61:1-2 David makes a raw and personal prayer:
Hear 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.
Every person reaches a point in life, in relationship or in situation where they feel overwhelmed. Whatever it is that leads us to that emotional place, described by David as the end of the earth, we have all seen the view from that edge. We have all surveyed from that place, the landscape that led us there.
In that place, there are two things we need first and foremost: love and hope. But that place is a barren land, and even the whole rest of the earth can seem unable to provide what we need. Like David, in that place we have a desperate cry and an overwhelmed heart. Yet like David, we must also have a prayer. Because like David, we have a God who will hear the cry and will attend to the heart.
Father lead us to You, the rock that is higher than the place that feels to us like end of the earth. For we need His stability and His perspective in order to persevere. We need His love to lead us and to restore hope in the empty place.
Father lead us to You, the rock that is higher than the place that feels to us like end of the earth. For we need His stability and His perspective in order to persevere. We need His love to lead us and to restore hope in the empty place.
61:3 God has drawn us into His shelter before, and He will always do so. He is a strong tower from which we escape and view the battle field. With Him we strategize a plan of action from a safe place. In His fortress, we have access to His weapons-room and we arm ourselves with the whole arsenal, the entire spiritual armor.
Ephesians 6:14-17
Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
Essentially, Ephesians 6 explains further what Matthew 6:33 teaches: to seek the kingdom above all things and to let God take care of the the rest. The kingdom of God is our shelter and strong tower.
61:4 David pledged to remain in that place... not the barren land, not the edge of the earth but in the kingdom. In the tabernacle, the place of God forever. We must make a steadfast commitment, a dogged commitment to remaining in the house of the Lord. Fear will call to us from the base of the tower but will we descend? Like David, we find ourselves walking down the steps as it calls our name but even as we descend we must call out to God to redirect our steps. We constantly need Him to turn us around, to help us climb back into His haven.
Because as we step down it gets darker and we become more overwhelmed... but every place our cry is heard by God. His light penetrates every darkness. We were meant to see the dawn, each day, from the top of the tower and so it is to that place He always leads. Symbolized by the word "wings," we know that God uses His own body to protect us; we are that important to Him.
61:5 David built a relationship founded on truth with God. No matter where we are in that constructive process, we will continually learn that God is faithful. To those who make a commitment to God, there is a grand covenant to inherit. A holy home and the deepest love. The most abundant provision and spiritual sustenance.
61:6-7 Our relationship with God reminds us, while we stand on that emotional edge of the earth, that this life, juxtaposed our eternal life, is able to be persevered. The perspective reminds us that if God can wield the universe, an eternity, He certainly has power and plan for this life. The undercurrent of His every plan is love and provision for His children. That knowledge helps us to see our temporary lack as space He has already planned to fill. Weight He has already reached out to carry. Fear He has already abated.
61:8 Our praise of God is fulfilling in a way nothing else ever could be. From the standpoint of worship, we diminish fear and anxiety. We mute the voice of our enemy, within or without, and we void the burden of present moment. Worship brings us to the doorstep of the kingdom, and our voice rings its bell. With our worship we pray to be let inside and the door is always opened.
Because in worship we are heart to heart with God. When we worship from a broken place, especially, something miraculous happens: as we observe God's strength, God absorbs our weakness.
