Series:
Psalm
Title: Commit
All into Christ’s Hand
Text:
Psalm 31: 1-8
Date:
November 9, 2017
Place:
SGBC, New Jersey
In Psalm
31, as we have seen in all the Psalms, this is Christ speaking—“Into thine hand I commit my spirit.” (Ps
31: 5) On the cross, our Substitutes last words were these—“And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice,
he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he
gave up the ghost.” (Lu 23: 46)
No doubt
David experienced the things he wrote here but this was not from or about David
alone. It was given by the Holy
Spirit concerning Christ—“Knowing this
first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For
the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” (2 Pet 1: 20-21)
Christ
did not only commend his spirit to the Father when he gave up the Ghost on the
cross. He did so all his days as he lived trusting the Father as the
representative of his people. We see it
most on the cross in the midst of his suffering.
What did
Christ mean when he said, “Into thy hand
I commit my spirit?” He meant what
he said in verse 1, “In thee, O LORD, do
I put my trust.” (Ps 31: 1) As a
Man, Christ committed the salvation of his spirit into God the Father’s hand
from his birth unto the death of the cross, trusting the Father perfectly as
the Head of his people.
As the
Substitute of his people, he humbled himself and served the Father in perfect
faithful unto the death of the cross. He
redeemed his people from the curse of the law on the cross by being made a
curse for us. As he did so, he did it as the one Faithful Head depending
entirely upon God the Father in place of his people.
Proposition:
As the Head of his people, Christ faith in the Father—like his righteousness
and his holiness—is that by which his people are saved.
Let’s
look at these first five verses and see how fully Christ committed his spirit
to the Father in perfect faith and let’s see what it is for us to do so.
NEVER LET ME BE ASHAMED
Psalm 31: 1: In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust;
let me never be ashamed
Christ
committed his spirit into the hand of the LORD trusting the LORD would never
let him be ashamed for doing so.
The faith
of Christ did not look to himself or his works or his will. He trusted his God
alone—“In thee, O LORD, do I put my
trust.”
Nor did
he trust in the lying vanities of sinners in this world. We are in a terrible
time in this country—in this world. I
suppose every generation has considered theirs to be the worse. Ungodly worldly men recognize it but their
solution is to look to ungodly worldly man to fix it. Their solution is to “regard lying vanities. ”These days they
are making some good speeches about love and unity. And it is so easy for a
believer to hear emotional speeches and for a moment get caught up in it. But the faith of Christ was so perfect he did
not look to himself, to his will, to his works and never to this world for any
help. He says in verse 6: “I have hated
them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the LORD.” Sinner, never look to this world. To do
so is to regard lying vanities. And Christ those who regard lying vanities.
Christ
trusted the LORD to make good on his covenant promise to never make him ashamed
for trusting the LORD—“In thee, O LORD,
do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed.”
Romans 10:11: For the scripture saith, Whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
God the
Father did not make him ashamed. He fulfilled every covenant promise to Christ
his Son just as God promised in the everlasting covenant of redemption. Let us remember, this when we see Christ
raised. God never makes his believing child ashamed for trusting him. We see it
first and foremost in his Son. Christ trusted the Father and the Father did not
make him ashamed for doing so. So first,
to commit our spirit into Christ’s hand is to trust him to never let us be
ashamed just as he trusted the Father.
DELIVER ME IN THY RIGHTEOUSNESS
Psalm 31: 1: In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust;…deliver
me in thy righteousness
Christ committed
his spirit into the hand of the LORD by trusting the LORD to deliver him
according to God’s righteousness.
The Son
of God came to fulfill all righteousness for God and his people. In everything he did in his public ministry,
Christ was fulfilling all righteousness in this earth, especially on the cross. At his baptism, he told John the Baptist,
“Thus it behoves us to fulfill all righteousness.”
By the
faith of Christ, he declared the righteousness of God, fulfilling the law apart
from the works of his people. He is the one the law bears witness of as the
perfect, righteous law Fulfiller.
Romans 3: 20: Therefore by the deeds of the law there
shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of
sin. 21: But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being
witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22: Even the righteousness of God which
is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there
is no difference: 23: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
By the
faith of Christ, he declared the righteousness of God in carrying out justice
and justifying his people.
Romans 3: 24:
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus: 25: Whom God hath set
forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his
righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance
of God; 26: To declare, I say,
at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him
which believeth in Jesus.
