Let's turn again to God's Word,
directing you with the Lord's help this evening to words that
we find at the beginning of Psalm 61. Psalm 61, to the Chief Musician
upon Neguinah, the Psalm of David. Hear my cry, O God, attend unto
my prayer. 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. In Psalm 61, verses 1
and 2, hear my cry, O God, attend unto my prayer. 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. We're told quite plainly
that this is a psalm, the psalm of David, it's a song of praise
to God, but clearly what we have here is also a prayer, because
David, as we just saw in the reading, is addressing himself
to God, he's praying. And this is part of the beauty
of the book of Psalms, that it is God's words, it's God's words
to us just as every other part of the Bible is God's words to
us, God is speaking, God is revealing himself and yet the Psalms consist
of believers words and many ways the Psalms are a book of prayers
in which the godly are addressing themselves to God. It's a remarkable part of Holy
Scripture. You know that many of the Psalms,
they speak to us concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. They are prophetic. They are messianic. And yet,
as John Calvin says, Book of Psalms is also a manual of Christian
experience. It's messianic, it speaks of
Christ, and yet it's experimental, in that it also speaks of the
experiences of the godly. And I want us to think of those
two things in particular as we come to consider these words
in verses 1 and 2 of Psalm 61, and to take as he were for a
sea, and what we have at the end of verse 2, the rock, higher
than I. There is a rock, David testifies
to the fact there is a rock that is higher than I. And the way
in which I want to approach the psalm tonight is first of all
to say something with regards to the circumstances of David's
prayer, and then in the second place to look at the actual contents.
of the prayer. Now with that first heading,
the circumstances, we might say that we're dealing with what
we could term the more experimental interpretation of the psalm.
What are the circumstances? Well, David of course is writing
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, He's one of those
holy men of God that Peter speaks of who were moved by the Spirit
of God. He was king in Israel. But David was also very much
a prophet. He speaks the words of God here
in the psalm. And so David is writing under
the gracious inspiration of God the Holy Spirit and what we have
therefore is not the words simply of David, we have the word of
God. We have the word of God here. in this psalm, but that
word didn't come to David in a sort of mechanical way. It
wasn't that the Holy Spirit dictated the words and David simply wrote
the words down. No, David is being dealt with
by the Spirit in a mysterious way, in inspiration. He's brought
into certain circumstances, certain situations, he comes into different
experiences, and he is writing the psalm out of all the fullness
of his own heart. It's what God is doing with him.
In that sense, the circumstances we have to recognize are very
much experimental. What does he say? Here, in the
second verse, from the end of the earth will I cry onto the
earth, when my heart is overwhelmed." Oh, he's at the end of the earth. He's at the end of the earth.
And we can deduce from the content
of the psalm that it was probably the time when his son, very much
his favorite son Absalom, had rebelled against his father.
