Psalm 61:1-3: Turning Our Eyes to God

Psalm 61:1-3: Turning Our Eyes to God

Hello everyone, thank you for joining us today. In case you’re new to our church, name is Josh, and I’m one of the pastors of Redeeming Grace. And, just like we’ve been doing these past few weeks, please feel free to interact through the comments section of this video. Maybe you’d like to share a thought about something I say or maybe you have a question or maybe you’d just like to say hi to the others who are viewing this. Whatever it is, please feel free to comment. We’d love to interact with you.

Over these past few weeks, the crisis confronting our society has escalated dramatically. I think just about all of us have been quite surprised at just how quickly and dramatically this Coronavirus pandemic has altered our lives. And of course, thousands of people have lost their lives because of it. And as I’ve been reflecting on all that’s been happening and trying to process this crisis that seems to be getting worse by the day, there are two things that stick out to me. And both of these have been brought to my attention by a pastor in Italy named Mark Oden. 

The first is simply how fragile we are. This microscopic virus that somehow found its way into a single human being has now spread across the globe and killed tens of thousands of people. And of course, we know that only a small fraction of those who contract COVID-19 die from it. So imagine what would happen if, theoretically, we were dealing with a virus that was even more aggressive and deadly. I mean, could the human race even survive? Would we even be able to avoid extinction? I hate to say it, but probably not. So what a sobering reminder this is of how weak and fragile we are. I think Psalm 103:15-16 says it quite well: “As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it [or perhaps we might say COVID-19 passes over it], and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.” A very realistic description of us and our lives.

In addition, this Coronavirus pandemic reminds us not only of how fragile we are but also of how not-in-control we are. Now, most of the time, we imagine that we have a large measure of control over our lives. We like to view ourselves as captains of our own destiny and masters of our own fate, as the famous saying goes. And the reality is that, especially in this day and age, we are able to control many aspects of our lives. Just think about how many things we can control with our thumb clicking and swiping on our phones—everything from the temperature of our homes to the allocation of our money to communication with our friends or colleagues. But all of that makes it very easy to overestimate the amount of control we have over our lives—and I believe we have overestimated it to an extraordinary degree, as this pandemic is showing us. You see, what this pandemic has done is that it’s stripped away the illusion of control that we often operate under and revealed in no uncertain terms that we’re not in control. Think about it. Despite all of the extraordinary measures that our federal and state governments are taking to stop the spread of COVID-19, the virus still continues to spread at an alarming rate. I’m not trying to make anyone overly anxious, but that’s just the reality. We can shut down schools and businesses and even church gatherings, but it seems as though we’re relatively powerless to stop the spread of this virus. Of course, that’s not to say that the steps we take to “flatten the curve” such as social distancing don’t have any effect. They certainly do, and we should absolutely practice those things. I’m simply saying that at the end of the day, we’re ultimately not in control.

And I realize all of this isn’t very encouraging for us to hear. We will get to the encouraging part soon, but before we can be encouraged in a meaningful way, I believe we first need to be humbled. We need to be humbled and brought low before we can be in a position to find hope and peace in God. And that’s what this pandemic is doing to us. It’s humbling us by showing us just how fragile and powerless we are so that we’ll be brought to the end of ourselves and turn our gaze toward God. 

And that’s something we see very clearly in Psalm 61. So if you have a Bible, go ahead and grab that and turn with me to Psalm 61. We’re not going to go through the whole psalm today but just verses 1-3. So Psalm 61:1-3. David writes, 1 Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; 2 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, 3 for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy. I believe the main principle we can extract from this psalm is that God uses trials to bring us to the end of ourselves so that we trust in him. If you’re taking notes, feel free to write that down as the main idea today. God uses trials to bring us to the end of ourselves so that we trust in him. So let’s just walk through this passage verse by verse. 

