WEBVTT - 476 Praying Through Psalms 61: The Rock Higher Than I 0:00:02.680 --> 0:00:08.240 Life Audio. Hello, and welcome to another prayer through the 0:00:08.240 --> 0:00:12.360 Psalms episode of the Praying Christian Women podcast. I am 0:00:12.440 --> 0:00:15.440 Jamie and today we get to talk about and pray 0:00:15.480 --> 0:00:19.960 through Psalm sixty one. This is confidence in God's protection 0:00:20.760 --> 0:00:23.680 for the choir director on a stringed instrument, a Psalm 0:00:23.680 --> 0:00:26.079 of David. This is back to kind of like what 0:00:26.200 --> 0:00:29.240 I always picture. I picture the stringed instruments because they 0:00:29.240 --> 0:00:33.000 talk about David playing the liar for King Saul. But yeah, 0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:37.960 it's just another confidence in God's protection. Last time we 0:00:38.120 --> 0:00:42.400 talked a little bit about David feeling surrounded and overwhelmed 0:00:42.840 --> 0:00:46.919 and yet trusting in God. This next one is a 0:00:46.960 --> 0:00:52.080 beautiful almost like a relief into just pure confidence. And 0:00:52.159 --> 0:00:55.640 the imagery is beautiful. And if you're needing to be 0:00:55.720 --> 0:00:58.560 reminded of how big God is, this is a good one. 0:00:59.080 --> 0:01:06.760 So before we get started, let's pray. Lord God, you 0:01:06.840 --> 0:01:13.440 are our rock, our stronghold, our protector, and we praise 0:01:13.440 --> 0:01:21.000 you for being mighty and matchless. Just even saying that 0:01:21.160 --> 0:01:25.039 just gives me this feeling of strength and security because 0:01:25.080 --> 0:01:28.040 you are it. There's no yin and yang when it 0:01:28.040 --> 0:01:32.679 comes to good and evil. In the big picture, you 0:01:32.800 --> 0:01:37.360 are good, You are love, You are creator, And even 0:01:37.360 --> 0:01:41.720 though Satan and his demons have dominion for a time 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:46.080 over this earth, they are no match for you. They're 0:01:46.080 --> 0:01:48.920 not your equal and opposite like we sometimes think of 0:01:49.680 --> 0:01:51.720 when we think of the battle between good and evil. 0:01:53.000 --> 0:01:58.880 You are already victorious. So we acknowledge you and praise 0:01:58.880 --> 0:02:04.080 you for that, for your pre eminence, for your omnipotence. 0:02:05.160 --> 0:02:08.360 There is no one like you in all of creation. 0:02:10.040 --> 0:02:13.880 And to be your child, to be loved like that, 0:02:14.040 --> 0:02:18.919 to be protected by you, it puts everything else into perspective. 0:02:19.760 --> 0:02:22.080 As we come before you today, we just ask that 0:02:22.160 --> 0:02:25.399 you would just continue to be reminding us of who 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:29.640 you are, so that we can measure everything else against that. 0:02:30.440 --> 0:02:34.000 Instead of trying to to bring you along into our 0:02:34.040 --> 0:02:36.919 troubles or bring you along into our lives, I just 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:38.760 pray that we would be able to see you as 0:02:38.919 --> 0:02:44.120 it you are what it's all about. Let's put you 0:02:44.160 --> 0:02:48.840 in the driver's seat, Let's take you with us. Not 0:02:48.960 --> 0:02:51.360 so we can just bring you along by tucking you 0:02:51.400 --> 0:02:55.480 in our pocket and referencing you so that we feel 0:02:55.480 --> 0:02:59.639 good about ourselves and our decisions, but like a kid 0:02:59.680 --> 0:03:06.240 on the place bringing their father who is strong and capable. 0:03:07.080 --> 0:03:10.720 There's nothing to fear. Let us bring you so that 0:03:10.760 --> 0:03:17.680 we can listen for your instruction and your guidance, so 0:03:17.720 --> 0:03:21.280 that we can hear you the voice behind us saying 0:03:21.400 --> 0:03:25.440 this is the way, walk in it. Thank you for 0:03:25.480 --> 0:03:30.720 being that God who can be both all powerful and 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:35.280 matchless in every way, and yet concerned for us, for 0:03:35.400 --> 0:03:37.320 each one of us as if each of us was 0:03:37.360 --> 0:03:43.640 the only child in the whole world. We love you, God. 0:03:44.400 --> 0:03:46.960 Help us to continue to see you for who you are. 0:03:47.880 --> 0:03:51.080 Help us to continue to fix our eyes on Jesus 0:03:51.880 --> 0:03:55.120 so that we can live more like him, so that 0:03:55.160 --> 0:03:59.280 we can love more like him. In Jesus' name. Amen. 0:04:11.640 --> 0:04:15.400 All right, let's read through this psalm confidence in God's protection. 