And you remember what happened at the time of Absalom's rebellion,
you have the record of it there in 2 Samuel chapter 15. He's stolen the heart of the
people as Absalom, and turned the heart of the people against
David, and David's having to flee from Jerusalem. and his great friend, his counsellor
Ahithophel is in the conspiracy and as he flees there's this
Benjamite Kushai who is cursing David as he flees. His son is one who's of the family
of King Saul, cursing David as he flees. David is very much
at the end of the earth overwhelmed at such a situation as this and
yet in the psalm we see something of his real hope in God it's evident that David is anticipating
that he will yet be preserved look at the language that we
have in verse 6 Thou shalt prolong the king's life and his years
as many generations. And it's interesting because
we're told in the margin what the Hebrew literally says, Thou
shalt add days to the days of the king as generation and generation. We have a very literal rendering
of the original there in the margin. Thou shalt add days to
the days of the king as generation and generation. So David's not
altogether without hope, but he's certainly in a very low
place, and how he certainly feels that. Or Jerusalem, which was
the city of David. There's so much turned against
him, and there is his great friend, as I said, Ahithophel, involved
in this conspiracy. He speaks of it again there in
the in the 55th Psalm. Look at the language of verse
12 there. It was not an enemy that reproached me, then I could
have borne it, neither was it he that hated me that did magnify
himself against me. Then I would have hid myself
from him, but he was there. A man, mine equal, my guide and
mine acquaintance, we took sweet counsel together and walked unto
the house of God's incumbent. But now what does he say? I have
seen violence and strife in the city. Day and night they go about
it upon the walls thereof. Mischief also and sorrow are
in the midst of it. Oh, there's so much that is evidently
against David. And he cries and he prays to
God. He says, from the end of the
earth will I cry unto thee. He feels himself in extremities. You know we have that word in
Isaiah 45, 22, Look unto me and be ye saved all the ends of the
earth for I am God and there is none else. Now we recognize
that there in Isaiah 45 that's a prophetic word and it's speaking
of The Gospel is not for the Jew only, it's also for the Gentile. That's the great mystery that
is revealed in the New Testament that God has a purpose to fulfill
in the salvation of sinners of the Gentiles, the ends of the
earth. And how these things are spoken of prophetically. Look
unto me and be beside all the ends of the earth. What we recognize
that is That verse in Isaiah 45 is literally fulfilled in
this gospel day. But there is also surely an experimental
and a spiritual significance to those words. The Lord God
addresses those who feel themselves to be at the ends of the earth,
at their wits end. And this is where David is here.
This is how David is using this particular expression. He's using
it in a figurative sense. From the end of the earth will
I cry unto them. And why is David in this state?
What is David's experience? Well, David was the man after
God's own heart. And David was the man who many
a time is overwhelmed by his sins. Overwhelmed in that he
has such a sense of the awful nature of his sins. And we see it so many times in
the Psalms. Look at the language that we
have elsewhere. Back in the 12th verse of Psalm 40, innumerable
evils. have compassed me about, mine
iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to
look up. They are more than the hairs
of mine head, therefore my heart faileth me." This is the language
of the godly man. Mine iniquities, he says in Psalm
38, mine iniquities are gone over, mine head is a heavy burden,
they are too heavy for me. or such a sense of what I am
as a sinner. Iniquities prevail against me,
he says. Iniquities prevail against me
as for our transgressions. Thou wilt purge them away. There's
this dark side. There is this dark side, but
it's not all dark side. He looks to God as that one who
will purge his conscience from all those dead were But what
is the root cause? The root cause of his trouble
is inward corruption. And David confesses that. He's
guilty of actual sins. He's guilty of adultery in the
matter of Bathsheba. The very day. But he's also implicated
in the death of her husband Uriah. He plotted and schemed it. So
he's a murderer as well. But when he's brought to true
repentance, remember how he speaks to God in Psalm 51, Behold I
was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. He sees that the root of the
matter is really this, it's his fallen nature. It is fallen nature. Oh, this man is so overwhelmed
because of his sins. One has rightly said that sin
itself is of the creature. And it is important that we recognize
that. Sin is not of God. God is not
the author of sin, though God is a sovereign God. We don't
pretend to be able to explain that mystery of the sovereignty
of God and yet the activity of Satan. And now that Satan is no free
agent. Satan is a creature. Sin is of the creature. But the
sense of sin is certainly from God. And there again in the psalm,
what does David say? Psalm 51, against thee, thee
only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight. He recognizes. He recognizes
what he is. And he's overwhelmed at times
by this sense of his fallen nature, what he is. And the root of the cause always
in himself. I know says Paul that in me that
is in my flesh there dwelleth no good thing for to will is
present with me that how to perform that which is good I find not
and how we see it so clearly there Paul just like David in
in Romans chapter 7 wrestling with these things who shall deliver
me from the body of this death he cries out as he feels he reality
of that fallen nature that is clinging and cleaving to him. And yet we know that as David
is the man after God's own heart, so Paul also is a spiritual man
in Romans chapter 7. I delight in the law of God after
the inward man, he says, but I see another law in my members.
