Psalm 31:16,17 – “Crying Out”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹⁶Cause to shine Your faces upon Your servant. Save me in Your love. ¹⁷YHVH, do not let me be ashamed because I have called on You.

In these verses, David is still reeling from the “catalog of miseries” he enumerated in vv9-13. The context is still about living in a very difficult world, but like us, David has the wonderful resource of turning his eyes to the Lord and praying down His blessings even in the midst of this very difficult life.

David apparently had many people around him who hated him and worked actively to ruin him. I hope and pray that is never the case in my life -- and that certainly isn’t true for me now, but I feel very keenly David’s every word because I still have an enemy who I am very aware works relentlessly to destroy me and everything I love. David said of him in Ps. 143:3, “The enemy pursues me, he crushes me to the ground; he makes me dwell in darkness, like those long dead; so my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is stunned.”

Looking at life, I can’t find anywhere words that more clearly describe the difficulties I feel just living. I have an enemy who is constantly trying to crush me. The word in Ps. 143 translated “pursues me” is the picture of a bloodhound on my trail. But here is the good news: I have a God who is far greater and loves me! And so, with David, I will turn to Him. In v.16, David calls out very precious words, “Make Your face to shine upon me!” They are precious because they are actually taken directly from what we call the Aaronic Benediction. This is very specifically the benediction which the Lord gave to Aaron and the Jewish priesthood as a prayer of blessing on the people. It is found in Numbers 6:22-26:

The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:

The Lord bless you and keep you;

The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.’”

This benediction is particularly precious to me as I have often prayed it over my family. I noticed early in life that one of Job’s habits was to rise up early and offer sacrifices for his children (1:5). It says, “This was his regular custom;” and so I resolved often to do the same, to pray down the very words of this benediction on my family. I believe these are very powerful words – a blessing which perfectly expresses our hearts, but coming originally from His.

And so, as I read v.16, my heart is warmed by the very words, “Make Your face to shine upon Your servant.” I desperately need Him to do that for me today. I need Him to do that in my family today. We need Him to do that in our world today.

Then David says, “Save me in Your love.” “Save” is once again derived from the same Hebrew word from whence we get the name “Jesus.”  It was true then, even in the Old Testament, that saving was a Jesus-work! Our God is a saving God. When the Word became flesh, His name was to be Jesus “for He shall save His people from their sins.” Of course the saving is not only the work of rescuing us from an eternal hell, but it is also the on-going, daily, minute-by-minute work of delivering us from evil, of delivering us from ourselves, of forming Jesus in us.

It is also true that, even in the Old Testament, saving was a love-work. “Save me in Your love,” is David’s plea. “For God so loved the world …” “God is love.” Even in the Old Testament, David could say, “Because Thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise Thee,” (Ps. 63:3). It is so important that we see that this relationship we have with God is a love relationship. If it’s anything other than that, anything less than that, then we’re selling ourselves short. Especially when we have an enemy who hates us and works relentlessly to ruin us, it is essential to know this God who loves us – this One who loved me and gave His life for me. He alone is my shelter in the storm!

Then David adds again the words I already extolled back in v.1: “Let me not be put to shame.” I said back there, this is something I desperately pray for. I noted then that this is stated elsewhere as a promise: “He who takes refuge in Me will never be put to shame,” and that I was going to live my life claiming that promise. I’d like to report that the Lord has and continues to keep that promise to me. As my heart scans around my life, I see so many places where I could fail miserably and, if I let it, it can fill me with fear; but, while I myself may very well fail, I have a God. David says, “Because I have cried out to You.” “Let me not be ashamed, because I have cried out to You.”

I want to live my life “crying out to God.” Jesus said, “Without Me you can do nothing.” He didn’t say, “Little.” He said, “Nothing.” Without Him we can do nothing. And so, we sing, “I Need Thee Every Hour.” As I go to work, I need to be aware I can do nothing and be crying out to God to help me. As I talk to my wife, as I plant my garden, as I speak with the cashier at the grocery store, I need the Lord to help me think right, and speak right, and do right. I need Him to make me succeed, not fail, at whatever it is He has for me to do. I will continue to claim this promise, “He who takes refuge in Me will never be ashamed,” and I want to be able to say, “Because I have cried out to You.” I have … and I will. Lord help me to.

Yes, David lived in the same kind of world you and I live in. He had an enemy … and so do we. But we have a God named Jesus who loves us and gave Himself for us. May He be to us our Shield and our Exceeding Great Reward even in a very difficult world!