Psalm 31

“In You, O Lord, I put my trust; let me never be ashamed; deliver me in Your righteousness. Bow down Your ear to me, deliver me speedily; be my rock of refuge, a fortress of defense to save me. For You are my rock and my fortress; therefore, for Your name’s sake, lead me and guide me. Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me, for You are my strength. Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.” Psalm 31:1-5 (NKJV)

While suffering on the cross, the Bible records that Jesus made seven statements. They were, in order, loosely phrased as such:

1) To His accusers, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,”

2) To one thief next to Him on the cross, “Today, you will be with Me in paradise,”

3) To His mother (referring to John the disciple’s new responsibility of taking care of Jesus’ mother): “Woman, here is your son,”

4) To the Father, “Why have You forsaken Me” (quoting Psalm 22),  

5) “I am thirsty” (also quoting Psalm 22),

6) “It is finished” (The sin debt of the world had been fully paid for, God’s requirement had been satisfied),

And finally, today’s psalm is quoted 7): “Into Your hand, I commit My Spirit.”

“Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, ‘Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ Having said this, He breathed His last.” Luke 23:44-46 (NKJV)

For those who truly study the Bible, it is apparent that Jesus was not making random, mindless, or arbitrary statements from the cross. He was prophesying, mostly quoting Scripture. He presumed that we should know the deeper meaning of His statements because we should all be studying and meditating on His Word every day.  

“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” Deuteronomy 6:6-7 (NKJV)

When we read Jesus’ statement, “Into Your hands I commit my Spirit…” in the gospel, we should be mentally filling in the beginning and end of that statement from Psalm 31: “For You are my rock and my fortress; therefore, for Your name’s sake, lead me and guide me. Pull me out of the net, which they have secretly laid for me, for You are my strength - You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.”  That is what He intends for us to do. We are to know the passage He is quoting and automatically fill in the blanks. That way, we understand that Jesus’ 7th statement from the cross was not communicating resolute defeat. He gave a final statement of faith that He believed God would deliver Him from the grave so that we would remember, as the chapter title of Psalm 31 states, “The Lord is a Fortress in Adversity,” even the adversity of the cross and tomb!