Or there is that new nature, delighting in God, delighting
in the ways of God. So here is David then. And what
are his circumstances? Yes, there's that that's occurred
because of the rebellion of his own beloved son Absalom, and
his dear friend Ahithophel involved. And we must grieve David, and
yes, really It's his own heart, it's what
he is. From the end of the earth will I crown to thee when my
heart is overwhelmed. All that overwhelming sense then
of his sins. But also this, there's the overwhelming
by a felt darkness in the midst of the trial, in the midst of
the trouble. you see those who have once enjoyed something of
the presence of God will greatly lament that time when it appears
as if God has departed from them having known light oh how will
they feel when it seems as if that light has been taken away
and now they are in the midst of darkness Now we see it in
the strange experience of a man like Job. Look at the language
of Job. The mystery of the book of Job.
What does Job say there in chapter 29? Moreover Job continued his
parable and said, O that I were as in months past, as in the
days when God preserved me, when his candles shined upon my head,
and when by his light I walked through darkness, as I was in
the days of my youth when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle."
And so he goes on. Oh, he longs for those better
days, but where is he now? He's in the midst of terrible
troubles and trials. and I say again it's everywhere
when we come to the Word of God when we come to this book of
Psalms certainly it's full of the experiences of the godly
it's a manual of experience to use the language of the reformer
John Calvin again let us turn to another of the Psalms in Psalm
77 and there at verse 7 what is the cry of Asa? Will the Lord
cast off forever? Doth his promise fail forevermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Hath he in anger shut up his
tender mercies? And these are not vain words.
These men are speaking, as I sought to indicate with regards to David,
speaking out of the fullness of their own hearts. They're
not just receiving words to write down on feelingly. Oh no, that's
not the way of the Lord. How often God's people have to
walk in a dark place. We preached previously from the
words that we have at the end of Isaiah 50. Who is among you
that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant that
walketh in darkness and hath no light? let him trust in the
name of the Lord, and stay upon his guard." Oh, it's the child
of light walking in darkness. And the contrast then, in the
last verse we have the child of darkness walking in light,
or walking in his own imagined light, something that he's created
for himself. Behold all ye that kindle a fire,
that compass yourselves about with sparks. Walk in the light
of your fire, and in the spark that you have kindled. Ye shall
ye have at mine hand, ye shall lie down in sorrow. Two remarkable godly men have
expounded those verses. Puritan Thomas Goodwin has a
whole series of sermons on the on the child of heaven walking
in darkness and the child of hell walking in light. And there's
also that sermon by Mr. Philpott, one of his best-known
sermons on that same portion, Isaiah 50, verses 10 and 11. But we think in particular of
what we have in that 10th verse. Here is the man that fears God.
He is a man that obeys the voice of his servant who is God's servant,
that's the Lord Jesus Christ, he's obedient to Christ. He's
a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ who is the light of the
world and yet he's walking in darkness and he has no light.
This is all written, all recorded for us for our learning that
we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have
hope. As we read there in that New
Testament portion in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, all these things
happened unto them for ensamples, types, it says in the margin.
And they're written for our learning, upon whom the ends of the world
are come. The ends of the world being this
day in which we're living, the Gospel day. All these things
are written for us. This record that we have. Oh,
there are so many Psalms we could turn to, think of the language
that we have. For example, in Psalm 42, Psalm 43, where we have a dialogue between the
godly man and his soul. Why art thou cast down, O my
soul? Why art thou disquieted within
me? Three times. Twice in Psalm 42. Again in Psalm 43 he puts that
question. Why art thou cast down? Why art
thou disquieted? And the answer, hope thou in
God. Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him who is the house
of my countenance and my God. Your iniquities prevail against
me. As for our transgressions, thou
wilt purge them away. Here is David, then he asks God
to hear him in his cry. He asked God to attend unto his
prayers. From the end of the earth will
I cry unto them. When my heart is overwhelmed,
lead me to the rock that is higher than I. And so, in the second
place, I want to turn more particularly, as it were, to the content that
we have here, and particularly this final clause, this request
to be led to the rock that is higher than I. And it's not only here in this
psalm, we also read Psalm 62. What does David say there? Verse 2. He only is my rock and
my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not
be greatly moved. And then again at verse 6, He
only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not
be moved. In God is my salvation and my
glory. The rock of my strength and my
refuge is in God. He's repeating Himself. And it's
not vain repetition. There isn't vain repetition in
God's Word. It shows something of the intensity
of His desire. the great depths of his needs.
