Scripture Reference: Psalm 61:2
“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.”
These are the words to a beloved camp song and they are also the words of a favorite Psalm. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of young campers have sat around the campfire, singing these words and reflecting on their meaning.
Psalm 61, like so many others, was written by David at a time when he was far from the safety of home. It begins with his desperate cry to God. He is in despair, lost and struggling. Sound familiar? Can you remember the last time you were in this state? I know I can. Thank God, that like David, we can cry out to God when our rope breaks. “Oh Lord, my heart is overwhelmed.”
Many struggling inmates over the years have shared David’s experience of being overwhelmed for a whole host of reasons. For many, it was for a sentence much longer than expected, for others a denial before the parole board when they had all but been assured that they were going home, and for so many others, it’s loneliness of day to day prison life can lead to despair.
David wrote half of the 150 Psalms, and as we meditate on them, isn’t it always a great joy, knowing that despite the gloominess of his current state, that he didn’t stay there. As he cried out to God, like many of our children’s fairy tales, he had a happy ending.
If we are honest, most of us can relate to the feelings of David. We know what it is like to sit in darkness and wonder if light will ever come. In his sorrow, David calls out to God in prayer. He knows that the only way he can rest and find safety in the Rock of Salvation is if God reaches down and places him atop the rock.
David always found shelter in God. This is one of the glorious promises of Scripture, no matter how deep in the pit we find ourselves. He found rest, comfort and retreat. So why would he not, in his darkest moments, cry out to the God who is his “rock” his “hiding place” and “his fortress?” And as he cries out, David finds comfort in God’s grace and care.
Sometimes, when our hearts are overwhelmed, all we need to do is cry out to God and ask that in our desperation and fear, that God would place us on solid ground. God can and will comfort us and lead us to safety. God is awesome in the lives of His children, and he leads us to safety. I wonder what is overwhelming your soul this very day? What heaviness of heart and mind finds you wondering if the waves will ever stop crashing over you?
Lord willing, the words of this song and Psalm will bring solace and a small amount of peace to you today as you remember that when your heart is overwhelmed, you can always find rest in God, your rock. One verse later, God tells us all we ever need to know....’For you have been a shelter for me.”
Today, I’d like to share a letter from an inmate who found himself where David was in Psalm 61.
"By the time I was 16, I was experimenting with drugs, alcohol and sex. I attended a retreat in the Young Life organization and it was there that someone explained what Jesus had done for me. Sin was explained as my tendency to mess things up, and I could relate to that. I kept making the same wrong choices to make myself feel better in the moment...choices that gained the approval of my friends, made me feel liked and accepted, choices that always took me further from joy and freedom and closer to shame and bondage.
My parents divorced when I was six years old. And my dad wasn’t in the house as I grew up. Looking back, I was always trying to fill a void with trying to prove 'I was good enough’ in other ways. At that retreat however I learned that Jesus Christ lived here 2000 years ago, claimed to be God and ultimately suffered, died, and was resurrected to life so that my relationship with God could be restored. The choice to accept Him as Lord and Savior or not was mine.
It made sense. That evening I went to a rock (Psalm 61:2) and prayed that Jesus would come into my life; I accepted His death and resurrection as my saving grace for the constant tendency to sin. I chose to willingly follow Him from here on in. As I prayed, I even saw a perfect picture of Jesus in my mind. I can’t explain it but I had complete confidence that He was present. I came away from that rock with a joy I had never felt before.
This joy lasted a few months as I spent time in the new relationship with Jesus. I prayed daily, studied Scripture, and attended worship services before school with friends. Within a year though, I was tempted by all things of this world that I thought I was missing out on. Fast forward to age 21.
I had been arrested numerous times. I was on probation in Franklin County, lost my license for 2.5 years, and was addicted to too many things to mention. One night after getting cited for the sixth time for something, I went on an all-night bender and woke up in the hallway of an apartment building. I pulled the citation out of my pocket and read it as I laid on the floor. At that moment, I realized that for the last five years I had made choices to indulge in what made me feel good in that moment: exaggerating to get the approval of friends, lying to people who cared about me, over-indulging in drugs, alcohol, sex, and often tearing others down to numb the emptiness that I was constantly trying to fill.
I was a coward. I had no integrity. I was not who I said I was. I was ashamed. I realized those choices were the opposite of what Christ wanted for me. I had broken my promise to follow Him.
God will never take away the free will He has given me. Free will to choose to follow myself or to choose to follow Him. God will never force me to love Him. That’s not the way love works. He does promise that if I choose to accept Him, I may still experience hardship, temptation, and setbacks, but that ultimately I am eternally saved from sin and will be changed from the inside-out. He promises that I will ultimately experience the Holy Spirit in my life and the fruit of that Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
I cried out to God in that hallway that morning with a genuine heart that if He was really there, and if He would take me back, from this point forward I would accept His sacrifice as my lifetime salvation and I would follow Him forever. I started to pray again. I I felt the results of His presence as I spent time thinking about Him and asking Him for guidance. Some things happened in the following weeks and months that I can’t explain; they were small miracles that changed the trajectory of my life. I still experienced temptation, and sometimes stumbled or gave way to it. But unlike that five-year period, I returned to Him each day, asking for help. I attended church. I worshiped Him.
Now I am 42. As I reflect on Jesus and how He has shaped my life, I am in awe of His faithfulness. I realize now that he never left me. He was faithful. He was there even when my back was turned. The moment I turned around to look at Him again, He showed me his love. He walked with me. He worked on my heart. He delivered me out of addiction. He replaced a need for others’ approval with the truth that others’ opinions do not change anything about me. The truth that I was created to love God and be loved by Him. His love makes me eternally ‘good enough.’ He has changed my heart and slowly taught me the blessing of generosity and kindness.
Prior to my relationship with Jesus, I thought I was free. Free to do whatever I wanted, whatever made me feel good. There is a paradox in that lie. Thinking I was free to indulge in drugs and alcohol, I was not free from the emptiness and hollowness I felt the next day, the pounding headaches, and the long-term effects of addiction. I was not free. I was in bondage. Jesus taught me that when I put my security and my worth into this world, money, achievement, or even something that seems harmless – like my wife - they are all dead ends.
They are NOT Jesus. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). All other things will be taken away. None of it is eternal. Initially, it is hard to choose His will, the reality is that when we DO follow Him, He always shows up. He is always faithful. Looking back at my journey I can see He has given me the fruit of the Spirit and that blessing allows me to share the 5 saving grace of Jesus so that others may experience life by following Him, as well. "
Wow, not much more to add to that! God reaches down to the darkest places and brings light. Glory be to God!
From: Fight the good fight of faith & life journal: by Gregg Harris
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