A Prayer When Overwhelmed
Book of Psalms Chapter 61
That word overwhelmed means we have been crushed by something violent and weighty, that covers or encompasses us.
To be submerged, to be engulfed, to be defeated, to be overthrown, to be overpowered.
We cannot escape the demands of everyday life!
At every stage of our time upon this earth pressures exist that cause us problems.
We still live in a cursed world.
Satan spends every moment of time he has left to trip up Christians and cause us to fail in serving the Lord.
It seems that the more we claim the Lord Jesus Christ the worst our problems are, and this is true because the world hates Christians because the world hates the Lord Jesus Christ.
Joh_7:7 The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.
Joh_15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
Life's burdens can be tough to carry everyday if we try to do it alone!
Many times life's burdens are just too tough for us to carry and we will feel "overwhelmed" by them.
As Christians God has given us every tool to use to never be "overwhelmed" in this world.
That first tool is prayer!
David wrote this Psalm while he was in a period of extreme stress.
David's son Absalom was trying to kill him and replace him as King of Israel.
David knew he could not endure in his own strength and he cried out to God.
What are the steps we must take for relief?
1) We must cry out to God and beg Him to hear our prayer.
2) We must tell God and show God, that we want to live with Him forever.
3) We must approach God boldly in prayer being humble when we get there. We must never be afraid to go to God for help!
4) We must make a renewed commitment to praise God and we must fulfill our promises to Him each and every day.
It seems that David could no longer withstand the pressures of life, and there are many who have felt this way during their lifetime.
This world of today is taking its toil on people even today in our own nation.
The suicide rate in the United States has risen to its highest point in more than 80 years.
Here is something to think about, the suicide rate has increase every year that President Biden has been in office!
When David felt this kind of pressure he cried out to the Lord and begged Him to hear him.
David knew he could not endure the pressures on his life in his own strength!
Neither can we!
*****Psa 61:1 To the chief Musician upon Neginah, A Psalm of David. Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer.
That word Neginah means this Psalm was to be accompanied by stringed instruments.
Probably soft music in the background so the music did not interfere with the words of this Psalm.
Listen to David in this Psalm and we can see his urgency.
I will be quiet honest with you. I do not know how people deal with their stress without the Lord Jesus Christ.
Where can we go in times of trouble, but to the Lord.
Today we see that many cannot deal with the stresses of this world and they choose suicide rather than asking for God's help.
The only help for the weary soul is a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Hebrew word used for this word "cry" is "rinnah" and this word expresses a shrill, a piercing cry for help, a desperate cry for help.
This world has no answers to this sort of stress!
David begs God and uses the Hebrew word Elohim, the Supreme God, the Triune God, the God of All Power.
Obviously, this is a song of exile, David is far from the city he loves, Jerusalem.
David left Jerusalem to keep from warring with his son Absalom.
According to the Word of God, Jerusalem is to be a city of peace and God tells us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
In the time of David, he considered the sanctuary of God to be in Jerusalem and it was.
It was the place of the "Mercy Seat" where a soul could approach God.
For David the center of the universe is being in Jerusalem!
The world will find this out when the Lord Jesus Christ rules this earth from Jerusalem for a Millenium.
Jerusalem will be the center of this universe we live in until it is replaced with the New Jerusalem which will then be the center of all God's creation.
Today, if you are a child of God, the sanctuary of God is within us.
We are the Temple of God where He dwells!
Wherever God reveals Himself, He can still reach us with the riches of His "grace"!
David shows the world that no matter where we are located, even at the end of the earth, we can still cry out to God and He will hear us!
*****Psa 61:2 From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
When we feel lost and far away from God, we need to call on His name and He will hear us.
There is no saddening time greater than a feeling of loneliness!
It is not God's hearing us that is so important, it is how we are living our lives.
If we are not living according to the Word of God, then God might not answer our prayer.
Psa 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
Psa 66:19 But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.
Psa 66:20 Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.
Much of the time we must first ask for forgiveness of some sin we are trying to hold on to, before the Lord will accept our prayer and give His answer.
When we ask to be led to the "Rock that is higher than I", it means lead me to a place I cannot reach without God's help.
That "Rock" is God Himself.
Psa 62:2 He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.
Psa 62:6 He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved.
Psa 62:7 In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.
Psa 62:8 Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.
That Rock is the place strength, the place of faithfulness, and the unchangeableness of Jehovah.
The more we say this and it comes from our heart, the more confidence we will have in our God, and it does not matter what our enemies attempt to do, they will fail.
God is our refuge that we can trust because God is our salvation!
We can trust the Lord at all times, God is always faithful to those who love Him!
We can never be very far from God even when we feel like we are!
The Holy Spirit lives within every child of God.
He can become silent when we have quenched the Spirit and a prayer of forgiveness will solve this issue.
When we are spiritually far away from God we will not feel His presence.
It is at these times that we will feel overwhelmed by this world!
Through the power of God we can handle every pressure and every circumstance in this life!
*****Psa 61:3 For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.
Through the power of God we can certainly handle every circumstance of this life because we do not have to handle it because God will handle it for us.
God will fight all our battles if we live for Him!
We must look beyond ourselves and our own pitiful strength to the strength of the Almighty God which is endless.
We must look to the "Rock" that is higher than we are!
It is a fact that God will be our refuge when the weight of this wicked world tries to rob us of our peace!
The strength to endure trials and temptations and the wickedness of this evil world comes from being in God's presence!
We are in God's presence everytime we bend our knees and pray, and spend some time with God, through the Lord Jesus Christ.
If we are unable to bend our knees then we can pray standing up but we must be humble before the Lord.