Now, here we come to what I would say is the messianic part of
the psalm. You know, the Lord Jesus Christ
is here in Psalm 61. He says to the Jews there in
John chapter 5, Search the Scriptures, in them ye think that ye have
eternal life, and these are they that testify of me. The Scriptures. they testify of the Lord Jesus. Remember how to the two on the
road to Emmaus he expounded to them in all the Scriptures the
things concerning himself. How their heart burned with him
and they didn't understand until he disappeared out of their sight. The Lord Jesus Christ is everywhere
in the Scriptures, and the Lord Jesus Christ is that One who
is the Rock. Lead me to the Rock, says David,
the Rock that is higher than I. Again, we think of the words of Moses in the Song
of Moses in Deuteronomy 32. Many times in that song he makes
reference to the rock in verse 4, in verse 15, verses 18, 30,
37, time and time and time and time again he speaks of the rock. He is the rock. His work is perfect,
for all His ways are judgment to God of truth, and without
iniquity, just and right is He. Now, oh Moses, he knew the Rock. We have that record in Numbers,
is it in Numbers chapter 20, where the children of Israel,
as was their way, they were wont constantly to be murmuring complaining. And they want water. And God
tells him to speak to the rock. And what does Moses do there
in Numbers 20? Alas, he's in his own spirit
and he smites the rock, and he smites it twice. And that was
the offence, you see. Oh, we read it there in 1 Corinthians
10.4, that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock
was Christ, it says. That rock was Christ. And it
was because of that that occurred in Numbers 20, that Moses never
entered into the land of promise. He sought it from Pisgah, but
he died there in the wilderness. He never crossed over Jordan
to enter into the land. But Moses knew what that rock
was. That's why he speaks so much
of it there in his song in Deuteronomy 32. And here is David and it's the
same rock that David is speaking of. Lead me to the rock that
is higher than I. Oh, there's a rock. There's a rock and that rock
is higher than David the King. It's greater than David. It's David's greatest son. It's
the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember how the Lord Jesus asked
to speak to the Pharisees there at the end of Matthew 22? He asked them, What think ye
of Christ, whose son is he? They say unto him, The son of
David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call
him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Set thou on my
right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. David
then called him Lord, how is he his son? No man was able to
answer him a word, neither does any man from that day forth ask
him any more questions. Where was it that David said,
the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand, till I
make thine enemies thy footstool? It's Psalm 110, it's in the Psalms. David in the Psalms repeatedly
speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he is speaking of the Lord
Jesus Christ here. Verse 6, we've referred to it.
I said it certainly has some reference to David. He will be
preserved. Absalom's rebellion will yet
be put down. David will be restored to his
rightful place. But there's also an application,
surely, to Christ. Thou wilt prolong the king's
life and his years as many generations. He shall abide before God forever. Who is the one who abides before
God forever? It's the Lord Jesus Christ. What
are we reading of here in verse 6 and 7? We're reading of Christ
and we're reading of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and
the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ and the session there
in glory at the right hand of God. His life is prolonged. as many generations. He abides
before God forever and ever. Oh, it's the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is the rock that is higher than I. Oh, think of the Lord
Jesus. Think of His power. Think of
His authority. He's spoken of in 1st Timothy
6 is the blessed, the only potentate, the King of Kings, the Lord of
Lords, that's the Lord Jesus Christ. He has on His vesture
and on His thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is that one who has authority,
all power is given unto me, He says, in heaven and in earth
go ye therefore. and teach all nations baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Ghost teaching them to observe all things and Lo! I am with
you always even unto the end of the world always the Lord
Jesus Christ who is that King, that One that has the authority
God has put all things under His feet and given Him to be
the head over all things to the Church, which is His body, the
fullness of Him that filleth all in all. We speak of the Lord
Jesus Christ in His Mediatorial Kingdom. Well, His Mediatorial
Kingdom is now. His Kingdom is not of this world.
