This treatment of Psalm 61 is divided into several sections:

Intrepretative Translation

Interpretation

Exposition

INTREPRETATIVE TRANSLATION

INTERPRETATION

I. Because David lacks courage, he approaches God (verses 1-2).

II. David remembers that God provided him with past security (verses 3-4).

III. David forecasts that God's promises will provide him with future security (verses 5-7).

IV. Because God gave courage to David, he vows to eternally worship God with music (verse 8).

EXPOSITION

There are times of trouble in the lives of all believers when we feel that we have insufficient courage to face an uncertain future--times when we feel that we have no reason to praise God.

Consider the circumstances of John and Betty Stam in China. In 1934 Communist revolutionaries seized the city of Tsingteh where they were serving as missionaries. The revolutionaries held them for $20,000 ransom. When the ransom money did not appear, they were taken to a hill outside the town where John Stam was ordered to kneel and to await his execution. It was for them a time when courage was required--for the next few moments of their lives. Could God provide them with security for those few minutes? Was it a time when they could praise the Lord?

Under similar circumstances, would we be able to face the future confidently? If not, how could we reinforce our courage?

In Psalm 61 King David found himself in a similar situation. One thing had led to another: adultery with Bathsheba, the murder of Uriah, Amnon's rape of Tamar, Absalom's murder of Amnon, and Absalom's revolt against David. Psalm 61 was written as David fled from Absalom. He was divorced from his residence and from the residence of his God. David fled because he feared that he and his family would be slaughtered by Absalom who was seeking to install himself as the unrivaled king of Israel (2 Samuel 15:14). It was a bleak time for David as he faced the prospect of loosing the kingdom and loosing his life and particularly the possibility of loosing his son, Solomon. In this destitute circumstance, David offered this petition to God:

David looked into his heart, the seat of his courage (2 Samuel 17:10), but he did not discover enough courage there to bring him through his crisis. So he asked God to lead him to a rock. He was thinking of a rock as a place that was secure from his enemies--a rocky mountain that would be high enough and secure enough that his enemies would not be able to scale it and get to him (Jeremiah 21:13). It must be a place of security that was more secure than the insufficient security he was able to provide for himself. That type of security would allow him to have courage.

As he meditated on his circumstance, with his mind receptive to the voice of God, he discoverd two principles that provided him with the courage he desired.

God's Past Provisions

First, David received courage by being reminded of how God had provided security for him in the past:

Now a strong tower refers to a defensive structure designed to protect the occupants from their enemies (Judges 8:9). God had provided this type of security to David in the past. Possibly he was thinking about the time when he was able to dodge the spear thrown by Saul (1 Samuel 19:10). Or maybe he was thinking of the time when he was given victory over the Philistines who were out to correct their ambitious ally (2 Samuel 5:17-25).

He remembered that God had given invulnerability and he knew that he needed that safety again. Like a traveler in a foreign land whose preservation is dependent upon the hospitality of that nation's government, so David's nerve came from the preservation found in the grace filled omnipotence of God. He became confident concerning his future, having remembered how unassailable he had been under God's care.

David is not alone in his experience with God. We can see the same thing in our own lives. When I flunked out of graduate school the first time around, He landed a job for me even though negotiations had been accomplished on the basis of a master's degree. When I was drafted, He allowed me to survive very pleasantly in Germany, even though I had been suffering through basic training with flat feet, with no athletic capability, and with no liking for Army discipline. When I was facing massive lay-offs at work, He allowed me to endure with a stable position. When I again attempted graduate school, I wondered if my mind could again be disciplined to academic life--the Lord disciplined my mind. Could I survive as a full time Christian worker with very little income? I have for around twenty-five years. What awaits me in the future in this recessive economy? I can look to the past and remember how God met my needs for security, and I can look with courage to the future knowing that in like manner God will make provision.

Gos's Promises for the Future

Not only can we take heart concerning God's past faithfulness, but we can also receive courage when we think of God's promises to us of future security. The Hebrew of this section indicates that David was quite excited as he thought of the certainty of God's promise concerning the future:

David reminded himself that Solomon, not Absalom, was to be the next king of Israel and that Solomon would receive supernatural deliverance from his enemies (i.e., God's faithful lovingkindness). See 1 Chronicles 22:9-10 and 2 Samuel 7:15. Notice how the Lord's faithful lovingkindness is associated with Israel and its king's deliverance from enemies in Psalm 98:1-3 and Psalm 143:10-12.

This is why David spoke of another king besides himself who would live to a ripe old age (verse 6) and who would have a full reign (verse 7a). It is possible to see typological reference to the Messiah in these verses, but in a primary sense Solomon should be seen.

At this time David was providing security for himself and for all of his family except for a few concubines (2 Samuel 15:16). It appeared to David that his security and Solomon's security were inseparable linked--and the linkage found in God's promise gave David confidence to face the furture.

We do not have the same promise from God that David had. We are not promised that our son will become king of Israel. But God has promised to take care of our needs, to work all things out for good, to provide eternal securiy, and so forth (Matthew 6:25-26 and Philippians 4:19; Romans 8:28; and Romans 8:30, respectively). With David we may be sure that God will be faithful to His promises and in these areas we may face the future with courage.

Reflections

God does not promise that our lives will be without difficulty. When He has completed using our lives for good, we will expire. The necessity for God to provide our earthly needs will have passed. The time will have arrived to receive the promise of glorification.

Quickly the executioner did his gastly job. John Stam collapsed--dead. Betty followed quickly. They knew what they were getting into. They had a sense that difficult times were ahead. I expect that thay had a sense of security as far as God's furnishing them with their needs and working out all things for good were concerned. I also think that it was that plus the fact that they believed in God's promise of eternal security that inspired Betty Stam to praise God in poetry:

David's Worshipful Response

So, David found the courage he requested in the security that God provided him in the past and in the promise God made for his future. Because of these provisions David responded to God with thanksgiving:

And we read, today, in God's eternal Word, the poem that pays David's vow.

© 2001-2002, Ken Bowles -- June 08, 2002 Edition