First, look how David starts out in verse 1: “Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer.” Can you hear the desperation in David’s voice? He starts this psalm not with eloquent words of praise or proclamation but with a humble, desperate plea for God to hear him. Then he says in verse 2, “from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint.” For David to say that he’s calling to God “from the end of the earth” means that he’s in a really tough place. Many scholars believe David wrote this psalm while he was on the run from his own son Absalom. 2 Samuel chapters 15-18 records how David’s son Absalom rose to power and convinced the majority of the Israelites to follow him rather than his father King David. As a result, David and those who were still loyal to him were forced to flee for their lives and run far away from the capitol city of Jerusalem. So we’re talking about an all-out civil war here. 

And eventually, David’s army did defeat Absalom and end up killing him so that David could reclaim the kingship, but, as you can imagine, that season of David’s life must have been nearly unbearable. I mean, with the grief he must have felt from his own son betraying him compounded by the grief of other trusted advisors and officials betraying him plus the fear he must have felt for his own life and the humiliation of having to flee his own palace and, even as the king, receive charity from whoever would give it to him, he must have been about ready to break. So when he writes here in verse 2 that he’s calling to God “from the end of the earth,” that’s probably both literal, to some degree, since he was on the run far away from Jerusalem and metaphorical since he was going through what was probably the greatest trial of his life. Not surprisingly, he also says in this verse he’s calling to God “when my heart is faint.” David had come to the end of himself. He was a broken man. His pride and self-sufficiency had been crushed under the weight of this painful ordeal. 

And more often than not, that’s what has to happen to each of us to one degree or another—because just about all of us are filled with some species of pride. It seems as though we have a natural and irresistible tendency to think very highly of ourselves. Perhaps we pride ourselves for certain abilities or accomplishments or our personality or our socioeconomic status or how good of a person we believe we are. I mean, the list is almost endless. I mentioned at the beginning of the sermon that we like to be in control and maintain that illusion of control in our lives. Well, that also is a species of pride. And so, it’s necessary for God, in his love and grace, to break us of our pride and bring us to the end of ourselves. 

Kind of like what the military seeks to do in boot camp. I’ve known several people who have gone to the Marine boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina, and they’ve described it as unquestionably the most intense and grueling experience of their lives. They explained to me how the purpose of boot camp isn’t so much to train you in different skills like shooting or hand-to-hand combat—although that’s part of it. But the primary purpose of boot camp is essentially to bring you to your breaking point—to put you through experiences like endless drills and sleep deprivation and drill sergeants yelling in your face that are designed to break you of all the things that will get in the way of you being a good soldier. In order to change you from an 18-year-old kid fresh out of high school into a warrior who’s able to face danger and even death head-on, they want to bring you to your breaking point. And that’s similar to the way in which it’s necessary for God to bring us to our breaking point. 

And I realize that may sound like a very harsh thing for God to do, but we have to remember that he does it because of his love and mercy. I love the phrase Elisabeth Elliot used for these trials God allows into our lives. She called them “severe mercies.” By the way, in case you don’t know, Elisabeth Elliot’s husband was the famous missionary Jim Elliot, who was martyred while taking the gospel to a remote tribe in the Ecuadorian jungle. And after the tribe killed her husband, Elisabeth actually went back to the same tribe, shared the gospel with them, and led the vast majority of the people of that tribe to faith in Christ. So this was a woman who knew a thing or two about suffering and remaining devoted to the Lord through suffering. And she used this phrase “severe mercies” to describe the difficult things God allows us to go through. God allows “severe mercies” to come into our lives because, among other things, that’s the only way we can be broken of our pride and self-sufficiency and come to lean fully on him. We’ll never learn to trust in God as our “everything” apart from these “severe mercies.” You might say that in order for us to realize that God is all we need, we have to be brought to the point where God is all we have. And so, God will lovingly and mercifully allow things to come into our lives that force us to come to the end of ourselves.

