Metaphors
Prayers of the Psalms
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. Of David.
1 Hear my cry, O God;
listen to my prayer.2 From the ends of the earth I call to you,
I call as my heart grows faint;
lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
3 For you have been my refuge,
a strong tower against the foe.4 I long to dwell in your tent forever
and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.
5 For you, God, have heard my vows;
you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.6 Increase the days of the king’s life,
his years for many generations.
7 May he be enthroned in God’s presence forever;
appoint your love and faithfulness to protect him.8 Then I will ever sing in praise of your name
and fulfill my vows day after day. Psalm 61
The Psalms are of great importance to breaking down the perceived distance from God or creating nearness to God. This is the major function of prayer. The Psalms help us to recognize the distance that we inevitably feel at times as a result of stress and distress. The Psalms help us close the gap between these feelings that threaten our spiritual life, our health, and our physical life and our trust in God. The very reading or recitation of psalms serve to diminish the distance and enhance the nearness and presence of God.3
Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer.
There is no doubt the psalmist is praying to God for help. He is looking to God and seeking his help, and he feels he’s at a distance from God. That distance might be physical – a place so far from Jerusalem – a place he’s never been before like the frontiers of the land – or a spiritual distance. He’s desperate. His heart grows faint. Commentators think he is either ill, very near death, or under great stress.2,3
So great is his dependence and confidence of God that he gives us three metaphors: a rock higher than I, my refuge and strong tower, dwelling in your tent under the shelter of your wings.
Each of these speak to the soul of the desperate psalmist. The Rock that is higher is a realization that God dwells on a much higher plain and it is only through God’s help that the psalmist can arrive to the top of that rock. The strong tower and refuge, too, is something beyond the construction of the psalmist. That strong tower provided anchors for the city walls and served as surveillance points for places of refuge. Seeking to dwell in the tent or tabernacle of God is a metaphor for seeking divine hospitality and taking refuge under the shelter of the wings of the cherubim and is a powerful request for divine protection.2,3
The psalmist, and it may be David, makes vows to God with the condition that God would help him, then he makes this curious statement: you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name. One commentator says that he is looking back at his life and recognizes the hand of God working as he consistently evokes the powerful name of God. Remember the name, carries the essential nature of God and his presence. He’s been faithful and he follows the heritage of those who fear God’s name, are reverent, and faithful to God.2,3
You have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
I feel so blessed to have a heritage of people who fear the name of the Lord in my family. The tentacles of that heritage spread to me, my children, and my grandchildren. My mom is included in that, but she didn’t start with that, she helped create that heritage for us. David may have been like my mom. I think David, if it is David, looks at the faithfulness, reverence, and fear of God that he found in the prophet Samuel. You see, it doesn’t have to be a blood relative. It is a path you follow and look to.
Tate says we need a good and active imagination to come to God in prayer – we need a repertoire of images or metaphors to build our spiritual strength. This helps us incorporate our own experiences into the experience of prayer, otherwise our prayers are reduced to flattened, formulaic expressions that are powerless. Psalms help us break the distance we might feel and helps us realize the actual presence God. This is a major function of prayer. The very recitation or reading of Psalm 61 serves to diminish the distance and enhance the nearness and presence of God.3
These metaphors: Strong tower, the Rock that is higher, and dwell in the shelter of his wings – these speak to me. I can run to that Strong Tower and know He will protect me. When I run to the Rock, I run away from my own strength and to God’s strength; and when I seek shelter under those wings, I seek the very presence of God for care.
We see metaphors throughout scripture. Jesus is the Light of the World, the Gate, the Narrow Way, the Truth and the Light, the Resurrection and Life. Paul talks about putting on the Armor of God – the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. These metaphors speak to our spirits, they guide us, they shape us, they create us into the heritage of those who fear God’s name!
The metaphors remind us of who God is and all that he has done for us!
Then I will ever sing in praise of your name and fulfill my vows day after day.