Psalm 61

Psalm 61. This is a beautiful Psalm. "1 Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; 2 from the end of the earth I (call you) call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, 3 for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy. 4 Let me dwell in your tent forever! Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings! 5 For you, O God, have heard my vows; you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name. 6 Prolong the life of the king; may his years endure to all generations! 7 May he be enthroned forever before God; appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him! 8 So will I ever sing praises to your name, as I perform my vows day after day." (ESV) The thing I love about this Psalm is the title that I've picked out for it. And you see it on the slide there, Lead me to The Rock that is higher than I. I love that phrase. And that should be probably part of our prayer on a regular basis. Particularly when we're feeling under it. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. The idea of the rock is, it's a picture. It's an image that's used a lot throughout Scripture. And it's used all different kinds of ways. But it almost universally speaks of strength, stability, power and because of that protection. Because you can't be protected by something that's weak and so forth. But when something is strong and powerful, you can hide behind it. You can find safety in it and so forth. And that picture is given to us almost universally through the Scriptures. This picture of the strength, the wisdom, the stability of our lives being established on the rock. David says, "Lead me to the rock that is higher than I,...” I want to be based, founded on the rock. Jesus talked about a rock too, as it relates to hearing His Word and doing it. Let me show you this also on the screen from Matthew chapter 7. It says, Matthew 7:24-27 (ESV) Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. All the same things happened to him. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds came and blew, beat against the house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them (and that's something you can't miss) will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, ...the floods came, ...the winds blew and beat on that house, (And that speaks of tribulation, difficulties, and trials but what was the result?)...it did not fall, (Why?) because it had been founded on the rock. (Of course.) And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. All the same things happened to him. And the Rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds came and blew, beat against the house (and of course it fell) and great was the fall of it. Why? Because it wasn't built on the rock. We come back to that same idea, that same picture. The picture that David probably had in his heart. I can just see David as a young boy out in the fields watching over his father's sheep. And probably climbing up on a rock where he can see what's going on. See the whole herd as it stretched out in the pasture and so forth. But recognizing just the stability of that rock, the strength. And he begins to realize that this is a picture of his Lord. And the stability that God brings into our life when we not just hear the Word of God, but put it into practice. There's a lot of people who come to church and they hear the Word of

God. But their lives are still washed away in the trials and difficulties of life because they haven't put it into practice in their lives. Jesus is that rock. Let me show you what Paul said in 1 Corinthians. This is a great passage, too. Chapter 10, beginning at verse 1, it says, 1 Corinthians 10:1-4 (ESV) For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and they all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers (and he's speaking there about the people of Israel) were all under the cloud, and (they) all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and they all ate the same spiritual food, and drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Isn't that amazing? It's funny, I was... I just read through this Old Testament passage in my own Bible reading in Exodus that I was doing in the morning. And came to that place where they, the people of Israel, were grumbling against Moses and Aaron because they were thirsty. And the Lord told Moses to get up on a rock and gather all the people around. And he was to strike the rock and it would bring forth the life giving water. Well, you and I, we don't get what it means. We don't really understand what it is to be thirsty and not have any water handy. Because we, there... We got water all the time everywhere around us. But can you imagine being out in a wilderness and it's like you've been dry... walking for a long time. No water. No water. It's scary, I'm sure! Our bodies need water. I mean, badly. God creates this beautiful picture. Because what comes forth when we drink water, we are, we're revived. It's life itself. I mean, we need water to live. God paints this beautiful picture of the Rock of Jesus Christ. And he tells Moses to take his staff and strike the rock. And what happens when Moses struck the rock? It begins to gush water. Enough to water the entire nation of Israel, between two and three million people and their herds. That's not a little trickle, it's a gusher.

And by the way, waters don't, or rocks don't gush water, naturally. But this one did because it had been struck because this is a picture. And God was painting a picture of Jesus Christ, the One who was struck on our behalf. And because He was struck, out came the life giving waters that feed you and I, and revive us, and give us new life. And by the way, that's why Moses was unable to go into the land when they came around to those same waters about 38 years later. Because the people were complaining again, and Moses had it up to here with their complaints. And God told him to go out, and not strike the rock, He told him, just speak to the rock and it will bring forth living water. And Moses was angry. He went out and he struck it again. And he basically ruined God's beautiful picture. The rock only needs to be struck once, to bring forth the life giving waters, and to feed you and I, and to revive us. Jesus doesn't need to die on the cross every time we have a need, or have a sin. It's that life giving flow that comes from Him by being struck once for all. And because of that, Moses was unable to enter the land. (Exodus 17:1-6, Numbers 20:2-12) But the point is, Paul says here in Corinthians that, Jesus is that Rock. He is our Rock. Is He your Rock? Is He your life source? Is He the one that you stand on? Is He the one that you run to? Is He the one that you climb up on? Is He the one that you're building your life on? If you're married, is your marriage on that Rock? Is it being built on that Rock? Is your own personal walk with Jesus being built on that Rock? By, remember, it comes by hearing and obeying and doing the Word of God. When David says, "Lead me to the rock that is higher than I...," he's talking about that secure place of safety and protection. But remember this people, for David, that place of protection was not a place at all, it was a person. It was God Himself. When you need protection, We go to God Himself. We run to Him.