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Verse by Verse
Psalm 61, A Commentary “Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer” (Psalms 61:1). Wade Austin Though the word for “song,” rinah, usually means “glad song,” the context is one of supplication, the speaker crying out to God as he is beset by life-threatening dangers. How often in the middle of the night has each of us longed for God to hear our cry and give heed to our prayer? This prayer to God for His ear to hear us and to pay attention to our request comes not out of the fear that He will not hear us, but out of an assurance that He will hear us. God, our ever truest friend, will hear our pleas to him, and, because He hears us, He will lead us to the Rock “that is higher than I.” “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” (verse 2). What a pitiful little rock is ours. We seem to walk alone with none to guide us save our loving Father in heaven. What help do we get? We get the help of our beloved Father. He calls us to come up higher and higher until we can all alike join together with Him as we engage against our personal enemy. The word “rock,” tsur, regularly recurs in Psalms as a synonym for an impregnable fortress. God leads us to His son Jesus, who becomes our impregnable fortress in every time of trouble. “For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah” (verses 3,4). What more could we possibly imagine than the promise of security and shelter in the tent and beneath the wings of our loving Father in heaven? Surely, none could ever make us feel so safe from, and unafraid of, our personal enemies. We can imagine no personal security other than to abide under the cover of His wings. “For thou, O God, hast heard my vows: thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name” (verse 5). You have adopted me as a son, given me your holy Spirit to strengthen me, and given me a rich heritage as a probationary member of Your family. You acknowledged my declaration of loyalty to Your name with an assurance of hope, and a declaration of the inheritance of all who fear your name. “Thou wilt prolong the king’s life: and his years as many generations” (verse 6). What a blessed promise this is to each of God’s children! Life is so precious that we all cling to it tenaciously. To have a declaration that God prolongs our lives at His discretion stuns us. Yet we each wait on God’s judgment for our time to complete our course. “He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him” (verse 7). Surely the purpose of our ministry here on earth is to promote loving kindness and truth. We should, we must, proclaim God’s love and truth as a comfort to all who will hear. In so doing we will assure that we will abide before God forever. “So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows” (verse 8). God’s words evoke within us a desire to sing praise to his name and, in doing so, to pay our vows to him daily. Hallelujah, what a God is ours!
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