For the choir director; on a stringed instrument. A Psalm of David.

1Hear my cry, O God;
         Give heed to my prayer.

2From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint;
         Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

3For You have been a refuge for me,
         A tower of strength against the enemy.

4Let me dwell in Your tent forever;
         Let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings.

5For You have heard my vows, O God;
         You have given me the inheritance of those who fear Your name.

6You will prolong the king’s life;
         His years will be as many generations.

7He will abide before God forever;
         Appoint lovingkindness and truth that they may preserve him.

8So I will sing praise to Your name forever,
         That I may pay my vows day by day.

Parallel Verses

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
For the choir director; on a stringed instrument. A Psalm of David. Hear my cry, O God; Give heed to my prayer.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
For the choir director; on a stringed instrument; by David. Listen to my cry for help, O God. Pay attention to my prayer.

King James Bible
<A Psalm of David.>> Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Unto the end, in hymns, for David. Hear, O God, my supplication: be attentive to my prayer,

Darby Bible Translation
{To the chief Musician. On a stringed instrument. A Psalm of David.} Hear, O God, my cry; attend unto my prayer.

English Revised Version
For the Chief Musician; on a stringed instrument. A Psalm of David. Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer.

Webster's Bible Translation
To the chief Musician upon Neginah, A Psalm of David. Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer.

World English Bible
Hear my cry, God. Listen to my prayer.

Young's Literal Translation
To the Overseer, on stringed instruments. -- By David. Hear, O God, my loud cry, attend to my prayer.

Cross References

Psalm 17:1 A Prayer of David. Hear a just cause, O LORD, give heed to my cry; Give ear to my prayer, which is not from deceitful lips.

Psalm 27:7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice, And be gracious to me and answer me.

Psalm 55:1 For the choir director; on stringed instruments. A Maskil of David. Give ear to my prayer, O God; And do not hide Yourself from my supplication.

Psalm 64:1 For the choir director. A Psalm of David. Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint; Preserve my life from dread of the enemy.

Psalm 86:6 Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer; And give heed to the voice of my supplications!

Psalm 102:1 A Prayer of the Afflicted when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the LORD. Hear my prayer, O LORD! And let my cry for help come to You.

Commentary

Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary

PSALM 61

David, in this psalm, as in many others, begins with a sad heart, but concludes with an air of pleasantness-begins with prayers and tears, but ends with songs of praise. Thus the soul, by being lifted up to God, returns to the enjoyment of itself. It should seem David was driven out and banished when he penned this psalm, wether by Saul or Absalom is uncertain: some think by Absalom, because he calls himself "the king" (v. 6), but that refers to the King Messiah. David, in this psalm, resolves to persevere in his duty, encouraged thereto both by his experience an by his expectations. I. He will call upon God because God had protected him (v. 1-3). II. He will call upon God because God had provided well for him (v. 4, 5). III. He will praise God because he had an assurance of the continuance of God's favour to him (v. 6-8). So that, in singing this psalm, we may find that which is very expressive both of our faith and of our hope, of our prayers and of our praises; and some passages in this psalm are very peculiar.

To the chief musician upon Neginah. A psalm of David.

Verses 1-4

In these verses we may observe,

I. David's close adherence and application to God by prayer in the day of his distress and trouble: "Whatever comes, I will cry unto thee (v. 2),-not cry unto other gods, but to thee only,-not fall out with thee because thou afflictest me, but still look unto thee, and wait upon thee,-not speak to thee in a cold and careless manner, but cry to thee with the greatest importunity and fervency of spirit, as one that will not let thee go except thou bless me." This he will do, 1. Notwithstanding his distance from the sanctuary, the house of prayer, where he used to attend as in the court of requests: "From the end of the earth, or of the land, from the most remote and obscure corner of the country, will I cry unto thee." Note, Wherever we are we may have liberty of access to God, and may find a way open to the throne of grace. Undique ad coelos tantundem est viae-Heaven is equally accessible from all places. "Nay, because I am here in the end of the earth, in sorrow and solitude, therefore I will cry unto thee." Note, That which separates us from our other comforts should drive us so much the nearer to God, the fountain of all comfort. 2. Notwithstanding the dejection and despondency of his spirit: "Though my heart is overwhelmed, it is not so sunk, so burdened, but that it may be lifted up to God in prayer; if it is not capable of being thus raised, it is certainly too much cast down. Nay, because my heart is ready to be overwhelmed, therefore I will cry unto thee, for by that means it will be supported and relived." Note, Weeping must quicken praying, and not deaden it. Is any afflicted? Let him pray, Jam. 5:13; Ps. 102, title.

