Lessons From the Psalms - Psalm 61

[00:00:07] Welcome to Lessons From The Psalms. This is Bill Kelley and I'll be your host. On this podcast we will be going over the book of Psalms. An employer? Father God, I thank you for anyone listening to this song today.

[00:00:26] Lord, I pray that you would reveal to everyone listening how much you truly love each and every one of them. I ask this in Jesus name, Amen. This is Psalm 61, beginning in verse 1.

[00:00:41] Here my cry, O God, attend to my prayer 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. For you have been a shelter for me.

[00:01:00] A strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in your tabernacle forever. I will trust in the shelter of your wings. Say law. For you, O God, have heard my vows. You have given me the heritage of those who fear your name. You will prolong the King's life.

[00:01:25] His years as many generations. He shall abide before God forever. O prepare mercy and truth which may preserve him. So I will sing praise to your name forever that I may daily perform my vows. Friends, this Psalm beautiful Psalm 61 is attributed to King David.

[00:01:54] And this is yet another Psalm that was written to the sheath musician. But this one says that it will be played on a stringed instrument.

[00:02:06] So remember when David was a young shepherd boy. He was called by King's soul to be and play the harp for him. King's soul would often be in distress

[00:02:20] And David would come and play the harp to him, and it absolutely would get Saul out of his deep funk. And that's what this Psalm reminds me of. David is in his element here. Let's begin and break this first down beginning in verse one.

[00:02:40] It says, Here, My cry, O God, attend to my prayer. So friends, this should be our prayer to God every day. As we pray to God, we should cry out to him, attend to my prayer.

[00:03:01] Friends, whether you are praying to God in Jesus name or whether you're reaching out to Jesus or the Holy Spirit. It is important that we pray on a regular basis. In the book of James chapter 5, it tells us that the prayers of a righteous man, a valet much.

[00:03:25] Paul says in one of his letters, Pray without ceasing. If there's one thing God admires about someone is someone who reaches out to him in prayer.

[00:03:39] Let's look at verse 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.

[00:03:53] And in this particular verse, David is realizing, Yes, you have given me the kingdom of Israel and I am the king. You've given me that responsibility, but sometimes that responsibility can seem overwhelming.

[00:04:12] And the second part of verse 2, It says, Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Now at that time, David is referring to God. If I were to read this in today's times, I would say that was Jesus.

[00:04:30] That Jesus is the rock. But David was born about a thousand years before Jesus. So he wasn't talking about Jesus. He did not know Jesus. He only knew his father God. Let's go to verse 3. For you have been a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy.

[00:04:54] Now friends, when I think of verse 3 and it says a strong tower that reminds me of the proper of 1810. And that says the name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run to it and our safe.

[00:05:12] And so I really enjoy verse 3 because this song is written by King David. The proverb, which would have been 1810, would have been written by his son Solomon. So his son Solomon refers to God as a strong tower.

[00:05:35] And here in this verse King David is referring to God as a strong tower. What that tells me is that Solomon watched David carefully and he learned well from what King David was.

[00:05:51] From what King David his father did. Let's look to verse 4, I will abide in your tabernacle forever. I will trust in the shelter of your wings. Say law. Now say law always tells us to meditate on what we have just finished reading and let's begin verse 4 again.

[00:06:16] I will abide in your tabernacle forever. Friends, this reminds me of the very famous song, 23 also written by David verse 6. And that says surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

[00:06:41] Friends, that tells me the importance of God in David's life. He often went to God in prayer in his time of need or even if he didn't have a time of need.

[00:06:59] David is always referred to as a man after God's own heart. That is something that we should try to emulate. Let's go to verse 5,

[00:07:10] for you, oh God, have heard my vows. You have given me the heritage of those who fear your name. Now friends, the heritage here can either refer to the kingdom of Israel,

[00:07:26] which God has handed over to David. He has made him king over that land, but we also could be referring to King Jesus in the second coming.

[00:07:38] When he comes back, he will have all the nations under his command and he will rule and reign when he returns to earth.

[00:07:49] Let's go to verse 6. You will prolong the King's life, his years as many generations and over and over again in Scripture it tells us that if we abide in the commandments of God that we will live a long life,

[00:08:08] if you follow what the Bible tells you to do, usually your life will be lengthened. Let's go to verse 7. He shall abide before God forever. O prepare mercy and truth which may preserve him. Now friends, when I read verse 7, I'm thinking about mercy and truth.

[00:08:35] And when I think about mercy and truth, I think of the Lord Jesus himself. Jesus was merciful, and he also is known as the truth. He is the word he is the truth.

[00:08:54] Let's go to our final verse 8. So I will sing praise to your name forever that I may daily perform my vows. Now friends, verse 8 mentions vows that is also found in verse 5. So if I interpret that verse correctly, we have made vows to God.

[00:09:21] That when you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you are making a vow that you understand that Jesus is the Son of God and that you are going to follow Him all the days of your life.

[00:09:39] Friends, please join me again soon as we take a closer look at Psalm 62.