Psalm 61: 1 – 8
You can think it, but don’t do it
To the Chief Musician. On a stringed instrument. A Psalm of David.
1 Hear my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer. 2 From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. 3 For You have been a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy. 4 I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings. Selah 5 For You, O God, have heard my vows; You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name. 6 You will prolong the king’s life, his years as many generations. 7 He shall abide before God forever. Oh, prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him! 8 So I will sing praise to Your name forever, that I may daily perform my vows.
You can think about it, but don’t do it. Does this line sound familiar? If you guessed that it came from the Smokey and the Bandit movie you win a cookie.
This movie somehow put together over 100 quotes that people use in today’s communication. One example is when Sheriff Burford T. Justice played by Jackie Gleason stops and confronts 3 young car thieves. Since he is after the Bandit played by Burt Reynolds held tells the rookie car part criminals to stay at the car they were trying to strip for parts until one of his associates came and arrested them. He then tells them that they can think about leaving after he drives away but they better not do it.
I think this line fits in well with people who was to break a vow that they had made to our Holy God. My answer to them would be similar, ‘you can think about it, but don’t do it.’
In the Bible, both Old and New Testament making a vow is serious business. In so much that it is better not to vow anything, then to vow and not fulfill it. A vow assumes we have the ability in and of ourselves to fulfill that vow.
Making a vow is to be taken seriously and is mentioned in various parts of the bible. In making a vow to God, we promise to do something for him in worship or to please him through an action, change in behavior, a series of actions, constant change, etc. In the book of Numbers chapter 30 verse 1 we read, "Moses said to the heads of the tribes of Israel: 'This is what the LORD commands: 2 When a man makes a vow to the LORD or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.'"
In the book of Leviticus chapter 26 we learn that if you don't carry out all of God's commands and violate his covenant, then God will "set my face against you so that you will be defeated by your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you."
So, if you lived over 2,000 years ago. Then you would have had to make a forgiveness offering to God to be forgiven. Thankfully, a new covenant was made through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and our sins are already forgiven. ‘BUT’, the guilt that is associated with breaking a vow we once made to God is quite hard to shake, I know. When I first became a Christian, I asked God to save me from where I was in my life. In return (I now understand it doesn't work like that), I vowed to do a bunch of things for Him. I failed to keep my part of the vow.
Through this experience, I can truly appreciate the wisdom in James 5 verse 12, which says "Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple 'Yes' or 'No.' Otherwise you will be condemned." When someone asks me to promise them something I say no, which then leads to "why don't you promise" and then sometimes "that's stupid." I just ask something along the lines of "if someone isn't satisfied with my yes or no, then why does a promise suddenly change that?" ...as if a promise suddenly makes your word valid or credible. Love God, obey him, and love others. Vows are unnecessary and yes, sometimes even dangerous.
Let’s learn a little more about vows as we find in today’s Psalm.
To the Chief Musician. On a stringed instrument. A Psalm of David.
This Psalm is also dedicated to the Chief Musician and is to be accompanied by a stringed instrument. It is a Psalm of David. If David, rather than a member of the Davidic house, was its author it was quite possibly written during his period of exile east of Jordan after fleeing from Absalom (2 Samuel 15.13). In later days, after the end of the monarchy and the Exile, it began to be given a Messianic interpretation.
Crying out to God from wherever he is, (many see it as in the wilderness of Mahanaim, east of Jordan, where he was hiding from Absalom), David declares his trust in God as his Rock, his Refuge, his Fortress and his Tabernacle. When the earthly Tabernacle is no longer available to him, he knows that he can approach God in His heavenly Tabernacle, where he can take refuge under the shadow of His wings.
1 Hear my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer. 2 From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
David cries to God to hear his prayer as he sees himself as at ‘the end of the earth (or ‘the land’)’, that is as being as far from the Tabernacle where he would usually pray as he could be, for he knows that wherever he is, God Is there. And his cry is that when his heart is overwhelmed God will lead him to the Rock that is higher than he is, in other words to God Himself as his Rock. For on that Rock he knows that he will be totally secure. No one knew better than David, from his life of refuge in the wilderness as he hid from Saul, the security provided by rocks on high mountains.
3 For You have been a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy.
David bases his appeal on what God has proved to be to him in the past. God has been his Refuge and his Fortress from the enemy. His point is that he has continually looked to God to be his Protector, and that God has never failed. He has been to him like a Refuge and a Fortress, somewhere where he can be secure. That was why he had survived all his trials. In the words of Proverbs 18.10. ‘The name of YHWH is a strong tower. The righteous run into it and are safe.’
4 I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings. Selah
In God’s Tabernacle he knows that he can dwell with God forever, and take refuge under the shelter of His wings. The latter picture is of young birds finding shelter under the wings of their mother. We too, as Christians, can enter the heavenly Tabernacle through the blood of Jesus (Hebrews 10.19).
David is not there as its owner with full rights, but ever as a sojourner, as God’s guest, sojourning there and confident that God will extend to him all the hospitality expected from a host by his guest.
5 For You, O God, have heard my vows; You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name.
He is confident that God will hear him because he has made his vows to God. The vows that are in mind are indicated here. They are the vows of one who has become a believer and has entered into what God promises for the future, long life and blessing. They are vows of constancy, and obedience to His word. In other words, they are the vows of someone fully committed to God. As a consequence, he is confident that God has given him the inheritance which is the lot of all who truly fear God, that he himself has entered into their heritage in order to enjoy the benefits that God gives to His own. To ‘fear His Name’ is to walk in humble reverence of God, worshipping and obeying Him and ever seeking to do His will because they recognize Who they are dealing with.
6 You will prolong the king’s life, his years as many generations. 7 He shall abide before God forever. Oh, prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him!
David now refers to himself in the third person as ‘the king’ in view of the fact that he is God’s chosen and anointed king to whom God has promised long life and posterity. It is as his chosen King that he is sure that God will preserve and prolong his life, so that he will see his sons, and his sons’ sons, and their sons also, as he spans the generations. Furthermore, God had promised that his throne would be sure forever, with his sons and his sons’ sons following him (2 Samuel 7.13, 16), and he is taking Him at His word.
It may even be that his confidence in God is such that he is sure that even after he dies he will still abide before God. There he is in such a close relationship with God that he cannot believe that that relationship will ever be broken. He is confident that he will abide before God forever. In the literature that we have he never expands on the idea, but it is perfectly clear from what he says in those Psalms. He never speaks of ‘eternal life’ but that is what he is confident that he will enjoy.
David calls on God to ‘allot covenant love and truth’ to him, in other words, to act in covenant love and loyalty towards him. He knows that his preservation is in the hands of God, based on the covenant by which God has committed Himself to His own. His confidence in God rests on the fact that he knows that God will never fail to fulfil His covenant promises to those who are loyal to Him.
In the same way, if we are fully responsive to God we can also be sure that He will fulfil His promises towards us, watching over us, keeping us, chastening us when necessary, and working in us to will and to do of His good pleasure (Philippians 2.13).
8 So I will sing praise to Your name forever that I may daily perform my vows.
In response to God’s faithfulness, David also promises that he will be faithful. He assures God that he will continually praise Him, and will perform his vows, (the vows spoken in verse 5), to Him daily, his vows of loyalty and obedience to His covenant requirements, in other words to His word.
If we would enjoy God’s protection it is required of us that we be found faithful and true to His word. So, leave with this tip, if somehow you are tempted to turn from a vow to our Holy Master, my advice is that you can think it, but don’t do it.
