Almost certainly the most famous use of the Old Testament in the New is Jesus’ “cry of dereliction” from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 26:46 // Mark 15:34, citing Psalm 22:1). Commentators debate the extent to which Jesus had in mind the whole psalm, that is, not only the words cited, but their context as well.
Today’s psalm yields another one of Jesus’ sayings from the cross: “Into your hand I commit my spirit” (v. 5, see Luke 23:46). Given the broader context in Psalm 31, I find it almost impossible to think that pretty much the whole of the Psalm isn’t invoked by that single phrase. In other words, in uttering those few words, I have to think that Jesus’ use of that phrase brings the rest of the psalm in its train.
There is much about this that amazes me — in particular, how permeated Jesus was by his scriptures, and how at that moment, scripture should give voice to his experience. Awesome.
(I haven’t said this at all well, but am snatching a few moments to record even these roughly formed thoughts, which I must come back to!)
Reading with M’Cheyne 