Lead Me To The Rock
Psalm 61:1-4, Proverbs 18:10
There are days that are more than just challenging; they can become overwhelming! Where do you go and what do you do when life’s challenges become more than you can bear? Friends are a source of comfort; especially the ones that know you sometimes better than you know yourself. However, even our closest friends fall short of what our deep inner soul has need of. We need to know that the very lover of our soul, hears the cry of our soul.
David knew how to cry out to the LORD. From the time he was a simple shepherd boy, and throughout his journey to be the king of Israel, he faced more enemies than most of us will in a life time. Yet He knew where his help came from, and who his refuge was. He sought the LORD’s direction before every battle (except the one with Bathsheeba) and knew the strategy for victory. Yet there were times that the enemy became so relentless that he found himself overwhelmed. Have you ever felt this way?
David begins this psalm with a bold decree, “Hear my cry O God; attend to my prayer.” He was not timidly asking, he was boldly crying out to God to hear. To hear means- to listen, to be heard, to understand, to hearken diligently. He was saying, don’t just hear me, but understand my anguish and diligently pay attention to my cry; which is my summoning plea, as I call on the excellence of Yahweh….attend to my petition.
What does it mean to attend to a prayer? It is requesting that He give heed, incline His ear, and mark well the prayer. David made sure that his prayer was marked urgent! There was no hesitance or lack of belief. He knew the God he cried out to would respond to his overwhelmed heart. Why wouldn’t He?
What is an overwhelmed heart? Our heart is our inner person, our seat of thought and emotion; where our conscious mind lives. When it becomes overwhelmed it means- to turn aside, grow faint, to be feeble and ebb away. The weightiness of all that is coming against us causes us to turn aside from everyday life and grow faint, or weak. What effects us spiritually and emotionally, will always show up in our physical health in one way or another; which is why we cannot simply address one aspect of our being, and not the others.
After David boldly cry’s out to God to hear and attend to him; he then asks Him to lead him to the rock that is higher than himself! David recognized that God was the One that needed to lead his life; to guide, to govern and straighten his path to the rock….the Rock that was higher than any place he himself could climb to safety. The rock is a title of God. It is a place of stability, security and safety. Remember Jesus parable of building on the rock versus building on sand? Matthew 7:26
God had used many physical mountain shelters as places of refuge in David’s life. There were countless times he found refuge in those rocks when Saul sought to take his life; yet David knew that it was the Creator of those rocks that was his real fortress. “For You have been a shelter for me, a strong tower from my enemy.” While most of us do not have to seek physical shelter from our enemy; we do need the spiritual shelter from the onslaught that seeks to overwhelm us on a daily basis.
Be bold in your prayers. Do not be afraid to cry out and summon the God of the universe! “He neither slumbers nor sleeps” nor is He too busy to hear one of His children in distress. As a parent have you ever ignored one of your children in their broken or overwhelmed state of mind? We don’t! We do whatever we can to help them through their pain, as we attend to their brokenness. How much more does our Heavenly Father attend to His own children?
“Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10