463_Our times are in His hands
Psalm 31 In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
in your righteousness deliver me!
2 Incline your ear to me;
rescue me speedily!
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a strong fortress to save me!
3 For you are my rock and my fortress;
and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;
4 you take me out of the net they have hidden for me,
for you are my refuge.
5 Into your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.
14 But I trust in you, O Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in your hand;
rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!
16 Make your face shine on your servant;
save me in your steadfast love!
21 Blessed be the Lord,
for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me
when I was in a besieged city.
22 I had said in my alarm,
“I am cut off from your sight.”
But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy
when I cried to you for help.
23 Love the Lord, all you his saints!
The Lord preserves the faithful
but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.
24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the Lord!
There are moments in life when the weight of circumstances threatens to crush our spirit—when pain, confusion, or uncertainty press so heavily that we wonder if God has forgotten us. Perhaps you’ve been there. Perhaps you’re there now. In times like these, Psalm 31 becomes more than just ancient poetry; it becomes a lifeline.
Early in the 16th century, a German monk named Martin Luther—tormented by a deep awareness of his own sinfulness—began teaching through the Psalms, verse by verse, at the University of Wittenberg. One day, he came to Psalm 31:1, and he was perplexed. “In you, O Lord, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me!” Luther could not comprehend how God’s righteousness could deliver anyone. Wasn’t God’s righteousness the very thing that condemned sinners like him?
That inner struggle continued until one night in the monastery tower. As he wrestled with this psalm and read Romans 1:17—“For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed”—light finally broke into his soul. He realized that the righteousness spoken of in the gospel was not just God’s justice to punish, but God’s gracious gift of righteousness to those who put their faith in Jesus. It wasn’t something earned, but something received by faith. Luther later said that when he understood this, it was as though he had passed through open gates into paradise. That moment of clarity became the spark that ignited the Reformation. It began, as all true reformations do, in the heart.
Psalm 31, then, is not just a prayer; it is a place where people struggling with fear, failure, or faithlessness can find their footing again. Its words are not distant; they are intimate, personal, and real. David, the psalmist, was no stranger to stress, enemies, or sorrow. He knew what it was to be hunted, betrayed, slandered, and worn down. But more importantly, he knew God. He knew Him not as a concept or a tradition, but as a refuge, a rock, a fortress.
Psalm 31 is echoed in many other parts of Scripture, which shows how deeply it resonated with God’s people. The writer of Psalm 71—possibly David himself—quotes the first few verses of this psalm almost word-for-word. Jonah, praying from the belly of the fish, draws on its language. Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, repeats verse 13 several times in his own writings. The apostle Paul refers to verse 24 in his letter to the Corinthians. Most powerfully of all, Jesus Himself—dying on the cross—quotes verse 5: “Into your hands I commit my spirit.” Those were His last words before He surrendered His life to His Father. And Stephen, the first Christian martyr, echoed those words as he was stoned to death.
Why does this psalm echo through Scripture? Because it touches on something timeless and universal: the cry of the human heart for safety, for mercy, for assurance—and the discovery that God is faithful, even when everything else is falling apart.
As we move through this psalm, we sense the emotional turbulence David is facing. He begins, as he often does, with a plea: “Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily! Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me!” (verse 2). This is not a polite request; it’s the desperate cry of someone in crisis. David goes on to describe in painful detail his physical, emotional, and spiritual distress: “My life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing… my bones waste away” (verse 10). He speaks of being forgotten like a dead man, discarded like a broken vessel (verse 12).
But then—suddenly, gloriously—the tone changes.
“But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, ‘You are my God. My times are in your hand.’” (verses 14-15)
That line, “My times are in your hand,” holds the heartbeat of this entire psalm. It’s a simple statement, but profound in its implications. David is not simply saying that God knows what time it is. He’s saying that every detail of his life—his past, his present, and his uncertain future—is safely held by God. His times are not in the hands of his enemies, or of fate, or of blind chance. They are in the hands of a good, wise, and sovereign God.
It’s this quiet confidence that begins to steady him. He remembers the character of God. He reflects on God’s goodness: “Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you” (verse 19). He recalls how, in a moment of fear, he thought he had been abandoned: “I said in my alarm, ‘I am cut off from your sight.’” But he immediately adds, “But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy when I cried to you for help” (verse 22).
David’s situation doesn’t change immediately—but his heart does. And that, often, is the miracle we need most. The psalm closes with an invitation and a challenge: “Love the Lord, all you his saints! The Lord preserves the faithful… Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!” (verses 23-24). David is no longer just praying for himself; he is now encouraging others. Out of his pain comes a message of hope: wait for the Lord, trust His timing, and do not let your heart grow faint.
That brings us to the heart of our reflection today: our times are in His hands. When the future feels uncertain, when anxiety clutches our chest, when we’re tempted to believe that nothing good lies ahead—we need to remember this truth. God holds our times. He holds our today, with all its complexities. He holds our past, with all its failures and regrets. And He holds our future, with all its unknowns.
We are often tempted to panic when things don’t happen on our timetable. But God is not slow. His delays are not His denials. His silence is not His absence. He works in seasons, and His calendar is not the same as ours. What feels like a dead end may be the place He chooses to begin a new chapter. What seems like silence may be the moment He is preparing the answer. What looks like defeat may actually be the path to deeper trust and a greater miracle.
If we pause and look back, we may see glimpses of His faithfulness already. How many times has He carried us when we didn’t even realize it? How many doors has He opened—or kept closed—for our good? When we reflect on God’s track record, our faith for the future grows stronger. Remember what He said through the prophet Jeremiah: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). Those words were given to people in exile, people who had lost almost everything. But God had not lost them. He still had them in His hands.
And He has you, too.
So whatever season you find yourself in—whether it’s a time of joy or sorrow, clarity or confusion—anchor your heart in this unshakable truth: your times are in His hands. You do not need to fear the future, because He is already there. You do not need to carry the burden alone, because He invites you to cast it on Him. And you do not need to control what you were never meant to control.
Instead, love the Lord. Trust Him. Be strong. Take courage. Wait for Him.
He is not late. He is not distant. He is good—and your life, every detail of it, is safely in His hands.