Rock Steady (Pulpit Notes)

Psalm 28:1 New Living Translation… “To you, O Lord, I call; my rock, do not refuse to hear me, for if you are silent to me, I shall be like those who go down to the Pit”.

Our text is a psalm of lament. It is the prayer of King David after the rape of his daughter Tamar by his son Amnon, and his son Absalom has avenged his sister by killing their brother Amnon and assumed responsibility of his sister Tamar by moving her into his home. However, Absalom also held his father guilty of his sister’s rape because of his negligence to punish Amnon.  So, David, God’s chosen leader/a man after God’s heart/a proven military tactician/the king of Israel is on the run, from his own son. David’s family, has become his enemy.

It is under these horrendous conditions that David prays for the mercy of God for his protection. He appeals to the Lord, his rock. 

Rocks are incredibly versatile. Through the annals of history, they’ve been used as tools. They were good for hammering and scraping. Rocks have also been used as weapons. There was no way for me to raise this fact, without mentioning David slaying Goliath the giant, with a sling shot and five smooth stones. Memorials have made good uses of rocks. Sometimes rocks would be stacked in remembrance of God’s mighty acts in the lives of his people. We’ve adopted that ancient sentiment by carving headstones and using them to display epitaphs, reminding us of our mortality. But rocks are also good for construction. I could use a bible reader to help me here. Ephesians 2:20 says “Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself”. Cornerstones are imperative in building. They must be without imperfection, so that the structure will be stable. Strangely enough, a building project begins and ends with a cornerstone. Jesus Christ is the stone that the builders rejected, but he became the chief cornerstone, the alpha and omega; the first and the last!

God is referred to as a rock thirty-three times in the Old Testament. Sixteen of those thirty-three times are found in the Psalms. Psalm 18:2 “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer” … Psalm 62:6 “God alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken”. Psalm 89:26 “He shall cry to me, You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation”! Psalm 95:1 “O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation”! Psalm 144:1-2 “Praise the Lord, who is my rock. He trains my hands for war and gives my fingers skill for battle.He is my loving ally and my fortress, my tower of safety, my rescuer. He is my shield, and I take refuge in him. He makes the nations submit to me”. Brothers and sisters, there’s no doubt in my mind, that the Psalmist is conveying to us that our God is the Rock at life’s bottom! He is strong. He is safe. He is steady. So much so, that when all else around us gives way, that we find out that God is all we have, because God is all we need!

This text boiled down to a single word for me, and that word is relationship. That’s what David hints at, suggesting that since relationships are sour while others are sweet. Some are negative while others are positive. Some relationships aren’t worth the investment and others are worth every penny because they add to the quality of our existence.

–Personal: To you, O Lord, 

Jehovah

–Prayer: I call; 

Sacred communication with the Divine

–Provision: my rock, 

You are my strength and stability

–Possibility: do not refuse to hear me, for if you are silent to me, 

(Father I stretch my hands to Thee…)

–Perspective: I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.

Sheol is the abode of the dead