Title: When My Heart is Overwhelmed
Text: Psalm 61: 1-8
Date: April 16, 2020
Place: SGBC, NJ
Titled: When My Heart is Overwhelmed
Psalm 61: 1: 1: Hear
my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. 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.
“Overwhelmed” is to
be “covered over” with waves so that you are drowning, unable to breathe. There is a rock higher than you that is near. It is a rock that can lift you above the
waves. But you are so overwhelmed that you
cannot even get to the rock. So you cry
out, “Lead me to the rock higher than I.”
Brethren has your
heart ever been overwhelmed. There is
nothing you can do. Lately, I have heard
a few brethren in that condition. My
prayer is that God would speak to us tonight from this Psalm and comfort his
people.
In the first half, David
makes some incredible vows to God.
First, he vows that
he will cry unto God no matter his condition—Psalm 61: 1: Hear my cry, O
God; attend unto my prayer. 2: From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee,
when my heart is overwhelmed:
David’s next vow, he
vows to do forever—Psalm 61: 3: For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a
strong tower from the enemy. 4: I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever:
I will trust in the covert of thy wings.
“Selah”—stop and consider.
How is it David can make these vows with such resolve? No sinner has power to keep a vow to cry to
the Lord always, to abide in his tabernacle forever, to trust in the covert of
his wings no matter what! How could David make these vows?
In the second half, David declares his assurance to be the
faithfulness of God.
David assurance that he will keep his vows is that God has
already heard his vows/prayers and already made him a joint-heir with Christ
through faith—Psalm 61: 5: For thou, O God, hast heard my vows: thou hast
given me the heritage [inheritance] of those that fear thy name.
[that believe on Christ]
David’s assurance that
he will continue to call upon God forever is because David saw by faith and believed
what God would do in David’s King. Notice,
the change in the personal pronoun—Psalm 61: 6: Thou wilt prolong the king’s
life: and his years as many generations. 7: He shall abide before God
for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him.
Therefore, David concludes
that by this he will continue forever giving God all the glory and performing
his vows. Notice the change in the
personal pronoun back to David—Psalm 61: 8: So will I sing praise unto thy
name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows.
Proposition: If we believe on Christ then let us be assured that no
matter our condition, we shall continue crying unto God our Father and trusting
Christ our King, not by our strength but by the grace of God.
Outline: 1) David’s condition
2) David’s cry 3) David’s confidence
DAVID’S CONDITION
Psalm 61: 2: From the
end of the earth will I cry unto thee,
when my heart is overwhelmed
David wrote this after
he was king. But Absalom had banished
him from Jerusalem. So David was a king
in exile. He was cut off from everyone. David was crying unto God “from the end of
the earth.” Brethren, have you ever
felt cut off, alienated? That was David’s
case.
In addition, David was
alienated from the one place God appointed for worship and from his brethren. Above all else, David cherished the privilege
to assemble in God’s house, together with God’s people, to worship God he
loved. We are tasting a little of that now
with this quarantine. Brethren, how we miss assembling together under the
gospel! One good thing God has done
through this quarantine is make us appreciate the blessing of gathering with
one another under the gospel.
Then to make David’s
situation even more sorrowful, it was his own dear son, Absalom, that rebelled
against him and cast him out. No wonder David
cried out as man whose heart was drowning.
Even more sorrowful
than these things David faced, sometimes, God’s saints are overwhelmed with a
sense of our sin. Our hearts are
overwhelmed by the guilt of our sin; by the shame over sin we hate; sin that we
want to be free from and done with.
Other times, we are overwhelmed by our unbelief. Then there are many other kinds of afflictive
providences that God brings us into. All
these trials are like a stormy sea where wave after wave rolls over us. Our hearts become overwhelmed so that we cannot
breathe.
Remember, brethren,
we have a great High Priest seated in the heavens who knows exactly what we go
through. If we suffer it, Christ
suffered it more. If we feel pain,
Christ felt it more. If we sorrow,
Christ more. If our hearts are
overwhelmed, none is overwhelmed like Christ on the cross. What should that make us do?
Hebrews 4: 14: Seeing
then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus
the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
That is what we see David do here in his vows to continue
crying unto God and trusting in God no matter his condition.
Hebrews 4: 15: For we
have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our
infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without
sin. 16: Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may
obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
That is what we see David do next.
DAVID’S PRAYER
Psalm 61: 1: Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. 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. 3: For thou hast been
a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. 4: I will abide in thy
tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.
In the midst of any
trouble, knowing Christ sits there at God’s right hand, let us come boldly—not
haughty, not arrogantly. And if our
heart is overwhelmed that is not how we come.
We come begging, “Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer.”
It is good to have
brethren who you can call on. Brethren,
we should communicate with one another, especially right now, especially with brethren
who are suffering. Call on brethren and be
there for brethren to call on. But when
God brings us to the end of the earth, when our heart is overwhelmed then you cannot
even talk to brethren. Yet, we can always
cry unto God!
