Some believe this psalm was written when David was fleeing from Absalom. Other suggest it was when he was fleeing from Saul. It really doesn t matter.

Transcription

1 Lead Me t the Rck Psalm 61 Lead Me t the Rck Intrductin What d we d when Gd feels distant? Optin #1: Just be OK with it. Our walk with him is nt what it used t be r nt what we hped it wuld be. S what? Optin #2: Give up n Gd. A relatinship with him desn t seem helpful, s why is it wrth it? Optin #3: Pray. This is the ptin that David chse. Prayer tk David t a place beynd himself. He began t see himself in the big-picture cntext f Gd s verarching plan. He als began t see his relatinship t the Lrd as ne f cmmitment mre than his current state. Lead Me t the Rck Psalm 61:1 David starts with the mst basic f requests. He des this in ther psalms t. Psalm 5: 1-2 (ESV) Give ear t my wrds, O LORD; Cnsider my graning. Give attentin t the sund f my cry, my King and my Gd, fr t yu d I pray. Psalm 55:1-2 (ESV) Give ear t my prayer, O Gd, and hide nt yurself frm my plea fr mercy! Attend t me, and answer me Lead Me t the Rck Psalm 61:2-3 Sme believe this psalm was written when David was fleeing frm Absalm. Other suggest it was when he was fleeing frm Saul. It really desn t matter. The great thing abut prayer is that it is nt limited t a particular place. Gd is everywhere. He is as clse as ur crying. And the mment we cry ut, lst and brken thugh we are, He respnds and saves us. Frm the ends f the earth. Chuck Smith ( ) The wrd rck (ṣur) used here nrmally describes a rcky utcrpping that culd prvide natural defenses t thse n the run frm their enemies. The psalmist desires t be whisked away by Gd t a prtective crag that is beynd his wn reach. Gerald H. Wilsn ( )

2 We ften find urselves feeling distant frm Gd. It can even feel like physical distance as if Gd is nwhere t be fund. It was at a time like this that David cried ut and the Lrd heard him. David was never s far away that Gd culd nt reach him. Jesus will be all this t thee, dear heart. Thu hast gt t the end f the earth and f thyself; call ut t Christ, and He will bring thee, faint and ready t die, t Himself as the Shadw frm the heat. The Man f men can be this fr thee, because He is higher than thu art. Higher than I, because f his Divine rigin; higher, because f his perfect bedience; higher, because f his supreme sufferings; higher, because f his ascensin t the right hand f pwer. Yet his side is scarred and cleft. F. B. Meyer ( ) Jesus leads us t a place that is beynd ur reach. When he leads us there he draws us t himself. He is the Rck that is higher than us and far mre slid and stable than we can ever be. Lead Me t the Rck Psalm 61:4-5 Psalm 27:4-5 (ESV) One thing have I asked f the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the huse f the LORD all the days f my life, t gaze upn the beauty f the LORD and t inquire in his temple. Fr he will hide me in his shelter in the day f truble; he will cnceal me under the cver f his tent; he will lift me high upn a rck. Lead Me t the Rck Psalm 61:6-7 David makes this request based upn Gd s steadfast lve r chesed Gd s lyal cvenant lve. It is the lve f cmmitment which Gd prmised t Israel frever the basis f his cvenant with them. This request des seem strange, fr even allwing fr hyperble, hw can David pssibly ask that he as an individual reign fr ever? But the prblem reslves itself when we remember the imprtance f his dynasty. The Davidic line did eventually end in Israel, but David s prayer was granted in that ultimately, the Messiah was brn in his line (Matt 1:1). Thus there is a sense in which David s kingdm des cntinue frever. Samuel Ngewa, Africa Internatinal University, Nairbi

