RETURN TO SYLLABUS
PSALMS 61 AND PSALMS 62
LESSON #18/P2
MY HIGH ROCK AND MY IMMOVABLE DEFENSE

• MEMORY VERSE: PSALMS 62:2

• PSALMS 61 TO PSALMS 68 ARE ANOTHER CLUSTER OF PSALMS WITH A UNITED THEME.
• THEY ARE PSALMS THAT TELL US ABOUT THE PLEADING AND THE CONFIDENCE OF THE BELIEVER.
• THEY ARE PRAYERS FROM THE VERY DEPTHS OF DAVID’S HEART, NOT A LIGHTHEARTED GROCERY LIST OF WANTS OR DESIRES.

• THE PRIMARY AND THE PROPHETIC INTERPRETATIONS:
• PSALMS 61 THE DISTANT CRY
• READ PSA 61:1-8
• THE SUB-TITLE: "To the chief Musician upon Neginah, A Psalm of David"
• THE WORD, NEGINAH, MEANS = A STRINGED INSTRUMENT.
• DAVID’S DISTANT CRY:

• DAVID CRIES TO GOD WITH THE FEELING THAT GOD IS FAR AWAY FROM HIM. (1) IF DAVID FEELS DISTANTLY SEPARATED FROM GOD, WHAT IS IT THAT CAUSES THIS FEELING?

• PERHAPS THIS FEELING COMES OVER DAVID BECAUSE KING SAUL HAD CHASED HIM OUT OF THE PROMISED LAND.
• HOWEVER, GOD DOES NOT MOVE AWAY FROM US. IT IS WE WHO MOVE AWAY FROM GOD.
• IT IS SIN THAT SEPARATES MAN FROM GOD. IT IS EITHER THE SIN OF COMISSION OR THE SIN OF OMISSION.
• THE SIN OF COMISSION ARE SINS YOU DO EVEN THOUGH YOU KNOW THEY ARE SIN WHEN YOU DO THEM. (SINS LIKE STEALING AND GOSSIP)
• THE SIN OF OMISSION ARE THE THINGS YOU FAIL TO DO EVEN THOUGH YOU KNOW THERE ARE THINGS GOD WANTS YOU TO DO. (SINS LIKE FAILURE TO READ THE BIBLE OR TO PRAY)
• THE BELIEVER IS SUPPOSED TO WALK BY FAITH AND NOT BY FEELINGS.
• EVEN THOUGH WE MAY FEEL THAT GOD HAS LEFT US, HE HAS PROMISED THAT HE NEVER WILL ABANDON US. (HEB 13:5)
• THEREFORE, WE NEED TO USE OUR FAITH BASED ON GOD’S WORD TO REASSURE OURSELVES THAT GOD HAS NOT LEFT US FORSAKEN.

