Amen, thank you for that song. You know a friend prays for you. You know when you're going through something in your life and those prayers mean a little bit more to you when you know you've got a friend who's praying for you. And that's what we need, we need to pray for each other. A unique song and a blessing in my heart this morning. Take your Bibles and turn with me to Psalm 61. Psalm number 61. When Amber and I first got married, we had a small, just a two-door car. It was sufficient for what we needed. And then Joshua came along, and we knew we needed to upgrade to something that we could obviously fit all the stuff that we needed, now that the little one in the home. So we went to one of the, go out to the car dealerships looking for a car to see what we could do, something a little bigger. And so we found a little bit bigger one, a four-door car with a nice hatchback trunk. And so they said, well, you drive it. you take it home if you need to and just take it for the afternoon. I took it home and our main discussion was were we going to have enough space for all the things that we needed. So I said, well, let's go home and put the car seat in it and see how that is and any of the other stuff we need to take on a trip. And so I opened the two doors and brought it home. And I said, well, you go in and get what you think that we need on our trips and let's see if it's going to be a big enough car for us. She came back with a baby carriage and a baby bed and a diaper bag and the suitcases and everything. And I put two things in and still the driveway was still full of stuff. And I thought, this is not going to do. We're going to have to go up to something a little bigger if we're going to take all this stuff. And we traveled with more stuff when we had one kid than we do with four. We've learned to be a little bit more concise with the things that we have. But eventually, we just went ahead and just bought into the minivan idea at that time. We only had one kid. We just said, do the minivan. You'll never have anything else for that versus plenty of room. So we got into one of the vans that we were looking at. It was a used van. And we liked it. It was exactly what we needed the price and everything that we needed. And but when we drove test drove it came back and we were gonna just check one more thing. I said, you know what, I go get a CD and make sure the CD player works. So I pushed the button to put the CD in and it won't go in. And so I pushed the eject, and it looked like there was something inside the CD player in the van. So I pushed the eject button, and nothing was coming out. And I thought, well, this is everything we need. This is a van. It's the right size. We can fit all our stuff that we need to in it. But the CD player doesn't work. And so I asked the dealer, he came out, looked at it, and he said, looks like there's an old CD stuck in it. And he was piddling with it. Well, we'll try and see if we can get it out. And I told Amber, she said, well, would you get it without the CD player? And I said, well, listen, we're traveling. I can't travel without listening to the music. I can't travel without listening to my CDs. That's my song. And I told the gentleman, he was like, well, listen, you know what we'll do is we'll go and we'll get it into the car shop here and we'll replace and put you a new CD player in there. We'll get it ordered and we'll get it in there. And I said, well, we'll take it as long as you can fix the CD player on it. And sure enough, he fixed it for us and we were able to play our song. When we come to Psalm 61, David's lost his song. Have you ever been there in your life where you've lost your song? It's a very sad place to be. You see, God's made us as creatures with emotion to feel and to enjoy a song like the choir sang, to enjoy and touch our hearts. Communication, music is a communication to us. But oftentimes the scripture talks about singing and a joy to the Lord. That comes deep within our heart. And it's a song that we have, a joy and a rejoicing that we have in God. Sometimes we lose it. We lose our song. We lose that joy and rejoicing. Let's read Psalm 61 together. Hear my cry, O God. Attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter for me and a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in thy tabernacle forever. I will trust in the culvert of thy wings, Selah. For thou, O God, hast heard my vows. Thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name. Thou wilt prolong the king's life and his years as many generations, and he shall abide before God forever. O prepare mercy and truth which may preserve him. So I will sing praise unto thy name forever, that I may daily perform my vows. Father, I pray as we take the time this afternoon to recognize a time of fellowship. We've been here shortly before Sunday school, and the food, and we're just kind of comfortable and warm. Probably some just rather just rest for a little bit, but Lord, I pray that our attention would be upon the word of God for just a few more moments that we have this afternoon. Lord, we don't want to jip you in any way of what you would have to encourage our soul this afternoon. Lord, help me to be careful of the time, but also to be saturated with the psalm today. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. We find in Psalm 61, David has at the beginning of the Psalm, he's crying out to the Lord. He's overwhelmed and he's overcome and it seems like God is distant and some things have happened in his life that he seems he just doesn't have the joy, just doesn't have the rejoicing that he once did. And so, he's working through some emotions. And by the end, it doesn't take very long. By the end, verse 8, David's renewed that song. He's renewed that vow to the Lord. He says, I will sing unto the Lord the praise unto thy name forever. And he gets that encouragement. Well, how did David get to this point in Psalm 61? Well, Psalm 61, along with a couple other Psalms, are written while David was in a low place in his life. Actually, he probably is in a cave where David sometimes finds himself in. I like Dr. Les Olala who said a couple of these psalms that these are psalms from a caveman. That's exactly where David finds himself. These psalms were probably or Psalm 61 was probably written in towards the end or during a time frame in David's life between 2 Samuel 15 and 2 Samuel 18. 2 Samuel 11 starts a downward spiral for David's life. He's sinned with Bathsheba in chapter 11. He murders Uriah in battle in chapter 11. Then he's rebuked in 2 Samuel chapter 12. His son is taken by God because of his sin. David's other son, Amnon, rapes Tamar, David's daughter, in chapter 13. Absalom, David's son, kills Amnon, who is also David's son, in chapter 13. Absalom stoops into rebellion and hatred of his father in chapter 14 of 2 Samuel. Absalom begins to turn the heart of the people from David to himself in chapter 15, leads a rebellion against David, and David is forced to run out of the palace barefoot in chapter 15. In 2 Samuel chapter 16, David is cursed by the relative of Saul and finds out that his trusted advisor Ahithophel has betrayed him and moved over to the other side. In chapter 18, David's army is forced to fight a civil war against Absalom. And right in the middle of this, David finds himself running for his life, hiding in a cave. Have you ever had a day like that? Maybe because of your own mistakes, or maybe the circumstances around you have brought you to a point that's very similar to David's life. You remember being there? Or maybe your enemies have all surrounded you and you're running for your life and you feel like you've come to the end and you can't go on anymore. So when we look at this psalm, it's very quick, just eight verses, but I think it can give us some encouragement this afternoon. How did David go from A lack of joy and rejoicing, struggling emotionally through the feelings and the circumstances of what's going on, and come to the point at the end where he is rejoicing and singing to the Lord. How does he find his song? I believe number one is because David cried to the Lord. Look at verse one. Hear my cry. The very first Hebrew word in the psalm is the word hear. you kind of get the feeling of loneliness. It's almost as if David is at the bottom of a well and was wondering if anyone else could hear. Hear my cry. Oh God. The cry, the word, the Hebrew word that's used cry here is lament. It's a cry of mourning with tears in deep pain. David is feeling his loneliness. He's feeling his circumstances and they hurt. Then he says in the end of verse 2, when my heart is overwhelmed. Have you ever felt the burdens of life so hard that your heart is just heavy? Listen to what Solomon says in Proverbs 12 verse 25. Heaviness in the heart of a man maketh him stoop. You see, that's what discouragement can do. It can bring us to the point where we are heavy and sorrowful, and we ask, where is our peace? Why am I burdened? What burdens us? Sin burdens us. I mean, think about David. David's sin has brought him to the point where he is so overwhelmed that much of what he's going through in this passage is the consequences of his own sinful choices. Listen to what Proverbs says, Proverbs 5, verse 22. His own iniquity shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holdened with the cords of his sins. 2 Peter 2, 19, while they promised them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption, for of whom a man is overcome of the same, he is brought into bondage. Sin brings us to that point. Do you know a loved one or a family member who the burden of sin is upon their life, and they're just not happy. And you know it. Possibly they know it, even though they think they may not. The burdens of life, sin can do that. But also the circumstances of life. Listen to what Job says in Job 7 and verse 15 and 16, so that my soul chooseth strangling and death rather than life. Job's come to the point that says, I'd rather choose to be strangled than to keep on going. I loathe it. I would not live always. Let me alone, for my days are vanity or empty. Sometimes the tests of life can be so heavy upon us. Maybe not because of sin, like in Job's circumstance, but just because of something that God is doing, or maybe something that Satan is allowed to do. But I want you to notice that in this psalm, David's cry is directed to God. That's where his cry is, too. Hear my cry, O God. Listen or attend unto my prayer. David points all of his emotion in his source to the Lord. David finds his song when he turns to the right source. When he looks to the right answer. You know what the answer to sin is? Turning to the Lord. You know, so many people, they try and attempt to, I'm going to do, I'm going to try and find happiness or satisfaction. They turn to alcohol and drugs and relationships and cars and materialism and job and education and all of these other things. And where do they bring people? They can't take away the consequences of sin. They can't take away the heaviness that sin brings. Only God can do that. And that's why we plead as parents and grandparents for your children or your grandchildren or that loved one or that family member that you know or that loved one that you know who is away from the Lord and you know the burdens of their sin have overcome them. The only answer to their problem And the only answer to any person's problem with the burdens of sin is turning to the Lord. Lord, I