Father, Into Your Hands I Commend My Spirit
Scripture — Psalm 31:3-5 (NRSV)
You are indeed my rock and my fortress;
for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,
take me out of the net that is hidden for me,
for you are my refuge.
Into your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God.
Focus
In the season of Lent, including Holy Week, we reflect on our lives, our world, our troubles, our fears, and our sin. But we also reflect on Jesus and the meaning of his life, especially his death and resurrection. In such a time as this, I find Jesus’s quotation of Psalm 31 to be particularly relevant, encouraging, and challenging. Though I will do my best to guard my well-being and that of my family, colleagues, friends, and neighbors, in the end, I will pray as did Jesus, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Jesus claimed my life long ago and I belong to him. So, once again I entrust myself to the God who redeemed me from sin and death, from a life of shallow selfishness and bondage to sin. My life is the Lord’s and I give God my life once again. I invite you to do the same.
This devotion is part of the Psalms for Lenten Devotion series.
Devotion
In the Gospel of Luke, the last thing Jesus says before he dies on the cross is “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46). This was the second time Jesus prayed by quoting one of the Old Testament psalms. Earlier, Jesus used Psalm 22, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” to express his anguish. Moments later, he borrowed from Psalm 31, which comes to us from Luke as “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”
On an obvious level, Jesus was putting his post-mortem future in the hands of his Heavenly Father. It was as if he was saying, “Whatever happens to me after I die is your responsibility, Father.”
But when we look carefully at the Psalm Jesus quoted, we see more than what at first meets our eyes. Psalm 31 begins with a cry for divine help:
In you, O LORD, I seek refuge;
do not let me ever be put to shame;
in your righteousness deliver me (31:1).
But then the psalm mixes it up by asking for God’s deliverance with a confession of God’s strength and faithfulness:
Into your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God (31:5).
By the end, Psalm 31 offers praise for God’s salvation:
Blessed be the LORD,
for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me
when I was beset as a city under siege (31:21).
By quoting a portion of Psalm 31, therefore, Jesus not only entrusted his future to his Father, but also implied that he would be delivered and exonerated. Jesus surely knew the full truth of Psalm 31, so he understood that God would deliver him, not from death by crucifixion, but beyond this horrible death. “Into your hand I commit my spirit” points back to the familiar suffering of David in Psalm 31 and forward to the resurrection of Jesus. Thus, the final word of Jesus from the cross foreshadows the coming victory and joy of Easter.
In the season of Lent, including Holy Week, we reflect on our lives, our world, our troubles, our fears, and our sin. But we also reflect on Jesus and the meaning of his life, especially his death and resurrection. In such a time as this, I find Jesus’s quotation of Psalm 31 to be particularly relevant, encouraging, and challenging. Though I will do my best to guard my well-being and that of my family, colleagues, friends, and neighbors, in the end, I will pray as did Jesus, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Jesus claimed my life long ago and I belong to him. So, once again I entrust myself to the God who redeemed me from sin and death, from a life of shallow selfishness and bondage to sin. My life is the Lord’s, and I give God my life once again. I invite you to do the same.
Reflect
Have you put your life and, indeed, your life beyond this life, in God’s hands?
How do you experience God’s salvation through Christ in your life today?
Act
Once again, I would encourage you to reflect on today’s “word” of Jesus. You may want to read all of Psalm 31 to help you understand what Jesus meant when he entrusted his spirit to the Father. But, mainly, consider how the work of Jesus on the cross makes a difference in your life. Think about how his sacrifice invites you to entrust your whole life to God.
Pray
Gracious Lord, even as you once entrusted your spirit into the hands of the Father, so I entrust my life to you. I trust you and you alone to be my Savior. I submit to your sovereignty over my life and seek to live for your glory alone. Here I am, Lord, available to you, both now and in the future.
How good it is to know, dear Lord, that the cross was not the end for you. As you entrusted your spirit into the Father’s hands, you did so in anticipation of what was to come. So we reflect upon your death, not in despair, but in hope. In this Holy Week with Good Friday drawing near, Easter Sunday is on the horizon. Amen.
Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the High Calling archive, hosted by the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: The Seventh Word.
Mark D. Roberts
Senior Strategist
Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a Senior Strategist for Fuller’s Max De Pree Center for Leadership, where he focuses on the spiritual development and thriving of leaders. He is the principal writer of the daily devotional, Life for Leaders,...