The Cry, The Hope, The Help
Psalms 61
By
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
OPENING: - The book of Psalms expresses worship, encourages us to praise God for who He is and what He has done. It illuminates the greatness of God, affirms His faithfulness, and presents His loving kindness toward us despite of our shortcoming, hopelessness, depression, anxiety and emotional unease.
I like the book of Psalms because they give a voice and a verse to the emotions we often experience and ask the questions that we either are afraid to ask or have been conditioned not to ask like God is intimidated by our questions.
Psalms 61 is a song of struggle, desire, hope along with being a psalm of true relational intimacy and a close personal dwelling with God. It is a Psalm of protection, commitment and praise.
Many many years ago I will never forget when I first learned this song during a revival in Elyria Ohio and Dr. Violet Fisher taught it to us just before she bought forth the word and down through the years it has become one of my favorite songs and Psalms.
Psalms 61 is a perfect Psalm because there are 7 points of interest that I want to bring out. 1. The Cry, 2. The Need, 3. The Desire, 4. The Protection, 5. The Relationship, 6. The Commitment, 7. The Praise. Then close with New Beginnings because there are 8 things to remember during times of being overwhelmed.
The Cry, The Hope, The Help
PRAYER
SCRIPTURE: - Psalms 61 “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. For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah. For thou, O God, hast heard my vows: thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name. Thou wilt prolong the king’s life: and his years as many generations. He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him. So, I will sing praise unto thy name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows”.
BACKGROUND:- Psalms 61 is a Psalm that is attributed to David and as you know David was often in trouble physical, spiritually, and emotionally although we don’t know for certain what the issue was when he wrote this particular Psalm we understand that God wanted this Psalm to be understood, sung, and prayed by the people of God regardless of the circumstances that causes us to be overwhelmed.
TEXT: - I want to break this passage of scripture down and feast upon the beautiful, poetic, and heartfelt scripture that is before us.
TEXT: - Verses 1-2 says, “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”. THE CRY: - This is not that passive prayer you pray just before you climb into bed, and you say your prayers more out of habit than out of necessity. This is a cry of desperation, desperation of being overwhelmed with the circumstances of life. I am not calling out of traditional prayers, I am not coming able to say to the highest, anointed, all powerful one that dwells between the Cherubim, surrounded by a host of angels that cry Holy Holy Holy day and night. Sure, the Bible says we must come boldly into His presence, but boldness does not equal arrogance, I’m not coming with a spirit of arrogance, but I am in a state of distress, pain and sorrow, tears are coming down my face and I am shouting out in a loud voice Lord, I need thee right now. This is not a disrespectful approach to the Throne of God but a cry of desperation, a cry that is suffering, a cry that is coming from the Deep of my soul and is reaching out the Deep of His resources. So, from the deep oppressive, deep overwhelming, deep anxieties of my circumstances my plea and cry is “Hear my cry O God”.
Then he makes a very unique statement “Attend unto my prayer”. This is wisdom because David understands that even though God hears all prayers, He is not going to answer all prayers, because He knows when our hearts aren’t in the right place and if we are praying a pray from our own lustful desires He is not going to answer that prayer, James 4:3 says, “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lust”. So, he actively asks for God to respond – with a cry and plea Attend unto my prayer.
THE NEED: - “From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed”, UNDERSTAND:- this is not so much a geographical location that David is talking about as it is the utmost limits of human existence, this is being at your wits end, this is at the farthest reaches of human understanding, strength, and resources, there is nothing humanly possible for me to do anything else. I feel like I am so far from you Lord and am beyond the limits of my endurance, my understanding, and my ability so I am crying out to you. “When my heart is overwhelmed”. This literally is when we have dealt with times of intense grief, pain, suffering, or perplexity. We have reached the limits of dealing with this and my heart is buried beneath this heavy weight of grief and despair, and I can’t overcome it in my own strength and resources. There is a need that can’t be filled except by God only. It is from this point that I am calling out to you O God.
THE DESIRE: - “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I”. David understood that he needed at least three things 1. He needed God to lead him. We need God to lead us to order our steps because we are not able to get a grasp or a solid footing above this situation on our own. Our foot will slip because we are too distracted by the issue, but lead me, direct me through the process, guide me o thou great Jehovah without you leading me I will fall into the ditch and drown. So first we need God to Lead Us.
2. He said lead me to the Rock, a place of stability and security. A stabile place that can stand against the waves of depression, anxiety, grief, heartache like the rock of Gibraltar. The Rock, who is Jesus, is a place of security that cannot be reached without Divine guidance. I am reminded of a song wee used to sing a long time ago that said “Show me the way Lord I am weak but thou are strong, take me by the hand and lead me on, I know you can and I know you will guide my footsteps if I just keep still show me the way Lord”.
3. The Rock that is higher than I, understand that this is the place of safety and security that is above anything that we are capable of reaching and doing on our own, it is a place above our crisis and beyond our abilities. When trials and tribulations come in your life, we need the rock that is Higher than I.
Why did he say a Rock.
THE PROTECTION: - The idea of God being the rock portrays the stability, the security, and the refuge of protection. Imagine a rock, a mountain, with all its clefts that you could hide in and be protected. A rock that although the waves of trials and tribulation crash against it is unmovable. This rock David desires to be protected by; he says is higher than I. This is higher than my human abilities can provide, it’s higher than any position we can humanly achieve, this rock surpasses our human frailties and looks to God for elevation above that which has overwhelmed me. It is the place of refuge that looks down on my enemies and handles all my troubles from above. It is protection from the enemy. Protection indicates that not only will he fight for you, but he will watch over you. God, the Rock, our protector indicates trust that means He protects every part of you, not just physical protection but he also protects who you are as well.
