Devotional
Daily Bible
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. 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. He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him. So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows.
One question we could ask who is the king mentioned in stanza six, whose years shall be from generations to generations, that is forever, and who shall abide in God’s presence forever? The ancient Jewish Targum says it is King Messiah, which is the correct answer. This is the key to this Psalm. The King, Christ, is seen as identified with the believing few who remain, called the remnant. Jesus Christ walked on earth trusting, having as his shelter in God. And so does the godly remnant – born-again Christians trust and fleeing to the Rock which is higher than they, find their shelter there also. And when the King returns they will have their full deliverance.
See the Annotated Bible by Arno Clement Gaebelein, 1919
Charles Simeon, a minister from Scotland, was powerfully effective, writes Alistair Begg. He goes on and says: "There were correctives in Simeon’s life that came from all kinds of sources. John Thornton, who I think was the church warden in his time, wrote on one occasion to his vicar, 'Watch continually over your own spirit, and do all in love. We must grow downward in humility to soar heavenward. I should recommend you having a watchful eye over yourself, for generally speaking as is the minister so are the people.'" Thinking of another author, Samuel Rutherford who said; 'Be humbled,' he writes, 'walk softly, down … with your top sail: stoop, stoop; it is a low entry to go in at heaven’s [gate].'"
References
See: https://www.truthforlife.org/resources/sermon/standing-firm-in-the-grace-of-god/
John Thornton, quoted in Hugh Evan Hopkins, Charles Simeon of Cambridge (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1977), 43–44.
Rutherford to Cardoness, Elder, Aberdeen, 1637, in Joshua Redivivus; or Three Hundred and Fifty-Two Religions Letters, by the Late Eminently Pious Mr. Samuel Rutherfoord, 11th ed. (Glasgow: William Bell, 1796), 214.
