Psalm 31:9-16
G. Christopher Scruggs
Pastor, First Presbyterìan Church
Brownsville, Tennessee
"SHE WAS A BRILLIANT and talented executive. Her career was one of unbroken
success. Then, her immediate superior and mentor became involved in a power
struggle with another executive in the firm. She was lured into the battle. It
soon became obvious that her superior and his portages would lose both the
power struggle and, possibly, their positions.
Under the great pressure of the battle, she became depressed. She lost
weight and began to have health problems. Her marriage suffered. People in the
company who were once friendly began to stay away. When layoffs were an-
nounced, she realized her position would be eliminated. A once promising
career was in ruins.
At the depth of her anguish and depression, she cried out, Ό God, if you
are in heaven, deliver me from my enemies.' "
The Experience of Suffering
Few are those who, at one time or another, do not experience unexpected
and undeserved suffering. Suffering is a crucible of faith, from which it emerges
either broken or tempered like steel. It is the genius of psalms, and especially
individual prayers for help, that they enable Christians to indwell the suffering
of the psalmist and imaginatively experience the psalm as a personal address of
the living God who loves and cares for those who cry out in faith. By identifying
with the psalmist, a believer is given the opportunity to personally experience
that same assurance in the midst of suffering the psalmist experienced.
Psalm 31:9-16 is the psalm selection for Passion Sunday in all three years of
the lectionary cycle. As such, the church reads the psalm in light of the suffering
Jesus of Nazareth endured. For the Christian, the psalmist's suffering points to
the suffering and cross of One in whom all suffering is transformed and finds
meaning. Christ's suffering, like all human suffering, is endured without assur
ance of deliverance, but in trustful dependence upon God.
The psalm begins with a declaration of faith and request for deliverance (w.
1-2). The psalmist cries out the basis of the request for rescue: he or she is one
who has trusted in the God of Israel and has not worshipped idols. This section
contains the psalmist's confession of faith and plea, 'You are indeed my rock
and my fortress; for your name's sake lead me and guide me, take me out of the
net that is hidden for me, for you are my refuge" (w. 3-4).
There are times in life when believers reach the end of their natural sup-
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port structures: spouse, family, parents, friends, community, coworkers. At these
times, faith reaches out to the living God and declares her plea: "God, you are
the foundation of my life, and it is to you I look for deliverance."
The Cry of the Sufferer
In the second section, comprising verses 9-18, the psalmist details the depth
of his or her suffering. This suffering is physical, emotional, and spiritual. "Be
gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eye wastes away from grief, my
soul and body also. For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my misery, and my bones waste away" (w. 9-10).
The very life and being of the psalmist is threatened. The extent of the suffering
is so intense that the psalmist feels his or her life is distorted and ruined (v. 1).
There is no part of the narrator's person, physical, emotional, or spiritual, that is
not affected by the trial he or she undergoes. Life is closing in around the
psalmist and destruction, even death, are potential realities.
The life of faith often begins with, or is strengthened by, just such a cry.
"Deliver me from this abusive relationship." "Deliver me from this job, which
deprives my very life of meaning or dignity." "Deliver me from this battlefield,
where death lies close at hand." "Deliver me from this business reversal." "De-
liver me from the darkness of my life." For one who utters such a cry and is
delivered, there is no adequate refutation of the reality of the living God.
What if the cry seems to go unheard? What of life "between the times," after
the cry is voiced and heard, but before the requested deliverance? What if the
prayer is not answered or not answered in the way we desire? What comfort is
there for the one who suffers? How shall we react to the crisis and tragedy of
human suffering? The psalmist is in this position. He or she awaits deliverance.
The psalmist is one who suffers deeply. There is suffering beyond physical,
emotional, and spiritual suffering. There is also social ostracism. The psalmist is
a reproach to friend and foe alike (v. 11). The nature of this suffering is so in-
tense that the community tries to forget that he or she is alive (v. 12). He or she
is like a broken vessel: unfit to be remembered by those it served so long.