When we are going through intense pressure we sometimes neglect the House of God and we dont pray as much as we should and both of these things are wrong. Both of these things will quench the Holy Spirit.
These are the times we need God the most.
Being in God's presence must be the most important priority of our lives!
Php 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
We can find that shelter we need when we gather together with others in God's House.
*****Psa 61:4 I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.
The Tabernacle was not in Jerusalem at this time so David was not speaking of the Tabernacle of Moses.
2Ch_1:3 So Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for there was the tabernacle of the congregation of God, which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness.
David was speaking of a "spiritual abiding" in the presence of the Lord all his days he had left, and after his death to pass on into God's Heavenly Home.
This is what we all crave. To be with God in His House when He calls us home!
The Lord Jesus teaches us of this fact.
Joh 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
Joh 14:2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Psa 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
Hiding under God's Wings is a sure place of safety!
Now we do not know if God has wings or not, but the "Mercy Seat" of God had the wings of the two Heavenly Angels, the Cherubim which was the seat of God upon this earth.
It is at the "Mercy Seat" where we will find the protection of the Almighty Living God.
We find shelter from the dangers and the pressures of this life when we abide in the presence of the LORD.
When we abide in the presence of the LORD we can be sure that He hears our prayers!
*****Psa 61:5 For thou, O God, hast heard my vows: thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name.
As David poured out His heart to God, he felt the assurance that he was in the presence of God.
Php 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Php 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
There was no doubt in David's mind that God had heard his prayer and had accepted David's vows.
At this time David had perfect peace in his soul.
David was assured that he would return to Jerusalem and sit on the throne as King of Israel.
Israel is still the heritage of the Lord.
Rom 9:4 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
Rom 9:5 Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
We know the importance of King David sitting on the throne of Israel because we know that the Lord Jesus Christ is that actual true heritage and he came from the family of David.
Jesus also explained this to the woman from Samaria.
Joh 4:21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
Joh 4:22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
Joh 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
God promised to give this heritage to all those who trusted in His name.
1Pe 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1Pe 1:4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
This is the promise God made to David.
The land of Canaan is the inheritance of the Jewish people, but this land is also a picture of the New Heaven.
It is the New Heaven that will be the permanent home of all those who believe the truth of God!
This is the inheritance that is eternal!
1) We see that when we stay close to the Lord we will be safe in the shelter of God's wings and He will answer our prayers.
2) We see that God has offered a glorious inheritance and the brightest future imaginable. We are going to live in the New Jerusalem with Him.
2Co 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
David knew he would live a full life.
2Sa 7:12 And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. David called on the Lord to keep His promises.
*****Psa 61:6 Thou wilt prolong the king's life: and his years as many generations.
Psa 61:7 He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him.
It takes a true committment to the truth of God to please Him.
David began to remember the promises God had made to him while he was still on this earth.
David called upon God to keep the promises that He had made.
God could not establish the Kingdom of David, if He allowed David to die at the hands of Absalom.
At least not in a way where we could understand it.
God promised David an everlasting dynasty.
2Sa 7:16 And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.
We should give some thought to this. If God has called us to a certain thing and we answer that call, then God is not likely to to take our life before we can accomplish what God has called us to do.
God wants us to live long happy lives!
Pro 3:1 My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:
Pro 3:2 For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.
God has the power to deliver us from all the hazards of this world if He so chooses.
Any lack of faith is the same as calling God a liar!
David's life would extend far beyond his days upon this earth through his royal line.
David's ultimate descendant would be the Messiah who will sit upon David's throne throughout eternity.
Luk 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
Luk 1:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
This throne is a picture of the sovereign power and the divine dignity as the Supreme Ruler of all God's creation.
This takes place when the Lord Jesus comes down to live amongst His people.
We should understand that this Psalm is not a prayer.
This Psalm is an appeal to God's promise and God's purpose.
It would be hard to hope for the future if we have not lived long enough to know the true meaning of our future.
No one can live forever upon this earth except as living on through his descendants.
But we can live eternally in Heaven because we will live a life through the eternity of our Savior. We will be like Him!
The Lord Jesus cannot ever die because He is God!
Joh_11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
If Absalom had replaced David as king of Israel then the promise made to David would be broken.
David's Throne had already been promised to another, Solomon.
Keep in mind that David had another son by Bathsheba whose name was Nathan. Mary the mother of Jesus came through the line of David through Nathan his son.
God had already decided that the Messiah would come by one of the sons of Bathsheba.
Everything is OK until we get to King Josiah and this is where the confusion starts.
King Jesus will be in the line of King David.
*****Psa 61:8 So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows.
It takes a true commitment to the truth of God to please Him.
It takes a true commitment to praise God and we must keep the vows we have made to Him.
We sometimes say things in our prayers that we do not know how to keep.
King David is in Heaven today giving God the praise that He deserves!
Before David went to Heaven, he looked forward to going back home and completing the vows that he had made.
Prayers that are made in confidence will surely be answered.
In order for us to live long lives we need to praise the Lord and trust every word He has given to us.
The longer we live, the longer we have to offer up praise to the Lord.
God has promised us great things concerning the Millennial Kingdom and our life in the New Jerusalem.
Jesus Christ will live forever and we can live with Him if we make a true commitment to Him.
We must realize that God is worthy of our worship and praising God must be a central part of our worship.
When we take time to read this wonderful Book of Psalms we will see that they exalt the name of the Lord.
An important part of being a Christian is praising our Savior and to attend and to participate in church worship.
Eph 3:21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
If we are not honoring the Lord we are not fulfilling our purpose.
These things are important in our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ!
It is the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Rock that is higher than we are.
Amen