• "…LEAD ME TO THE ROCK THAT IS HIGHER THAN I." (2)
• DAVID SEEKS A PLACE HIGHER THAN HIMSELF…A PLACE HE CANNOT REACH IN HIS OWN STRENGTH.
• THIS IS DAVID’S WAY OF GETTING CLOSER TO GOD SO THAT HE CAN WALK THE BELIEVER’S WALK ABOVE THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF LIFE.
• WHEN WE FOCUS ON CHRIST INSTEAD OF ON OUR CIRCUMSTANCES, WE WALK ABOVE OUR CIRCUMSTANCES. IF WE FOCUS ON OUR CIRCUMSTANCES, WE END UP UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES.
• THROUGHOUT THE BIBLE, OLD TESTAMENT AND NEW TESTAMENT, THE ROCK IS A SYMBOL FOR CHRIST. (MAT 21:44 ROM 9:33 1PET 2:8)
• READ 1COR 10:4
• READ 1COR 3:11
• CHRIST WAS THE ROCK (SYMBOLICALLY) IN THE WILDERNESS THAT MOSES STRUCK WHEN THE ISRAELITES WERE THIRSTY.
• READ MAT 7:24-27
• JESUS TELLS US IN THIS PARABLE TO BUILD OUR LIVES ON HIM AND HIS WORDS.
• CHRIST IS NOT ONLY THE ROCK, HE IS THE SHELTER AND THE STRONG TOWER. (3)
• JESUS IS THE SHELTER FROM THE STORMS OF LIFE.
• AGAIN, THIS REMINDS US OF THE PARABLE IN MAT 7:24-27.
• WHEN THE WINDS OF TROUBLE COME INTO MY LIFE, IN PRAYER I USE MY IMAGINATION AND PICTURE MYSELF ENTERING A WARM, COZY PLACE AT THE FEET OF JESUS. IT IS A PLACE SO SHELTERED THAT I CANNOT HEAR THE ROAR OF THE WINDS. HAND IN HAND, JESUS WALKS ME UP THE STEPS TO THE HIGH TOWER THAT IS ABOVE THE DIN OF THE NOISE OF THE BATTLE BELOW.
• "I WILL ABIDE IN THY TABERNACLE FOREVER. I WILL TRUST IN THE COVERT OF THY WINGS. SELAH" (4)
• "SELAH" = STOP AND THINK ABOUT THIS:
• THE TABERNACLE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, FROM THE EXODUS TO THE TIME OF KING SOLOMON, WAS THE PLACE WHERE GOD’S PRESENCE DWELT.
• GOD’S PRESENCE WAS IN THE SMALL ROOM AT THE BACK OF THE TABERNACLE CALLED THE HOLY OF HOLIES.
• IN THE HOLY OF HOLIES, GOD’S PRESENCE WAS OVER THE MERCY SEAT OF THE ARK OF THE COVENANT. INSDIE THE ARK OF THE COVENANT WAS THE STONE TABLETS ON WHICH WERE WRITTEN THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
• HOWEVER, THE MERCY SEAT WAS BETWEEN THE TEN COMMANDMENTS AND THE PRESENCE OF GOD. THEREFORE, WHEN GOD LOOKED DOWN AT THE ARK, HE DID NOT SEE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS THAT PROMISED PUNISHMENT IF BROKEN. HE SAW THE MERCY SEAT WHICH REPRESENTED CHRIST. (1JOH 2:2 1JOH 4:10 THE WORD "PROPITIATION" IN THE KJV MEANS = "MERCY SEAT")
• THIS IS WHY DAVID SAYS HE WILL ABIDE IN THE TABERNACLE FOREVER:
• THIS IS WHERE GOD’S PRESENCE DWELT.
• THIS IS WHERE DAVID COULD FIND FORGIVENESS FROM SIN.
• AS NEW TESTAMENT BELIEVERS, WE DON’T NEED TO GO TO A PHYSICAL PLACE TO BE CLOSE TO GOD. HIS PRESENCE IS WITH US AND IN US. WE DON’T NEED TO GO TO A PHYSICAL PLACE TO RECEIVE FORGIVENESS OF OUR SINS.
• JESUS IS ONLY A PRAYER AWAY!
• IT IS IN PRAYER, THAT WE EXPERIENCE THAT CLOSENESS OF SPIRIT AND CAN GAIN THE FORGIVENESS OF SIN. WITH THAT ACCOMPLISHED, WE CAN LOOK UP AND EXPERIENCE THAT PROTECTED PLACE OF PEACE THAT A BABY BIRD KNOWS WHEN HIS MOTHER’S WINGS COVER HIM.
• DAVID MADE VOWS TO GOD. HE PROMISED GOD SOMETHING. (5)
• IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, VOWS WERE COMMON AND SACRED.
• GOD CONSIDERED A VOW AS LEGAL AND BINDING IN THE TIME OF THE MOSAIC LAW UNDER WHICH DAVID IS LIVING. (NUM 15:3)
• READ NUM 30:2
• HOWEVER, VOWS BECAME SO COMMONPLACE AND WITH WRONG MOTIVES BY THE TIME JESUS CAME TO EARTH, THAT JESUS ADDRESSED THE PROBLEM:
• READ MAT 5:33-37
• WHEN WE PROMISE GOD SOMETHING, IT SHOULD BE WITH A PURE MOTIVE OF LOVE.
• WHEN WE PROMISE GOD SOMETHING, IT SHOULD NOT BE AS A BRIBE TO GAIN SOMETHING FROM GOD. GOD CANNOT BE BRIBED.
• DAVID’S VOW IS IN VERSE 12:
• HE VOWS TO SING PRAISE TO GOD EVERY DAY OF HIS LIFE.
• IN VERSES 6 AND 7 DAVID CHANGES FROM SPEAKING IN THE FIRST PERSON TO SPEAKING IN THE THIRD PERSON. WHY?
• DAVID IS SPEAKING ABOUT HIMSELF AS A KING PRESERVED AND PROTECTED.
• HOWEVER, DAVID IS ALSO SPEAKING PROPHECY REGARDING THE GENERATIONS OF KINGS THAT WOULD COME AFTER HIM WHICH WOULD ULTIMATELY LEAD TO JESUS CHRIST, THE KING OF KINGS. (ROM 1:3-4 REV 22:16)
• READ ACT 2:25-26
• DAVID IS SPEAKING ABOUT JESUS CHRIST, THE KING, WHO WILL LIVE BEFORE GOD FOREVER.
• CHRIST WILL DISPENSE MERCY AND TRUTH TO ALL BELIEVERS, INCLUDING KING DAVID, WHO WILL ALSO LIVE FOREVER IN GOD’S PRESENCE. (6)
• SING PRAISES TO JESUS CHRIST, AND HE WILL HELP YOU KEEP YOUR PROMISES OF LOVE TO HIM.

