Bible Passage: Psalm 31:5
Pastor: Michael Willitz
Sermon Date: March 24, 2021

Bulletin Lent 6th Midweek

Psalm 31:5

⁵ Into your hand I commit my spirit.
You have redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth.

Into the Father’s Hand
1. A stronghold for David
2. A stronghold for Christ
3. A stronghold for us

Dear fellow redeemed in Jesus Christ, our Savior,

I’m going to read some famous last words, and you can see if you know who spoke them just before death. Here’s the first set: “Have I played the part well? Then applaud as I exit.” Those were reportedly the last words spoken by Caesar Augustus. How about these? “Oh wow! Oh wow! Oh wow!” Those were the last words spoken by Steve Jobs before his death in 2011. Now see if you know these: “I’m bored with it all.” Those were the last words of Sir Winston Churchill.

There’s a way that people’s last words can capture our attention. We expect the last thing that a person utters in this life to be meaningful, to be consequential, to be deliberate. Have you ever considered what you would like your last words to be? Well today, we get to meditate on the last words of our Savior before he bowed his head and gave up his life. These were the dying words of Jesus of Nazareth: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit,” [Luke 23:46]. These words spoken by Jesus are more than just famous last words for a trivia game. These words of Jesus are a prayer of faith, spoken by the man who knew best of all where he could find refuge in the time of death. With these words, our Savior entrusted his spirit Into the Father’s Hand. Now, because of his faithful life and because of all that he suffered, we, too, can say this prayer of faith. In our living and in our dying, because of what Jesus has done, we, too, can commit our spirits Into the Father’s Hand.

Now this prayer that Jesus speaks comes from Psalm 31. Psalm 31 was written by Jesus’ ancestor, King David. We don’t know exactly when David wrote this psalm. We don’t know exactly what the circumstances were. But we know from the content of this psalm that as David wrote it, he recognized his need for a stronghold where he would be safe. David needed a stronghold where he could take refuge, and David was a man who knew a few things about strongholds. He was a soldier who on numerous occasions in his life needed cover and protection. When wicked King Saul pursued him, intent on putting him to death, the Scriptures tell us that David stayed in the strongholds of the wilderness, among the rocky hills and in hidden caves. Later in life, David had the opportunity to build up the stronghold where he would live as king. He captured Jerusalem, and then he fortified all the sides of the city, strengthening a stronghold in the mountains from which he could rule Israel.

But neither a cave in the wilderness nor a city in the mountains could serve as the stronghold David needed the most. He needed God to be his stronghold. So he prays to God in verse 2 of our psalm, “Be a rock where I take refuge, a fortified place that saves me,” [2]. David needed God to be his hiding place. He knew that no other fortress can compare to God. He knew the truth of the words that we sing in the hymn,

Children of the heavenly Father Safely in his bosom gather,
Nestling bird or star in heaven, Such a refuge ne’er was given. (CW 449:1)

David needed safety from God that no other stronghold could give him. He needed freedom from the chains of sin and guilt. He needed rescue from the icy grip of death. He needed a strong wall that could deflect darts and arrows not from physical enemies like Goliath and Saul, but from the devil and all his demonic forces. With such immense needs in view, David entrusts his spirit into the hand of a gracious and merciful God. He says, “Into your hand I commit my spirit. You have redeemed me, O LORD, the God of truth,” [5].

David uses the word redeem, which refers to buying someone back out of slavery or out of debt. Just God had redeemed Israel from slavery in Egypt with the blood of the Passover lamb, God would redeem David from sin, death, and the devil, with greater blood, from a greater Lamb. God would be the LORD for David, the covenant God of free and faithful grace. He would be the God of truth for David, a God who fulfills every promise he makes unlike powerless idols and fickle human friends. Even with his deepest needs, David knew he could rest securely bunkered in the strong hand of a gracious God.

It makes sense that this prayer of David became a common evening prayer among the Jews. When you are lying down to close your eyes and sleep, you need safety. You need protection. You need a stronghold around you, and the LORD, the God of Israel, is a stronghold far better than any security blanket or any security system. The Jews knew that their gracious God, who does not slumber or sleep, and to whom darkness is as light, was the one who could hold them safely through the night.

Jesus may have learned this prayer as a boy from Mary and Joseph. Before closing his eyes in sleep each night, he may have regularly said, “Into your hand I commit my spirit,” [5]. Whether or not that’s the case, we know he said this prayer on that Good Friday before he closed his holy eyes to fall asleep in death. He said this prayer on Good Friday, and when he did so, he addressed God as his Father.

Now, consider what trust your Savior must have to say this. He has been hanging on a cross for six hours. He has been forsaken by God. He has had all the anger of God over the sins of the world pressing down on him. Yet, he calls God his Father, and he entrusts his spirit into God’s hand. He relies on his Father to be a stronghold for him until the third day and then to redeem his body out of death. This is perfect trust displayed by your Savior, and it is the trust God credits to you for his sake. Instead of all our impatience with God at the slightest tinge of suffering, God sees his perfectly trusting Son when he looks at us, because Jesus has taken our sin and given us righteousness in return.

Therefore, as those redeemed from sin and from death and from the devil by the holy blood of Jesus, our Passover Lamb, we can take up this prayer. We can entrust our spirits Into the Hand of the Father. He is the God who has redeemed us at great cost, at the sacrifice of his Son. And he is the God of truth. You can review his track record and see that he has never let down his people, and when it comes to keeping his Word, he will not and cannot fail.

The mighty hand of this God is the stronghold that we need for the troubling times in which we live. Maybe you’ve been watching the news and you’re wondering if anyone out there has got a grip on anything. Well when it comes to humans, don’t hope for much. But, as Psalm 115 says, “our God is in the heavens. He does everything that pleases him,” [3]. You can entrust your spirit and all that you care about into his all-powerful hand. What good does it do to fret and to worry? What good does it do to scurry around from one failed solution to another? Rely on the LORD, who loves you, who gave his Son for you. Find freedom from worry in the stronghold of his hand. Martin Luther once said, “I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.” Entrust yourself and those you love and all that you love into God’s hand while you live.

And when the day comes, when finally you are staring death face to face, this prayer is God’s gift for you to pray then too. For Christ’s sake, you can say, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” You may even want to make those your last words on this side of the resurrection. And you know that your spirit could never have a greater stronghold – not in a castle, not in a bunker, not in a cave or a camouflaged hut in the forest. No one can snatch away the soul tucked safely in the Father’s hand [John 10:29]. He will keep you secure until the day of resurrection, when he will redeem your body from death and bring you into mansions never to be visited by any evil.

So hear the last words of Christ from his cross, and may they give you comfort and strength both for living and for dying. As David found his stronghold in the LORD, as Christ found his stronghold in the LORD, we, too, may find our enduring stronghold in the LORD. For Jesus’ sake, we may commit ourselves Into the Hand of the Father.

Amen.

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