Daily Reflection on Ps. 31 (I Need a New Set of Hands)

I've heard those words from Ps. 31:5 before, "Into your hands I commit my spirit." Oh yeah, Jesus prayed them from the cross right before He died. For years, it never occurred to me that Jesus was quoting scripture. If Jesus is quoting this verse, it has to bring light to Ps. 31. Jesus often quoted scripture in His teaching. He challenged conventional thinking, brought a deeper understanding, even warded off temptation through quoting it.

Since Jesus never took anything out of context, nor did He spiritualize texts they way preachers and teachers often do today, when He quoted this verse their must be application to His circumstance. "Into your hands, I commit my spirit." As you read through the rest of Ps. 31, you will recognize it is a cry for deliverance from God. David talks about the anguish of his soul, of his fear of being put to shame, of his desire for righteousness. He extols the praises of God for His strength and steadfastness. David proclaims God as his refuge and deliverer, his rock, his protection from his enemies.

As Jesus took on the sins of the world, suffering on the cross at the hands of man, His cry to God was for deliverance. Even though Christ died that day on the cross and was buried in the tomb, God answered His prayer. The shame of the cross became a symbol of victory. God raised Him to life again and with Him all who proclaim Him Lord and Savior. He delivered Christ from the hands of Satan and death and by doing that He delivered us who are in Christ. By committing His spirit into the hands of God on the cross, He was assuring Himself and us the fulfillment of David's ultimate cry in Ps. 31.

Virtually, that's the prayer all of us must pray. Into your hands I commit my spirit. Unfortunately, most of our prayers are "Into MY own hands I commit my spirit." Into my own intelligence, into my own resources, into my own abilities, into my own agenda I commit my spirit is our decry. That's why we struggle. We can't release it. We attack life all on our own. We need a rock, a deliverer, a refuge, an advocate, a rescuer. We need God.

God, too often I'm praying the wrong prayer. I'm praying the ability to do things myself. Forgive me. I'm changing my prayer. Into YOUR hands, I commit my spirit.