November 2, 2008  •  Pastor Randy Smith

You knew King David was in for a rough time when God through the prophet Nathan said, “The sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me” (2 Sam. 12:10). Within a short time from that pronouncement, conflict developed among David’s children.

David’s son Amnon fell in love with his half sister Tamar (2 Sam. 13:4). First he raped her (2 Sam. 13:13) and then he cast her from his presence (2 Sam. 13:17). David was aware of these matters and did nothing (2 Sam. 13:21). So after two years, Tamar’s full brother, Absalom, took matters into his own hands. He had his servants murder Amnon (2 Sam. 13:29). Banished by David (2 Sam. 14:13), Absalom fled and was in hiding for three years (2 Sam. 13:38). Rejected by his father but wanting to return to the Holy City (2 Sam. 14:32), Absalom began to steal the hearts of the people away from David (2 Sam. 15:6, 13). Soon a full conspiracy was in place (2 Sam. 15:12). With only a handful of his servants, David was forced to flee for his own safety (2 Sam. 15:14). While Absalom planned to kill his father (2 Sam. 2 Sam. 17:2), David’s chief commander, Joab, took matters in his own hands and killed Absalom (2 Sam. 18:14).

What a mess! David’s life is in shambles. His family is torn apart. Another son is dead. The nation no longer knows whom to trust. The man who killed bears and lions felt weak. The man who conquered Goliath felt defeated. The man who led armies to great victories felt overwhelmed. And the man who was the king felt lonely. David’s whole life came crashing down around him.

Does this sound like anything you might be experiencing? Though our problems might not be at this level, I know all of us are often drained with the trials of life. Possibly you are anxious with a family crisis as well. Maybe you are fearing this upcoming election. Perchance you are despairing over your health. Perhaps you are isolated by schoolmates or coworkers. Whatever your specific situation, I can state with certainty that we have all been pummeled by the blows of living in this fallen world.

Though we can often not escape these situations, we can determine how we let them affect us. Will we allow them to defeat us, or will we rise above our circumstances and live a victorious life?

Most scholars believe David wrote Psalm 61 during this difficult episode of his life that I mentioned earlier. As we take a brief look at this Psalm, we see where David found His strength. What begins in sorrow is soon transformed into singing. What starts with prayer ends with praise. The same outcome is available for us if we follow David’s formula that we find before us in Scripture.

This Psalm, “a pearl…little, but precious” as Spurgeon called it divides itself easily into two parts. In verses 1-4 we see David praying in sorrow, and in verses 5-8 we see David praising with singing.

1.PRAYING IN SORROW

Let’s begin. Where do you turn? Where do you turn when you find yourself in these awful predicaments? Where do you turn when your world is falling apart around you? In verse 1 we see where David went for strength. “Hear my cry, O God; give heed to my prayer.”

When down and depressed David turned to God. David knew that God was the only One who was able to provide the help that he needed. Despite his geographical location and despite his unfortunate circumstances, David knew that God’s ear is waiting for the prayers of His children. He knew that God cares. He knew that nothing catches God by surprise. And He knew that nothing is too difficult for God to accomplish.

And more than a simple prayer, the verse says David cried to God. There was passion. There was an earnest spirit. There was desperation. This is far from the hypocritical prayers of the Pharisees that just sought the attention of others (Mt. 6:5). This is far from praying with “meaningless repetition” (Mt. 6:7). And this is far from possibly so many of our prayers which are conducted without emotion or without thought. This was from David’s heart. This was a child crying out to a Father. This was faith over formality. And this is the prayer that brings the most honor to God as testified throughout the pages of Scripture.

In verse 2 David says, “From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint.”

David viewed his location as being at the “end of the earth.” Possibly we are to take him literally. Possibly he wrote this while in exile, separated from his people and the Holy City. Like any devout Israelite, he longed to be back in Jerusalem by the Tabernacle where God had taken up His special abode. On the other hand, perhaps David was speaking figuratively. Maybe he was back in Jerusalem, but his heart felt a million miles away from the Lord. As he said, “My heart is faint.” Maybe both of these suggestions are true. His heart and his feet both feel distant from God.

Regardless, we know David was down and discouraged and depressed. Yet David was determined! With resolve he said, “I call to You.” He felt distant from the presence of God and only calling to God could restore that fellowship and heal the hole that David’s heart was experiencing.

Someone once said, “When God seems most absent from us, He is doing His greatest work in us.” Yet feeling distant from God often causes us to distance ourselves from God. Not having situations go our way often causes us to go our own way in disbelief. Yet we must remember that God designs tribulation to bring us closer to Himself. When we feel at the end of the earth like David, we must remember that it does not mean the end of devotion. Beloved, our greatest spiritual triumphs are often achieved during our greatest trials.

I can think of no greater example than Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, just prior to His execution on the cross – just prior to knowing that He would bear the Father’s wrath as He suffered for the sins of His people. He would experience the Father’s distance (Mk. 15:34). “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? (Mt. 27:46). He would feel at the end of the world in the ultimate sense so that those who believe in Him never will. Knowing the spiritual pain that He is about to suffer, He cries out in prayer (cf. Heb. 5:7). “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will” (Mt. 26:39). The cup was not removed. Yet Jesus was given the strength to do the Father’s will with peace. That same peace is also available to us if we cry out to God. Jesus died to guarantee that we will have that peace!