• PSALMS 62 A SIMPLE FAITH IN THE MIDST OF A TEST
• READ PSA 62:1-12
• THE SUB-TITLE: "To the chief Musician, to Jeduthun, A Psalm of David"
• THE WORD, JEDUTHUN, REFERS TO THE NAME OF THE CHIEL MUSICIAN IN THE TEMPLE IN 1CHR 16:41.
• THE PSALM DOES NOT MENTION THE SOURCE OR SITUATION IN DAVID’S LIFE THAT PROMPTED ITS WRITING. HOWEVER, TRADITION STATES THAT IT WAS WRITTEN AT THE TIME OF DAVID’S GREATEST HEARTACHE, WHEN HIS SON, ABSALOM, BETRAYED HIM. (2SAM 15)
• FROM GOD COMES SALVATION (1)
• THE WORD, SALVATION, IN THE OLD TESTAMENT HEBREW MEANS = DELIVERANCE FROM ENEMIES, DELIVERANCE FROM TROUBLE, DELIVERANCE FROM SICKNESS (IN OTHER WORDS, HEALING), DELIVERANCE FROM DEATH (IN OTHER WORDS, ETERNAL LIFE), AND DELIVERANCE FROM SIN (IN OTHER WORDS, FORGIVENESS AND PEACE WITH GOD).
• THE OLD TESTAMENT CONCEPT OF SALVATION REFERRED TO ALL OF THE ABOVE IN BODY, SOUL, AND SPIRIT.
• IN OTHER WORDS, THE WORD, SALVATION, REFERS TO EVERYTHING MAN COULD POSSIBLY NEED IN THIS LIFE AND THE NEXT.
• UNFORTUNATELY, NEW TESTAMENT CHRISTIANITY HAS CONCENTRATED SO MUCH ON THE STUDY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT AND THE FORGIVENESS OF SIN (WHICH IS CERTAINLY EXTREMELY IMPORTANT). HOWEVER, WE HAVE NEGLECTED ALL THE OTHER ASPECTS OF THE WORD, SALVATION, TO THE DETRIMENT OF THE NEW TESTAMENT BELIEVER ONCE HE HAS EXPERIENCED THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.
• (ONE GOOD REASON WHY WE NEED TO STUDY THE OLD TESTAMENT!)
• MY ROCK, MY SALVATION, MY DEFENSE (2)
• VERSE 2 IS THE REFRAIN OR CHORUS THAT IS REPEATED AGAIN IN VERSE 6.
• AS IN PSALMS 61, DAVID SPECIFICALLY STATES WHO AND WHAT CHRIST IS TO HIM PERSONALLY.
• NOTICE THE FIRMNESS OF DAVID’S PROFESSION OF FAITH. HE KNOWS NOTHING CAN MOVE HIM OFF THE ROCK ON WHICH HE HAS BUILT HIS LIFE.
• DAVID IS IN THE MIDST OF THE GREATEST TEST OF HIS FAITH. HIS KINGDOM WAS ON THE EDGE, TOTTERING. HIS PEOPLE WERE TAKING SIDES. MANY OLD FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES WERE CHOOSING ABSALOM WHILE SOME WERE CHOOSING HIM. IT WAS A NATION DIVIDED.
• NOTICE HOW MANY TIMES DAVID SAYS THE WORD, ONLY, IN THIS PSALM.
• THE WORD ONLY OCCURS 4 TIMES IN THE KING JAMES VERSION. (2, 4, 5, 6)
• DAVID TRUSTS ONLY IN GOD.
• THE BOWING WALL AND THE TOTTERING FENCE (3-4)
• THESE WORDS REFER TO THOSE PEOPLE WHO HAVE BETRAYED DAVID AND GONE OVER TO ABSALOM’S SIDE.
• THEY WERE PEOPLE WHO APPEARED STRONG AND FAITHFUL TO DAVID ON WHICH DAVID COULD RELY. HOWEVER, THEY HAVE PROVEN THEMSELVES NOT STURDY. THEIR ALLEGIANCE IS CRACKED AND THEY DESERTED HIM.
• SPECIFICALLY HE IS PROBABLY THINKING OF ZIBA, A SERVANT OF MEHIBOSHETH’S AND AHITHOPHEL, A CLOSE FRIEND AND TRUSTED COUNSELOR.
• DAVID CHANGES FROM SPEAKING IN THE FIRST PERSON TO SPEAKING IN THE THIRD PERSON. AGAIN, AS IN PSA 61, IT IS FOR PROPHETIC PURPOSES:
• AHITHOPHEL IS A PREFIGURE OF THE BETRAYER, JUDAS ISCARIOT.
• THEREFORE, THIS PSALM IS PROPHETIC OF THE DARK, TROUBLING DAYS JESUS EXPERIENCED JUST BEFORE THE CRUCIFIXION WHEN PEOPLE BEGAN TO TURN AGAINST HIM.
