Psalms

This is a Psalm of David.  Some believe it was written when his son, Absalom, temporarily drove David away and took his throne.  You can read about this in 2 Samuel 15-18.  David shows us a godly response to an overwhelming situation in his life.  For David it was one of those times when he could have thrown up his hands and lost his faith.  Instead he leaned on, and sought the Lord.  We can all learn from David's response in the depressing and overwhelming situations of our lives.

To the Chief Musician. On a stringed instrument.  A Psalm of David.

 ¹ Hear my cry, O God;
         Attend to my prayer.
 ² From the end of the earth I will cry to You,
         When my heart is overwhelmed;
         Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
If David ever thought that his throne was secure or felt like being on the throne was solid and stable place where he stood, the Lord was showing him that it was not.  David prayed for God to hear his prayer and attend to him because he was hurting.  He wanted to be led to the rock that was higher than he.  It is a picture of a stable place that cannot be shook, a hiding place in the Lord beyond any understanding that David had in his life.  This solid Rock would be more stable than any throne on earth.  A high rock was a place and position of power.  It was defensible and above the fray.  It was beyond the dangers of the ground.  One could find rest and peace on a high rock.  This is a picture of Jesus Christ.  Both being a place that we cannot find or arrive at under our own strength, we need the guidance, strength and direction of the Lord. 

David cried out to God from a distant place.  There is a urgency to his cry as his strength is waning in these overwhelming circumstances.  He wasn't at his home or in the city with the temple.  But he remained steadfast in his determination to call out to God from the end of the earth if that was where he was driven.  David was overwhelmed and anything that he found stable in his life was now being shook. 

God was in this with David.  There was purpose in all that was happening in Israel.  However, all David knew was that his world seemed to be coming apart.  Seeking God in this circumstance was a right response that strengthened David's faith and became the framework for a Psalm that many have read across the centuries. 

 ³ For You have been a shelter for me,
         A strong tower from the enemy.
 ⁴ I will abide in Your tabernacle forever;
         I will trust in the shelter of Your wings.  Selah  

God's promises had never let David down before.  When the elements of the world were harsh, David found shelter in the Lord.  This shelter was protection from the things of the world.  It was where you could go out of the rain, the baking sun, or from the wickedness of the world.  When his enemy was bearing down on David, God was his strong tower, a place to hide.  The towers were at the corners of the walls.  They were an anchor point, strong and stable, defensible.  The tabernacle was the presence of God and that is where David wanted to abide forever.  The shelter of God's wings is in the presence of God under the wings of the attending cherubim. 

The world had its own shelters and strong towers that people put their faith in.  But David only wanted to be in the care and protection of God.  It was under the care of God that David found all these things, not in anything of the world.

         
 ⁵ For You, O God, have heard my vows;
         You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name.
 ⁶ You will prolong the king's life,
         His years as many generations.
 ⁷ He shall abide before God forever.
         Oh, prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him!
David's vow was his commitment and his prayers before the Lord.  Our vows are due to God, so he knows and has heard of our commitment and prayer life.  God didn't just hear from David when he was in trouble.  There was a lifelong commitment to a relationship with the Lord.  The heritage that was given to David was an everlasting throne and the promise that the messiah would come from his lineage.  The king's life would be prolonged.  This speaks of David's life in the immediate historical context but also speaks of a throne and eventually the messiah whose life would be raised up again.  The Davidic King shall abide forever before God because this is what was promised.  The King, both David and the messiah to come, could only be preserved by the mercy and truth of God the Father. 

God didn't raise David up and bring him through all the adventures of his life just allow him to be killed.  For the death of David would bring to expiration the promises of God.  God is always trustworthy of His word and His promises.  It is the only word and the only promises that completely trustworthy...... all the time, every time, for all time.

         
 ⁸ So I will sing praise to Your name forever,
         That I may daily perform my vows.

The previous verses set a perspective.  Our mind is not to be set on the worldly or the things of this world but on the godly things set in the heavenlies.  David is going to sing God's praise because he has this eternal perspective and living, not by what he sees, but by what he knows to be true in his heart.  This is the setting for his vows; his prayers and commitment to be in a relationship with his God, forever.