He has not established an earthly dynasty. That's what the Jews
foolishly thought Messiah would bring in, but that was not the
birth. no his kingdom is a spiritual kingdom but he is that one who
rules and reigns throughout this day this gospel dies and this
is our comfort is it not or when circumstances situations
come and crowd in upon us and do overwhelm us and we feel ourselves
to be at the end of our tether we know not what to do or there
is a rock lead me to the rock that is higher than I." All power
belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is able to save, and able
to save to the Ottomans. He has accomplished salvation.
He's not just made salvation a mere possibility or even a
probability. No, it's a sure, it's a certain
salvation. That is the gospel of the free
grace of God. That is the blessed truth, you
see, of a limited atonement, a particular redemption. All
the promises of God in him, they're all yay, they're all amen. All
the power, the authority of that rock. But then also think of
the wisdom. All the wisdom of the Lord Jesus
Christ. We read of the wisdom of Solomon, who
was, of course, a type of Christ. David's son. His very name, Solomon,
means peace, and Christ is the Prince of Peace. And remember
what we're told in the first book of Kings, concerning the
renowned wisdom of this man called Solomon. There in 1 Kings chapter
10, Verse 23, So King Solomon exceeded
all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom. And all the earth sought to Solomon
to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart. Now, I
don't want to read the passage but you can read for yourselves
there in the third chapter of the of the first book of Kings, how
it was that Solomon came into the possession of such wisdom
as that. And God says to him, I'll just
read this verse, verse 12, Behold, I have done according to thy
words, lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart,
so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee
shall any arise like unto thee, and I have also given thee that
which thou hast not asked, both riches and honour, so that there
shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days."
This is Solomon. His choice was wisdom. He asked
God for wisdom. I have done according to thy
words, though I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart. But you see a greater than Solomon
is here. That's the Lord Jesus Christ
himself, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,
says the apostle. Oh, it's all there and only in
the Lord Jesus Christ. That wisdom that James speaks
of, the wisdom from above, which is first pure, and then peaceable,
and gentle, and easy to be entreated, and full of mercy and good fruits,
and without partiality, and without hypocrisy. Who is it that James
is speaking of? He's speaking of Christ, the
wisdom from above. That one whom Solomon is continually
speaking of in the book of Proverbs, in the wisdom literature. Christ
is everywhere. Oh, when we come to the Word
of God, is that what we desire to find above all things? We
want to learn something more about this man, the God-man. and the wisdom of Christ who
of God is made unto us wisdom says Paul of him are ye in Christ Jesus
who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption that according as it is written he that glorieth
let him glory in the Lord well we feel ourselves to be so unwise
situations arise circumstances crop up we don't know what to
do What's the answer? What are we to do? Lead me to
the rock that is higher than I. Can we not make David's prayer
our prayer when we need one to show us what is the right thing
for us to do, the right way in which we're to walk? There's
the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, there's the wisdom of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And there's safety. All the safety
here in the Lord Jesus Christ. How does he carry on here in
the third verse? Be, for thou hast been a shelter
for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. Oh, here is a place,
you see, where one can hide. hiding under the shadow of his
wings, secure, safe. Again, look at the language.
