God’s Word for You
Psalm 61:1-4 the rock that is higher than me
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Tuesday, December 20, 2022
Danger far from home—a soldier’s prayer
61 For the director of music.
On strings. Of David.
There is a question here about the form of the word usually written binginoth “according to stringed instruments,” but here only ginath, “string” or “strings.” It makes little difference, but I have taken it as the kind of informal term we use for violins, violas and such when we just call them “strings.”
1 Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer.
2 From the ends of the earth I call to you,
as my heart grows faint.
David saw military service many times during his lifetime, both before and after he became king. Since the end of the psalm includes a prayer for the life of the king, and ends with “I will sing praise to your name” in the final verse, we should probably assume that the song was written during David’s long reign. Both the early rebellion of Saul’s family while David still ruled from Hebron and the later events during Absalom’s rebellion fit the context of this verse, with David calling “from the ends of the earth” (that is, far away from his home) and “the life of the king” (verse 6).
Lead me to the rock that is higher than me.
David was a genius at slipping away from his enemies, a lesson he learned well while pursued by King Saul. David was especially fond of high places in the mountains, in the mountains of Judea (between Jerusalem and Philistia) and in the high, dry caves surrounding the Dead Sea that we associate with the Dead Sea scrolls today. The highest rock of all is the shelter of God himself. “You are my rock and my fortress” (Psalm 31:3).
The NIV’s curious if poetic choice to keep the old King James language, “the rock that is higher than I,” has the ability to lead Bible classes off on tangents of shared ignorance about basic grammar with infinite speculation about what is a simple phrase in Hebrew. If a pastor’s Hebrew is a little rusty, I encourage him to be fearless about this phrase at least, for mimmenni (מִמֶּנִּי) can only be “higher than me.” The “I” would imply an absent and understood helping verb in English (“higher than I am”), which is not the Hebrew construction here. The pronoun “me” is all that is required, and please allow our Bible studies to move on to more meaningful words about Christ and forgiveness and our lives of faith.
3 For you have been a refuge for me,
a strong tower in the face of the enemy.
4 I want to dwell in your tent forever
and take refuge in the shelter of your wings. Selah
The refuge of our God is the refuge of faith and the refuge of earthly as well as heavenly protection. Most importantly, God is our refuge from death. “In you I take refuge—do not give me over to death” (Psalm 141:8). By his own resurrection, Christ has overcome the power of the grave, and on the last day he will call us out, kicking in the doors of tombs, knocking the lids off of coffins, tearing the lids from urns, and summoning the dead who have drowned or been burned, or lost on mountain tops and other inaccessible places. He will rescue even those helpless people who perished in the wilderness or in the desert, and whose bodies were never found, and all of them, all of us, will be gathered together alive again in the resurrection. “Blessed are all who take refuge in him” (Psalm 2:12).
God is also the refuge of those who face physical enemies. It is always right to ask God to preserve our lives from such foes. What if a Christian finds himself forced to fight for an immoral government? He can pray that God would forgive his participation even though it is against his will, and that the Lord would spare his life and that of his family in such a dark time. A member of my congregation (now safely with the Lord for all eternity) was conscripted by the Third Reich and forced to fight against the Russians in the Second World War. Although he hated the direction his government had taken, and he had never trusted nor voted for the Chancellor who became the Fuhrer, he was forced to fight and was obedient for the sake of his dear wife’s life. It was for their sake and at their request that I have never used the name of that Fuhrer in our pulpit, even in illustrations of wicked men, but have treated him as if he is not worth the breath it would take to use his name. That Christian couple was preserved just as they had prayed, “save and deliver me from all who pursue me” (Psalm 7:1), and they served God in our community for the rest of their long lives.
God is the refuge of enemies who attack the Gospel. “Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is full of destruction” (Psalm 5:9), and so, “I put my hope in your word” (Psalm 119:114). To recognize disease in his hands, a man must know what his hands are like without disease, and in the same way, to recognize false doctrine, a Christian needs to know what right and correct doctrine is. Do not avoid your pastor’s Bible studies! Listen to his sermons, and read your Catechism. Repeat the creed with your evening prayers, and consider each line, why it is included, and what truth is being presented that the ancient church considered to be vital to our shared faith. Recognize what is false by knowing what is true and correct. In this way, your will “Watch your life and your doctrine closely” (1 Timothy 4:16).
God is also the refuge of those who face troubles of body and life. Whether it is the trouble of the raging storm or surging sea, the menace of cancer or the long roads of loneliness or old age, the Lord is with his people. He may allow challenges and tests to come our way to keep us mindful of his grace and his hands that hold us secure. He is always there for us. “Look upon my affliction and my distress, and take away my sins” (Psalm 25:18). The desire of David our Psalm writer is that he will dwell in God’s tent forever, to take refuge in the shelter of God’s wings like a baby bird under the care of a parent. Whatever struggles or troubles we have, we can always turn to God for help. Our confession reminds us:
“We are commanded to employ God’s name for truth and for all good, as when one swears truly where there is need and it is demanded. So also when there is right teaching, and when the name is invoked in trouble or praised and thanked in prosperity (and so on), all of which is (included) and commanded in the passage Psalm 50:15: ‘Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will glorify me.’ For all this is bringing his name into the service of truth, and using it in a blessed way, and thus his name is hallowed, as we pray in the Lord’s Prayer” (Large Catechism). Use God’s name as you pray, as you tell people about your Savior, and as you praise him.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.