3 The Lrdship f Christ is the fundatin upn which he builds his church. Obedience t Christ is the fundatin upn which we need t build ur individual lives. David lked beynd his current need t Gd s character and Gd s prmises. This helped make David s relatinship with Gd s strng. We are deeply strengthened when we see ur lives in the bigger cntext f Gd s plan fr the wrld. We are mre than needy individuals. We are members f his church and cntributrs t his plan fr the natins. Lead Me t the Rck Psalm 61:8 Vws. See als v.5. David saw his relatinship with the Lrd in the cntext f cmmitment smething like a marriage. This is far mre than: Feelings Pure Intellect Present Knwledge Gd made a cmmitment t Israel. Gd made a cmmitment t David. David made cmmitments back t Gd. When faith wavers and understanding falls shrt, cmmitment can get us thrugh the darkest times f trial. When faith wavers and understanding falls shrt, cmmitment can get us thrugh the darkest times f trial. Cmmitment reminds us f the kind f Gd we serve that he is the surce f ur strength. Lead Me t the Rck Cnclusin At the beginning f the psalm, David felt far way frm Gd. He is crying ut frm the end f the earth. Old Testament thught put Gd s residence in Jerusalem mre than anywhere else n earth. If David was in exile, that alne wuld make him feel distant frm Gd. In fact, Old Testament Missin was thught f in terms f the natins cming t Jerusalem t wrship. That has changed, but again, we are deeply strengthened when we see ur lives in the bigger cntext f Gd s plan fr the wrld, the church and the natins.

4 Centripetal Mvement f Missin in the Old Testament: Centrifugal, Decentralized Mvement f NT Missin: Centrifugal, Decentralized Mvement f Missin nw: (Credit t Craig Ott fr visual cncepts) Christ is present within us individually as Christians. He is present with us crprately as the church. Therefre, we need nt g t any particular hly place t find Jesus. Here is here, wherever here happens t be. T Christ In Christ Fr Christ Leading thers t Christ, as we see in Jhn 1:40-42 One... wh... fllwed Him, was Andrew, Simn Peter s brther. He first fund his wn brther Simn, and said t him, We have fund the Messiah (which is translated, the Christ). And he brught him t Jesus.

5 Abiding in Christ s that ur lives bear much fruit, as Christ explains in Jhn 15:5 I am the vine, yu are the branches. He wh abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; fr withut Me yu can d nthing. Being sent fr Christ as the Hly Spirit empwers us, accrding t Acts 1:8 But yu shall receive pwer when the Hly Spirit has cme upn yu; and yu shall be witnesses t Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and t the end f the earth. Jesus needs t be that rck, that firm fundatin, upn which we build ur lives. He is ur prtectin as we face the adversities f life. He is the surce f ur inner strength when ur hearts are faint as David s was. 1 Peter 2:4-6 (ESV) As yu cme t him, a living stne rejected by men but in the sight f Gd chsen and precius, yu yurselves like living stnes are being built up as a spiritual huse, t be a hly priesthd, t ffer spiritual sacrifices acceptable t Gd thrugh Jesus Christ. Fr it stands in Scripture [Isaiah 28:16]: Behld, I am laying in Zin a stne, a crnerstne chsen and precius, and whever believes in him will nt be put t shame. Matthew 7:24 27 (ESV) Everyne then wh hears these wrds f mine and des them will be like a wise man wh built his huse n the rck. And the rain fell, and the flds came, and the winds blew and beat n that huse, but it did nt fall, because it had been funded n the rck. And everyne wh hears these wrds f mine and des nt d them will be like a flish man wh built his huse n the sand. And the rain fell, and the flds came, and the winds blew and beat against that huse, and it fell, and great was the fall f it. What d we d when Gd feels distant? Optin #1: Just be OK with it. S what? Optin #2: Give up n Gd. Is it wrth it? Optin #3: Pray. This is the ptin that David chse. This is the ne ptin that ges beynd us. Prayer tk David t a place beynd himself. He began t see Gd s verarching plan. He began t see his relatinship t the Lrd as ne f cmmitment smething beynd his current state. We can d this t.