Psalm 31

After working with my fellow Chinese brothers for a time, I’ve noticed that Psalms 31 uses the same structure that our Chinese brothers prefer to be taught. Instead of first giving the story or analogy followed with the punch line, Psalms 31 leans in with the bottom line “in thee O Lord, do I put my trust”, followed by the explanations. I’ve noticed that much of western teaching is the opposite, analogy first and punch line second. I currently do not know if that is of any grand significance now but it’s an observation in scripture I’ll be watching closer from here on out.

Psalms 31:1
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.
In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust;
let me never be ashamed:
deliver me in thy righteousness.

Here are the implications of the chapter:

1. I’ve made a decision to trust You Lord. V1
2. The decision I’ve made to trust you has lead me to rough times.
3. People slander my name and my choice to trust God. V13
4. I’ve chosen to obey you and it has put my life in danger, oppression, and persecution. V13-15
5. It’s in the Lord’s best interest to show all that those that trust Him will be taken care of. V3 “…for thy names sake…”
6. The Lord is willing to show that He is trustworthy, therefore He will deliver those that trust in Him. V23
7. Those who trust God may get knocked down, but they aren’t defeated. V22
8. God will not suffer the hope we have in Him to be ashamed. V17, 24

Love and loyalty are tied closely together. We can replace “faithful” in verse 23 with it’s synonym “loyal”. To love Him is to be loyal to Him, to show the faithfulness of a bride for her husband. We love The Lord with our choices more than we do with our emotions. Emotional displays of love are meaningless if there is infidelity. In fact The Lord finds outward displays of our affection insulting if it is not backed by loyalty. Isaiah 1:11-15

Psalms 31:23
O love the Lord, all ye his saints:
for the Lord preserveth the faithful,
and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.

Our faith and hope in the The Lord grows as we give Him more of ourselves to trust Him with.