Psalm 71, verse 3, Be thou my strong habitation,
whereunto I may continually resort. Thou hast given commandment to
save me, for thou art my rock and my fortress. or deliver me,
O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of
the unrighteous and cruel man. Or thou hast given commandment
to save me, it says, commandment to save me, for thou art my rock. Save to the rock that is higher
than I, my soul in its conflicts and sorrows would fly, says the
old hymn. all their safety there in the
Lord Jesus when God deals with us how we
need the Lord Jesus remember the experience of Moses also when he asked God to go with
him. The children of Israel had rebelled
so wickedly in the matter of the golden calf. They were idolaters.
God would disinherit them. God would cast them off. Moses
stands in the breach and he's a mediator and he pleads with
God. He prays for them. And God hears
his prayer. He wants the assurance that God
will truly yet go with these people and bring them to the
land of promise. How can he see God? You know
the language there at the end of The 33rd chapter in the book
of Exodus. What does God do with His servant
Moses? God says, Thou canst not see
my face, for there shall no man see me and live. And the Lord
said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon
a rock, And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth
by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee
with my hand while I pass by. And I will take away mine hand,
and thou shalt see my back part, but my face shall not be seen.
All that rock is the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the only way in
which we can have any dealings with God. The only way wherein
we can know anything truly of God, it's all in the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is the Rock. All His sovereignty,
that Rock, higher than all His wisdom. The wisdom from above. The place of safety. But what
do we see here as we come to a conclusion tonight? What do
we see here? It's a prayer that David is making. It's a prayer. He is asking God
to hear his cry, to attend to his prayer, to answer his prayer. And these final words in verse
2, they are in the form of a request. Lead me, he says. Lead me to
the rock that is higher than I. He is not able, he's not able
of himself to do it. He is very much aware of that.
How can he come to the rock? The Lord Jesus says, no man can
come to me except it be given to him of my father. It is written
in the prophets, and they shall be all taught of God. Every man
therefore that has heard and learned of the Father cometh
unto me. What does the Lord say to Simon Peter when he makes his
great confession. Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the Living God. You know the passage there in
Matthew 16. Oh, what a confession this is! Jesus of Nazareth, He
is the Christ, He is the Son of the Living God, He is the
Eternal Son of the Eternal Father. He is God manifest in the flesh.
It's a remarkable confession. O Simon Peter, flesh and blood
hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. It's a revelation. And this is
that rock, you see. Upon this rock says Christ to
Simon Peter. Upon this rock I will build my
church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Neither foundation can no man lay than that which is laid,
which is Jesus Christ. The Lord Christ is the rock. How can we attain this place,
this place of safety? Lead me to the rock that is higher
than I. We have to pray. And what is it to pray? Hear
my cry, O God, attend unto my prayer from the end of the earth?
Will I cry? we have to cry unto God, wherever
we are, whatever our circumstances are, we have to wait upon the
Lord. Look at the opening words of
that 62nd Psalm, which we also read. My soul waiteth upon God,
from Him cometh my salvation, He only is my rock and my salvation. Or we have to truly wait. And what does that waiting mean?
Well, the word that we have here expresses the most lively exercise
of hope and of prayer. As I've said so many times, waiting
is not passive. Where there is real waiting upon
God, there's lively exercise. There's hope, there's prayers.
And this is how we come to the Rock. You see, these two aspects,
the experimental, the messianic, they come together. We have to
know the Lord Jesus Christ, not just intellectually. What they
call the Sandemanian faith, just assenting to the truth that's
in the Bible concerning who Jesus of Nazareth is and saying, yes,
I believe that. No, we have to be brought into
circumstances and situations where the Lord Jesus Christ is
made so precious to us, and we have to continually call upon
Him and cry to Him. All we seek and we find, I'm
not saying we're always having to seek salvation as we must
in the first place seek it, but there is a continual coming in
a certain sense, coming ever coming. always crying, always
calling, the Lord dealing with us in our souls' experiences
and us, oh I trust that we're those who brought more and more
the desire that we might be led to that rock that is higher than
ourselves, that lifts us and raises us above all the circumstances
that so often crowd in and overwhelm us. Oh the Lord be pleased in
to seal these words upon our souls and to bless his word to
us tonight. Amen.