The Higher RockBible Reading:Psalms 61:1-4: 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 for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Most of us know what it is to be overwhelmed in heart, We have felt emptiness as if what once was a happy full person. Suddenly seemed to be no more than a hollow shell. Have you ever been trapped under water? Not really knowing if you would ever get that next breath or not? Sometimes life seems like we are being held under water! Every time we turn around we are faced with something else. Just when we thought things were going right something goes wrong. Many of us this morning are thinking right now about something in our lives that is burdensome. A family issue, trouble at work, loneliness, a feeling of unworthiness, a feeling of guilt. Oh there are so many things to bring us down this morning. Perhaps there is somebody here this morning that knows that they are not living for Christ. Outwardly you have been putting on a good show but inwardly you know. And to make matters worse, you know God knows. Psalms 44:21: Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart. We can take this one of two ways. Oh No! God knows my heart!! Or, praise God! I can rest in His assurance. He knows my heart! Psalms 61:1-2: 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. When? When my heart is overwhelmed. Praise the Lord he hears our prayers. Praise the Lord He cares. He understands our hearts! This is a wonderful statement. God knows your heart. He not only knows what is inside your heart He also knows how to strengthen it. How to heal it. How to mend the sorrow you might be feeling this morning. How to fill it with peace. How to fill it with Joy. Psalms 31:24: Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD. God is higher than we are. His mercy higher than our sins. His love higher than our thoughts. It is pitiful to see men putting their trust in something lower than themselves. But our confidence is fixed upon an exceeding high and glorious Lord. Psalms 61:1-2: 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. The rock that is higher than I. Psalms 18:2: The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. A Rock He is since He changes not. A high Rock, because the storms and tidal waves of our lives which overwhelm us roll far beneath at His feet. He is not disturbed by them, but rules them at His will. Psalms 18:3: For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. God provides us with security of His strength. God’s strength is a towering strength. Proverbs 18:10: The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe. God is safety. Psalms 91:2: I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. God is a fortress. Fortress: a place of exceptional security a stronghold. God is a safe fortress. Isaiah 32:1-2: Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. God is a Hiding Place. No you cannot run away from things. But With God you can rest assured that you are in a safe fortress hidden from: 1. The wind A cold harsh wind can find it’s way into anything. Your home, although a place where you feel pretty safe, still allows the wind to sneak through doors, windows and other openings. Yet God can hide you from that wind. The wind of pain where nothing seems to help - God can. The wind of sorrow where the heart inside of you feels destroyed. God can turn the wind into a calm breeze. 2. A covert from the tempest God will provide a safe fortified hiding place from the wind and from life’s storms or tempests. Flash floods - God is protection when troubles arise without warning. 3. As rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land God is the living water. He is also a shadow from a great rock. Isaiah 25:4: For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. God is a safe fortified hiding place from the winds of turmoil, from the storms of life, from the heat that takes your strength and life away. Praise Jesus! Glory to God! Psalms 67:4: I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Do you seek the covering of God’s wings? Psalms 91:4: He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Much like a bird protects its young by covering them with its wings, God protects us. But unlike the bird, God give us another strength. Isaiah 40:31: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Through God we can rest in the safety of his fortress. We are blocked from the winds that try to blow away our dreams and hopes. We are lifted up in the tower of his strength from the roaring waters of life. He covers us from the burning heated rays of pain and sorrow. And with wings that protect us always. He allows us to soar like eagles when we trust in Him. I want some of that!!! How do we get it? Isaiah 22:22-23: And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house. Jesus opens the door and no other can shut it - not even Satan. But without Jesus the door cannot be opened. Yet once opened our Savior and Our salvation are like a nail fastened in a sure place. What kind of place? Psalms 61:1-4: 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 for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Back to Hope Chapel
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