A Mighty Fortress in Adversity

Psalms 31:1-12

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

1 In You, O LORD, I put my trust;
Let me never be ashamed;
Deliver me in Your righteousness.

2 Bow down Your ear to me,
Deliver me speedily;
Be my rock of refuge,
A fortress of defense to save me.

3 For You are my rock and my fortress;
Therefore, for Your name's sake,
Lead me and guide me.

4 Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,
For You are my strength.

5 Into Your hand I commit my spirit;
You have redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.

6 I have hated those who regard useless idols;
But I trust in the LORD.

7 I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy,
For You have considered my trouble;
You have known my soul in adversities,
8 And have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy;
You have set my feet in a wide place.

9 Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I am in trouble;
My eye wastes away with grief,
Yes, my soul and my body!

10 For my life is spent with grief,
And my years with sighing;
My strength fails because of my iniquity,
And my bones waste away.

11 I am a reproach among all my enemies,
But especially among my neighbors,
And am repulsive to my acquaintances;
Those who see me outside flee from me.
12 I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind;
I am like a broken vessel.

God is our mighty fortress and solid foundation of refuge in adverse times.  Like the psalmist, we too can reliably trust in Him to never be ashamed (Romans 1:16, 1 John 2:28).  We are delivered, saved, by the righteousness of God alone and not our own.  We can therefore also pray with confidence that He will hear and deliver us (Colossians 1:13).  As our fortress, He defends and protects us from the evil one, and as our solid rock on which we stand, He is our foundation of absolute hope by faith to stand firmly upon.  His defense of righteousness saves us.  His rock which is the Messiah, the Christ, establishes us.  Because God is our rock and mighty fortress, He guides us in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake (Psalm 23:3).  Because He is my strength, I am delivered out of the hand of the Adversary (2 Timothy 3:11, 4:17).  Verse 5 is the phrase which Jesus spoke on the cross (Luke 23:46), which is our hope as well through Him; we are redeemed in truth by committing our lives to His hand.  We trust in the one true God, not useless idols of man’s imagined and deluded fashioning.  What then?  Let us follow David’s heart by finding joy in God’s mercy and for His deliverance, both here in life and in the not yet forever.  God sets our feet in a sure place amidst our enemies, for He knows our sorrows and struggles, being acquainted with them Himself (Psalm 139:3, Isaiah 53:3).  Therefore, we also can rely on His great mercy in times of trouble and in tears of grief which can overwhelm for years and lead to sighs of weariness in our dealings with sin.  Even though our enemies seem to gain the upper hand over us and our closest neighbors and acquaintances hate us, even though we appear abandoned or marginalized, we have hope through our rock and mighty fortress who is our God!  He never fails us.  God through Christ is a mighty fortress in adversity.  We commit our spirits to Him who redeems us from wrath and judgment by grace and mercy.