• "THEY CONSULT TO CAST HIM DOWN FROM HIS EXCELLENCY…SELAH." (4)
• THE WORD, SELAH, AFTER THIS VERSE SHOULD MAKE US STOP AND PAY ATTENTION TO IT.
• THE EMPHASIS IS PROBABLY BECAUSE OF ITS PROPHETIC VALUE IN RELATION MORE TO JESUS THAN TO DAVID.
• THE HIGH PRIEST AND ALL THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS IN JERUSALEM CONSPIRED TOGETHER TO GET RID OF JESUS. HE WAS GAINING EXCELLENCY AMONG THE PEOPLE.
• "…THEY BLESS WITH THEIR MOUTH BUT THEY CURSE INWARDLY." (4)
• IN DAVID’S LIFE, THIS PROBABLY REFERS TO A MAN NAMED, SHIMEI, WHO WAS LOYAL TO KING SAUL, BUT APPEARED LOYAL TO DAVID WHILE DAVID WAS ON THE THRONE. WHEN ABSALOM THREATENED TO TAKE OVER THE KINGDOM, DAVID FLED THE CITY. SIMEI WATCHED DAVID LEAVE AND THREW STONES AT HIM AND CURSED HIM. (2SAM 16:7-14)
• DAVID’S REACTION TO SHIMEI WAS, "LET HIM CURSE ME BECAUSE GOD HAS PERMITTED IT."
• DAVID KNEW THAT THE CURSINGS WERE A TEST OF HIS FAITH.
• IN FAITH DAVID KNEW THAT IF IT WAS GOD’S WILL, GOD WOULD RESTORE HIM TO THE THRONE.
• IN FAITH DAVID KNEW THAT THE BEST TIME TO TRUST GOD IS IN THE DEPTHS OF TROUBLE. (5)
• IN FAITH DAVID COUNSELS HIMSELF TO BE PATIENT AND WAIT ON GOD. (5)
• VERSE 6 IS A REPEAT OF VERSE 2 THAT MAKES IT THE REFRAIN OR THE CHORUS OF THE SONG.
• CHRIST, THE ROCK OF SALVATION, IS THE THEME OF DAVID’S LIFE. IT IS HIS SOURCE OF STRENGTH AND OURS.
• NOTICE HOW PERSONAL DAVID’S RELATIONSHIP IS TO GOD IN VERSES 6 AND 7. HE USES THE PERSONAL PRONOUNS, MY ROCK, MY SALVATION, MY DEFENSE, MY SALVATION, MY GLORY, MY STRENGTH, MY REFUGE.
• DAVID’S COUNSEL TO ALL:
• TRUST IN GOD IN THE SAME WAY WE SEE HIM TRUSTING IN GOD. (8)
• "SELAH":
• STOP AND THINK ABOUT IT! ARE YOU TRUSTING IN GOD TO THE SAME EXTENT AND DEPTH THAT DAVID DID?
• PLACE YOUR FAITH ON A SURE THING (9-10)
• DAVID HAS LEARNED NOT TO PUT HIS TRUST IN MAN BECAUSE MEN WILL ALWAYS FAIL, WHILE GOD NEVER FAILS.
• EVERY CHRISTIAN MUST LEARN THIS BY EXPERIENCE. SO MANY NEW CHRISTIANS PUT THEIR TRUST IN THE PASTOR ONLY TO BE DISAPPOINTED. THEN WHEN THE PASTOR FAILS TO MEET THEIR EXPECTATIONS, THE NEW BELIEVER IS DISCOURAGED AND FALLS AWAY.
• WHY DOES DAVID SAY HE CAN TRUST IN GOD? (11-12)
• HE CAN TRUST GOD BECAUSE GOD IS ALL POWERFUL. (11)
• HE CAN TRUST GOD BECAUSE GOD IS ALL MERCIFUL. (12)
• DAVID USES THE NAME, "ADONAI", FOR GOD IN VERSE 12.
• THE NAME, "ADONAI", MEANS = THE ALL SUFFICIENT MASTER OR LORD WHO SUPPLIES ALL MY NEEDS (SIMILAR TO OUR DISCUSSION OF THE WORD, "SALVATION") AND WHO DEMANDS MY OBEDIENCE.
• DAVID WAITS ON GOD BECAUSE:
• HE IS OUR DELIVERER (1)
• HE IS OUR STABILITY (2)
• HE IS OUR ETERNAL LIFE (5)
• HE IS OUR GLORY (7)
• HE IS OUR REFUGE (8)
• DAVID ENDS THIS PSALM WITH THE BIBLICAL PRINCIPLE OF SOWING AND REAPING.
• THOSE WHO DID EVIL AGAINST DAVID WILL REAP THEIR JUST REWARD, WHILE THOSE WHO DID GOOD AND REMAINED FAITHFUL TO DAVID WILL REAP THEIR BLESSED REWARD AS WELL.