0:04:16.120 --> 0:04:19.080 For the choir director on a stringed instrument, a Psalm 0:04:19.080 --> 0:04:23.920 of David very straightforward. Hear my cry, Oh God, give 0:04:24.040 --> 0:04:26.839 heed to my prayer. From the end of the earth. 0:04:26.880 --> 0:04:30.240 I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead 0:04:30.320 --> 0:04:33.279 me to the rock that is higher than I For 0:04:33.440 --> 0:04:36.480 you have been a refuge for me, a tower of 0:04:36.520 --> 0:04:40.960 strength against the enemy. Let me dwell in your tent forever. 0:04:41.839 --> 0:04:44.960 Let me take refuge in the shelter of your wing. Selah, 0:04:46.440 --> 0:04:49.000 for you have heard my vows. Oh God, you have 0:04:49.040 --> 0:04:51.640 given me the inheritance of those who fear your name. 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:56.400 You will prolong the king's life. His years will be 0:04:56.520 --> 0:05:00.240 as many generations. He will abide before God for ever 0:05:01.400 --> 0:05:05.040 a point, loving kindness and truth, that they may preserve him. 0:05:05.400 --> 0:05:08.719 So I will sing praise to your name forever, that 0:05:08.800 --> 0:05:12.920 I may pay my vows day by day. So I 0:05:12.960 --> 0:05:18.200 love this because it is just one hundred percent. You 0:05:18.440 --> 0:05:23.919 are refuge, you are protector, and it's so comforting for me. 0:05:24.520 --> 0:05:27.919 I love the ones where he starts off lamenting, but 0:05:28.240 --> 0:05:31.320 sometimes I just need this. I just need to be 0:05:31.440 --> 0:05:35.480 reminded of how big God is. And so he talks 0:05:35.520 --> 0:05:41.360 about God being a tower of strength, and in military terms, 0:05:41.839 --> 0:05:45.960 a tower or a stronghold or you know, is like 0:05:46.160 --> 0:05:51.200 this place that's high and protected from enemies, that's usually 0:05:51.320 --> 0:05:56.720 encircled so that the arrows can't break through, and it's 0:05:57.680 --> 0:06:00.840 going to take a lot to get to that place, 0:06:01.600 --> 0:06:05.800 and it's very high and protected. And so this idea 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:09.760 of a rock that is higher than myself. We are 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:14.599 very vulnerable. We can't protect ourselves all the time. But 0:06:14.720 --> 0:06:19.880 God is that refuge and it's anytime we ask, he 0:06:20.000 --> 0:06:24.039 just lifts us up and places us on that high 0:06:24.120 --> 0:06:29.200 place of protection and safeguard. Another interesting thing is that 0:06:29.240 --> 0:06:32.599 this imagery of a rock, that word rock the actual 0:06:32.680 --> 0:06:36.159 original Hebrew for that word rock. The first place it's 0:06:36.200 --> 0:06:39.240 mentioned is in Exodus, where he struck the rock and 0:06:39.279 --> 0:06:42.640 the water came out of it, Exodus seventeen, verse six. 0:06:43.040 --> 0:06:46.520 That's from the topical lexicon. It's that word rock appears 0:06:46.600 --> 0:06:50.000 Exodus seventeen, verse six, when Moses strikes the rock at Horeb. 0:06:50.839 --> 0:06:54.719 This imagery is not just of protection and refuge, but 0:06:54.839 --> 0:06:59.680 the word rock it also has imagery of provision, and 0:06:59.720 --> 0:07:04.080 God is shown as living water that flows out of 0:07:04.120 --> 0:07:07.800 the rock. And that goes back to our last psalm 0:07:07.800 --> 0:07:11.440 Psalm sixty, where we were talking about these parched, dry 0:07:11.520 --> 0:07:15.680 desert lands encrusted with salt. When the rain comes, that's 0:07:15.760 --> 0:07:18.480 when all these plants in this life that we didn't 0:07:18.480 --> 0:07:20.600 even know was there for most of the year would 0:07:20.680 --> 0:07:23.440 start to spring up out of those cracks and crevices 0:07:23.560 --> 0:07:27.880 of salt rock. And so that imagery of water, it's 0:07:28.080 --> 0:07:33.600 life giving, it's protector, it's provider. And again that imagery 0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:38.080 is so beautiful, and then it also talks about