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Psalm 31:5 Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, God of truth.

David is so confident in the Lord, in His strength and His love, that he can commit his spirit into the hand of God. He can entrust himself into God’s hands because He has redeemed him already and He is a God of Truth. He knows he can count on the truthfulness of His promise to deliver, protect, and care for him. He has done it before and he knows He will do it again. No matter what threats the Enemy makes or what troubles the World brings he believes he can surrender himself to the safekeeping of the trustworthy God who loves him.

We also can commend ourselves to the hands of God for safekeeping and tender care. We do so every night and every morning. And often during the day we pray for the Lord to “deliver us from evil.” He will deliver us from harm to body and soul and finally take us from this vale of tears to Himself in heaven.

Jesus on the cross commended His spirit into the hands of His Father. And look what happened: He rose again in victory. Our response to the Gospel is the faith to surrender to the Lord. In place of trusting in our own prideful self, we give it to God.

Psalm 31:1-2 In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness. Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for a house of defense to save me.

David is often in trouble and danger, and just as often he places his trust in the Lord. And so he prays a prayer of faith, believing the Lord will hear and answer. God will deliver. He knows he will not be disappointed for trusting in the Lord. God will not let him down. The Lord knows the need and trouble we are in, and He will respond to our prayer, to save us. When we pray we are talking to a “strong rock and a house of defense.” We pray to our father “in heaven.” He can and he will deliver and save us from the enemies that would destroy us.

It is with this kind of faith and trust that we can pray to and expect answers from this kind of God. We stand on the strong rock of the love of God in Christ when we believe the gospel. We hide in the house of defense, covered by His presence, and protected by His care. We trust Jesus to deliver us from evil.

Psalm 30:12 To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee forever.

God has turned glory into dancing and clothed David with gladness, with the purpose that his soul would sing praise and give thanks. Praise and thanksgiving are constant features of the believer’s daily life, since the Lord has made us glad all our days through the Gospel. And He always hears and answers our prayers. Therefore, we are always singing praise and giving thanks.

God is so good and kind all the time that we cannot help but respond with thanks and praise. Our life becomes one of gladness and thanksgiving. The added thought expressed here is that, not only all our days on earth, but also forever will we be thanking God. Think about it. Not a day will pass in eternity without us singing praises to God for His goodness and thanking Him for His mercies. What a joyful way to live eternally. We will never have enough time in eternity to properly thank God for His goodness and grace, His kindness and mercy, in giving us His Son. I cannot be silent; thank God!

Psalm 30:8, 10 I cried to thee, O Lord; and unto the Lord I made supplication….Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me: Lord, be thou my helper.

David was constant and instant in developing a close relationship with the Lord, praying at any time and all the time, and turning his attention to God. When needs arise our first response is to pray, and we still pray and praise even when we don’t sense a need. The Lord is always on our mind, close by, and so talking to God is our immediate response to life’s problems.

Prayer assumes trust in God to hear, have mercy, and help. We pray about anything, cry to Him in need instead of crying in self-pity, and make our requests known to Him on a daily basis. Because of what God has done for us in Christ Jesus, we know He hears us, has mercy on us, and comes to be my helper. We cry and pray because we believe in His ability (He is Almighty) and His willingness (He is Love) to hear and to help. Life is hard enough (because of Sin), but life is so much better with Jesus nearby to be our Helper. We respond to daily life by admitting we need help and by believing that He helps us. In such faith we pray: “Heavenly Father, hear us in Jesus’ name, have mercy and help.”

Psalm 30:6 And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.

Both good times and bad times hold within them the ability to tempt us to turn away from faithfulness to the Lord. During troublous and worrisome times we are tempted to give up on God. During prosperous and happy times we are tempted to ignore God and live like we don’t need Him.

But we resolve in our hearts that we shall never be moved away from trust and faithful worship of the Lord, and that we will not be shaken from the foundation of a loving relationship with God. Because of His goodness and mercy toward us we promise to be firm and faithful. The Word and the Spirit shows us the dangers of forgetting God in prosperous times.

Therefore, we hear Law and Gospel often enough to keep us on the narrow path and go in the right direction. So we pray without ceasing, thank and praise Him constantly, and give Him glory and credit for the blessings we enjoy. And we need constant reminders of the Gospel. By grace we stand firm in the faith of Christ and nothing, neither bad times nor good times, shall move us off it. “For I am sure that neither death nor life (weal or woe)…will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord [Romans 8:38-39].”

