus, the suffering servant in this passage. He was a sight that people couldn’t bear to look at, so marred was his form from being scourged. People ran away from him during his last hours.
But even in this state of great suffering, the writer remains faithful. He puts his trust in God, asking God to deliver him from his persecutors, asking God to put them to shame, even send to hell, those who would lie against him. Some commentators would clean up this passage, stating it is unchristian to condemn another to hell and spiritualizing the passage to mean our own failings and sins being condemned to the land of shadows. While this can be one way of using the passage, it is highly unlikely the writer meant any such thing. When in despair and pain, it is human to respond with anger and the desire for revenge.
Thanksgiving
The last section of Psalm 31, verses 19-24, is a hymn of thanksgiving for God’s deliverance from the suffering of the previous verses. Now comes the happy ending. At the end of life, the writer is able to look back at his life and see how God has been present. It is with confidence that he can say, “Blessed be the Lord, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me.” (21) He then instructs others, those younger, those yet to come, to trust in the Lord who saved him. It is the Lord who delivers justice, who “requites him who acts haughtily,” (23) not us. So be strong and wait for the Lord.
Throughout our lives, gifts are given to us and others taken away. The beauty of summer will give way to fall and finally the barren snows of winter, just as the fullness of youth gives way to age and finally the last transition.
Thus life is a mixture of suffering and blessings. Those who remain firm in faith, trusting in their God, will reach peace and quiet after the storms of life. Over all, the one phrase chosen by Jesus resounds, “Into your hands I commit my spirit.” (5) Repeatedly throughout life, we are challenged to let go, to place our life into God’s hands, just as the trees let go of their leaves. We do so in preparation for that final letting go at the end of our life.
What Do You Run From?
So as to my initial questions: Who are the pariahs of our times? Who do we run from? Are we running from ourselves and the losses that come with aging? I don’t know. Whatever challenges may be facing me, I’ll trust in the Lord. Whatever new losses, I will land on firm ground for God is with me. And so I have the confidence to put my trust in my God.
What do you run from? How do you handle the losses life gives you? Are you willing, able to place all of this into God’s hands?
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This post is part of a series of blog posts on the Psalms. Sign up to follow this blog and and receive a free copy of Still Dancing, the second book in my Dancing through Life Series. click here to sign up
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