Sermon – Psalm 31 – My Rock and My Fortress

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Beaver Dam and Pitts Creek Churches

Sermon – Psalm 31 – My Rock and My Fortress

May 18, 2014

People have used the Book of Psalms for thousands of years to learn how to pray. Even Jesus prayed using the psalms. One of the psalms he prayed while suffering on the cross was Psalm 31. We too can turn to this psalm when we seem to be facing insurmountable obstacles and we need a rock and a fortress. We will get to this, but first let's pray.

“Lord Jesus, as I serve you this day, let not my heart be troubled. Help me to believe with conviction that you are with me, and I am in you, and you are in God. Amen.”¹

Christians today are being persecuted in Syria. As that country is torn apart in civil war Christians are being forced to convert to Islam. “Sister Raghad, the former head of the Patriarchate School in Damascus, who currently resides in France, told Vatican Radio how she personally witnessed jihadi rebels terrorize Ma‘loula, including by pressuring Christians to proclaim the shehada—Islam’s credo that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger—which, when uttered before Muslim witnesses transforms the speaker into a Muslim, with the death penalty for apostasy should the convert later “renege” by returning to Christianity. According to the nun, those Christians who refused to embrace Islam were killed in atrocious and violent ways that cannot be described. If you want examples, they crucified two youths in Ma‘loula for refusing to proclaim Islam’s credo, saying to them: “Perhaps you want to die like your teacher [Christ] whom you believe in? You have two choices: either proclaim the shehada or else be crucified.” One of them was crucified before his father, whom they also killed.”²

Christians are suffering in this world. And whenever this happens the church turns to Psalm 31. Let's join in.

Psalm 31:1-24 In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. ² Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me. ³ Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me. ⁴ Free me from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge. ⁵ Into your hands I commit my spirit; redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth.

Here we have a prayer of someone who is suffering. Maybe someone is suffering from a serious illness. Maybe someone is suffering from severe loneliness. Maybe someone is suffering from a threat or persecution or imprisonment. Whatever it is, the person praying is one of great faith and so complains to God about it. Deliver me. Listen to me. Save me. Redeem me. We pray to God at times like these because God is in control. Our suffering happens with God's will. God knows it will happen before it does. Only God can help us. And so believers for thousands of years have taken their complaints to God. Let's listen to the complaint of the psalmist.

⁹ Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief. ¹⁰ My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak. ¹¹ 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. ¹² I am forgotten by them as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery. ¹³ For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side; they conspire against me and plot to take my life.

^{There is no easy answer for any of this. The question, “Why does God allow the pious to suffer?” goes unanswered. It seems to go against God's good and gracious will. God's behavior is too difficult for us to understand. But even in our apparent hopelessness God remains our only hope and to him we address our complaints in prayer. Let's go back to the psalm.}

¹⁴ But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God." ¹⁵ My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me. ¹⁶ Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love. ¹⁷ Let me not be put to shame, O LORD, for I have cried out to you;

So even in the midst of our questions and doubts we turn to God. We ask God why he forgives the guilty while allowing the innocent to suffer. We remind God of his promises. We remind him of his previous blessings. We remind God of his desire that his name be honored. We ask God for help. And we wonder when it will come. There is no good answer for this in the psalms. Our only answer is Jesus Christ, because he is the one who prayed this prayer for us as he suffered on the cross. Listen again.

¹⁹ How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you. ²⁰ In the shelter of your presence you hide them from the intrigues of men; in your dwelling you keep them safe from accusing tongues. ²¹ Praise be to the LORD, for he showed his wonderful love to me when I was in a besieged city. ²² In my alarm I said, "I am cut off from your sight!" Yet you heard my cry for mercy when I called to you for help.

^{When we experience suffering we pray to Jesus Christ, who knows all about suffering and so understands what we are experiencing. But Jesus does far more than just listen to our prayers. He is with us as we take these prayers to God. There is no suffering on earth where Jesus is not suffering with us and praying with us. So whenever we suffer we can trust in Jesus. Jesus Christ is faithful and will stand with us in our suffering. Without Christ all we have is ourselves. With Christ we have great confidence because God has entered into our own suffering. So what should we do when we suffer. Let's go back to the psalm.3}

²³ Love the LORD, all his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful, but the proud he pays back in full. ²⁴ Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.

So be filled with trust and confidence that Christ is with us in our suffering. We are free to love the Lord. We are strengthened and filled with hope. And our hope is in the resurrection when God will create a new earth where all suffering will one day come to an end. Let's pray.

O Lord, we pray for all Christians experiencing suffering. We pray for the Christians in Syria who are being forced to convert to Islam. We pray for the Christian school girls in Nigeria who were kidnapped and forced to convert. We ask that you confront this evil and protect the faithful wherever they are. This we pray in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

1Kimberly Long, Feasting On the Word Worship Companion (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2013), 156.

2http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/christians-crucified-again-for-refusing-islam-4/

3Sermon drawn from: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Psalms: the Prayer Book of the Bible (Minneapolis, MN: Augsberg Fortress, 1974), 46-49.