In the first two movements of Psalm 31 a crisis is first introduced and then explored a second time in greater depth. The tension and seemingly opposing ideas are expressed as the psalmist floats back and forth between confident reliance on Yahweh’s protection and desperate pleading for deliverance. But by the Psalm’s end, it resolves into an opus of confidence, proving God to be that which He is – a rock, refuge, and shelter in times of an enemy’s onslaught. The psalmist finds a way to dwell in the shelter of God’s presence even while his personal context offered him little reasonable hope for escape. He does this by first, finding an identity that is independent of his desperate circumstance, and second, surrendering to God instead of the despair. We can learn from this as we suffer troublesome or even hopeless circumstances: rather than try to find our own way out of our trouble, we ought to fully rely on and commit to God, who holds our time in His hand.
