 What are you supposed to do when you feel you are a million miles from God? There is no sense of His presence and your situation is one where you are hurting badly. Where do you turn? The answer from Psalm 61 may surprise you when you read it today.
David wrote the 61st Psalm at the inspiration of God – even though he felt like he was at the end of the earth – and God was thousands of miles away. Actually, David was not more than 50 miles from Jerusalem. The problem was that he felt like he was at the ends of the earth from God Himself. He was running from his son Absalom, who wanted to kill him and be king in his place. So the “ends of the earth” statement is more a spiritual description – or maybe an emotional one. Regardless of this David felt a world amount of distance from God. Who did David turn to at this point? He turned to God. One of the first things we need to remember when we “feel” a million miles from God is that this is how we “feel” – it is not a hard, cold fact. So the best thing to do is to tell God in prayer how we feel. That is what David did. He cried out to God and called to him – even though he felt like he was calling from the ends of the earth. If we allow emotional reasoning to keep us from God, we are going to wind up feeling even more hopeless. But, on the other hand, if we don’t own up to how we feel, I seriously doubt we will get much of anywhere with God. Let’s be honest. God is omniscient. It is not like He is clueless as to our thinking. So what we need to start with is to cry out to Him, letting Him know honestly where we are at the moment. That is what David did. “Hear my cry, O God; Give heed to my prayer. From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint . . . “ He said he felt like this when his heart was “faint.” The Hebrew word here refers to something that is covered over and around and under. David’s heart was so covered with his situation that he could not see. But even if he was at the end of the earth – he was going to call on God. His next statement is the source of many Christian songs. “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” What a beautiful prayer. He knew at the “ends of the earth” he was not going to get to God on his own. So he cries out for God to lead him. God is the rock that is higher. God was stability and strength. He was higher and infinitely more stable than David. So David asked for God to bring him to where the Rock was located. In the next several verses of Psalm 61 David begins remembering Who God is. This is not the first time he’s been in a difficult situation – and God has come through every time. He remembers that God is his refuge – his tower of strength – his shelter. So David asks for God to bring him to His “tent.” This is a reference to the tabernacle – the place in Jerusalem where God dwelt between the Cherubim on top of the Ark. God was not limited to there – but in the history of Israel – God was more than able to take care of Himself and His stuff from there. When men rebelled against God and Moses – God wiped the entire group out as fire went out from His presence and killed every one of them. When a couple of drunken priests wanted to defile the worship place of God with their drunken stupor – God struck both of them dead with fire that consumed them. The lesson learned for all time – do not mess with God in the tent! David asked to be brought there – forever! This was also the place where God’s presence dwelt – and so what David was truly asking for was to be in God’s presence forever – for he knew that was the safest place on earth – or honestly – anywhere! As David prayed . . . as David meditated on Who God is . . . his heart was no longer smothered over by his circumstances. He was no longer a slave to his feelings and emotional reasoning. This was replaced by Biblical reasoning. David stops and writes, “selah” which means basically – stop and consider what I’ve said. From this point – the entire psalm changes in perspective and in attitude. David speaks for the rest of the psalm about how God has heard him and what God is going to do. God has heard me! God has given me the inheritance of those who fear Him! These are David’s first cries of joy! What a delight to know God has heard us – especially when we formerly thought God was a million miles away. And – since we have feared God and turned to Him in the midst of wanting to give up – God is going to bless us with a wealth of blessing. At this point David begins to speak boldly of what God IS going to do! David says, “I’m going to live!” But then David begins speaking in ways that are beyond what a mere man could receive. David is speaking by the Holy Spirit’s inspiration – and at this point the Holy Spirit begins speaking of the Messiah. He will live forever. He will remain before God forever. Grace and truth will be preserved through Him. These are all blessings that will come through Jesus Christ. John said in his gospel that grace and truth would be realized through Jesus! David closes the psalm by saying he wants to praise God forever – and to live before God in obedience day by day. That is where God brings us when we turn to Him. He brings us to Himself – and to His grace. He brings us to promises that have been made in the Word of God. He brings us to His ultimate promise which is the Messiah – Jesus Himself. What a blessing. Some may wonder why God would allow us to be in such a place. But I have a bigger statement to make. God leads us to such a place! He has purposed for us to come to the point where we feel a million miles away. His purpose in it is not to damage our faith or our spiritual walk – but to enhance it. Read these words God led Paul to write about God’s work in him and his associates. ”For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us, you also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.” 2 Corinthians 1:7-11 What is God’s purpose in allowing us to get to where David was? It is so that we will despair in our own living where we trust in ourselves and instead trust in God who raises the dead. It is so we will look to God to be the One who delivered us – who will deliver us – and who yet will deliver us! His other purpose is to not only engage in prayer the one who is dealing with the problem – but so that many persons will be engaged in prayer as well. Then as we watch God do what only God can do – we will praise God Who alone should be the One to be praised. Feeling a million miles from God? Yeah – God has you right where He wants you. Its where He had David – and look what He did in him?
