The Great Divide and the Good Courage Text: Psalm 31:23-24
Introduction: Two Paths, Two Destinies
The book of Psalms is the great prayer book of the saints, and it is relentlessly realistic. It does not offer a sentimental, syrupy piety that dissolves in the face of trouble. Rather, it gives us a robust, sinewy faith that is forged in the very crucible of affliction. David, the author of this psalm, has been through the wringer. He has been slandered, hunted, betrayed, and brought to the very brink of despair. Yet, as he comes to the end of this prayer, he does not conclude with a whimper, but with a trumpet blast. He has stared into the abyss, but he has kept his eyes fixed on God, and so he ends with a great summons to all the saints who will follow him down through the ages.
These concluding verses of Psalm 31 are not just a neat way to wrap things up. They are a distillation of the central lesson David has learned, which is the central lesson of all Scripture. And it is this: there is a great and final divide in the universe. There are only two kinds of people, walking on two different paths, heading toward two entirely different destinies. There are the faithful, whom Yahweh guards, and there are the proud, whom Yahweh repays. There is no third way. You are either in one camp or the other. And depending on which camp you are in, you will either be called to courage or consigned to judgment.
Our modern world despises such sharp distinctions. It loves the blur. It wants to believe that everyone is basically good, that all paths lead up the same mountain, and that God, if He exists at all, is a doting, cosmic grandfather who would never bring a gavel down on anyone. But the Word of God is a sharp, two-edged sword, and its purpose is to divide. It divides truth from error, light from darkness, and the faithful from the proud. David, having experienced both the faithfulness of God and the malice of proud men, concludes by drawing this line in the sand with unmistakable clarity. He tells us what to do in response to this great reality, and how we are to live on our side of the line.
The Text
Oh, love Yahweh, all you His holy ones!
Yahweh guards the faithful
But repays fully the one who acts in lofty pride.
Be strong and let your heart take courage,
All you who wait for Yahweh.
(Psalm 31:23-24 LSB)
The Great Command and the Great Reason (v. 23)
David begins with a command that flows directly from his experience of God's deliverance.
"Oh, love Yahweh, all you His holy ones! Yahweh guards the faithful But repays fully the one who acts in lofty pride." (Psalm 31:23)
The first imperative is simple: "Love Yahweh." This is not a suggestion; it is a command. And it is directed to "all you His holy ones." The word for holy ones is hasidim, which comes from the root word for covenant loyalty and steadfast love, hesed. These are the saints, the set-apart ones, those who belong to God by covenant. The fundamental duty of a covenant person is to love their covenant Lord. This is the great summary of the law: to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
But why should we love Him? David immediately gives us two bedrock reasons, presented as a stark contrast. First, "Yahweh guards the faithful." The word for "guards" means to keep, to watch over, to preserve. God is a guardian of those who are faithful. The word for faithful here, emunim, is related to our word "Amen." It means those who are reliable, steadfast, and trustworthy because their trust is in the reliable, steadfast, and trustworthy God. God preserves those who are committed to Him. He doesn't promise a life free of trouble, David is exhibit A of that, but He does promise to guard our ultimate well-being, to preserve our souls through the fire.
The second reason is the other side of the coin: "But repays fully the one who acts in lofty pride." Here is the great divide. While God is guarding His people, He is also settling accounts with the arrogant. The proud man is the one who acts as though he is autonomous, as though he is the captain of his own soul and the master of his own fate. He lives in rebellion against the Creator/creature distinction. And God promises to repay him "fully." This is the doctrine of strict and settled justice. God is not mocked. What a man sows, that he will also reap. The proud man sows arrogance, and he will reap a harvest of divine judgment. There is no escaping it. God sees every proud look, hears every arrogant word, and He will repay in full measure.
So, David says, look at this reality. God preserves the one and judges the other. Therefore, love Him! To love God is to align yourself with reality. It is to choose the side of preservation over the side of repayment. It is the only sane thing to do in a universe governed by a holy and just God.
The Great Encouragement (v. 24)
Having laid out the fundamental reality of God's government, David now gives a concluding exhortation to those who have chosen to love Yahweh.
"Be strong and let your heart take courage, All you who wait for Yahweh." (Psalm 31:24 LSB)
This command, "Be strong and let your heart take courage," echoes God's charge to Joshua as he prepared to lead Israel into the Promised Land. It is a command for wartime. It is a command for those engaged in a struggle. The Christian life is not a playground; it is a battlefield. And on this battlefield, strength and courage are not optional extras; they are essential equipment.
Notice that we are commanded to do this. "Be strong." This is not a suggestion to feel strong. It is a command to act in strength. And where does this strength come from? It comes from the Lord. We are strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. But we must actively take hold of that strength. "Let your heart take courage." Courage is not the absence of fear; it is acting rightly in the face of fear. We must let our hearts, our inner man, be fortified and resolute. We do this by remembering the truths David just laid out: God guards the faithful and judges the proud.
And who is this command for? It is for "All you who wait for Yahweh." Waiting for Yahweh is one of the central postures of the faithful in Scripture. This is not a passive, thumb-twiddling kind of waiting. The Hebrew word implies an active, eager expectation, a hope that is fixed on a certain future. We wait for God to act. We wait for His deliverance. We wait for His justice. We wait for His kingdom to come in its fullness. We wait for the final vindication of the saints and the final judgment of the proud.
This waiting is the opposite of the proud man's frantic self-reliance. The proud man cannot wait; he must seize, control, and dominate. The faithful man can wait, because he knows who is on the throne. He knows that history is moving toward a predetermined conclusion, and that conclusion is the victory of Jesus Christ. Therefore, while he waits, he can be strong. While he waits, he can take courage. Our courage is not rooted in our circumstances, which can be dreadful, as David's were. Our courage is rooted in our destination and in the character of the God who is taking us there.
Conclusion: The Courage of the Cross
These two verses are a perfect summary of the Christian life. We are called to love God because He is a faithful guardian of His people and a just judge of His enemies. And because this is true, we are called to live lives of courageous, patient hope.
But we cannot read this psalm without seeing its ultimate fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ. He was the truly faithful one, the ultimate holy one of God. He loved Yahweh with a perfect love. And yet, He was seemingly abandoned. He was handed over to the proud, who repaid His goodness with mockery, torture, and death. On the cross, it looked for all the world as though the central promise of this psalm had failed. It looked as though God guarded the proud and repaid the faithful.
But this was the great transaction at the heart of the gospel. On the cross, Jesus was taking the full "repayment" for the pride of His people. He was taking the judgment we deserved for our arrogant rebellion, so that we could receive the guarding and preservation we did not deserve. He committed His own spirit into His Father's hands, quoting this very psalm, and He waited.
And on the third day, God the Father acted. He guarded His faithful Son, raising Him from the dead, vindicating Him, and seating Him at His right hand. The resurrection is God's ultimate declaration that He guards the faithful. And it is the ultimate guarantee that He will, in His time, repay fully every proud deed and every arrogant word. The cross and resurrection are the hinge of history, where the great divide becomes clearest.
Therefore, we, who are His holy ones in Christ, are commanded to love Him. We love Him because He first loved us and gave His Son for us. And we are commanded to be strong and take courage. Our courage is not a vague optimism. It is a rugged, blood-bought confidence. We wait for Him, our risen and reigning King, to return and set all things right. And as we wait, we fight. We fight against the pride in our own hearts. We fight against the proud ideologies of our age. And we do it with strength and courage, knowing that our faithful God guards us, and His victory is certain.