A PRAYER FOR SAFETY


A. "LEAD ME TO THE ROCK THAT IS HIGHER THAN I" - PSALMS 61:2
  1. How many confessions underlie these words:
    1. Blindness else David would not have said, "lead me"
    2. Weakness, otherwise he would not have thought of a rock
    3. Littleness, therefore, he says, "higher than I"
  2. This prayer is, in a sense, a metaphor:
    1. conveying the idea of safety security - a reminder of David's flight before Saul; later before his son Absalom
    2. It may have reference to a higher elevation from which he could see the dangers threatening his life
B. THE FIRST THING WE ALL WANT IS SAFETY
  1. Sin has made life very insecure:
    1. "Flee also youthful lust" - 2 Tim. 2:22
    2. Flee the lust for carnal things, including the lust for money which is the root of evil - Tim. 6:8-11
  2. Satan is most active to set snares:
    1. To trap us, to take us alive, if possible - 2 Tim. 2:25-26
    2. Of him, Peter writes, "Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" - I Peter 5:8
    3. He has declared war on God's remnant people - Rev. 12:17, 12
  3. Christians are also in danger of being carried away with:
    1. The lust of the eye
    2. The lust of the flesh
    3. The pride of life - I John 2:15-16; Examples - Eve was carried away by the lust of the eye - Gen. 3:6; Achan was carried away by the lust of the eye - Joshua 7:20; and so was King David - 2 Sam. 11:2-6
  4. A child of God, knowing these enemies, seeks safely:
    1. Christ, the Rock of ages is our refuge and strength - I Cor. 10:4; 2 Sam. 22:1-7
    2. He is the strong tower of the flock - Micah 4:8
C. "LEAD ME TO THE ROCK THAT IS HIGHER THAN I"
  1. What a wonderful prayer for us to contemplate in the days of constant danger and distress:
    1. "For, behold darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people" Is. 60:1
    2. "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come" - 2 Tim. 3:1
    3. "Woe to the inhabitors of the earth and the sea, for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath because he knoweth that he hath but a short time" - Rev. 12:12
    4. Daniel, looking down the stream of time, says, "There shall be a time of trouble, such as never been since there was a nation even to that same time" - Dan. 12:1
  2. But our God, who loves us more than our finite mind can comprehend, has made provision for our safety all the way:
    1. The Psalmist says, "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him will I trust" - Ps. 91:1-12
    2. Writes the prophet Isaiah, "He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly. . . He shall dwell on high; his place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks; bread shall be given him, his water shall be sure" - Is. 33:15-17
  3. In view of these eternal truths:
    1. Our prayer must aim higher than our unworthy, sinful self
    2. It must reach far beyond the material things of this present world for security
    3. It must be as the Psalmist says, "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help" - Ps. 121:1-3
    4. How our opening text ought to inspire us to aim higher - still higher in our aspirations nearer to our God - the eternal rock of ages
    5. Let us make our opening text our daily prayer because we are living in the days of the close of probation and we must have security


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