Lead me to the Rock

Psalm 61 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Hear my cry, God;
Give Your attention to my prayer.
² From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint;
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
³ For You have been a refuge for me,
A tower of strength against the enemy.
⁴ Let me dwell in Your tent forever;
Let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings. Selah

⁵ For You have heard my vows, God;
You have given me the inheritance of those who fear Your name.
⁶ You will prolong the king’s life;
His years will be like generations.
⁷ He will sit enthroned before God forever;
Appoint faithfulness and truth that they may watch over him.
⁸ So I will sing praise to Your name forever,
That I may pay my vows day by day.

The psalmist says: Hear my cry, God; Give Your attention to my prayer. From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.  In Matthew 6:7-8 Jesus says: “When you are praying, do not use thoughtless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard because of their many words.  So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”  We do not cry out to God so as to inform Him of our need. He is omniscient. He already knows both what we need and what He will do concerning our need. Psalm 139:16 says: Your eyes have seen my formless substance; And in Your book were written All the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.  We cry out to God so that we can be lifted up to a higher place. Hebrews 4:16 says:  Let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.  From the vantage point of heaven, we see through the eyes of grace and we receive mercy and grace for our every need. In Psalm 37:4 it says: Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart.  As we come into the presence of God, as we delight in Him, our hearts become aligned with His. We align ourselves to what He wants for us and is doing in our circumstance.

The psalmist says: You have been a refuge for me, A tower of strength against the enemy. Let me dwell in Your tent forever; Let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings.  Romans 8:31 says: If God is for us, who can be against us?  There is safety and security in the presence of our omnipotent God. God’s exhortation and promise to His people in Deuteronomy 31:6 is:  “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or in dread of them, for the Lord your God is the One who is going with you. He will not desert you or abandon you.”  In Matthew 28:18;20  Jesus also says:  “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me…  I am with you always, to the end of the age.”  What greater confidence could we have than to dwell and abide with the omnipotent God who has all authority in heaven and on earth? 

The psalmist says: I will sing praise to Your name forever, That I may pay my vows day by day.  Hebrews 13:15-16 says: Let’s continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips praising His name. And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.  How can praise be a sacrifice? It is not that it is a difficult or costly thing. It is that praise is really the only thing that we can give to God. He has no need of our earthly gifts. All that we have; all that the earth has is already His. God created us with a free will. He is God whether or not we say it. But still, if we choose to praise Him, He is pleased. If we delight in Him day by day, we will have our hearts desire.

Hear my cry, O God
Attend unto my prayer.
From the end of the earth
Will I cry unto thee,
When my heart is overwhelmed:
Lead me to the rock
That is higher than I
That is higher than I.

For thou hast been
A shelter for me
And a strong tower
From the enemy.
When my heart is overwhelmed:
Lead me to the rock
That is higher than I
That is higher than I. Amen