Psalms 31: Anguish of my Soul

In the first part of Psalms 31, David describes God as being a strong refuge. Now, the theme of the psalm is going to change. In verses 6-8, we start to see the second theme creek into the passage.

⁶ I hate those who cling to worthless idols;
I trust in the LORD.

⁷ I will be glad and rejoice in your love,
for you saw my affliction
and knew the anguish of my soul.

⁸ You have not handed me over to the enemy
but have set my feet in a spacious place.

Can start to see the second theme creek in? All though David is still speaking to God and how God had helped him, you start to see trouble and sorrow coming; my afflictions, anguish of my soul, enemy, etc. You didn’t see any of these words in the first theme of the psalm.

From verses 9-13, we see the second theme fully.

⁹ Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress;
my eyes grow weak with sorrow,
my soul and my body with grief.

¹⁰ My life is consumed by anguish
and my years by groaning;
my strength fails because of my affliction, ^[a]
and my bones grow weak.

¹¹ Because of all my enemies,
I am the utter contempt of my neighbors;
I am a dread to my friends—
those who see me on the street flee from me.

¹² I am forgotten by them as though I were dead;
I have become like broken pottery.

¹³ For I hear the slander of many;
there is terror on every side;
they conspire against me
and plot to take my life.

In the second theme, David is in the pit. Everything is going against him. He is weak and broken. So what is one to do when afflictions come? When sorrow and grief arise? When it feels like everyone has abounded you? We’ll see how David responded in the rest of the Psalm.

Who Were Good Leaders?

Thanks to everyone who posted on my ‘who’s a good leader?’ poll.

All of you choose George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and rightly so. Those men were outstanding leaders with great influence. They united people to a common goal.

What might surprise you is that all the men in my poll were good leaders. All men had great influence. Hilter was one of the greatest leaders of time. They all had influence to change people’s mind, and ultimately to change their course of action.

The difference between these men wasn’t if they were good leaders; it was where they lead. Washington and Lincoln were godly and servant leaders, while Hitler and Darwin promoted a lie, and death. They all had influence. The questions was whether it positive or evil.

The Hyde Monster

According to the Bible, we are all like Hyde. We are born with the evil all ready inside of us. Society doesn’t corrupt us and make us do evil. We are born ready to do evil without any help.

Have you ever noticed that you never have to teach a child to hit, or to lie, or to talk back? Those are skills they devolve all on their own. Mankind is basically evil.

This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of men, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead.
Ecclesiastes 9:3

The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?
Jeremiah 17:8-10

It’s kind of scary. We don’t like the idea that babies are all ready corrupted, or that we are only capable to do wrong and are incapable to do anything good, including saving ourselves from own monster.

This is the biggest separation between worldviews; every other world view believes that man is basically good, and therefore can earn his own salvation. Christianity says that man is basically evil and therefore can’t earn his salvation. An outside force must save him.

As Christians, we are saved by Jesus Christ. We are able to watch our Hyde crucified and die. We are able to be set from slavery to our evil twin, and new are free to serve the One who freed us.

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:24-25

What Kind of Monster are you?

Ok, so you may be wounding why we’ve been talking about these two old books. So what, you might say. Who cares about books written in the 1880s? Well, the reason I brought up the story of Hyde and Frankenstein is because one of these stories is true.

Which story do you think it is? Which monster describes mankind? It can’t be both. Let’s look at the fundamental differences between the two:

Hyde

• Man is inherently evil
• Evil (sin) controls us and leads to death
• Individual is responsible for his wrong actions
• Man can’t save himself

Frankenstein

• Man is basically good
• Society turns him evil, and therefore is responsible for his wrong actions
• Man can save himself

As you can see, both monsters can’t be true. So, what kind of monster are you? Comment your answer.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Henry Jekyll is a well respected member of London society. In his professional life, he is a medical doctor, scientist and academician.

Dr. Henry Jekyll believes that there are two distinct sides to men - a good and an evil side. He believes that by separating the two man can become liberated. In his experiments, he uses himself as the subject to test his hypothesis. His evil side, who he coins Mr. Hyde, escapes into London, and terrorizes the city. When Hyde drinks the potion, he transforms back into Dr. Jekyll.

When Henry is Hyde, he is purity evil and free to be wicket without hurting Dr. Jekyll’s reputation. When Henry is Dr. Jekyll again, he is not purely good, but a mix of good and evil.

"Hence, although I had now two characters as well as two appearances, one was wholly evil, and the other was still old Henry Jekyll, that incongruous compound of whose reformation and improvement I had all ready learned to despair. The movement was thus wholly toward the worse."

As time goes by, it becomes easier to transform into Hyde, but harder and more painful to transform back into Jekyll. Soon, Henry starts transforming into Hyde without the aid of the potion.

Henry realizes that he can’t be both men, but he will have to choice one twin and stay him. By then, it is too late. Hyde has taken over, and Henry can’t transform back into Jekyll, no matter how much of the potion he drinks. He is trapped in Hyde’s body. He chooses suicide rather than enslavement to his monster.