“Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.”
Psalm 31:5
We give ourselves to God.
The Psalmist is going through a very difficult time. He surrenders to God, not out of resignation because he cannot change his situation, but because he has decided to trust Him. He remembers that the Lord delivered His people from bondage. He has personally experienced God’s care and knows that He will help him.
When Jesus died on the cross, He committed His spirit into the hands of His Father (Lk 23:46). Stephen did the same when he was stoned (Acts 7:59).
We commit our spirit in God’s hands.
Our spirit is unable to grasp God’s nature and activity. The Lord did not give Job an explanation. Jesus did not get an answer to His question, “Why have You forsaken Me?” God asks us to believe, meaning to trust Him, without necessarily seeing and understanding what He does.
We commit our lives in God’s hands.
In the Psalms, humankind’s spirit refers to their life. We believe in God’s love: He wants to lead us into His kingdom. That is why we have decided to remain in His hand, to follow Him no matter what:
- We trust in His power. The hand that created heaven and earth (Acts 7:49-50) can help us;
- God will fulfill the work of salvation that He has begun in us (Phil 1:6), no one can pluck us out of His hand (Jn 20:28);
- God is faithful. He does not allow us to be tested beyond what we can bear with His help (1 Cor 10:13).
We commit our soul in God’s hands.
We want to be ready for the Lord’s return and become like Christ. We place ourselves in God’s hands, we want him to shape us as the potter does with clay (Jer 18:6; Rom 9:21-23). Let us allow God to remove what needs to be removed and to change what needs to be changed in us. To shape us into the image of Christ, He uses first and foremost His word. But He can also use the trials we go through. He can turn evil into good (Gen 50:20), and He makes everything work for the good of those who are determined to remain with Him (Rom 8:28).
We are tools in God’s hands.
The prophets of the Old Covenant said that the Lord’s hand was upon them (Ezek 3:22), referring to the mission that the Lord had given them. Our election as children of God comes with a calling. We are called to be witnesses of Christ. Our mission is to proclaim the gospel in word and deed. We serve Christ by doing good to our neighbour (Mt 25:40). Let us fulfill this mission, in good times and bad!
Our days are in God’s hands.
Our time is in God’s hands (Ps 31:15). Not knowing when the Lord will return, we do not know how much time we have to prepare. It is therefore wise to do what He asks of us without delay!
We trust God, His word and love. We remain in His hand no matter what. We allow ourselves to be shaped by Him into the image of Christ. We serve Him and do without delay what He asks of us.