I love how David is
firm in his resolve to hold fast his profession. In the midst of trouble, he vows that he will
cry unto God no matter what. But notice,
his resolve is to be entirely dependent upon God—"From the end of the
earth WILL I CRY.” But notice
David’s dependence, “UNTO THEE.” David is resolute, “When my heart is overwhelmed.” But he is resolute to depend entirely upon
God because he is utterly helpless, “Lead me to the rock that is higher than
I.” Do you see his resolve? David’s vow is not for something he expects
to do himself. His vow is to cry unto God because David knows that he is
helpless to save himself.
No matter where we
are, no matter our condition, as strong as our trouble may be, let our resolve be
stronger. And let it be to be entirely,
utterly, dependent upon God—"I will cry unto thee, O God!—Lead me!” Child of God, you are never too far and your
condition never too bad to call upon God!
Psalm 139: 7: Whither
shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8: If I
ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou
art there. 9: If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost
parts of the sea; 10: Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand
shall hold me.
Brethren, shall God’s
firstborn Son suffer and we not suffer? God is teaching us obedience by
the things we suffer. He is teaching us to
trust God, to believe on God, to wait on God. Christ did so in perfection; he
is our salvation, “And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal
salvation unto all them that obey him.”
Therefore, when our
hearts are overwhelmed, make it our firm resolve to cry unto God in utter
dependence, “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” God gets the glory for leading us to Christ
and Christ our Rock gets the glory for saving us!
In the wilderness, Moses
(the law) smote the rock. Out came water
(life) for all the children of Israel—“that Rock is Christ." When
Christ bore the sins of his people, the law smote Christ in our place and from Christ
the Rock came living water for every elect child for whom he was smitten! That Rock followed the children of Israel and
provided for them wherever they went.
1 Corinthians 10: 3:…they
did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4: And did all drink the same spiritual
drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock
was Christ.
Christ is the Rock
higher than I who is ever present to save his redeemed. He is higher than David, higher than all kings
of the earth, higher than angels in heaven, even higher than the heavens.
Hebrews 7:26: For
such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from
sinners, and made higher than the heavens;
Has Christ not proven it already, believer?—"For
thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.”
A Mighty fortress is
our God
A bulwark never
failing
So HIS past mercies give us—"I will abide in thy
tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.” firm
resolve for the future. We have
the picture on the table in the back of the mother hen with her chickens under
her wings—that is the metaphor here.
Under Christ’s wings we in the covert, the refuge, our hiding place, our
place of protection. Therefore, by God’s
preserving grace, “I will trust in the covert of thy wings!”
Believer be sure to get this. I pray God help each of us to learn this. When we are overwhelmed in heart there is no
comfort looking at the waves, talking about the waves, trying to figure
out how the waves came. Look to Christ, not the waves! He is the Rock
higher than I!
DAVID’S CONFIDENCE
Psalm 61: 5: For
thou, O God, hast heard my vows thou hast given me the heritage of those
that fear thy name. 6: Thou wilt prolong
the king’s life: and his years as many generations. 7: He shall abide
before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him.
How does David know
he shall keep his vows? Is David counting
on himself? No. David’s confidence is
that God has already heard his cry and already made him a joint-heir with Christ—"For
thou, O God, hast heard my vows [prayer, my cry]: thou hast given me the
heritage [inheritance] of those that fear thy name.” God had already made David cry out to God
in faith fearing his name. God
had already heard David’s cry. And God
had already made David a joint heir with Christ.
See, brethren, God
was David’s assurance that God would keep him so that he could fulfill his vow
to persevere in faith. Has God brought you to confess faith in Christ? Then God has made you a joint heir with
Christ. And God never writes anyone out
of his will! God is our assurance that
we shall keep the vow of faith to continue trusting Christ alone!
David’s confidence that
he would continue trusting God was Christ.
By faith, David looked ahead to Christ’s day. Notice the change in personal pronouns. David says to God concerning Christ the King,
“Thou wilt prolong the king’s life: and his years as many generations. He
shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve
him.”
Christ prepared
mercy and truth which preserved him!
Christ made mercy and justice agree.
He declared God just and Justifier of all who believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. Our Substitute brought in
everlasting righteousness for his people.
By Christ’s finished work of preparing mercy and truth, God preserved his
Son. God the Father was so well-pleased with
Christ his Son that he “prolonged Christ the King’s life and his years as
many generations: he shall abide before God for ever” And when God
raised David’s LORD, God raised David and you and me who believe.
DAVID’S CONCLUSION
Psalm 61: 8: So will
I sing praise unto thy name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows.
David concludes what
you and I may conclude, “So will I…”
The word is “after this manner will I.” After the manner we have seen in this Psalm. By God the Father continually beholding
Christ his Son before his face, by mercy and truth preserving us in Christ, by God
continually sending trials to make us cry, by God continually hearing our cry,
by God continually leads us to the Rock higher than I, “So will I sing
praise unto thy name forever, that I may daily perform my vows.”
Believer, the waves
may be overwhelming! But God sent them
to bring you to cry unto God! God shall
continue to lead you to the Rock! So shall you sing praise unto his name for
ever and continue performing your vow to trust Christ alone!
Amen!