Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 31:5

"Into thy hand I commend my spirit: Thou hast redeemed me, O Jehovah, thou God of truth." — Psalms 31:5 (ASV)

Into thine hand I commit my spirit - The Savior used this expression when on the cross, and when about to die (Luke 23:46). But this does not prove that the psalm originally had a reference to him, or that he meant to intimate that the words originally were a prophecy. The language was appropriate for him, as it is for all others in the hour of death; and his use of the words furnished the highest illustration of their being appropriate in that hour. The act of the psalmist was an act of strong confidence in God in the midst of dangers and troubles; the act of the Savior was of the same nature, commending his spirit to God in the solemn hour of death. The same act of faith is proper for all God's people, alike in trouble and in death .

The word “spirit” may mean either “life,” considered as the animating principle, equivalent to the word “myself;” or it may mean more specifically the “soul,” as distinguished from the body. The sense is not materially varied by either interpretation.

Thou hast redeemed me - This was the ground or reason why the “psalmist” commended himself to God; this reason was not urged, and could not have been by the Savior, in his dying moments. He committed his departing spirit to God as his Father, and in virtue of the work which he had been appointed to do, and which he was now about finishing, as a Redeemer; we commit our souls to Him in virtue of having been redeemed. This is proper for us:

1. because he has redeemed us;
2. because we have been redeemed for him, and we may ask Him to take His own;
3. because this is a ground of safety, for if we have been redeemed, we may be certain that God will keep us;
4. and because this is the only ground of our security in reference to the future world.

What “David” may have understood by this word it may not be easy to determine with certainty; but there is no reason to doubt that he may have used it as expressive of the idea that he had been recovered from the ruin of the fall, and from the dominion of sin, and had been made a child of God. Nor do we need to doubt that he had such views of the way of salvation that he would feel that he was redeemed only by an atonement, or by the shedding of blood for his sins.

For all Christians, their redemption by the blood of the Savior is enough to authorize them to use this language in the midst of troubles and dangers, and in the hour of death; for none of us is there any other safe ground of trust and confidence in the hour of death than the fact that Christ has died for sin, and that we have evidence that we are interested in his blood.

O Lord God of truth - True to your promises and to your covenant-engagements. As you have promised life and salvation to those who are redeemed, they may safely confide in you. See the notes on 2 Corinthians 1:20.