Psalm 30:4 Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

Our response to God’s grace and goodness is to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual song, making melody in the heart to the Lord. It is natural to sing unto the Lord when Christians gather in His name, and we sing in our hearts throughout the day. God gave us the gift of music that we might praise the Lord regularly.

And we give thanks always when we remember His holiness, power, and love, and particularly when we remember that because of Christ God has shared His Life, Love, and Holiness with us. We thank Him for eternity, and even that is not enough time to properly remember Him. To remember is to call to mind something from the past, like the death and resurrection of Christ, and make it active and effective in the present. Remembering by faith makes it real today, and we cannot repress our thankfulness. Singing aids our faithful thanksgiving.

Psalm 30:1-2 I will extol thee, O Lord; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.

David’s response to the Lord’s care, protection and healing is to extol Him. He enlarged God and made Him big in his own mind and thought. God is already a huge almighty giant, but extolling Him brings our own mind to match up to the greatness and grandeur of God.

We extol the Lord for lifting us up and for overcoming our enemies, sin, death, and the devil, once, continually, and forever. We make Him as big as He actually is, even though our thoughts are not His thoughts. It will take all eternity for us to comprehend how long, deep, and wide is the love of God. But meanwhile, we lift Him up because He has lifted us up to be seated with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Extolling Him places us there with Jesus.

We also praise Him because He has heard my cries and prayers. For He has healed, saved, delivered, rescued, and set me on high. When I am weak and needy and troubled I cry to my big God and He hears me. And I will never stop praising and thanking Him for being my Father who art in heaven for His is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.

Psalm 29:1-2 Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, give unto the Lord glory and Strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

David responds to God, and encourages us to respond, by giving Him glory and worship. This response is expected to be a daily and constant response to God’s presence and love in our lives, for God is always good and His mercy endures forever.

God is glorious in Himself and possesses glory all the time, and it is not something He can receive from us. So we don’t actually “give” glory to God as something He lacks or needs. But we need to recognize it and acknowledge for ourselves that the Lord is always all-glorious. When we believe it we feel better.

Glory is the outward evidence and shining forth of inner character. Blinding glory is the radiant beaming of the love of God. We see it gloriously evident at the cross and we hear it powerfully revealed in the Gospel. We thankfully receive brilliant love and holiness of God by faith in Jesus. And we give Him glory, thanks, praise, and worship for His indescribable gift of grace and forgiveness. The outcome of giving glory to God is that it lifts our spirit and we feel better.

Brilliance is seen in the Transfiguration, and the dazzling glow of undeserved kindness is seen at the cross. We respond by giving glory, praise, and worship to the awesome beauty of holiness all of our life in word and deed.

Psalm 28:7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

Because the Lord is my strength and my shield I can respond to that truth with heartfelt trust. The outcome of His grace and my God-given faith is that I am helped. He helps me in my need and weakness. I am weak, but He is strong. He is able to help, and I believe it with all my heart.

My response to His gracious hearing and powerful caring is that I am filled with joy and I greatly rejoice. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit and a hallmark of the Christian’s life. We can constantly rejoice in Lord for He is always there to help. This inner joy leads us to praise Him always with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, making melody in our hearts unto the Lord. Thanksgiving expresses itself in joy and praise for His present help. We know it from the Gospel of Love and Salvation. The Spirit generates a life of rejoicing and grateful praise. We live in Him for He lives in us.

Psalm 28:1-2 Unto thee will I cry, O Lord my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit. Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.

David is ever attentive to the Lord in his life, and especially does he respond to need by crying unto the Lord. He gives voice to his needs and expects the Lord to hear him. He lifts up hands in a posture of praise and reaching out for help. He praises and prays to the holy sanctuary, the place where God dwells. Today God dwells in our hearts by faith, and that where we cry and lift up hands.

If the Lord does not help him he would go down to the pit (go to hell). The Lord is his only hope for help and salvation. If the Lord should fail him, he would be lost forever. But he trusts the Lord, turns to Him, cries out, and lifts up holy hands of praise and supplication toward the holy place where God dwells.

We do the same: turn to the Lord in need, cry unto Him, and lift up hands. And if the Lord does not help we are in deep trouble. We turn to God as first resort, not last. And the Lord does hear our cry and help us in our need. We will not go down to the pit.