need you. And that's what David did. Only God could bring that satisfaction. When the burdens of life are so heavy and hard and the circumstances are so heavy and hard, I think about the first century Christians who were experiencing so much persecution and so much burdens and pressures from the world. They needed God. They needed each other. They needed the word of God. And they turned to that. What has David said? He says, lead me to the rock that is higher than I. You see, that rock is a person. It's not an abstract thing. It's a person. The rock is Jesus. The rock is the Messiah. To David, he was holding on to that which God had given him. God was his rock. God was his strong tower in verse three. God was his shelter. And he understood that and he cries out, and Lord, I need that. I need you. The person that he was looking for, Psalm 27, verse one, unto thee will I cry, O Lord, my rock. Psalm 62, verse two, he only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not be greatly moved. You see, God desires that we would cry out to him. Jeremiah 33, three, call unto me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not. Where do we go when we've lost our song? We lost our joy rejoicing. Well, we do what David did and we cry out to the Lord. He wants to hear our prayer. Are you weary? Are you heavy hearted? Tell it to Jesus. Tell it to Jesus. He's a friend that's well known. You've no other such a friend or brother. Tell it to Jesus alone. Not only did David find his song when he cried out to the Lord, but David found his song when he had his confidence in God's promises. Look down in verse four. I will abide in the tabernacle forever. I will trust in the culvert of thy wings. For thou, O God, hast heard my vows. Thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name. Thou wilt prolong the king's life and his years as many generations. What is David reaching for? He's reaching for the promises that God gave him when he was on the throne. In 2 Samuel chapter 7, when you're going to have a son who's going to rule all the nations of the world, and it's by your house, I'm going to make you a dynasty. David, I've given you a promise. I'm giving you a heritage. I'll give you a tabernacle, a place where my dwelling place is going to be. David was given those promises. And then he decided to do things his own way and went off the edge. walked away from the Lord, got wrapped up in the cords of his sin, the circumstances of life, family troubles, family problems. His counselors are leaving him and he finds himself in a cave with a mix of a little bit of what God is doing and a little bit of the consequences of his own sin. And now he is where he is. And where does he restore his joy and restore his song in the Lord? When he reaches back into the past and said, God, you said this. And because you said this, I can trust it. and I can have confidence in it. He remembered the truth. Do you remember when David stood before Saul as a teenage boy and he was gonna fight Goliath? And Saul's looking at this puny young man and he was like, all you know how to do is take care of sheep. And David said, yeah, but God delivered the bear in my hands. But God delivered the lion in my hands. And this same creature God's gonna deliver in my hands this day. What was David doing as a teenager? He was looking to the promises that God would take care of him, that God would do something great. He was reaching back in the past and seeing where God was working and where God had been faithful. And that was his key to continuing to be faithful in the face of Goliath. Now David's an older man, grown children. And he's come to himself and he's realized, I need to go back to when I was a teenager. And I need to go back to those promises that God has given me. And I need to look back to a God who has always been faithful and who will never fail me and He will keep His word. I just need to get back on track. I just need to get back with the Lord. Focus in the right place on the promises of God. You will restore your song in your life when you sing and you find the promises of God and find that rejoicing. The song we sing, standing on the promises that cannot fail. When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail, by the living word of God, I shall prevail. Standing on the promises of God. I'm standing, standing, standing. There's a joy in our heart. There's a rejoicing in our heart when we look to a God who keeps His promises to us. Psalm 37.3, trust in the Lord and do good, and so shalt thou dwell in the land and verily be fed. Psalm 118.8, it is better to trust in the Lord than put confidence in man. Proverbs 3, 5, and 6, trust in the Lord with all thy heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy path. Isaiah 26.4, trust ye in the Lord forever, for the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. Psalm 34.22, the Lord redeemeth the soul of His servants, and none of them that trust in Him shall be desolate. Isaiah 26, three, thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusted in thee. Philippians 4, six through eight, be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God, and the peace of God that passes all understanding shall, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. That's a promise. And we can renew our rejoicing and our joy and our song in the Lord when we remember God keeps His promises and we can trust in God. Not only David restored his joy in his life and the song in his life when he cried out to the Lord, he found the right source. Not only when he found confidence in the promises of God and put away doubt and fear, but also David renewed his joy when he remembered his commitment to God. Two times in this psalm toward the