Psalm 61: A Precious Pearl of Prayer

1. Praying from the Heart                                                          Psalm 61:1

Text: “But from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find Him, if thou seek Him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.  When thou art in tribulation and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days...”

Deuteronomy 4:29-30.

Good morning, Christian in need!  As the faces of my readers differ, so will the variation of your needs today.  Some of us are suffering ill health or injury; some are suddenly, and so terribly bereaved of a loved one who was profoundly dear to the heart; some are enduring hard afflictions; and besieged by a myriad of otherwise petty little foxes that are eating at the very vines of Christian faith and perseverance.  Christian needs are complex and can often be overwhelming – this is the time that we must engage in prayer from our hearts to God.

In such times of serious need, we must all be forthrightly reminded that our Lord God Almighty, Who has saved our never-dying souls, through faith in the once for all time Atonement for our sins made by His Son, Jesus Christ, upon that cruel Cross, is at all times, only a prayer away, and waiting to hear a cry of sincerity from our hearts.

“Call upon Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and might things, which thou knowest not.”  (Jeremiah 33:3)

The Lord God Jehovah, Creator of all things, the God of our Salvation, is not so much interested in our words, He is most interested in the sincerity of our hearts (our inner being, not the blood pump in our breasts!).

“And I will give them an heart to know Me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be My people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto Me with their whole heart.”  (Jeremiah 24:7)

“Subject and Division:  This Psalm is a pearl.  It is little, but precious.  To many a mourner, it has furnished utterance when the mind could not have devised a speech for itself.  It was evidently composed by David after he had come to the throne (see verse 6).”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 268)

In times of profound need, we must seek to be profound in prayer to the Lord God for His deliverance, comforting peace, and strength.  The depth of our need should be the gauge of the depth of our sincere pleadings with the Almighty.  Serious times require serious prayers.

Verse 1. “Hear my cry O God. He was in terrible earnest; he shouted; he lifted up his voice on high.  Pharisees may rest in their prayers; true believers are eager for an answer to them: ritualists may be satisfied when they have ‘said or sung’ their litanies and collects but living children of God will never rest till their supplications have entered the ears of the Lord God of Sabaoth.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 268)

David, in commencement of writing Psalm 61, does not seek to beat about the bush.  There are no flowery prefaces to what he earnestly desires to convey – the urgency of his prayer to the Lord.  Thus, he launches straight into the point of his needs – ‘Hear my cry, O God!’  Like Peter when, suddenly undermined with fear and doubt as he trod on the waters with Christ, he got to the very crux of his petition to the Lord Jesus, he cried, “Lord, save me!”, and the Lord saved him immediately, and told him not to doubt.  (Matthew 14:25-32)

When you and I are in serious need of God’s help, we also must cut to the chase in prayer, we must get to the point; we must cry out from our very being in reverence and sincere prayer to our Holy Lord God.  He already knows our needs but delights to hear His children ask for His Fatherly assistance – Christ’s Sacrifice at Calvary assures us of a way into His very Presence.

“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.  Let us therefore (a conclusion) come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we might obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”  (Hebrews 4:15-16)

Verse 1. “Attend unto my prayer.  Aquinas saith that some read the words thus, (intende ad cantica mea,) attend unto my songs – and so the words may be safely read, from the Hebrew word, ranah, which signifies to shout or shrill out for joy – to note that the prayers of the saints are like pleasant songs and delightful ditties in the ears of God.  No mirth, no music, can be so pleasing to us as the prayers of the saints are pleasing to God.” (Thomas Brooks 1608-1680)

As State wickedness, immorality, dishonesty and ungodliness increases during these ‘end times events’, prior to the soon expected second Coming of our Lord Jesus, so also will the grave needs of all sincere, Bible-believing Christians.  The spirit of ‘political correctness’, which is in fact the spirit of anti-Christ, is making, and shall continue to make, Christian life and practice more and more difficult.  In our most recent decades leading up to this year of 2022, we have witnessed with our eyes the following crucial and prophesied events: the great falling away of the visible church from sound Bible belief and doctrine; the rise of counterfeit Christianity, as reverence and healthy fear of God has given way to so-called charismatic circuses, easy-believism, and gross humanistic ministries.  God’s Word puts it this way:

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent (no self-control), fierce despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God: having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”  (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

What, therefore, should we, as committed, Bible-believing Christians, be doing right now?  What battle-plans should we be making to effectively combat, and prepare, for the hardships we must all face before the Lord suddenly appears ‘...like a thief in the night...’?

With the Psalmist David’s experience in mind here in Psalm 61, we must begin to learn how to pray from our hearts to the Living Lord God Whom we profess to know and love; we must begin to get serious about our prayer-lives; and cry out for strength to persevere in ‘...the faith once delivered unto the saints...’.  We must also look up and cry out the victory prayer: “Even so, Come Lord Jesus, the Spirit and the Bride say, Come!”   Glory to the Lamb!

Thought:  Serious Christian needs requires serious Christian prayers from the heart!