Psalm 61

“Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For You have been a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings. – Selah” Psalm 61:1-4 (NKJV)

It is good to know that we serve a God who hears our prayers and attends to them.  We do not toss up prayers like that lonely NASA engineer sending random messages into space, hoping for signs of extraterrestrial life. God is ever-present (Psalm 46:1), all-knowing (Job 34:21), all-powerful (Matthew 19:26), and His character never changes (James 1:17).  From the end of the earth, we can cry out to Him and expect that He is with us, hear us and can affect change according to His character as articulated in His Word. And that last part (according to His character) is where we often have trouble.  We live in an increasingly impatient society, an on-demand culture that expects our texts, emails, and social media posts to be immediately answered while affirming our egos.  

I'm sad to inform you, but if you don’t already know, we do not have a genie in heaven.  We have a FATHER in heaven, who answers all prayers, yet not always in the affirmative nor according to our wisdom.  He sees the world from an elevated, personally engineered perspective.  He is the Creator; we are the creatures.  He set the world into motion; we are simply responding to it.  Yet, if we trust Him, He will be the Rock, “higher than I.”  He will be our shelter and strong tower protecting us from the enemy.  True worship means giving all that we are to all that He is.  And He delights when we come under the shelter of His wings.

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” Matthew 23:37 (NKJV)

We should delight in dwelling in His tabernacle (sanctuary of His holy presence) because He delights to dwell in our presence for all eternity.

“And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.” Revelation 21:3 (NKJV)

David believed in the resurrection, and he fully expected to spend eternity in God’s presence.  Therefore, he sought God every day.

“For You, O God, have heard my vows; You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name. You will prolong the king’s life, his years as many generations. He shall abide before God forever. Oh, prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him! So I will sing praise to Your name forever, that I may daily perform my vows.”  Psalm 61:5-8 (NKJV)