And maybe you’re getting a taste of that right now. Maybe, in one way or another, this Coronavirus pandemic is bringing you to the end of yourself. If so, let me just encourage you by reminding you that that’s not a bad place to be. However, make sure you respond to that properly. And we see the proper response modeled for us here in Psalm 61. We’ve seen so far that David is praying to God—which is, in itself, instructive. But look at what David goes on to say as well. He says, “Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. [And then here it is] Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” Imagine you’re caught in the middle of a flood. And let’s say that this flood has come upon you all of a sudden and that the flood waters are rising rapidly all around you. What are you going to do? Well, in the absence of a boat or something like that, you’re of course going to do everything you can to get to higher ground, right? You don’t have to be a genius to figure out that, in a flood, higher ground is way better than lower ground. So you’re going to get to higher ground. But what are you going to do if you’re already at the highest point that’s accessible to you and the water level continues to rise? Let’s say the water level reaches your feet and it’s still rising. Well, at that point, you’re pretty much out of options, aren’t you? And that’s the picture David’s painting for us here when he says to God, “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” In other words, “I’m here, God, and I’m about to be swept away by this current. And since I don’t have any way to rescue myself, I need you to rescue me. I need you to pick me up and bring me to higher ground—to a ‘rock that is higher than I.’” 

Guys, that is such a wonderful picture of coming to the end of ourselves and, in humble brokenness, turning our gaze toward God as our all-sufficient Savior and Provider and Protector. You know, maybe right now, you should adopt that as your prayer. If you feel overwhelmed with anxiety as you read the news headlines day after day after day, why don’t you simply pray, “Lord, lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” If you’re wondering how in the world you’re going to pay your bills this month, pray, “Lord, lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” If you’re fearful that the health of you or someone you love is going to be seriously jeopardized by COVID-19, then pray, “Lord, lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” Whatever you’re going through and whatever you’re facing right now, let that bring you to the end of yourself so that you look to God for everything. Listen: you need a rock that’s higher than yourself. Look to God as that rock. 

Because guess what? Whatever you’re going through, he can handle it. Look what David writes in verse 3, “…for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.” A refuge is a place of shelter and safety. It’s where you go when you need to be protected from something. And it’s the same way with the “strong tower” David refers to. Back in ancient times, if a hostile army threatened you, you could go into a “strong tower” and be safe. And that’s what God is for his people. He’s more than able to handle whatever situation you’re facing right now. So look to him to do that. Stop looking to yourself, and look instead to him. 

This is a lesson that the Apostle Paul had to learn as well. In 2 Corinthians 1:8-9, he writes, 8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. So why does Paul say he and his companions had experienced such intense affliction in Asia to the point that it felt like they had received a death sentence? Why did that happen? “To make us rely not on ourselves but on God.” Paul understood that what had happened to him was one of those “severe mercies” we talked about earlier. God was using affliction to break Paul of his self-reliance and lead him to a deeper reliance upon God. And maybe that’s what God wants for you as well during this season. Could it be that, through whatever hardship you’re experiencing, God is graciously seeking to turn your eyes to him? Could it be that he’s showing you that you need a rock that’s higher than yourself—that even though you may like to think that you can take care of yourself and provide for your own welfare, you actually need God every moment of every day? So let that be your prayer—“Lord, lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”

And ultimately, as many other passages in the Bible make clear, that “rock” is Jesus. He’s the Rock that we have to be led to, not just for our earthly needs but also, and even more, for our eternal needs. You see, the Bible teaches that we’re in a situation that’s even more desperate than the situation David was in when he wrote this psalm. Remember, David most likely wrote this while he was on the run from his son Absalom who was seeking his life, right? Well, we’re in a situation that’s even more desperate than that. The Bible teaches that you and I have rebelled against the God of the universe. The Bible calls this rebellion sin, and it teaches that the problem isn’t just that we do sinful things. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. The deeper problem is that we have a sinful heart. That is, we have a nature that’s irresistibly inclined toward sin. We delight in sin rather than delighting in God. 