Specifically, David prays, “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”

If you have ever been out during some rough surf, you can understand the imagery that David is suggesting. One wave knocks you down. Your body is tumbled upside-down. The moment you get your footing another wave crashes over you just as you are trying to take a breath. Instead of air you get a mouthful of saltwater. Again, you attempt to regain your position only to have the next wave break right on top of you.

Does that not sound like the trials of life? Wave after wave—one passes and you barely have time to brace yourself for the next.

Too worn and spent from these waves of trials to make it there on his own, David is asking for help to be led to the higher rock—a place of safety, a place of rest, a place of immovable stability, a place of perspective. And though the waves of trials may still be crashing around him, David knew the place of peace and confidence, for wave after wave is not able to overcome the place of grace upon grace. David knew that prayer was the means to scale this rock, this rock which I believe is God Himself (cf. Psm. 18:2, 31; 19:14; 28:1). Even the greatest king and warrior that Israel ever had knew very well where he needed to go for help. Rather than maximize his problems and minimize God, David knew that God was bigger than his problems.

You know the hymn:

William O. Cushing made the following comments when he wrote this hymn text in 1876. “It was the outgrowth of many tears, many heart conflicts and yearnings of which the world could know nothing.” Interesting!

The imagery continues in verse 3. “For You have been a refuge for me, a tower of strength against the enemy.”

Most ancient cities were fortified with stone walls. Then along these walls were large towers. These towers were strategic points where the defenders of the city, well protected, could rain down blows upon the enemy.

In the same way, God is a tower for those to take refuge in Him. When we are wrapped in God’s protection, the enemy is unable to overtake us. We are in a stronghold, a place of safety.

Next, David prays in verse 4, “Let me dwell in Your tent forever.”

It is hard to determine exactly whattent David was speaking about. If it was analogous to the king’s tent, it would be the best place to desire. When David considered the privileges of his tent—the best food, the best service, the best protection—it is only natural that he would want to figuratively dwell in God’s tent. Maybe David was talking about the literal Tabernacle, the tent in Jerusalem where God dwelt in a special way with His people. Though only the High Priest could enter the innermost chamber, in this case David was asking for intimacy and closeness with God in the most extreme way possible.

Our interpretation for the first part of verse 4 will guide our interpretation for the second part of verse 4. “Let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings. Selah.”

The king’s tent would follow along the lines of protection. As a mother hen protects her chicks under the shelter of her wings, God protects His children. The tabernacle would have implications of the Cherubim as they were stationed in the Holy of Holies with their wings stretched across the Ark of the Covenant, specifically the Mercy Seat. So being under God’s wings I believe implies either protection or mercy. Both are obviously true, but I am not sure which one David had in his mind when he composed this Psalm.

What is important to notice is how the Spirit is pushing David as He labors in this prayer back to the presence of God. Let’s remember the progression of increasing intimacy: from the rock to the tower to the tent to the shelter of His wings. May our problems in the same way draw us not further, but closer to God’s presence.

2. PRAISING WITH SINGING

As we move to the second half of this Psalm, it is interesting to notice how David’s perspective changed. The trials were still present, but after casting His burdens on the Lord and contemplating God’s goodness and strength, David now enjoyed a sense of peace. When falling apart he found One who would listen and love. He found One to lean upon. He found One who would guarantee that everything would be alright. From praying in sorrow let’s turn (very briefly) to praising with singing.

With the matter safely in God’s hands, confident that God answers prayer in a way that is best for His children, David could find the peace that His heart so desperately craved. Verse 5, “For You have heard my vows, O God; You have given me the inheritance of those who fear Your name.”

Verses 6-7, “You will prolong the king’s life; His years will be as many generations. He will abide before God forever; appoint lovingkindness and truth that they may preserve him.”

I believe David in these verses, now with his mind off of himself and his problems, is consumed with the glory of God. Though it is easy to believe David is speaking of his own life, he knew that even as a king his years would not entail “many generations” nor would his physical life abide before God “forever.”

David knew His kingship would come to an end, but he also knew of another King spoken often in his Psalms that would come from his lineage and establish a perfect kingdom.

That King’s name would be Jesus Christ (Mt. 27:37; Jn. 18:37; Ac. 17:7). All judgment will be given to Him (Jn. 5:22). Every knee one day would bow before His name (Phil. 2:10). Unlike David’s other sons, this greater son of David would rule in righteousness. This King would rule forever (2 Sam. 7; Psm. 40:11; 89:4, 33-17).

We also know from the New Testament that this King (the Lion of Judah) would come first to die for sinners (as the Lamb of God). He would bring to God those who come to Him in faith and repentance. He would forgive their sins. He would allow them to be adopted into the family of God. He would open the lines of communication by removing the enmity so that God would hear and answer their prayers. He would go to the ends of the earth so they might forever remain in God’s presence. Jesus dealt with the worst so that they, with the grace of God, might deal only with the difficult.

No wonder David concluded in verse 8, “So I will sing praise to Your name forever, that I may pay my vows day by day.”

From sorrow to singing. From prayer to praise. Problems most likely the same, but a total transformation of David’s heart. And far from abandoning God, the trials actually pushed him closer.

As David wrote in Psalm 30, “I will extol You, O LORD, for You have lifted me up, and have not let my enemies rejoice over me. O LORD my God, I cried to You for help, and You healed me… Sing praise to the LORD, you His godly ones, and give thanks to His holy name. For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning” (Psm. 30:1-2, 4-5).