But in
order to declare the righteousness of God, he had to be separated from the God
he trusted. Justice required Christ our
Sin-bearer be forsaken by the justice of God alone on the cross in order to
satisfy justice and justify his people. Justice
required he die and be buried in a tomb where sinners suffer corruption in
place of his people. So Christ had to
trust the Father to deliver him according to his righteousness.
Believer,
our faith is tried by God and we face a lot of difficult trials but our faith
never has to be separated from God under the wrath of divine justice. That
should show us how that Christ’s Faith is the faith by which we are saved.
But where
did Christ’s faith rest? Christ’s faith rested in the fact that God is
righteous—“deliver me in thy
righteousness.” God delivered Christ in God’s own righteousness because Christ
fulfilled all Righteousness and is God’s Righteousness. It would have been
unjust to leave our conquering Righteous Redeemer in the grave. So we see God is Righteous. He only does
right!
Now, as
sinners, the only way we will delivered in God’s righteousness—establishing his
law perfectly in righteousness—is by believing on Christ, committing all into
his care, trusting him to deliver us in his righteousness.
Romans 3: 30: Seeing it is one God, which shall justify
the [Jew] circumcision by faith, and [Gentile] uncircumcision through faith.
31: Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, [through faith
in Christ] we establish the law. [to show us that is what he means in uses
Abraham] 4: 1: What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to
the flesh, hath found? 2: For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath
whereof to glory; but not before God. 3: For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed
God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Believe
on Christ and God shall deliver you in Christ Jesus his Righteousness. So
secondly, committing our spirit into God’s hand is to trust him to deliver us
in Christ his Righteousness.
BOW DOWN THINE EAR TO ME
Psalm 31: 2: Bow down thine ear to me;
deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save
me. 3: For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name’s sake lead
me, and guide me. 4: Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me:
for thou art my strength.
Christ committed
his spirit into God’s hand by trusting the Father to hear him, to deliver him,
to be his rock, to lead and guide him.
We see
how far down Christ condescended to save God’s elect. He came down so far that
he asked God his Father to bow down to hear him—“Bow down thine ear to me.”
We live
in a world full of arrogant, proud, haughty sinners—none so much as the
religious world. And sadly, we have a
sin-nature that is proud. But God does not condescend to hear haughty arrogant
sinners.
James 4:6…Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud,
but giveth grace unto the humble.
Isaiah 66: 2..[thus saith the LORD: but to this man will I
look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and
trembleth at my word.
The
humble Man, the Man poor and of a contrite spirit that trembles at God’s word, to
whom God looks to build his house is Christ, the GodMan. Did Christ save his
people in pride and arrogance? No, he did so in perfect humility.
Philippians 2: 5: Let this mind be in you, which was also
in Christ Jesus: 6: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be
equal with God: 7: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the
form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8: And being found in
fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross. 9: Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him,
Christ
highly exalted God by humbling himself in perfect obedience. Wherefore God also
hath highly exalted him.
Philippians 2: 9:…and given him a name which is above
every name: 10: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in
heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11: And that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father.
In
humbling himself so lowly, trusting the Father, Christ praised and exalted God
highly. He exalted God highly with these words—“be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me. For thou
art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide
me. [you Father] Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for
thou art my strength.”
By exalting
Christ to such high honor, God proved that God
is our Rock in Christ our Rock; God
is our Fortress in Christ our Fortress; Christ
is his name’s sake by and for whom he gives Christ to lead and guide his
weak believing child. When God pulled
Christ out of the net that his
enemies laid for him, he pulled all his people out of the net of our
enemies.
So Christ
further exalted and praised the Father for delivering him—Psalm 31: 7: I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast
considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities; 8 And hast not shut me up into the hand of the
enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room.
Do you
see what God means when he says through James that “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” Committing our spirit into Christ’s hand
is—not to exalt ourselves in bombastic pride and boasting of our faith. It is to humble ourselves, casting all our
care on Christ, trusting Christ to exalt us in his time even as Christ highly
exalted God by humbling himself. God exalted him in God’s time and Christ will
exalt us in his time.
1 Peter 5: 5:…Yea, all of you be subject one to another,
and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to
the humble. 6: Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that
he may exalt you in due time: 7: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth
for you.
Believer,
it is not the quality or quantity of our faith by which we are saved—it is the
object of our faith Christ Jesus. His Faith was Perfect. Christ committed the
keeping of his spirit to the LORD and never looked elsewhere. So true God-given
faith trusts the perfect faith of Christ by whose ability we are kept and
saved.
2 Timothy 1:12 For
[Christ’s] cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for
I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that
which I have committed unto him against that day.
Amen!