Psalm 61 - The Faith of the Fainting Heart
INTRODUCTION:
Interest:
I am not much of an athlete, never have been. It took me a little while to realize that, though, when I was a kid. In fifth grade, I joined the elementary basketball team. That was the first year that I could be part of the basketball team. Now, where I grew up, basketball was THE sport. It was the only winter sport available at the time and in a farming community, the winter sport was the most important since winter was when everyone had time to pay attention to sports. Anyway, I joined the basketball team that first year as a fifth-grader. And…I learned about wind-sprints, a running drill that was designed to build endurance. You start at one end of the gym, run to the near free-throw line and back, then to the half-court line and back, then to the far free-throw line and back, and finally to the far end of the gym and back. In fact, wind sprints helped quickly show me by lack of athleticism. I was a slow runner compared to my classmates with very little endurance. By the end of a few wind-sprints, I was exhausted. I would finish, stumbling the last leg at the end of the pack. Since wind-sprints were the final thing we would do at the end of practice, they guaranteed that: one, I would be one of the last kids out of practice, and two, I would leave practice exhausted.
Involvement:
Well, sometimes life causes all of us to feel like we are running wind-sprints. We are ourselves beaten down and exhausted. Our psalm this morning can guide us at such a time.
Context:
This morning we are picking up our series looking at each of the psalms in the second book of the OT Psalter. The second book runs through Psalm 72 and, Lord willing, we will complete this series by the end of the year.
Preview:
Many of the psalms in this section of the psalter have been attributed to David; our psalm today is no different. Another common theme in many of the psalms in this section is that of oppression and discouragement because of affliction. Again, this psalm is no different.
Life in this sin-cursed world is hard. The world is broken, society is broken, our bodies are broken. There are all sorts of things that make life hard. On top of that, though, we can expect hatred and affliction to arise because of our faith. We are surrounded by people in rebellion against our God. As representatives of our God, that rebellion spills over as hatred directed toward us. I think we all sense that heavily in our country at this time.
The bottom-line from all of these different hardships is that we can begin to feel like life is a wind sprint that has exhausted us. We feel tired and discouraged. We start to have doubts. Our faith begins to waver, and we stumble just a bit. We have, as our psalmist will phrase it in our psalm, a “fainting heart.”
When this happens, how should we respond? What should we do? Our psalm this morning gives us an answer. It teaches us that A cry to God renews stumbling faith.
A cry to God renews stumbling faith.
Transition from introduction to body:
Let’s go ahead and read our psalm … <read Ps 61:1–8>.
Our psalm naturally breaks itself into two sections of four verses each. In the first section, we find…
BODY:
I. Motivations for a cry of faith
Do you see how the psalm begins? “Hear my cry, O God’ Give heed to my prayer.” There is nothing in the psalm that tells us what is going on in David’s life. All we are privy to is the fact that David is crying out to God. He wants God to hear his plight, to know what he is going through and how much it is affecting him.
Illustration
Early in our marriage, there were several times when I would frustrate my wife as she started to tell me about a problem that she was having. She would start to tell me about the situation and the frustration that the situation was creating for her. I, in turn, would do what an engineering type of husband does; I would analyze the problem and immediately start giving her advice on how to improve her situation. Grace would get very frustrated with me and tell me, “Of course, I know what I need to do. I don’t want you to solve the problem; I want you to listen to me!” She was looking for emotional support, not technical advice. Eventually, she started adding to the front of her problem descriptions something along the lines of, “This is a solve-it problem” or “This is a listen-only problem.” I needed that direct cue to know what to do.
Well, since we don’t have the specifics of David’s situation, this is a listen-only kind of problem. We have the emotions and frustrations that David is giving to God. He wants God to hear his cry of faith, even if his faith is fainting now and he is stumbling a bit.
Transition:
As we listen to David’s cry, in the first four verses, we can detect three different things that are motivating him to cry out to God in his stumbling faith; three things that will motivate us to cry to God in a similar manner when our faith stumbles. The first motivation is …
A. Desperation in the present
Problems come that simply make us desperate. Apparently, David is experiencing something of the sort since he states that his heart is faint and that he is calling from “the end of the earth.” The expression “end of the earth can mean that he is far away in a remote place, but it is also often a metaphor for despair. David’s situation has left him desperate; He needs God to come to his rescue. He knows that God is “the rock that is higher.” God is the exalted One. God is able to deliver David from his problems.
Illustration
We are a bit like young children. We want to be independent, so we are happy to run along playing when our shoes are securely tied. If our shoes come untied, we try to reach down and tie them ourselves. If we are all alone with only dad, we will stubbornly take whatever time is necessary to tie them again; we can handle it on our own. But if we are with friends on the playground and they are going on and playing without us, then we become desperate, we beg dad to hurry, to retie our shoe quickly so that we don’t miss out.
