306. The Seventh Word

Psalm 31, Luke 23:46, John 10:11-19

Key Verse: "Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit."

Psalm 31:5A & Luke 23:46B

Again, Jesus quotes a Psalm from His ancestor David to give more depth to His words than what appears on the surface. All of the Psalms that are referred to, (22, 69, 31), from the cross, appear to have been composed during the period of David's life when he was being pursued by King Saul. David's victory over Saul had not yet been obtained. God was continually showing Himself to David by delivering him from his enemies, but David was not experiencing peace. He knew that he was totally dependent upon God for wisdom and strength to meet another day.

Reference to these Psalms enhances our understanding of what our Lord endured for our sake. Tomorrow, we will devote an entire devotion to examining Psalm 22 because it depicts so clearly so much of the physical suffering our Lord endured in the crucifixion. Today, Jesus refers to Psalm 31, which allows us to see more clearly the mental anguish, rather than the physical, that our Lord experienced.

"Be merciful to Me, O Lord, for I am in distress; My eyes grow weak with sorrow, My soul and my body with grief." (Psalm 31:9) Jesus was in great sorrow as He hung on the cross. He had been betrayed and abandoned by those He had lived with and poured Himself into and now poured himself out for. He was sorrowful that sin had made such a mess of what He had wanted to have been so beautiful. When this world was made, and the garden created, it had not been created for this hideous ugliness.

"Because of all My enemies I am the utter contempt of my neighbors; I am a dread to My friends.  Those who see Me on the street flee from Me. I am forgotten by them as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery. For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side; they conspire against Me and plot to take My life." (Psalm 31:11-13) We've already experienced the mocking and ridicule of those around Him. It was a horrible day.

Yet, as David before, Jesus says: "I trust in You, O Lord; I say, "You are My God." (Psalm 31:14) Then, Jesus does what David could not do. He gives up His spirit to God. Many of us learned a bedtime prayer that goes, "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep." I learned a little while ago, that Jewish children learn a bedtime prayer too. "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." How perfect, that in that child's prayer, based on Psalm 31:5, Jesus speaks of complete trust in God, as in child like faith. And at the same time, demonstrates his own complete control over this situation. And the Jews who heard it, would all have marveled that he chose to say that prayer, in that moment.

The body is done with its suffering. Jesus, in total control, as always, now departs this wretched sacrifice. The price has been paid. The work is done. The enemy has lost and God has won. His life would not ebb away in defeat. He left in triumph to set the captives free. It doesn't look like triumph now, but it is. He chose this moment to depart, knowing that His work, on the cross, was done. He had told His disciples, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My life-only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down," (because I am God), "and authority to take it up again." (John 10:11 & 17-18) He is still in control.

Hymn:  “Man of Sorrows”