And the scariest part is that our hearts are so filled with sinful desires and blinded by sinful desires that we don’t even realize how steeped in sin we are. I hate to make this comparison, but it’s kind of like COVID-19. Experts tell us that you can have COVID-19 for days without even realizing that you have it. That’s why we’re in the situation we’re in, right? That’s why we have to do social distancing and things like that. Because even if you don’t have symptoms of COVID-19, you can still have it and be spreading it to others without even knowing it. And in a similar way, all people are infected by sin, but most are quite unaware of just how pervasive sin is in their life. As Psalm 36:2 says, “In their own eyes they flatter themselves too much to detect or hate their sin.” And not only do we often turn a blind eye to the pervasiveness of our sin, we also often turn a blind eye to the seriousness of our sin. Because the fact is that God is compelled by his own holiness and righteousness to judge us for our sins forever in hell. That’s the penalty our sins deserve. So again, just like with COVID-19, the fact that our sin is, many times, largely unseen doesn’t make it any less real or any less deadly. 

Thankfully, though, Jesus is that Rock that’s higher than us. He’s that “refuge” and that “strong tower” of which David speaks. You see, Jesus saw our wretched condition and, in an act of extraordinary mercy, entered this world as a real human being and lived a life of perfect obedience to God his Father. Then he died on the cross, not for any sins he had committed—since he hadn’t committed any—but for our sins. All of the judgment and wrath of God fell down on Jesus instead of us. That’s what happened on the cross. Then three days later, Jesus resurrected from the dead so as to conquer sin and death and make it possible for us to share in eternal life with him. 

But here’s the thing: that doesn’t happen automatically. The Bible says we have to turn away from our sinful way of living and put our confidence in Jesus alone as that Rock who’s higher than us. That means we have to come to the end of ourselves and be broken of our moral and spiritual self-sufficiency and admit that we have nothing in ourselves to commend ourselves to God and instead look to Jesus as our all-sufficient Savior. So if you haven’t yet done that, my prayer for you is that you would—even today. As extreme as it may sound, I pray that whatever earthly anxieties you may be facing right now would cause you to turn your eyes toward God not just for your earthly welfare but also, even more, for your eternal welfare. Because, guys, this life only lasts for a few moments, but eternity, by definition, lasts forever. So look to Jesus as that rock that’s higher than you. Realize that it’s only through him and his life, death, and resurrection, that you can be saved from your sin. To borrow the term used in verse 3 of our main passage, Jesus is the only “refuge” that offers you eternal shelter and safety. 

You know, in the Old Testament, God instructed his people Israel to designate certain cities as what he called “cities of refuge.” These were cities where someone could go if they had killed another person accidentally. You see, if an Israelite killed someone else, it was legally permissible and apparently quite common for a man from the victim’s family to kill them in retribution. They called this man the “avenger of blood.” However, if the initial killing was an accident, the person could flee from his hometown and run to one of these cities of refuge, where the “avenger of blood” wasn’t allowed to touch him. Of course, the leaders of the city would do their best to verify that the killing was indeed an accident, and if they determined that it was, they would let the person whose life was at risk stay in their city so that the “avenger of blood” couldn’t get him. And God told the Israelites to establish six of these cities of refuge. And the reason there had to be six of them was because if the “avenger of blood” caught up with the person who had killed someone before that person made it to a city of refuge, they were fair game. So there had to be a city of refuge that was close enough to get to quickly—and the person who was guilty of the killing had to literally run to that city lest the “avenger of blood” catch up with him. And as you might have already anticipated, the Bible does connect these cities of refuge with Jesus. Hebrews 6:18 makes that connection. He is the city of refuge that we have to run to in order to escape the consequences of our sins. So I encourage you and even plead with you today, will you run to Christ as your city of refuge? Time is running out. The avenger of blood is closing in. Will you run to Christ? He’s the Refuge, he’s the Strong Tower, and he’s the Rock. Will you run to him?