Psalm 61

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.
For you have been my refuge,
    a strong tower against the foe.
I long to dwell in your tent forever
    and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.
For you, God, have heard my vows;
    you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
Increase the days of the king’s life,
    his years for many generations.
May he be enthroned in God’s presence forever;
    appoint your love and faithfulness to protect him.
Then I will ever sing in praise of your name
    and fulfill my vows day after day.

• Psalm 61:1-8

Type of Psalm

Psalms of Affliction: Psalms where the psalmist is crying out in pain or distress, asking God where He is in the psalmist’s time of need.  But no matter how dire the circumstances or how long the lament, there seems to always be a word of praise.  Otherwise, why do we go to God in such times, other than to recognize Him as the only one who can help us?

Matthew Henry’s Summary

“David, in this psalm, as in many others, begins with a sad heart, but concludes with an air of pleasantness—begins with prayers and tears, but ends with songs of praise. Thus the soul, by being lifted up to God, returns to the enjoyment of itself. It should seem David was driven out and banished when he penned this psalm, whether by Saul or Absalom is uncertain: some think by Absalom, because he calls himself ‘the king’ (ver. 6), but that refers to the King Messiah. David, in this psalm, resolves to persevere in his duty, encouraged thereto both by his experience an by his expectations. I. He will call upon God because God had protected him, ver. 1-3. II. He will call upon God because God had provided well for him, ver. 4, 5. III. He will praise God because he had an assurance of the continuance of God’s favour to him, ver. 6-8. So that, in singing this psalm, we may find that which is very expressive both of our faith and of our hope, of our prayers and of our praises; and some passages in this psalm are very peculiar.”

• Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Psalm 58:4 From the end of the earth “David’s absence from his homeland compounds his feelings of discouragement and exhaustion. The phrase also hints at feelings of estrangement from God. my heart is overwhelmed. David’s hope and courage were failing. the rock that is higher. David expresses his disregard of personal autonomy and his reliance on his God in this metaphor for refuge.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

My Thoughts

David asks for God to hear his cry.  He feels that God is far away, or really that he is far away from God.  His heart grows faint and wishes for the rock that is higher than he is.

He identifies God as his shelter and refuge.

He has made vows.  He asks that the king’s life will be increased and he will praise God and keep his vows.

Psalm 62

Truly my soul finds rest in God;
    my salvation comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
    he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.
How long will you assault me?
    Would all of you throw me down—
    this leaning wall, this tottering fence?
Surely they intend to topple me
    from my lofty place;
    they take delight in lies.
With their mouths they bless,
    but in their hearts they curse.
Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
    my hope comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
    he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
My salvation and my honor depend on God;
    he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
Trust in him at all times, you people;
    pour out your hearts to him,
    for God is our refuge.
Surely the lowborn are but a breath,
    the highborn are but a lie.
If weighed on a balance, they are nothing;
    together they are only a breath.
Do not trust in extortion
    or put vain hope in stolen goods;
though your riches increase,
    do not set your heart on them.
One thing God has spoken,
    two things I have heard:
“Power belongs to you, God,
    and with you, Lord, is unfailing love”;
and, “You reward everyone
    according to what they have done.”

• Psalm 62:1-12

Type of Psalm

Psalms of Affliction: Psalms where the psalmist is crying out in pain or distress, asking God where He is in the psalmist’s time of need.  But no matter how dire the circumstances or how long the lament, there seems to always be a word of praise.  Otherwise, why do we go to God in such times, other than to recognize Him as the only one who can help us?

Matthew Henry’s Summary

“This psalm has nothing in it directly either of prayer or praise, nor does it appear upon what occasion it was penned, nor whether upon any particular occasion, whether mournful or joyful. But in it, I. David with a great deal of pleasure professes his own confidence in God and dependence upon him, and encourages himself to continue waiting on him, ver. 1-7. II. With a great deal of earnestness he excites and encourages others to trust in God likewise, and not in any creature, ver. 6-12. In singing it we should stir up ourselves to wait on God.”

• Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Psalm 62:1 : You have a soul ”’For God alone my soul waits in silence’ (Ps. 62:1). Like a song from old tunes, like a medieval image painted on gold leaf, like the memory of childhood days, the sound of the wonderful word of the soul has grown foreign to us. If there is still in our day-in the age of machines, of economic battles, of the reign of fashion and sports-something like the soul, then it’s not just a dear childhood memory like so many others. The little word ‘soul’ sounds just so wonderful and strange in the confusion and shouting of voices that extol it; the language is so soft and still that we hardly hear it anymore over the raging and roaring going on within us. But the word speaks a language that is full of the greatest responsibility and deepest seriousness. Hey, you! Human being! You have a soul! See that you don’t lose it, that you don’t wake up one day from the frenzy of life – professional and private life -and see that you have become hollow inside, a plaything of events, a leaf driven back and forth and blown away by the wind: that you are without a soul. Human being, pay attention to your soul! What are we to say about that soul? It is the life that God has given us; it is what God has loved about us, what he -from his eternity-has touched. It is love in us and longing and holy restlessness and responsibility and happiness and pain; it is divine breath breathed into mortal being. Human being, you have a soul!”

