Lead me to the Rock

Psalm 61

When I first read this Psalm by David, I thought of my kids.  As parents, we want our children to live a full, long life.  Many of us would say that we want our kids to “just be happy” - we want to spare them the downs of life.    However, life is not lived only on the top of mountains and we do most of our growing as people and Christians through the valleys and trials of life.

David wrote and sang this Psalm after he had come to the throne but was barred from entering the Tabernacle where leaders and their people worshiped and offered sacrifices.  It was the dwelling place of God and being separated from it was like a child sent away from his parents.  As a result, the Psalm was very personal to David, as parent’s prayer for their children.

David’s heartfelt Psalm tells us of the joy of God’s presence in his life, the pain of being separated from him, and his promise that once reconnected, he would never be parted again.  As a King and leader, David’s life was never easy.  He is dealing with a rebellion that has separated him from his place of worship as well as the shame and guilt of the destruction of Nob and the fall of Saul.  In the face of all of these challenges, he turns to God and asks for guidance and a “long life” or time to experience better days.

We are the children of God and he wants what we want for our children – to face the trials of life with him by our side.  As parents, we cannot guard against bad events in our children’s lives no differently than our own.  We must pray that our Holy Spirit guides us on the right – and sometimes most difficult – path to endure or overcome the hard times of life.  Through Christ, we can and will endure the difficult times and praise him during our “throne” moments.  God is always with us and all that he asks is that we do not turn away, but face him and embrace him in all that we do.

Written by Chuck Hamilton