Application
As we have discussed before, one of the greatest benefits of serious problems entering our lives is that they make us desperate, desperate enough to turn to God. When things are going ok, we are prone to self-sufficiency, thinking that we have it all under control. Even when things go a little bit off track, often we try to deal with things on our own. But massive problems cause us to turn to God in desperation. Problems in the present, in the here and now, motivate us to cry out to God. Even as our faith stumbles a bit, we cry out to God because we are desperate.
Transition:
The first motivation: desperation in the present. A second motivation that we can see in this psalm is …
B. Experience in the past
Look at verse 3. David writes, “You have been a refuge.” David has had past experience with God. God had been there for him before. He has experienced God coming through for him, delivering him, protecting him. He has found shelter in God’s loving care before. So now, when a new situation confronts him, his past experience motivates him to turn to God.
Illustration
You know, there is a reason that Lions football fans do not get too worked up over losing a game. There is a lot of past experience to lean on. At the same time, I understand that part of the Lakers’ strategy in the NBA playoffs has been to simply get LeBron James the ball. He has a lot of experience with putting the ball in the hoop … and there is typically not a whole lot that the defense can do to stop him.
Application
Past experiences motivate our actions in the present. Have you experienced God’s deliverance before? Surely you have, we all have. God is faithful, all we must do is look at our past experiences and we can find the hand of God at work. Those past experiences should motivate you to cry out to Him when new times of trials come into your life.
Transition:
Motivation number two: experience in the past. The third motivation that we find in the first section of our psalm is …
C. Hope in the future
Verse 4 is a verse of anticipation; David looks to the future with hope. “Let me dwell in Your tent … Let me take refuge.” He longs for the moment when God will bring him back into close fellowship once again. Whatever is going on in David’s life, at the moment he is unable to worship God at the central tabernacle. He longs for the day when he can once again.
It is interesting that the word that David uses that we have translated as “dwell” in the NASB or “abide” in the KJV is a word that means to “sojourn” as a guest. David knows that he does not have a natural right to fellowship with God, he can only come when God graciously allows him to come into his presence. And yet, he anticipates the opportunity so much—it is so sweet to him—that he doesn’t want it to ever end. The chance to be with God in the future motivates David to cry out to God now.
Application
Do you echo that sentiment? Are you yearning for the day in which you are in the presence of God? Does that coming day give you hope now? Of course, we do not deserve to come into the presence of God any more than David did. We, like him, are sinners, who can only come before God when God makes the way for us to do so. In David’s case, the way was a series of sacrifices that ultimately pointed to the coming Messiah. Those sacrifices were gladly offered by one like David, though, who longed to be in God’s presence. The shedding of the blood of an animal provided a way for him to come into God’s holy presence and worship Him. The bloody sacrifice of Jesus provides that chance for us as well. We can worship Him because of Jesus.
I trust that worship is so sweet to you that you long for it when you miss it. COVID caused all of us to miss out on worship for a time. It was terrible. I know some of you are still watching through the Livestream. I am not going to tell you that you are wrong to be at home today, but I certainly hope that it is tearing you up. Watching a service is far short of full participation in worship. I trust that you are crying out to God for the chance to rejoin the rest of the church family fully.
Furthermore, I hope that all of our worship experiences are making us yearn for the day when we will truly dwell before God. We do not have a natural right to come into God’s presence, but we can anticipate nonetheless through our faith in Jesus that we will someday dwell in His presence forever. Such hope should motivate us to cry out to God whenever circumstances keep us from worship for a period.
Transition:
Motivation reason number three to give a cry of faith to God when trials arise: Hope in the future. Whenever the hard times come, our desperation in the present, our experience of the past, and our hope in the future should motivate our cry of faith.
A cry to God renews stumbling faith. Hard circumstances can give us a fainting heart, they can cause our faith to stumble. A cry to God renews stumbling faith. This is what Psalm 61 teaches us.
The second half of our psalm moves from the motivation to the …
II. Expressions in a cry of faith
What I mean by expressions in a cry of faith are the components that turn a general cry into a cry of faith. There are certain things that we should expect to find in a cry of faith given by a believer to God that would not be in a general cry of anguish by an unbeliever. These are statements that display faith even if the faith is stumbling as the heart is fainting. A believer’s cry will be different than an unbeliever’s cry in the expressions it contains.
Transition:
In the last four verses of Psalm 61, we find three of expressions that will be in a cry of faith. The first is…
A. Confidence that God hears
Look at verse 5. “For you have heard my vows.” Vows were commitments made by OT believers during times of distress as part of their prayer for deliverance. A believer would vow to bring a thanksgiving offering to the tabernacle. David has confidence that God has heard his vows.
Of course, the fact that God has heard David means that God has also answered David’s prayers. David may not know what the answer is yet, but he is confident that God has heard him. A prayer of faith knows that God is listening, even when His movements are not visible in the circumstances of the moment.
