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A Million Miles From God
When You Feel A
Million Miles From God - Psalm 61
Pastor
John Lawrence
Calvary
Chapel of Jonesboro
There is no sense of His presence and your
situation is one where you are hurting badly.
Where do you turn? The answer from Psalm 61
may surprise you when you read it today.
David wrote the 61st Psalm at the inspiration
of God – even though he felt like he was at the end of the earth – and God was
thousands of miles away.
Actually, David was not more than 50 miles
from Jerusalem.
The problem was that he felt like he was at
the ends of the earth from God Himself.
He was running from his son Absalom, who
wanted to kill him and be king in his place.
So the “ends of the earth” statement
is more a spiritual description – or maybe an emotional one.
Regardless of this David felt a world amount
of distance from God. Who did David turn to at this point? He turned
to God.
One of the first things we need to remember
when we “feel” a million miles from God is that this is how we “feel” – it is
not a hard, cold fact.
So the best thing to do is to tell God in
prayer how we feel.
That is what David did. He cried out to
God and called to him – even though he felt like he was calling from the ends
of the earth.
If we allow emotional reasoning to keep us
from God, we are going to wind up feeling even more hopeless.
But, on the other hand, if we don’t own up to
how we feel, I seriously doubt we will get much of anywhere with God.
Let’s be honest. God is omniscient. It
is not like He is clueless as to our thinking.
So, what we need to start with is to cry out
to Him, letting Him know honestly where we are at the moment. That is what
David did.
“Hear my cry, O God;
Give heed to my prayer. From the end of the earth I call to You when my
heart is faint . . . “
.
He said he felt like this when his heart was “faint.”
.
He said he felt like this when his heart was “faint.”
The Hebrew word here refers to something
that is covered over and around and under.
David’s heart was so covered with his
situation that he could not see. But even if he was at the end of the earth –
he was going to call on God.
His next statement is
the source of many Christian songs. “Lead me to the rock that is higher
than I.”
What a beautiful
prayer. He knew at the “ends of the earth” he was not going to get to
God on his own.
So, he cries out for God to lead him. God
is the rock that is higher. God was stability and strength.
He was higher and infinitely more stable than
David. So, David asked for God to bring him to where the Rock was
located.
In the next several verses of Psalm 61 David
begins remembering Who God is.
This is not the first time he’s been in a
difficult situation – and God has come through every time.
He remembers that God is his refuge – his
tower of strength – his shelter.
So, David asks for God to bring him to His “tent.”
This is a reference to the tabernacle – the place in Jerusalem where God dwelt
between the Cherubim on top of the Ark.
God was not limited to there – but in the
history of Israel – God was more than able to take care of Himself and His
stuff from there.
When men rebelled against God and Moses – God
wiped the entire group out as fire went out from His presence and killed every
one of them.
When a couple of drunken priests wanted to
defile the worship place of God with their drunken stupor – God struck both of
them dead with fire that consumed them.
The lesson learned for all time – do not mess
with God in the tent! David asked to be brought there – forever!
This was also the place where God’s presence
dwelt – and so what David was truly asking for was to be in God’s presence
forever – for he knew that was the safest place on earth – or honestly –
anywhere!
As David prayed . . . as David meditated on
Who God is . . . his heart was no longer smothered over by his
circumstances. He was no longer a slave to his feelings and emotional
reasoning.
This was replaced by Biblical
reasoning. David stops and writes, “selah” which means basically –
stop and consider what I’ve said.
From this point – the entire psalm changes in
perspective and in attitude. David speaks for the rest of the psalm about how
God has heard him and what God is going to do.
God has heard me! God has given me the
inheritance of those who fear Him! These are David’s first cries of
joy!
What a delight to know God has heard us –
especially when we formerly thought God was a million miles away.
And – since we have feared God and turned to
Him in the midst of wanting to give up – God is going to bless us with a wealth
of blessing.
At this point David begins to speak boldly of
what God IS going to do!
David says, “I’m going to live!”
But then David begins speaking in ways that
are beyond what a mere man could receive.
David is speaking by the Holy Spirit’s
inspiration – and at this point the Holy Spirit begins speaking of the
Messiah.
He will live forever. He will remain
before God forever. Grace and truth will be preserved through Him.
These are all blessings that will come
through Jesus Christ. John said in his gospel that grace and truth would
be realized through Jesus!
David closes the psalm by saying he wants to
praise God forever – and to live before God in obedience day by day.
That is where God brings us when we turn to
Him. He brings us to Himself – and to His grace.
He brings us to promises that have been made
in the Word of God. He brings us to His ultimate promise which is the
Messiah – Jesus Himself. What a blessing.
Some may wonder why God would allow us to be
in such a place.
But I have a bigger statement to make. God
leads us to such a place!
He has purposed for us to come to the point
where we feel a million miles away.
His purpose in it is not to damage our faith
or our spiritual walk – but to enhance it. Read these words God led Paul
to write about God’s work in him and his associates.
”For we do not
want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia,
that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired
even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we
would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us
from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our
hope.
“And He will
yet deliver us, you also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that
thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us
through the prayers of many.” 2 Corinthians 1:7-11
What is God’s purpose in allowing us to get
to where David was? It is so that we will despair in our own living where
we trust in ourselves and instead trust in God who raises the dead.
It is so we will look to God to be the One
who delivered us – who will deliver us – and who yet will deliver us!
His other purpose is to not only engage in
prayer the one who is dealing with the problem – but so that many persons will
be engaged in prayer as well.
Then as we watch God do what only God can do
– we will praise God Who alone should be the One to be praised.
Feeling a million miles from God? Yeah –
God has you right where He wants you. Its where He had David – and look what He
did in him?
Pastor
John Lawrence
The
book of Psalms holds for us such a wealth of wisdom and counsel when it comes
to walking through life while we seek to maintain a passion for the Lord.
May these short meditations on the Psalms be an encouragement to you to
"sing the songs of life" as God shepherds you through all the times
of your life.
Welcome
to Calvary Chapel of Jonesboro!
We are so glad that you've taken the time to visit our website. You'll find a lot of things here. We have our service times, several places where you can read various kinds of articles, as well as ways for you to listen to past teachings and to sign-up for events and ministry taking place in the fellowship. Take a few moments and browse the site. We hope you choose to visit the church soon to worship and hear the Word with us. Thanks again for coming to our site!
We are so glad that you've taken the time to visit our website. You'll find a lot of things here. We have our service times, several places where you can read various kinds of articles, as well as ways for you to listen to past teachings and to sign-up for events and ministry taking place in the fellowship. Take a few moments and browse the site. We hope you choose to visit the church soon to worship and hear the Word with us. Thanks again for coming to our site!
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