THE RELATIONSHIP & THE COMMITMENT: - verse 3-7 says, “For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah. For thou, O God, hast heard my vows: thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name. Thou wilt prolong the king's life: and his years as many generations. He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him". Relationship and Commitment because when we read this and understand the process, you realize that this is past experiences and former circumstances meet faith and produces commitment and my commitment strengthens our relationship.
For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. When I look back over my life and see how you protected me, how you delivered me, how you brought me through that when I felt like I was going to lose my mind. That’s how I know, thou hast been a shelter and a strong tower it is based on past experiences. Because of my past experiences my relationship has grown, and Now faith is able to cause me to commit that I will abide in thy tabernacle forever, (I am going from faith to faith building my relationship with God therefore) I will trust in the covert of thy wings. (This is the close and protected place like how a mother hen covers and protect her chicks under her wings also when David said this I believe he had in mind the Tabernacle that had the curtain separating the Holy place from the Holy of Holies and the wings of the Cherubim and he no doubt imagined being n the safety of the wings, in the presence of God). Selah – That word Selah means to pause and meditate upon. Just take a moment and think about how in times past when you didn’t know how you were going to get through something and God brought you through that, if He was able to bring you through that then your faith should have grown, your relationship should have matured, and your commitment should be greater even though right now your heart may be overwhelmed – if He did that He will do this also.
For thou, O God, hast heard my vows: thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name. Thou wilt prolong the king's life: and his years as many generations. He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him. This is David’s personal prayer, but For thou, O God, hast heard my vows: God hears the vows we make, how often have we said Lord if you deliver me through this I will commit to do something, I will commit to visit the sick, the widow, and the orphan and when God delivers us from that we often fail to keep our vow and miss out own certain blessings because we did not keep our word, but He always keeps His word.
David realizes because he has made certain vows and God has delivered him he is going to be rewarded with the heritage of those that fear thy name – Matthew Henry Commentary says it like this:- There is a heritage peculiar to the people of God that fear His name; present comforts in the soul, earnests of future bliss. We need desire no better heritage than that of those who fear God. Those abide to good purpose in this world, who abide before God, serve him, and walk in his fear; those who do so, shall abide before him forever. This is the heritage of them that fear His name, this is what belongs to you and me. We shall be before the face of God in His presence forever.
Thou wilt prolong the king's life: and his years as many generations. He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him. David was saying that he will have long life that his life will not be cut off short and his generations shall inherit the throne unlike Saul who when he and Jonathan died the kingdom was passed to David. We shall have eternal life, not only will we have eternal life but Jesus said I come that they may have life and have it more abundantly.
THE PRAISE: - Verse 8 “So I will sing praise unto thy name forever, that I may daily perform my vows”. This Psalm started out in desperation, loneliness, and a since of being overwhelmed but it ends in verse 8, new beginnings, with praise and giving God glory.
WATCH THIS: - Some place between Hear my cry and I will sing praise there is a turning point, there is going from being overwhelmed to being free indeed.
The word Judah which means Praise in Hebrew comes from the yod and the pictograph is a Arm and Hand that represents strength, turning, but another meaning of yod is axel and an axel is responsible for turning the wheel of a mobile machine. Yod – Yadah means to lift the hand in praise and turn around your situation around. So, I will sing praise unto thy name, I will Yadah, your name and watch my situation turn around.
Hear my cry O Lord attend unto my prayer.
Those are the 7 points that I want you to understand about Psalms 61 – The Cry, The Need, The Desire, The Protection, The Relationship, The Commitment, and The Praise. The Perfect Psalm.
CLOSING: - There are 8 things I want you to memorize, remember 8 represent New Beginnings.
1. We can cry to God and He is not looking down on you like you are a wimp or soft because you cry. Cry out O Zion when you are feeling overwhelmed, hopeless, lonely. Lamentations 2:19 says, “Arise cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street”.
2. Not only can we cry out, but GOD HEARS. God desires for us to be in relationship with Him and will hear us when we cry out to Him. Psalms 34:17 says, “The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of ALL their troubles”.
3. We are never in such a place where He does not hear us or comes to deliver us. Again Psalms 34:17 says, “The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of ALL their troubles”. From the ends of the earth is figuratively language that deals with the ends of human ability, it is our deep desires and circumstances cry out to His deep resources.
4. God is our Rock, our fortress, our shelter, our protection. There may be times when we feel like we are all alone but we are not, we can cry out to Him and He will be our protection.
5. We must desire to dwell with Him for He created us to be in relationship with Him. Exodus 25:8 says, “And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them”. God desire to dwell and have relationship with His people so we must desire to dwell with Him.
6. God recognizes and develops our faith. Matthew 9:29 says, “Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you”. Mark 5:34 says, “And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague”. Matthew 15:28 says, “Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole”.
7. Praise God despite what you are going through. We must praise God despite what we are going through because Praise diverts our attention from our circumstance and focuses on God. Psalms 121:1-2 says, “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth”.
8. Victory is mine. Romans 8:38-39 says, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angel, nor principalities, nor power, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor heigh, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”. This is our victory because it is based 100% upon Jesus Christ and not on us. It is not our strength or our might that is able to keep us it is His love for us that keep us in the palm of His hand and because Nothing shall separate us from the love of God, this battle belongs to the Lord 2 Chronicles 20:15 says, “Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s”.
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
