Be strong and let your heart take courage

Psalm 31 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

In You, Lord, I have taken refuge;
Let me never be put to shame;
In Your righteousness rescue me.
² Incline Your ear to me, rescue me quickly;
Be a rock of strength for me,
A stronghold to save me.
³ For You are my rock and my fortress;
For the sake of Your name You will lead me and guide me.
⁴ You will pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,
For You are my strength.
⁵ Into Your hand I entrust my spirit;
You have redeemed me, Lord, God of truth.

⁶ I hate those who devote themselves to worthless idols,
But I trust in the Lord.
⁷ I will rejoice and be glad in Your faithfulness,
Because You have seen my misery;
You have known the troubles of my soul,
⁸ And You have not handed me over to the enemy;
You have set my feet in a large place.

⁹ Be gracious to me, Lord, for I am in distress;
My eye is wasted away from grief, my soul and my body too.
¹⁰ For my life is spent with sorrow
And my years with sighing;
My strength has failed because of my guilt,
And my body has wasted away.
¹¹ Because of all my adversaries, I have become a disgrace,
Especially to my neighbors,
And an object of dread to my acquaintances;
Those who see me in the street flee from me.
¹² I am forgotten like a dead person, out of mind;
I am like a broken vessel.
¹³ For I have heard the slander of many,
Terror is on every side;
While they took counsel together against me,
They schemed to take away my life.

¹⁴ But as for me, I trust in You, Lord,
I say, “You are my God.”
¹⁵ My times are in Your hand;
Rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me.
¹⁶ Make Your face shine upon Your servant;
Save me in Your faithfulness.
¹⁷ Let me not be put to shame, Lord, for I call upon You;
Let the wicked be put to shame, let them be silent in Sheol.
¹⁸ Let the lying lips be speechless,
Which speak arrogantly against the righteous
With pride and contempt.

¹⁹ How great is Your goodness,
Which You have stored up for those who fear You,
Which You have performed for those who take refuge in You,
Before the sons of mankind!
²⁰ You hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the conspiracies of mankind;
You keep them secretly in a shelter from the strife of tongues.
²¹ Blessed be the Lord,
For He has shown His marvelous faithfulness to me in a besieged city.
²² As for me, I said in my alarm,
“I am cut off from Your eyes”;
Nevertheless You heard the sound of my pleadings
When I called to You for help.

²³ Love the Lord, all His godly ones!
The Lord watches over the faithful
But fully repays the one who acts arrogantly.
²⁴ Be strong and let your heart take courage,
All you who wait for the Lord.

The psalmist says:  In You, Lord, I have taken refuge; Let me never be put to shame; In Your righteousness rescue me. Incline Your ear to me, rescue me quickly; Be a rock of strength for me, A stronghold to save me. For You are my rock and my fortress; For the sake of Your name You will lead me and guide me. You will pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me, For You are my strength.  In Matthew 23:37 Jesus says:   “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.”  Jesus wants to be our refuge. Are we willing?  In Matthew 7:24-27 Jesus says:  “Everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts on them, will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and its collapse was great.”  Jesus is our rock, our strong foundation. Will we hear and act on what He says? In Matthew 14:29-31 it says:  Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, and came toward Jesus.  But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and when he began to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out with His hand and took hold of him. Jesus hears our cries and rescues us. In John 8:3-11 it says:  The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” Jesus pulls us from the trap others have laid and rescues us in His righteousness. All that the psalmist asks, Jesus is and does.

The psalmist says:  I have heard the slander of many, Terror is on every side; While they took counsel together against me, They schemed to take away my life. But as for me, I trust in You, Lord, I say, “You are my God.” My times are in Your hand; Rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me. Make Your face shine upon Your servant;
Save me in Your faithfulness. Let me not be put to shame, Lord, for I call upon You; Let the wicked be put to shame, let them be silent in Sheol. Let the lying lips be speechless, Which speak arrogantly against the righteous With pride and contempt. How great is Your goodness, Which You have stored up for those who fear You, Which You have performed for those who take refuge in You, Before the sons of mankind! You hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the conspiracies of mankind; You keep them secretly in a shelter from the strife of tongues. Blessed be the Lord, For He has shown His marvelous faithfulness to me in a besieged city. As for me, I said in my alarm, “I am cut off from Your eyes”;
Nevertheless You heard the sound of my pleadings When I called to You for help. Love the Lord, all His godly ones! The Lord watches over the faithful But fully repays the one who acts arrogantly. Be strong and let your heart take courage, All you who wait for the Lord.  Surely we can relate to what the psalmist says. There is terror on every side. There are conspiracies and schemes of people to take away our life. Wicked people with lying lips speak arrogantly against righteousness. In this time, the Lord might not yet silence them, but we can choose not to listen. In Isaiah 6:1-3 it says: In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”  Hebrews 4:13-16 says:  Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable. So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.  Rather than seeing from the world’s perspective, we can see from heaven’s. We can see the glory of God in all the earth when we look from the throne of grace; there we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

In You, Lord, I have taken refuge; Let me never be put to shame; In Your righteousness rescue me. Incline Your ear to me, rescue me quickly; Be a rock of strength for me, A stronghold to save me. For You are my rock and my fortress; For the sake of Your name You will lead me and guide me. You will pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me, For You are my strength. Blessed be the Lord, For He has shown His marvelous faithfulness to me in a besieged city. Love the Lord, all His godly ones! The Lord watches over the faithful But fully repays the one who acts arrogantly. Be strong and let your heart take courage, All you who wait for the Lord.   Amen.