II. The particular petition he put up to God when his heart was overwhelmed and he was ready to sink: Lead me to the rock that is higher than I; that is, 1. "To the rock which is too high for me to get up to unless thou help me to it. Lord, give me such an assurance and satisfaction of my own safety as I can never attain to but by thy special grace working such a faith in me." 2. "To the rock on the top of which I shall be set further out of the reach of my troubles, and nearer the serene and quiet region, than I can be by any power or wisdom of my own." God's power and promise are a rock that is higher than we. This rock is Christ; those are safe that are in him. We cannot get upon this rock unless God by his power lead us. I will put thee in the cleft of the rock, Ex. 33:22. We should therefore by faith and prayer put ourselves under the divine management, that we may be taken under the divine protection.

III. His desire and expectation of an answer of peace. He begs in faith (v. 1): "Hear my cry, O God! attend unto my prayer; that is, let me have the present comfort of knowing that I am heard (Ps. 20:6), and in due time let me have that which I pray for."

IV. The ground of this expectation, and the plea he uses to enforce his petition (v. 3): "Thou hast been a shelter for me; I have found in thee a rock higher than I: therefore I trust thou wilt still lead me to that rock." Note, Past experiences of the benefit of trusting in God, as they should engage us still to keep close to him, so they should encourage us to hope that it will not be in vain. "Thou hast been my strong tower from the enemy, and thou art as strong a ever, and thy name is as much a refuge to the righteous as ever it was." Prov. 18:10.

V. His resolution to continue in the way of duty to God and dependence on him, v. 4. 1. The service of God shall be his constant work and business. All those must make it so who expect to find God their shelter and strong tower: none but his menial servants have the benefit of his protection. I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever. David was now banished from the tabernacle, which was his greatest grievance, but he is assured that God by his providence would bring him back to his tabernacle, because he had by his grace wrought in him such a kindness for the tabernacle as that he was resolved to make it his perpetual residence, Ps. 27:4. He speaks of abiding in it for ever because that tabernacle was a type and figure of heaven, Heb. 9:8, 9, 24. Those that dwell in God's tabernacle, as it is a house of duty, during their short ever on earth, shall dwell in that tabernacle which is the house of glory during an endless ever. 2. The grace of God and the covenant of grace shall be his constant comfort: I will make my refuge in the covert of his wings, as the chickens seek both warmth and safety under the wings of the hen. Those that have found God a shelter to them ought still to have recourse to him in all their straits. This advantage those have that abide in God's tabernacle, that in the time of trouble he shall there hide them.

Calvin's Commentary

1. Hear my cry, O God! attend unto my prayer. 2. Prom the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is vexed: thou shalt lead me to the rock which is too high for me. [401] 3. For thou hast been my hope, a tower of strength from the face of the enemy. 4. I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever; I will be safe under the covert of thy wings. Selah.

1. Hear my cry, O God! It is not exactly ascertained at what time this psalm was composed; but there seems to be some probability in the conjecture, that David had been for a considerable period in possession of the throne before he fell into the circumstances of distress which are here mentioned. I agree with those who refer it to the time of the conspiracy of Absalom; [402] for, had he not been an exile, he could not speak, as in the second verse, of crying from the ends of the earth. By using the term cry, he would intimate the vehemency of his desire; and it is a word which expresses inward fervency of spirit, without reference to the fact whether he may have prayed aloud, or in a low and subdued tone. The repetition which is employed denotes his diligence and perseverance in prayer, and teaches us that we should not faint and become discouraged in this exercise, because God may not have immediately and openly testified his acceptance of our petitions. There can be no question that, by the ends of the earth, he refers to the place of his banishment, as being cut off from access to the temple and the royal city. By some, indeed, the words have been understood figuratively, as meaning, that he prayed from the lowest deeps of distress; but I can see no foundation for this. In a subsequent part of the psalm, he calls himself King, a title never assumed by him before the death of Saul, and from this circumstance we may at once infer, that the time referred to was that when he fled in trepidation from the fury of his son Absalom, and hid himself in the wilderness of Mahanaim, and places of a similarly solitary description. Mount Zion was the place where the ark of the covenant had been deposited, and it was the seat of royalty; and David, when banished from this, which was the principal and most eligible locality, speaks as if he had been driven to the uttermost parts of the earth. Living, though he did, under the shadows of a legal dispensation, he did not cease to pray, because removed to a distance from the temple; and how inexcusable must our conduct be, privileged as we are of God, and called to draw near by the way which has been opened through the blood of Christ, if we break not through every hinderance which Satan presents to our communications with heaven? Let those who may have been deprived of the hearing of the word, and the dispensation of the sacraments, so as, in a manner, to be banished out of the Church, learn from the example of David to persevere in crying to God, even under these solitary circumstances. He adverts, in what follows, to his grief and anguish. He adds the fact of his being shut up from every method of escape, that the grace of God might be made more apparent in his deliverance. The Hebrew word tph, ataph, which I have translated vexed, means occasionally to cover, or involve, which has led some to render the clause, while my heart is turned about; that is, tossed hither and thither, or agitated. This is a harsh translation. Others read with more propriety, while my heart is involved in cares and troubles, or overwhelmed. [403] I have adopted a simpler rendering, although I would not be understood as denying the metaphor, to which they suppose that there is an allusion. The clause, there can be no question, is inserted to intimate that he was not prevented by trouble from having recourse to God. Notice was taken already of the outward trial to which he was subjected, in distance from the sanctuary, and of his rising above this, so as to direct his cry to God; and in the words before us, we have his confession that he was far from being stoically insensible, being conscious of a severe inward struggle with grief and perplexity of mind. It is the duty, then, of believers, when oppressed with heaviness and spiritual distress, to make only the more strenuous efforts for breaking through these obstacles in their approaches to God. His prayer is, that God would bring him to that safety from which he seems to be excluded. By a rock or citadel, he means, in general, secure protection, from which he complains of being shut out, as it was impossible to reach it unless he were raised by the hand of God. In looking round him, it seemed as if every place of shelter and safety were lifted up above his head and rendered inaccessible. He was cut off from all help, and yet, hopeless as deliverance appeared, he had no doubt of his safety, should God only extend his hand for interposition. This is the plain meaning of the passage, when divested of figure, that God was able to rescue him from danger, though all other help should be withdrawn, and the whole world should stand between him and deliverance; a truth which we would do well to consider seriously. In looking for deliverance from God, we must beware of yielding to the suggestions of sense; we should remember that he does not always work by apparent means, but delivers us when he chooses by methods inscrutable to reason. If we attempt to prescribe any one particular line of procedure, we do no less than wilfully limit his almighty power.