end, he says, that I may daily perform my vows. Look what he says in, well, he says it in verse four. He says, I will abide in the tabernacle of thy wings, trust in thee, God, in verse 5, for thou, O God, hast heard my vows. You remember what I said? And then the last verse, so I will sing praise unto thy name forever, for I have daily performed my vows. You see, a vow is a promise, a commitment that you've made. It is something that's binding. It's a contract. Marriage is a contract. It is a vow that you make before God. So what is David doing by saying these vows or reminding himself of these vows? He's reminding himself of the commitment that he himself has made of God. God, I am your king. I committed to be faithful to your word. I committed to be that godly leader. Yes, I failed. Yes, I stumbled and I tripped and I'm here in this cave and I'm running and I recognize that, but God, I need to renew those vows. I need to get back on the right place, back where my heart used to be. What commitments have you made to God that you've failed in? What commitments do you need to make to God? Maybe you never made them in the first place. Maybe you need to renew your vows and commitment to the Lord, and you're going through some things in your life, and you say, you know what? I'm struggling with my Bible reading. I made a commitment a year ago that I was gonna read my Bible through, and I failed on that. You'll find your joy, you'll find your song if you get back to that commitment. You know, I committed to be more faithful, and I committed that I'm going to be involved in this ministry, and you know, I really haven't done it. And when we begin to obey the Lord and fulfill those promises that we have given to the Lord, we find a rejoicing in our heart and a spirit because we understand we are being obedient to the Lord. Let me ask you, what changed from verse 1 to verse 8 in this psalm? It wasn't the situation. Because David is still in the same place that he was in verse 1 as he was in verse 8. In a cave. Running from his son. In a fight, in a civil war. Off of his throne. Living in sad cloth and ashes. Mourning. What's changed? It wasn't his circumstances, situation. It was his heart. David found his song when his heart changed, not when his circumstances changed. You know, oftentimes what we want God to do is we want God to change the circumstances. We want God. We go to God and we pray and we cry out to the Lord, Lord, I want you to get me out of this mess. That's all we're concerned about. Do you remember when Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale? What changed in Jonah's life from the time he was there the first night to The end. It wasn't a circumstance. He was still in the belly of the whale when he sang out in Jonah chapter 2. He was singing to the Lord. His heart changed. He repented and turned to the Lord. Lord, if you want me in this belly of the whale for the rest of my life, I'm still going to find joy. David renewed his vows, his commitment to the Lord, and he said, Lord, if you want me in this cave for the rest of my life, I'm going to still have a joy and rejoicing. And maybe when you get to that point, maybe the Lord will deliver you from the circumstances. Maybe He won't, but that's up to the Lord. That's up to God. William Cooper, a hymn writer, 1731, wrote many popular hymns, poems. His personal friend and pastor for 13 years was John Newton, who wrote Amazing Grace. He co-authored a hymn book with John Newton with 68 hymns, I believe it was, he wrote. One of the things that William Cooper struggled with is he struggled with depression. He even came to the point, the story goes, that he was away from the Lord and somewhat suicidal. One stretch of his life he was so deep in depression he seemed to have lost everything. And until one night he came into the back of a service and sat down. The music director opened the hymn of the service and began to sing. There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins. And sinners plunge beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains. Lose all their guilty stains, lose all their guilty stains. And sinners plunge beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains. Story goes that... With tears in his eyes as they sang the last portion of that song, William Cooper stood up and gave testimony to the crowd that he had written that song and that he had lost his joy. And that by singing that song that day, the Lord had renewed in his heart a new fervor, a new courage, a new strength to trust in the promises of God. I don't know what you're struggling with or what the Lord has brought you through. I don't know what your situations are. But if you've lost your joy, if you lost your song, take Psalm 61 and walk through it and see the confidence of this much older David, who has found that in the verse eight, and I will sing praise unto thy name forever, that I may daily perform my vows. Father, I pray as we close this morning, this afternoon, Thank you for David's honesty in his struggles. That's what's special about the Psalms is they are so open and transparent that David would feel alone and cry out and feel like he's all alone in his circumstance, situation. He's so overwhelmed, he doesn't know if he can even take a next step. But because he turned to you, because he found his confidence in the promises of God. We don't need very many verses to find how quickly the rejoicing comes in his life. Lord, whatever situations and circumstances we sang of some songs this afternoon, to give us courage, the wings that we can trust in your promises, you are a shelter, you are a rock. Thank you for your goodness to us. Would you give us courage and confidence in your name that we pray, amen.