One who finds meaning in social position or success is always vulnerable to
the destiny of utensils of any type: they will all be worn out and thrown away,
even by those who valued them greatly during their useful life. For those who
experience this kind of loss there is deep pain and loss of meaning. Utilitarian
or social sources of meaning are inadequate for the human spirit. The psalmist
experiences a loss of all societal support, without which it is almost impossible to
sustain human life. Even in his or her home town, where one expects to be
greeted with friendly support, the psalmist is an object of dread. Those who pass
the sufferer on the street flee, lest they be contaminated with suffering. What-
ever meaning and purpose in life there is to be found in being part of a commu-
Interpretation 399
nity is gone. The failure of all Utopian, or merely communitarian, ideals is evi-
dent in the inability of social institutions to support those who suffer in ways that
expose the fragility of the community.
Suffering isolates a sufferer. There is something in all of us that flees from
contact with one who suffers. The sufferer appears lost to the service of God,
and even friends are afraid to join themselves to the sufferer's cause. (See Au-
gustine, "On the Psalms: Exegesis of Psalm 31" in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers
[Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994] 69.) The physical element of suffering is com-
pounded by its social result.
Finally, there is even a plot against the psalmist's life (v. 13). Whether or
not the narrator's expectation of imminent death is or is not realistic, the mere
fear of extinction can be devastating. Victor Frankel notes, "Those who know
how close the connection is between the state of mind of a man—his courage
and hope, or lack of them—and the state of immunity of his body will under-
stand that the sudden loss of hope and courage can have a deadly effect" (Victor
Frankel, Man's Search for Meaning [New York: Washington Square Books, 1984]
96-97). The psalmist is in such a situation. The threatening forces are of such
power that a sudden fear of death paralyzes the psalmist. The psalmist is driven
to the extreme of fear and depression.
People in every society experience sudden threats to life and livelihood.
Suddenly a spouse files for divorce; a business transaction brings us to the brink
of bankruptcy; a war causes our reserve unit to be called up for duty; the govern-
ment suddenly becomes hostile to our faith; an earthquake, storm, or natural
disaster strikes with terrifying suddenness. Ordinary life is forever changed or
threatened in the twinkling of an eye.
The Challenge of Faith
Despite the opposition of mighty foes and the threat of physical death, the
psalmist proclaims his or her trust in God (w. 14-15) and pleads for God's
mercy (w. 16-18). The cry of the psalmist is an existential confession of depen-
dence upon and trust in God (James L. Mays, Exegesis of Psalm 31, IBC [Louis-
ville: John Knox, 1994] 144). From this trustful reliance flows the confidence of
faith. Psalm 31 concludes with praise as the psalmist experiences the reassurance
of God's goodness and mercy with an anticipation of deliverance (w. 19-24).
The psalmist's passionate descent into the particularity of his or her own suffer-
ing and despair is finally transformed by a faith that conquers anxiety, doubt,
and despair. (See James E. Loder and W.Jim Neidhardt, The Knight's Move: The
Helational Logic of the Spint in Theology and Science [Colorado Springs: Helmers &
Howard, 1992].) God's power becomes the very ground and basis of the life and
existence of the psalmist.
The final movement for the psalmist, and for every believer, is one of faith.
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"But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, You are my God" (v. 14). If there is a value in
suffering, it is that it forces the believer to a choice: trust or despair. The proof
of faith is not found when life is easy and the requested deliverance received,
but "when, however fierce the waves are which beat against us, and however sore
the assaults by which we are shaken, we hold fast to this as a fixed principle, that
we are constantly under the protection of God, and can say to Him freely, 'Thou
art our God'" (John Calvin, "Psalm 31," Calvin's Commentanes, vol. 4 [Grand Rap-
ids: Baker Book House, 1993] 511). This trust in the steadfast, unconquerable
love and power of God results in the gift of a reconstituted existence—reconsti-
tuted on the basis of a faith which issues in praise for the living God in every
circumstance of life. The individual emerges from the crisis of faith no longer
reliant upon the shifting circumstances of personal health and achievement as a
basis for meaning and purpose. All finite ground for existence and meaning is
replaced by the infinite, by trust in the living God.
