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Holy Week · Good Friday · Year C

Psalm 31:2+6, 12-13, 15-16, 17+25 (Luke 23:46)

Into Your Hands, O Lord

April 14, 2028

The Descent from the Cross, Filippino Lippi
The Descent from the Cross, Filippino Lippi, late 1400sThe Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Men on two tall ladders lower Christ’s body from the cross while his mother faints into the arms of the women at its foot.I have passed out of mind like one who is dead; I have become like a broken vessel.Filippino LippiA Florentine painter, son of Fra Filippo Lippi and pupil of Botticelli, known for lively, graceful figures.The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkThe Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, one of the largest art museums in the world.The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Roman Lectionary
GospelJohn 18:1–19:42Jn 18:1–19:42
Second ReadingHeb. 4:14-16; 5:7-9Heb 4:14-16; 5:7-9
First ReadingIsa. 52:13-53:12Is 52:13-53:12
Responsorial PsalmPs. 31:2+6, 12-13, 15-16, 17+25 (Luke 23:46)Ps 31:2+6, 12-13, 15-16, 17+25 (Lk 23:46)

Overview & Insights

“Into your hands I commend my spirit.” (Psalm 31:6)

Psalm 31 is an individual lament with an unusually wide range, moving between petition, thanksgiving and the language of a city under siege. The verse that supplies the antiphon is numbered 31:6 in the Hebrew and in the Catholic lectionary, 31:5 in most English Bibles: into your hands I commend my spirit. Luke has Jesus pray it from the cross, adding the address Father (23:46), and Stephen prays a version of it at Acts 7:59. The verses selected trace the shape of the day, refuge sought (v. 2), the self handed over (v. 6), the scorn of neighbors and being forgotten like the dead (vv. 12 and 13), and then a turn, my times are in your hands (v. 16). The last selection (v. 25) is addressed outward, to all who wait for the Lord, which is the posture Good Friday leaves the assembly in.

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Take it further: Psalm 31:2+6, 12-13, 15-16, 17+25 (Luke 23:46)

Commentary

Psalm 31:9-16 CommentaryPs 31:9-16 Commentary CEP (Center for Excellence in Preaching)

A Reformed preaching-focused reading of the psalm Jesus prays from the cross on Good Friday.

Psalm 31Ps 31 Haydock Commentary Online

The Catholic Douay-Rheims commentary on the verse Christ himself quotes while dying, into your hands I commend my spirit.

Background & Word Study

Psalms 31Ps 31 Sefaria

The Hebrew text of the lament psalm that supplies Jesus' last words in Luke's passion account.

The Church Fathers

Exposition on Psalm 31 (Augustine)Exposition on Ps 31 (Augustine) NewAdvent

Augustine's patristic exposition of the same psalm Christ prays on the cross.

Sermons & Reflections

Good Friday of the Lord's Passion Agape Bible Study

A Catholic lay Bible study walkthrough of the Good Friday readings, including the psalm's place in the liturgy.

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