3. For thou hast been my hope Here we may suppose, either that he calls to his remembrance such benefits as he had formerly received, or that he congratulates himself upon deliverance which he had presently experienced. There is much probability in either supposition. Nothing animates our hopes more than the recollection of the past goodness of God, and, in the midst of his prayers, we frequently find David indulging in reflections of this kind. On the other hand, the remainder of the psalm is occupied with returning praise to God for his present goodness; and there is no reason why we should not suppose, that these words before us form the commencement of the thanksgiving. In that case, the Hebrew particle, which we have rendered for or because, may be understood rather in an affirmative sense, surely or certainly.

In the verse which follows, he expresses the confidence which he had that he would dwell from this time forth in the sanctuary of the Lord. I cannot altogether agree with those who think that David was still in his state of exile from his native country when this was written, and is merely to be understood as promising to himself the certainty of his return. He would seem rather to be rejoicing in restoration already obtained, than assuaging his grief by anticipation of it in the future; and this will be still more apparent, when we come to consider the immediate context. It is noticeable, that now when he was returned from his banishment, and established within his own palace, his heart was set more upon the worship of God than all the wealth, splendor, and pleasures of royalty. We have his testimony in other parts of his writings, that in the worst calamities which he endured, he experienced nothing which could be compared to the bitterness of being shut out from the ordinances of religion; and now he accounts it a higher pleasure to lie as a suppliant before the altar, than to sit upon the throne of a king. By the words which immediately follow, he shows that he did not, like too many uninformed persons, attach a superstitious importance to the mere externals of religion, adding, that he found his safety under the shadow of God's wings. Ignorant persons might conceive of God as necessarily confined to the outward tabernacle, but David only improved this symbol of the Divine presence as a means of elevating the spiritual exercises of his faith. I would not deny that there may be an allusion to the cherubim when he speaks of the shadow of God's wings. Only we must remember, that David did not rest in carnal ordinances, the elements of the world, [404] but rose by them and above them to the spiritual worship of God.

Footnotes:

[401] He represents himself as like a man climbing to get up into a place of safety, but who wants strength to get to it.

[402] It is generally agreed that this psalm refers to the history recorded in 2 Samuel 17:22, 24.

[403] This last translation is omitted in the French version, perhaps through inadvertency.

[404] "Non fuisse retentum in mundi elementis." -- Lat. "David ne s'est point arret, aux elemens du monde, (comme Sainct Paul appelle les ceremonies prises charnellement et quant a l'exterieur,") etc. -- Fr.

Links

Psalm 61 Commentaries: Barnes • Calvin • Clarke • Darby • Gill • Geneva • Guzik • JFB • Keil / Delitzsch • KJV Translators' • Henry's Concise • Matthew Henry • Scofield • TSK • Treasury of David • Wesley

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