Application
When you pray, are you confident that God hears? Faith requires such confidence. Often, this is probably where our faith fails. We live in a world of tangibles. We have confidence in what we can touch and feel. We can’t touch or feel God. He is intangible. Sure, we say that we believe that God hears our prayers…and yet, we spend so little time in prayer. Do we really believe? Are we really confident? How much time have you spent in prayer over the past 7 days? I know that I am embarrassed by the answer to that question in my own life because it is a much smaller number than it should be based on my claim of faith. That is not to say that I have neglected prayer; I have prayed every day. Yet the amount of prayer time in my life does call into question the degree of my confidence that God hears. How about in your life?
Transition:
A cry of faith will, one, have an expression of confidence that God hears. Two, it will have …
B. Confidence that God reigns
Verses 6 and 7 are rather unexpected. Prayer for personal deliverance suddenly changes to a prayer for the preservation of the king and his dynasty. Now, eventually, David was the king, so it is possible that he is still praying for himself since we don’t know when he wrote this psalm, but it doesn’t really read that way. More naturally, this reads as if the king and the author are different people and that the author prays for the king’s success.
Illustration
At the same time, this really isn’t that strange. I would hope that you have prayed for our President this week as I have since it was announced that he has COVID. President Trump is the leader of our country, the leader of the largest free nation on earth. His health and vitality directly affect our nation and ultimately each of us. We want him to regain his health for the stability of our country as well as for his own well-being.
For an Israelite, things were similar. The success and stability of the king would have an impact on the life of every Israelite. The stability of the dynasty would lead to stability for the nation.
Yet, in the case of Israel, there as an additional layer—the king of Israel was God’s appointed king. There was a special relationship between God and the ruling king. And even beyond that, the ruling king pointed to God’s promised Messiah. David’s prayer that the dynasty would live forever was not an empty platitude; it reflected God’s covenantal promise—God’s lovingkindness, His hesed. David could pray this way because he was confident that the ultimate King, God Himself, reigned; so thus, His appointed earthly king would reign as promised and the Messiah would reign forever.
Remember, David, our author, is suffering some crisis currently. His world is in chaos and his faith is fainting. That does not change his confidence, though, that God reigns and that confidence is reflected within his cry.
Application
Do you share that confidence? Regardless of your circumstances, regardless of your pain and heartache and fears; are you confident that God reigns? The prayer that David prays here for the King to abide before God forever will be fulfilled to overflowing in the Person of the Messiah, our Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the King of kings who will sit on the throne of David and rule forever and ever. He will do that because God is sovereign over all, He reigns. Such confidence should find expression even in the midst of our darkest hours and our most fainting heart. Our God reigns!
Transition:
Confidence that God reigns. That is the second expression of confidence that a cry of faith will have. Third, a cry that restores stumbling faith will have…
C. Confidence that God delights
“So I will sing praise to Your name forever, That I may pay my vows day by day,” verse 8. The word that we translated as “forever” at the end of the first line is not the same word as used in verse 7. The word in verse 8 is one that means “continually” rather than “eternity.” The idea is that David has confidence that his prayers will be answered and that will lead to a chance to praise God continually.
Notice, too, that part of his praise will involve paying his vows, bringing his thanksgiving offering to the tabernacle. This means that he is looking forward to public worship. He wants to declare his love for God among the congregation of Israel, not privately in his house. He wants the nation to hear his praise because he is confident that such praise delights his God, the God who answers his prayer.
Application
Folks, I cannot emphasize it strongly enough, God delights in our worship. He created us so that we would worship Him. He redeemed us so that we would worship Him. He transforms us by His grace so that we will worship Him. He preserves our life so that we will worship Him. He will ultimately usher us into His presence for eternity so that we will worship Him. He delights in our worship.
This is why gathering together on Sunday for worship is so important. Nothing that we do throughout the rest of the week comes anywhere near in level of importance. Worship is what we were made for! It is how we delight our God.
The fact that God delights in our worship also affects our cry to Him. Rather than crying for our own preservation and ease, our cry should be God-centered, expressing our desire to worship Him, to delight Him. God does not come to our aid in crisis to delight us; He comes to our aid to delight Himself, to cause us to worship Him more and more. A cry of faith expresses confidence in God’s and His delights—worship from His people.
Transition from body to conclusion:
Confidence that God delights. The third expression of confidence in a cry of faith. A cry to God renews stumbling faith.
CONCLUSION
A cry to God renews stumbling faith.
Illustration
Remember my lack of athletic ability that I mentioned at the beginning of the sermon. I remember how exhausting those wind-sprints were. I also remember that as a 5th-grader how quickly I recovered from that exhaustion. A good supper, dinner here, but I was in a farming community, so we ate supper, combined with a night’s rest and I was back to normal by morning.
Our psalm has shown us that a cry to God works in a similar fashion when life beats us down and exhausts our faith. A cry to God renews stumbling faith.
We have seen the motivations that underly a cry to God: desperation in the present, experience in the past, and hope in the future. We have also seen expressions that are included in a cry to God: Confidence that God hears, that God reigns, and that God delights. All combine to renew stumbling faith.
Application
Are you stumbling in your faith this morning? Do you feel like David, your heart is fainting? Cry to God and be renewed. A cry to God renews stumbling faith.