TUESDAY 27th
Psalm 61
NIV (vv1-2) – ‘Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.’
ESV (vv1-2) – ‘Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I . . .’
What a place to be found, at the rock that is higher than I, that is to be found standing on the One who is the Rock, to be standing on the One that is higher than we are, and that Rock is God himself.
There is something about being at the top of a mountain, while we lived in North Wales, I only ever made it to the summit of Snowdon twice, the first time it was a long arduous climb, and even harder on the limbs to get back down, a sure sign as to how unfit I really was, the second time, common sense kicked it and I used the steam train! But there is one thing for sure the view once up there was spectacular; it was more than worth all the struggle (the first time) to get up there to be able to see on a crystal-clear day, for miles and miles.
As I have said the second time I took the train, there was a group of us together, but for me it was a godsend as I realised how weak I had been the previous time in my own effort to get to the summit. In our psalm today, the psalmist is confessing his own personal weakness, he says, ‘hear my cry, O God . . . I call to you when my heart is faint . . .’ His desire was to be led ‘to the rock that is higher than I.’ He wanted to get to the summit to be able stand on the solid Rock, the One who is a firm foundation, but he was feeling weak, maybe his circumstances were causing him to be cast down, and it can often happen to us, we know where we need to be, we know that our feet should be firmly planted on the Rock, but spiritually we are faint, we need help, and as the psalmist did, so do we, we cry out in our weakness that God himself will come to our aid and lead us, or lift us up onto the Rock that is higher than I, lift us into a place of elevation which is above our circumstance and is full of his presence, lift us out of our doldrum to a place of inexpressible joy once again. Remember I said that once I had reached the summit the view was spectacular, and so will our response be, when we have been led to the Rock that is higher than I, it will be spectacular, amazing to be in his presence and to sit at his feet.