Psalm 31:1
1 To the chief Musician [natsach], A Psalm [mizmowr] of David
[David]
In thee, O LORD [Yahovah], do I put
my trust [chacah]; let me never ['al] [`owlam] be ashamed [buwsh]: deliver [palat] me in thy
righteousness [tsadaqah]. KJV-Interlinear
1 For
the choir director. A Psalm of David.
In
Thee, O Lord, I have taken refuge; Let me never be ashamed; In Thy
righteousness deliver me. NASB
This psalm is a prayer
for deliverance, expressed in terms of faith and confidence. It is addressed to the chief musician, ‘natsach,’
which refers to one who glitters from afar, a chief, someone eminent, a goal, a
bright object at a distance toward which a traveler is heading, truth,
confidence in travel, assurance of knowing where one is going. And it all points toward God, the personal
God, who is Jesus Christ.
The musician speaks of
music, and music portrays grace. As life
unfolds all around us, the music which is the grace of God, plays on, uninterrupted. Regardless of our circumstances, grace is
always there.
And when one pursues ones
spiritual life, and grows up then your knowledge and confidence develops such that
you know that you are doing the right thing.
With greater growth, you
develop greater confidence. With greater
confidence you lose any possibility of being ashamed of your beliefs in God, in
Christ, in doctrine, in your whole outlook on life.
With all of the anti-Christian
attitudes out there, especially in social peer pressure situations, it is easy
to be embarrassed or ashamed. But lack
of growth or knowledge and certainly lack of experience in life can easily lead
to embarrassment.
But pursuing a daily
study, day in and day out, builds up a defense against the mockings of the
world and the pressures that will try to turn you away from your spiritual
life.
We will all face
failures, and embarrassing situations, that will make it easy for people to
point at us and make fun, or mock, or gossip and so forth. But that is their problem, not yours.
The Bible never
guarantees you absolute success in everything that comes from this world. Quite
the opposite, the Bible warns us of the many hazards and disappointments that
will come from this world. Nothing from
this world is permanent, and nothing from this world edifies as doctrine does.
So, while the uninformed
and naïve make fun of you, they are really mocking at themselves for pursuing
nothing, as they presume that you are.
Righteousness, ‘tsadaqah,’
means objectivity, rightness, virtue, legitimate prosperity, justice. And that is what God gives to us through
doctrine. That is what you acquire
through the pursuit of your spiritual life, while the world pursues nothing and
no value, you pursue something of intrinsic value beyond imagination.
The world flips a coin
and gambles on heads or tails. You look
at doctrine and know with certainty and confidence, the ultimate outcome of
your entire life all the way into eternity.
