Daily Psalm: Psalm 61

Psalm 60 provides a powerful and relatable journey from profound despair to renewed hope in God's promises. It acknowledges the deep pain of feeling abandoned by God and then pivots to affirm that only God can provide true, lasting victory. 

The Daily Psalms are given with the intention to encourage Christians to read and meditate on these scriptures in order to grow in their faith and relationship with God. They are released every Tuesday and Thursday for the following week on all major Podcast platforms. May the Lord bless you as you ponder His Word.

Presented by Michael Mullen

Transcript

Psalm 61

There are times in our living where we have no other place to go, no strategy left to execute, no word left to say. The thing we face is terrible, we have tried everything we might try, and have come to nothing. We are literally at the end, the end of all we know, the end of all we can muster against that which is working to oppose us. In the words of the Psalmist, we are at the utter end of the world, as far from a good place as their is. Is there anything you can do when you find yourself in such a place? Yes! Cry out to God!

Last November my wife and I, along with our Son and his family, made a trip to Kansas to visit family. The second day we were there I went through something I had never experienced before. I had gone outside to help clean up the yard of my in-laws when I found I could not breathe. All I had done was walk across the yard, and I found I was out of breath. I thought that it was the cold that was causing my difficulties, but as I sat down to recover, I felt this ominous pain in my shoulder going down my arm. Soon I was headed to the emergency room with a suspected heart attack. The good news was, I did not have a heart attack, but the main arteries to the heart were clogged, and I needed a by-pass surgery. When I asked the surgeon if I could travel back home to have the procedure, he said bluntly that in doing so I would probably die. So it was settled. My week away to visit family turned into ten days in the hospital, having open heart surgery. 

There was nothing else I could do, nowhere else I could go. Because of a medicine I had already been taking, I had to wait five days until it was out of my blood before I received the surgery. During that time all I could do was pray. I prayed by myself. I prayed with my wife, Taina. I prayed with our family. From that lonely place I cried out to God, and he heard my praying. 

More than anything else, I believe this is the lesson of this Psalm. When you find yourself in a place where there is nothing you can do, no place to run, no place to turn, there is always God. When we cry out to Him, he is faithful to hear us, and work on our behalf. He is our security, our safe place, where all the circumstances of this existence may be arrayed against us, and still we are protected. 

I came through the surgery, and quite honestly, the recovery was somewhat rough. Still, in all this, I was never alone, or was brought to a place of despair. God was with me, and he delivered me. Today, five months later, and on the other side of much of my recovery, I am healthier than I have been in years. That too was God’s doing. We had often prayed that God would help us with our health, and he is. Through all of this I have so much to be thankful for.

David looks to God to be his “strong tower,” a “shelter from the enemy.” When we find ourselves at the end of our resources, and we have no other place to turn, the tempter will come and speak lies to sink our faith, to rob us of our peace, to make us doubt God. Cry out to the Father, and he will take you into himself, and the weak lies of the enemy will be shown for what they are.

Prayer

God Almighty,

See us, look upon us, and send us your help.

Draw us into your protective embrace,

for the place where we are is to much for us.

We have nothing in ourselves 

that can bring us through the test before us.

The trial which we face is threatening our soul.

Everywhere is the lie that we are alone,

and in our weakness we are tempted 

to let our minds believe it.

Be strong for us, 

and send the comforter 

that our mind and spirit

would be undisturbed, full of your peace. 

We ask this in the name of Jesus, 

who is our Savior and Deliverer. 

Amen.