From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I

 Psalm 61, verse 2 says these words:

From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

Psalm 61 is a lament Psalm.  An individual lament Psalm saying, “I am suffering”.

About one-third of the Psalms are laments.  (1)

A Lament is an expression of pain, physical or emotional.  A lament is where we are ‘honest to God’, expressing to God our troubles, tribulations, suffering, or telling God about an injustice against us.  In our lamenting, we are telling God how we feel bad and then affirming to ourselves God’s faithfulness.

The lament Psalms teach us how to bring our suffering to God.

Our greatest example is Jesus, who quoted Psalm 22:1 from the cross, saying, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Some Christians are mistaken when they think that they can not talk to God when they are having a bad time.  Actually the Bible teaches us to draw near to God, when we don’t feel good, or when we are in trouble.

We are instructed to get it out before God.  We have permission to be completely honest before God. (2)

We can say to God:

“I am hurting.”

“I do not understand.”

“I am angry.”

“I am afraid.”

“Why are You allowing this?”

“I don't like this.”

“How long?”

“I feel abandoned.”

“Please take this away.”

“I don't know what to do.”

“Please, help me!”

And none of these are to take us into judging God, or saying to God, “I reject you”.  In lamenting we tell God the painful truth, while at the same time holding on to faith in God and living faithful.

We need to be able to tell God the truth of how we feel and also say, “but I trust you”.  I don’t understand, but I trust you.  

Psalm 61, verse 2 

From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint;

Lamenting is not an expression of unbelief, but being honest to God.

A lament prayer is a prayer that refuses to pretend that everything is fine.

In lament prayers, we bring our raw pain to God, instead of hiding it.

We have permission to grieve and even moan without losing our faith.

“From the end of the earth, I call to you”

This expresses: “God, I feel distant, far away from you”, or, “God, I feel separated from you.”

But the Bible tells us that God is always near (3), and that nothing can separate believers from the love of God (Rom 8:38-39) that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

But, God seems hidden to us sometimes while at the same time, God is never absent.  Our minds can play tricks on us.

And we find ourselves feeling like either we are distant from God or God is distant from us.  What can we do?

We have to be honest to God and lament.  

I can say to God, “I am afraid”, or “I do not see evidence of your working in my life, in this situation”, and I have permission to say: “I don’t understand, but I trust you.”

My feelings, my confusion, and my fears do not define me or God.  The truth about God is written in His word.  But what I am experiencing I must share with God.  My lament must be shared.

We must be honest to God, talk to God about what we are going through.

Psalm 61, verse 2: “when my heart is faint”, or in other translations, “when my heart is overwhelmed”

When you are overwhelmed, talk to God.  When you are feeling bad, feeling weak, feeling discouraged; talk to God.

When you feel like you can’t take it any more, tell it to God.  Jesus said, Come to me, all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

When we feel weak, we don’t have to mask it and pretend we are okay.  We can honestly say, “I am weak”.

And the next phrase in verse 2 says, “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”

The rock that we want to be led to and live on is, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:16

On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.  And if Jesus is the Christ, He is Lord, and we must obey his words and the words he gave his Apostles.  That is the rock that I want to live on.

“Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”

When I am led to and ascend to that rock, that is the place where Jesus Christ is King, it is higher than I, meaning I get perspective that I would not, do not have without Him.  

When we feel distant from God, when we feel drained and weak, burnt out by emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion caused by prolonged stress, what we need to do is to ask God to lead us back to where Christ is King, who redeems our lives, cleanses us from all unrighteousness and gives us rest.  He is The rock.

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Footnotes:

1. Individual: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9–10, 13, 14, 17, 22, 25, 26, 27 (esp. vv. 7–14), 28, 31, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40 (esp. vv. 12–17), 41, 42–43, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 59, 61, 64, 69, 70, 71, 77, 86, 88, 102, 109, 120, 130, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143.  Communal: 12, 44, 58, 60, 74, 79, 80, 83, 85, 89 (esp. later portion), 90, 94, 123, 126, 129, 137

2. Ps. 13:1-2, Jer. 12:1, Job 7:11, 1 Sam. 1:15, Ps. 55:2, Ps 142:2, Ps. 73:21-22; Jesus in Mk. 14:34 and 36, Heb. 5:7

3. Psalm 34:18, 145:18, Acts 17:27, Phil. 4:5, Matt. 28:20, Heb. 13:5