Christian Assimilation
Jesus suffered physically, mentally, and spiritually in a way that recalls
Psalm 31. The chief priest and elders of the people took counsel against him to
put him to death (Matt. 27:1). He was betrayed by his friend (John 18:2). His
soul was troubled unto death (Mark 14:34). He desired to be spared the suffer-
ing of the cross (Mark 14:36). His friends and allies deserted him (Luke 22:54).
His crucifixion entailed excruciating physical, mental, and emotional suffering.
He was mocked by his enemies and others (Mark 15:31-32). In the end, he even
experienced the absence of God as he cried out, "My God, My God, why have
you forsaken me?" (Matt. 27:46).
He was tried unjustiy and crucified. Yet, his final word is a word of faith
from Psalm 31: "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit" (Luke 23:46; Ps.
31:5). It is no wonder that the church sees in Psalm 31 Christ's suffering and
passion. As the early church reflected on the passion of Christ, it found in this
psalm abundant language that the community of faith could draw upon to ex-
press the meaning of the event. The church remembered that, at the moment of
his death, Christ viewed his suffering in light of the psalm, and so did the early
church.
The Trinitarian conviction that God suffered in the person of Jesus of
Nazareth means that all human suffering has been redeemed and transformed
by the presence of the living God. God has shared in the human experience of
loneliness, fear, anxiety, and despair. Human suffering is now transformed by his
spiritual presence and is divested of its power to deprive believers of meaning
and purpose. (See James E. Loder, The Transforming Moment [Colorado Springs:
Helmers & Howard, 1989] 120.)
Within the lectionary selection the psalmist does not see the deliverance of
Interpretation 401
God; nor did Christ's deliverance come on Passion Sunday—nor does the
believer's deliverance come on the Passion Sundays of life. The dark night of the
soul by which faith is purged and tempered permits no easy way out. There is an
Easter, but it follows Good Friday. The testimony of believers in all ages is that
there is hope and an assurance of faith, but all such hope is grounded on trust
in the reality of a loving God in the midst of the darkness of suffering and
death.
John 1:6-8, 19-28
Norman C. Theiss, Pastor
Christ Lutheran Church
Washington, DC
I F ADVENT IS THE SEASON to learn about the coming of the Christ, it is also the
season to learn what it means not to be the Christ. That is the lesson the Evange-
list John teaches us in John the Baptist.
The Evangelist portrays John the Baptist as the premier witness to the
Christ. Immediately after the stark, majestic poem portraying "the Word" "in the
beginning" who creates "life" that is the "light" (1:1-5), John is given the role of
the first, the leading, witness to the "light" (1:6-7). This is striking, since the
Father, Jesus himself (8:18), and the Spirit (15:26) bear witness to Jesus. With
such authoritative witnesses at hand, why would the Evangelist want to make
John the Baptist the lead witness in his Gospel?
The major clue as to why John's witness is so elevated lies in the Evangelist's
opposite concern to show the limits of John's work. The Evangelist is as em-
phatic about what John is not as he is about what John is. John is not the "Light"
(1:8). He is emphatically not the Christ (1:20), not even one of the heralds of
the Christ, like Elijah or the expected "prophet" (1:21). The powerful role that
John played in the early church can be detected in his statement, "It is necessary
(that is, it is God's purpose) that he (Jesus) increase, but I decrease" (free trans-
lation of 3:30). It would have been unnecessary for John to make such a remark
or for the Evangelist to include such a remark, unless some in the early church
thought that John's role was too great.
We have in the latest of the canonical Gospels a resolution of a major issue
in the early church, namely what to make of John the Baptist and his followers.
The composite picture of John that emerges from the various sources is coher-
ent and believable and helps us see why the Evangelist is so concerned to call
John the premier witness, but emphatically not the Christ. Therein lies a ser-
mon.
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