The Rock and the Shelter - Katie Cannon
PSALM 61
1 Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer.
2 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.
3 For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. 4 I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.
5 For thou, O God, hast heard my vows: thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name.
6 Thou wilt prolong the king's life: and his years as many generations. 7 He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him. 8 So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows.
THE ROCK AND SHELTER
Have you ever been overwhelmed? I think there are times we can all think of when life has seemed a little (or very) overwhelming. I can think of a few instances in my life where that has been the case. We’ve had hard ministry days, we’ve gone through unexpected moves
and pregnancy loss. Life very seldom goes the way we have it planned in our heads, but you know what, that is okay. I think Psalm 61, and really all of the Psalms, assure us that even when we are overwhelmed, drowning and tossed about, that we have a Rock who is stable and secure that we can cling to. I love the imagery that is used by some theologians when talking about Psalm 61:2. They equate being overwhelmed to being in a stormy sea with waves crashing about and threatening to overtake you. Sometimes our circumstances can certainly feel that way. Jesus told us in John 16:33,
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
We will have tribulation. We will have hard times. We will have circumstances that make us feel overwhelmed. However, we can also know that we have a rock and a shelter who has overcome the world. David trusted that when he felt like he was drowning in his circumstances that God would be his anchor and his rescue. He trusts that since he knows God has been his shelter and strong tower in the past (Psalm 61:3), that He can be trusted. When we get to know God better by reading and studying His word, we learn to trust His character, His plan, and His heart. Doing so does not, by any means, make it easier or more pleasant when we go through hard things. Just because we trust God does not mean the problems go away. It does mean that when we do go through the hard things, He will be our sure and steady foundation that we can cling to in whatever we are going through.
In verse 7, David talks about how God’s mercy and truth is what preserves us. In Lamentations 3:22-23, Jeremiah writes
It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
The Lord is merciful towards His children. Our circumstances will not consume us, they will not overtake us. No matter what happens, we are His. Even if our circumstances may lead to our death, even then, God is good to His children. He is sovereign over everything, which means we can trust what He is doing even when we don’t understand it. As Charles Spurgeon said, “The worldling blesses God while He gives him plenty, but the Christian blesses him when he smites him: he believes Him to be too wise to err and too good to be unkind; he trusts Him where he cannot trace Him, looks up to Him in the darkest hour, and
believes that all is well.”“With David, we can continue to sing praises to His name even in the darkness because He is our Rock, Shelter, and Strong Tower.