September 22, Evening
C. H. Spurgeon · Modern retelling
"When my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the Rock that is higher than I." — Psalm 61:2 · KJV
Most of us know what it is to be overwhelmed in heart — emptied, as when a man wipes a dish and turns it upside down; submerged and thrown on our beam-ends like a vessel mastered by the storm. Discoveries of inward corruption will do this, if the Lord permits the great deep of our depravity to be troubled and cast up mire and dirt. Disappointments and heartbreaks will do it, when billow after billow rolls over us and we are like a broken shell hurled to and fro by the surf. Blessed be God, at such times we are not without an all-sufficient comfort: our God is the harbor of weather-beaten sails, the refuge of forlorn pilgrims. Higher than we are is He — His mercy higher than our sins, His love higher than our thoughts. It is pitiful to see men trusting in something lower than themselves; but our confidence is fixed on an exceedingly high and glorious Lord. A Rock He is, since He changes not; and a high Rock, because the tempests that overwhelm us roll far beneath His feet. He is not disturbed by them, but rules them at His will. If we get under the shelter of this lofty Rock, we may defy the hurricane; all is calm under the lee of that towering cliff. Alas, such is the confusion in which the troubled mind is often cast, that we need piloting to this divine shelter. Hence the prayer of the text. O Lord our God, by Your Holy Spirit teach us the way of faith; lead us into Your rest. The wind blows us out to sea, and the helm will not answer our feeble hand; You, You alone, can steer us over the bar between those sunken rocks, safe into the fair haven. How dependent we are on You — we need You to bring us to Yourself! To be wisely directed and steered into safety and peace is Your gift, and Yours alone. This night be pleased to deal well with Your servants.