Psalm – Psalm 60-62

Whenever I take the time to properly read the Psalm and spend some time considering it, I marvel how David is able to express his heartful thoughts into Psalms with which he will sing to praise God with, or to call out to God for help.

Indeed, many of the words also expresses our own hearts and today, we are going to look at 3 more Psalms of David.

Bible Passage:  Psalm 60-62

Remember what is a ‘Michtam’?  Good (if you forgot, look at last week’s reading on Psalms).

Psalm 60 is another of David’s Michtam and this time, David calls out to God for help in times of defeat.  There are few things more disconcerting than failure and defeat, especially when success and victory seems so certain.

This Psalm was the Psalmist begging God to restore His people after a very demoralizing defeat.  You can read the story of what David was refering to in 2 Samuel 8:13-14.

Psalm 61 is more like a soldier’s prayer for protection.

I have never been in a battle even though I have served national service.  On the way to Hong Kong, I was watching the movie Red Cliff 2 on the plane.  And there was one scene just before the army set off into battle.  The commander asked if everyone has written their letter to their families.  And everyone had done so.

I guess it was pretty much the same for the soldier in the times of David as well.

The tension before the battle starts.  The nervousness of not knowing whether you will survive or not.  A deep desire within to be kept safe so that you can see  your family members once again.

Far away from his normal place of worship, the solider can only make a short request to God for his safety before the battle commences.  And naturally, the soldier commits to following God for the rest of his life if God will keep him from harm – this is something almost all of us do isn’t it?

Furthermore, in Psalm 62, we learn that for people in high ranking positions, there is always a temptation to behave like the people of the world in their play for political power and influence.  Our enemies may play dirty trciks against us and others.  And we may get tempted to follow suit to get our way back.  But this psalms encourages us to stay patient and be pure because ultimately all power belongs to God (Psalm 62:11).

Pictures of God

David was a great Psalmist. He could paint pictures of God in our minds so that we cannot fail to understand what he was trying to convey to us about God.

I would like to just share a few of these pictures that came to mind as I was reading Psalm 61 but if you can find more in this or the other psalms, please share them with all of us.

God is a Rock (Psalm 61:2)

There are many areas in the Bible that tells us that God is our rock.  And indeed, the rock is a safe place where David can go when his enemies are fighting Him.

The rock is somewhere safe where David can go to when his enemies are fighting him.  The image of when David is with God, it is *like being on a very high rock is a very powerful one.

This means his enemies cannot reach him.  This means he has complete safety from the storms of life.

God is a Tower (Psalm 61:3)

I like the movie trilogy “Lord of the Rings” very much.  I read the book many years ago but the movie brought to life many battle scenes.

Old towns often had walls round them. This kept the enemies out of the town. The walls had tall parts or *towers. The soldiers could see their enemies from the *towers, but the enemies could not reach the soldiers!

Indeed, if you have a strong tower, the enemies will find it very difficult to overcome the city.

Towers made the soldiers feel strong. God is not a real *tower, but He makes people strong.  He gives the people hope and assurance.

God is a Tabernacle (Psalm 61:4)

During the time of David. many people still lived in tents.  And that is what tabernacle means.

More often than not, these tents (their house) was made of animal skins.  And they could move their tent from one place to another.  And when someone asked you to come into their tent, it meant that they will keep you safe in it.  You can now come under their protection and care.

David was sure that he would be safe in God’s tabernacle (tent).  And when David expressed the desire to be in God’s tent, he wanted to be there forever.  Because he knew that God’s tent is in heaven.  And that once he is there, he will forever be in God’s presence.  How wonderful that is!

God has Wings (Psalm 61:4)

Whenever we mention wings, we think about flight… or food (bbq chicken wings.. hmmm).

But the wings of the birds have another purpose – the wings also keeps the baby birds warm and safe.

And that is what God does isn’t it?  He does for people what a mother bird does for its babies.  He keeps His people safe.

Can You Find Other Pictures of God?

I have just highlighted a few pictures of God that I found in Psalm 61.  Perhaps you can find more in today’s passage.

As they say, a picture speaks a thousand words.

And sometimes having these pictures of God in mind reinforces how great a God we have today!