• Dietrich Bonhoeffer, I Want to Live These Days with You, devotional compiled from several of his writings

My Thoughts

There is repetition in this psalm.  God is the rock of our salvation.  He is our fortress and our refuge.  We will not be shaken.

That message is throughout this psalm.

The psalmist does not wish for his enemies to assault him.

He also speaks of how life is but a breath.  He talks of how the poor are a breath, but the royalty are lies.  I suppose this refers to the fact that we will all stand side by side in glory, none more important than another.  So, why would anyone think themselves greater than someone else only due to having been born into a royal family.  We will both return to dust.  Thus, thinking that a royal family is meaningful is a false concept when considering eternity.

Psalm 63

You, God, are my God,
    earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
    my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
    where there is no water.
I have seen you in the sanctuary
    and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life,
    my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
    and in your name I will lift up my hands.
I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
    with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
On my bed I remember you;
    I think of you through the watches of the night.
Because you are my help,
    I sing in the shadow of your wings.
I cling to you;
    your right hand upholds me.
Those who want to kill me will be destroyed;
    they will go down to the depths of the earth.
They will be given over to the sword
    and become food for jackals.
But the king will rejoice in God;
    all who swear by God will glory in him,
    while the mouths of liars will be silenced.

• Psalm 63:1-11

Type of Psalm

Psalms of Affliction: Psalms where the psalmist is crying out in pain or distress, asking God where He is in the psalmist’s time of need.  But no matter how dire the circumstances or how long the lament, there seems to always be a word of praise.  Otherwise, why do we go to God in such times, other than to recognize Him as the only one who can help us?

Matthew Henry’s Summary

“This psalm has in it as much of warmth and lively devotion as any of David’s psalms in so little a compass. As the sweetest of Paul’s epistles were those that bore date out of a prison, so some of the sweetest of David’s psalms were those that were penned, as this was, in a wilderness. That which grieved him most in his banishment was the want of public ordinances; these he here longs to be restored to the enjoyment of; and the present want did but whet his appetite. Yet it is not the ordinances, but the God of the ordinances, that his heart is upon. And here we have, I. His desire towards God, ver. 1, 2. II. His esteem of God, ver. 3, 4. III. His satisfaction in God, ver. 5. IV. His secret communion with God, ver. 6. V. His joyful dependence upon God, ver. 7-8. IV. His holy triumph in God over his enemies and in the assurance of his own safety, ver. 9-11. A devout and pious soul has little need of direction how to sing this psalm, so naturally does it speak its own genuine language; and an unsanctified soul, that is unacquainted and unaffected with divine things, is scarcely capable of singing it with understanding.”

• Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Psalm 63:1-2 “In fact, to a Christian this world must always be a dry and thirsty land. The new life that grace has implanted in us finds nothing here below on which it can feed. The things that are seen are too material and defiled to sustain life, which comes by the Holy Spirit from the great Father. We are doves, and when we leave the hand of our Noah, we find nothing to rest on and must go back to him if we are to find food and rest for our souls. I am not speaking now of the world under its sorrowful aspect only, but of the world at its best. It is a dry land for saints even when its rains are falling. When the world dresses itself in scarlet and puts on its silks and satins, it is still a poor world for us. She may paint her face and adorn her head, but she is a Jezebel for all that.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from his sermon illustrations

My Thoughts

God is our God.  God’s love is better than life itself.

We will praise You, Lord.

God is my help.  God’s right hand upholds me.

And those who oppose me will be destroyed.

Some Serendipitous Reflections

Psalm 61

“1. When have you felt ‘exiled’? How do you pray when faint from exhaustion?
“2. Do Christians inherit anything like David (see Eph 1:3-6)? What vow could you make this coming week to help you grow stronger in faith?”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

Psalm 62

“1. What circumstances, people or forces are pressuring you now? What are you learning from their pressure?
“2. Who do you bless with your lips but curse in your heart? Is this hypocrisy? What can you most readily change, lips or heart?
“3. In what do you trust first: God, your­ self, people or money? What do you trust second? Third?
“4. What kind of God would you prefer: strong or loving? Does it help you to know God is both?
“5. How does it feel to know you will be rewarded according to what you have done (see Ro 2:6-8; 2Cor 5:10; Mt 16:27)? To what hope do you hold?”

Psalm 63

“1. What ‘desert’ have you been through recently? What did you long for the most? Did you find it?
“2. Which verse of this psalm best fits your relationship with God? How might you deepen your ‘first love’ with God?
“3. Are you a ‘clinger’ in relationships? How tight is your grasp on God?
“4. St John Chrysostom advised reading this psalm daily. Try it for the next week and share any impact.”

There is one set of questions for each of these psalms.

Substitute whatever group for any reference to a small group or ask who could come to your aid.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.