him 0:07:38.440 --> 0:07:43.080 about let me take refuge in the shelter of your wings, 0:07:43.120 --> 0:07:46.760 and so that imagery it's kind of feminine if you 0:07:46.800 --> 0:07:49.600 think about it. I mean, I know, like penguins can 0:07:49.720 --> 0:07:53.680 also like incubate the eggs, and the dads can do 0:07:53.760 --> 0:07:56.560 that too. But most of the time, when you think 0:07:56.600 --> 0:08:02.880 of a bird sheltering her young with her wings, it's 0:08:03.120 --> 0:08:06.320 usually a mother. And I do love that the Bible 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:09.760 brings in this imagery of God as this strong, solid 0:08:09.760 --> 0:08:13.720 protector and very masculine imagery most of the time. But 0:08:13.800 --> 0:08:17.400 what I really enjoy is seeing this idea several times 0:08:17.440 --> 0:08:23.440 in scripture where it talks about God as mother, as 0:08:23.760 --> 0:08:26.400 a And I don't want to get into the gender 0:08:26.440 --> 0:08:31.680 of God because obviously, you know, God created man in 0:08:31.720 --> 0:08:34.559 his image, male and female. He created them, which means 0:08:34.600 --> 0:08:39.760 that all aspects of female of the female gender and 0:08:39.800 --> 0:08:43.640 the male gender embody who God is. But we do 0:08:43.720 --> 0:08:45.840 think of him as a father because that's how Jesus 0:08:45.880 --> 0:08:49.040 describes him to us. But actually want to take a moment, 0:08:49.520 --> 0:08:55.160 and I want to read through these different passages where 0:08:55.920 --> 0:08:59.640 God is described as covering us or sheltering us with 0:08:59.679 --> 0:09:02.400 his wis because I just think for a meditation. This 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:06.880 is really helpful for me because it's very comforting, and 0:09:07.200 --> 0:09:09.960 I just thought it would be nice, so Psalm seventeen eight. 0:09:10.400 --> 0:09:14.360 Hide me under the shadow of your wings, Psalm thirty 0:09:14.360 --> 0:09:18.679 six seven. People take refuge in the shadow of your wings, 0:09:19.160 --> 0:09:22.200 Psalm fifty seven to one. I will take refuge in 0:09:22.240 --> 0:09:25.199 the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed. 0:09:25.880 --> 0:09:29.000 Psalm sixty one to four. I will take refuge in 0:09:29.080 --> 0:09:33.199 the shelter of your wings Psalm sixty three to seven. 0:09:33.760 --> 0:09:37.199 In the shadow of your wings, I will sing for joy, 0:09:37.320 --> 0:09:42.000 like this picture of having the bandwidth to sing for 0:09:42.120 --> 0:09:46.280 joy because of being protected. It's a privilege to be 0:09:46.320 --> 0:09:48.960 able to sing for joy right when you're being oppressed, 0:09:49.000 --> 0:09:52.839 when you're being hit on all sides. But because of God, 0:09:53.520 --> 0:09:58.640 in any circumstance, we are given that place of permission 0:09:58.920 --> 0:10:04.559 and privilege to sing for joy because He protects us. Now, 0:10:04.600 --> 0:10:06.760 I don't mean to say that if you're going through 0:10:06.760 --> 0:10:10.240 something unspeakably difficult that you're going to always be in 0:10:10.240 --> 0:10:14.600 that place, But we have that opportunity because of God. 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:21.320 And when we do find ourselves facing difficulties, it's because 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:24.440 of Him if we are able to be joyful. That 0:10:24.600 --> 0:10:27.679 is why, and that is the only reason Psalm ninety 0:10:27.720 --> 0:10:29.960 one to four. He will cover you with his feathers, 0:10:30.600 --> 0:10:34.760 and under his wings you will find refuge. So it's 0:10:34.800 --> 0:10:38.720 almost an image of a nesting bird, like you're under 0:10:38.760 --> 0:10:42.439 the feathers and under his wings. And then in Ruth 0:10:43.320 --> 0:10:46.920 Ruth two verse twelve, the Lord under whose wings you 0:10:46.960 --> 0:10:50.040 have come to take refuge. And this was spoken to Ruth, 0:10:50.120 --> 0:10:55.240 who was a foreigner but chose to follow Naomi. She 0:10:55.440 --> 0:10:57.880 chose to follow Naomi. Your God will be my God. 0:10:57.920 --> 0:11:01.959 Your people will be my people, Oh God, welcoming in 0:11:02.000 --> 0:11:07.120 the outcast, welcoming in the foreigner into his fold. And 0:11:07.160 --> 0:11:11.360 