• APPLICATION AND SUMMARY:
• IN THESE TWO PSALMS WE HAVE DISCOVERED DAVID’S SIMPLE FAITH DURING A VERY TROUBLESOME TIME IN HIS LIFE.
• IN BOTH PSALMS WE SEE HIM BASE HIS FAITH ON THAT SOLID ROCK, JESUS CHRIST.
• IN BOTH PSALMS WE SEE HIM SPEAK OF A SHELTER OR A REFUGE DURING THE STORMS OF LIFE.
• IN PSALMS 61 WE SEE HIM SPEAK OF GOD’S CLOSE PRESENCE AND THE TABERNACLE, WHILE IN PSALMS 62 WE SEE HIM SPEAK OF SALVATION IN THE FULLEST SENSE OF THE WORD.
• ALL BELIEVERS NEED DAVID’S KIND OF SIMPLE FAITH. WE NEED A HIGH ROCK AND AN IMMOVABLE DEFENSE. WE NEED JESUS CHRIST!
• ALL BELIEVERS NEED TO LEARN HOW TO WAIT ON GOD AS DAVID DID.
• WAITING INVOLVES TRUSTING.
• WAITING INCLUDES PRAYING.
• WAITING IMPLIES RESTING.

• APPLICATION OF PSALMS 61 AND PSALMS 62
• IF YOU COMPARE YOUR FAITH WITH DAVID’S FIRMNESS OF FAITH, IN WHAT ASPECTS DO YOU FIND THAT YOUR FAITH IS WEAK? (ie AS A REFUGE, IN FORGIVENESS, AS A DEFENSE, ETC)
• THE BIBLE SAYS THAT FAITH COMES BY HEARING THE WORD OF GOD. (ROM 10:17) FIND SOME SCRIPTURES THAT SPECIFICALLY APPLY TO THAT AREA OF FAITH WHERE YOU ARE THE WEAKEST.

• PREPARATION FOR PSA 63 AND PSA 64
• READ PSA 63:1-11
• WHY DOES THE BELIEVER NEED TO SEEK GOD?
• AT WHAT TIMES DURING THE DAY DOES DAVID TALK WITH GOD IN PRAYER?

• READ PSA 64:1-10

• MEMORY VERSE: PSALMS 63:8