In God's Hands, Part 1

In God’s Hands, Part 1

Psalm 31:1-16[1]

I would say that we who live in this society are accustomed to the idea that our lives are in our own hands. Many of us have been raised on the creed of individualism: hard work and independence. Others have embraced a more collaborative approach to life. They work in teams and believe that they accomplish more together than they can separately. Whether we are “rugged individualists” or “team players,” we all still seem to assume that “you only live once,” and what we get out of life is what we put into it. We assume that our lives are in our own hands.

Our Scripture lesson from the Psalms presents us with a different approach to life, one based on trusting God with all of life. The whole idea of trusting in God implies, as the Psalmist expresses, that the course of our lives is out of our hands. Our lives are in God’s hands (Ps. 31:15).^[2] Recognizing this truth is at the heart of what it means to trust in God. More than that, it means entrusting all that we are, all that we have, all that we are concerned about, all those we love, into God’s care. And the Scriptures teach us that God’s care is infinite and unfailing. 

I think this may explain why Jesus could look an excruciating death squarely in the face and pray “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Lk 23:46, quoting Psalm 31:5). In spite of the circumstances, we shouldn’t be surprised that Jesus prayed that prayer at the end of his life. Trusting God was the main focus of his whole life. When we think about the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made for us on that Friday so many years ago, I think we have to recognize that what enabled him to go through with it was his trust that the God into whose hands he had entrusted his whole life would be with him in his darkest hour.

  A faith like that seems to me to be the highest expression of trust. It’s not easy to look at our lives, at all that we are, all that we have, all those we love, and essentially let go of it all by placing it into God’s hands. But that was the kind of faith that Jesus modeled for us throughout his life. It was that kind of faith that enabled him to live out the prayer “Into your hands I commit my very life” (Ps. 31:5, NIrV).  And it was that kind of faith that enabled him to face the prospect of making the final sacrifice with the prayer, “not my will, but thine be done.”  As we seek to deepen our trust in God, Jesus’ commitment stands for us as the defining example for our own faith. It challenges us all to give up thinking that our lives are in our own hands, and instead to entrust our lives, our whole lives, into God’s hands.

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[1] ©Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm on 4/5/2020 for Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.

[2] cf. James L. Mays, Psalms, 144: “In the mouth of Jesus [this] sentence is surely a profound interpretation of his entire life.”