that was even before Jesus opened up the way. This 0:11:11.559 --> 0:11:14.240 was when the people of Israel were just considered to 0:11:14.280 --> 0:11:16.599 be the people of God. And God said, no, I 0:11:16.640 --> 0:11:19.200 will welcome you in if you choose me, because I've 0:11:19.240 --> 0:11:23.480 already chosen you Deuteronomy thirty two eleven. Like an eagle 0:11:23.559 --> 0:11:25.960 that spread out his wings to catch them. So this 0:11:26.080 --> 0:11:29.200 is not the underside of his wings. This is kind 0:11:29.240 --> 0:11:31.680 of more being on the top, kind of like in 0:11:31.760 --> 0:11:34.000 Isaiah when it talks about He'll raise you up on 0:11:34.120 --> 0:11:38.200 wings like eagles. And then Matthew twenty three thirty seven 0:11:38.360 --> 0:11:41.280 and Luke thirteen thirty four says something about how often 0:11:41.280 --> 0:11:44.640 I've longed to gather your children together. This is Jesus 0:11:45.600 --> 0:11:47.960 saying how often I have longed to gather your children 0:11:48.000 --> 0:11:51.200 together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. Again, 0:11:51.280 --> 0:11:56.160 this inclusiveness of Jesus wanting to gather all of God's 0:11:56.720 --> 0:12:02.080 people under his wings. So well, this is beautiful and 0:12:02.160 --> 0:12:06.800 protective language. It's even marriage language. You know, we think 0:12:06.800 --> 0:12:09.360 of it as a child language, but being under someone's 0:12:09.360 --> 0:12:15.040 wings in ancient times and biblical times it had imagery 0:12:15.120 --> 0:12:20.320 of protection, belonging, an even marriage language of being under 0:12:20.480 --> 0:12:34.280 that umbrella of love. So let's pray, Lord God, we 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:39.040 just thank you so much for loving us, and we 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:41.480 just pray that no matter what is going on in 0:12:41.520 --> 0:12:47.320 the world, that we can take time like now to 0:12:47.400 --> 0:12:52.400 come into your throne room and just feel protected, be 0:12:52.520 --> 0:12:55.640 reminded of your bigness and your goodness and your protection, 0:12:56.800 --> 0:12:59.959 so that no matter what is raging on the other 0:13:00.200 --> 0:13:03.160 side of those wings, that we know that we are 0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:08.520 yours and you belong to us. God. We just pray 0:13:09.840 --> 0:13:13.560 for perspective. It's not going to be easy. Once we 0:13:13.679 --> 0:13:16.480 come out of a time of prayer and meditation on 0:13:16.520 --> 0:13:19.079 your word, it's not going to be easy to maintain 0:13:19.160 --> 0:13:23.880 the feeling of protection. But Jesus said, not that you 0:13:23.960 --> 0:13:26.920 would take them out of the world. Jesus prayed for 0:13:26.960 --> 0:13:28.920 his disciples, saying, I don't pray that you would take 0:13:28.960 --> 0:13:30.720 them out of the world, but protect them from the 0:13:30.760 --> 0:13:35.480 evil one. That's our prayer for ourselves, for each other, 0:13:36.360 --> 0:13:39.760 for the people we love, that we would be able 0:13:39.760 --> 0:13:44.360 to walk and operate outside of our bubble of throne 0:13:44.440 --> 0:13:49.199 room time and still maintain that picture of your protection. 0:13:51.240 --> 0:13:53.080 Not that you would just take us out of the 0:13:53.080 --> 0:13:56.440 world indefinitely, because then we would not be able to 0:13:56.480 --> 0:13:59.920 take your kingdom out into the world, but that you 0:14:00.240 --> 0:14:03.840 protect us and shelter us even as we go, even 0:14:03.840 --> 0:14:07.000 as we do the hard things, and that you would 0:14:07.000 --> 0:14:11.040 just continually, your holy spirit would continually remind us of 0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:14.199 your goodness and your bigness and your love and your protection. 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:17.360 That we could even just picture being under the shelter 0:14:17.679 --> 0:14:22.840 of your wings, or being set upon that high place, 0:14:22.920 --> 0:14:28.400 that rock of that stronghold, that high tower, that we 0:14:28.400 --> 0:14:32.480 would remember that the victory is already one in Jesus' 0:14:32.560 --> 0:14:38.720 name Amen. 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