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 What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? 5 Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! 6 You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, 7 All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field, 8 The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas. 9 O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth! Psalm 8:4-9, NASB
The third question answered by the psalmist in Psalm 8 is this, “What is man?” The context of his question is considering man in light of the heavens - the moon and the stars of the firmament. Think on this for a moment as you get your mind into the right frame to think as the psalmist did. The following is from Jon Courson’s commentary on the Bible. If the sun were hollowed out, one million three hundred thousand earths could fit inside. But the sun is small compared to the star, Anteres, because if Anteres were hollow, it could hold sixty-four million suns. Anteres, however, is nothing compared to the star, Hercules, which, if hollow, could hold one hundred million Anteres. Yet the star, Epsilon, dwarfs Anteres, for if it were hollow, it could hold three million Hercules. The numbers involved in comparing earth to the star Hercules are pretty much beyond our understanding. It would be multiplying 1,300,000 X 64,000,000 X 100,000,000. That number written out is 832,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. That is 832 septillion earths could fit inside the star Antares. I’m afraid we are not capable of honestly assessing how big that number is. But . . . it is something we should consider when thinking about one human on the face of one of those 832 septillion earths that it would take to fill up just 1 star in God’s created universe. Pretty insignificant is what we would have to surmise when thinking about this. That is what the psalmist is thinking - what is man in light of the universe? The God Whose creative genius and power made this earth with only His words - is far greater and more astounding than even Anteres. Yet God does take thought of mankind. Yet, says the psalmist, You, God, have made Him a little lower than God. When we truly consider this, we are left with our mouths hanging open. God made us to be image bearers! We can know Him and respond to Him - and even reflect His glory in our lives. We are truly crowned with glory and majesty. In verses 6 and 7 we see all that God intended for man to do. We were made not just as image bearers, but also as co-regents with God to rule over this earth. All that is no the earth is put under mankind’s feet - with a list of sheep and oxen first as domesticated animals - and then the beasts of the field - birds of the heavens - and all sea creatures as well. That is how we were originally made. It is enough to make the psalmist repeat what He said at the beginning of the psalm about how Jehovah, our ruler has a majestic name in all the earth. If we were not to have the New Testament - this would simply be a song that reminds us to praise God for His person - His creation - and for His wonderful gift of life and dominion to mankind. But even without the New Testament this rings a little hollow to those who live on earth now. It is hard to consider that we rule over the beasts of the field when we are terrified of many of them who are predators. Allow a man to happen on a grizzly bear or one of the huge cats like a lion or tiger - and our thoughts don’t turn to mastery - but rather to terror at what they can do to us. The same is true when we face great whales, killer whales, or sharks in the seas. And let’s not even get started with what nature can do - with things like tornados, hurricanes, lightning, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. It certainly does NOT look like we “rule” over all things. But then we are reminded of sin and the Fall of mankind. We did rule over all things at one time. Then we chose sin rather than obedience and fellowship with God. We decided we could run the earth better than God. We wanted to be our own god - making our own rules and doing things as we see fit to do them. The end of that foolish experiment is the world in which we live today. Psalm 8 - in fact this very part of Psalm 8 is quoted in Hebrews 2:5-8 where we read this: For He did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking. But one has testified somewhere, saying, "WHAT IS MAN, THAT YOU REMEMBER HIM? OR THE SON OF MAN, THAT YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT HIM? "YOU HAVE MADE HIM FOR A LITTLE WHILE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS; YOU HAVE CROWNED HIM WITH GLORY AND HONOR, AND HAVE APPOINTED HIM OVER THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS; YOU HAVE PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET." For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. Hebrews 2:5-8 We certainly do not see all things subjected to him - to man. But why does the writer of Hebrews quote Psalm 8 then? It is because he is about to tell us what we DO see at this present time. But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. Hebrews 2:9 What we DO SEE is JESUS! We see Him made a little lower than the angels. Jesus Christ is God - fully God - and yet He was made a little lower than the angels when He came in the incarnation. He is the God-man - perfect God and yet man. He humbled Himself as a man - and subjected Himself to suffering and death. He chose to pay the penalty that we deserved because we had sinned. The writer of Hebrews reminds us that Jesus also “tasted death for everyone.” He faced not just death in general - but death as the punishment for sin. It is because of this that Jesus was crowned with glory and honor. You can read it all in Philippians chapter 2, verses 5 through 10. And it was because of this death that the grace of God was given to us. Salvation from the certainty of God’s wrath poured out in punishment for our sinful rebellion against Him. So we ask again, in light of the second chapter of Hebrews, the question of this psalm - What is man? The answer is both beautiful and majestic as well as horrific and tragic. The answer is both devastating and fear-inducing as well as astounding and that which should cause us to worship our Lord Jesus Christ for all eternity. Man is the special creation of God, crowned with glory and majesty and given wonderful dominion over all God has made in this world. Man is also an infinitely tragic figure as he chose to throw it all away for a lie that he could be as God. Man is encased in a world that now reminds him daily that he has lost his exalted position, as death, destruction, decay, and ultimately damnation is his lot left to himself. But - by the grace of God - and by One Who was made a little lower than the angels, even though He is God - there is the hope of redeeming grace. There is One Who has suffered and died the death man deserves - so that man may by grace receive a life he does not deserve. |
Pastor John LawrencePsalms for Life . . . God moved on several people to write the Psalms. This is a book of songs and poems written by people who were seeking to be devoted to God as they walked though their lives. This is a collection of songs and poems that express the true, wonderful, and often raw emotions that we have as we journey through life with God. I hope you will be blessed and encouraged as you read. But more than that I hope that these expositions and writings will help you to seek Him in the midst of the life you live in this world. It will be at times comforting and encouraging, while at others it will be challenging and awkward. Regardless of where you find yourself on this spectrum as you read, it will be a reminder that God invites us into His presence to truly walk with Him, know Him, and at times, pour out emotions of joy, sorrow, frustration, anger, and everything else you can imagine. He not only invites you to do this - He delights in it too! Hope you enjoy your journey! Archives
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