When My Heart is Overwhelmed - Lead Me to the Rock

I think of an old song we used to sing at my church I attended when I was a kid...

Hear my cry O Lord
attend unto my prayer
From the end of the earth
will I cry out to Thee.
When my heart is overwhelmed
Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I
That is higher than I.

"When my heart is overwhelmed"... have you been there? Have you ever felt as if the tunnel light is getting so dim the further you go? Have you ever wondered how come things happen the way they do?

I know the Christian response: you're not supposed to let your feelings get the best of you. As true as that may seem, as a human being in the trial of life, feelings do get the best of us. I don't need anyone to condemn me for that. They say feeling is not faith...no...but God created man to feel. To feel is to know you're still alive.

When my heart is overwhelmed....there is an ache in that statement....

So if King David were alive today, would we give him the "Christian" response.... don't feel? I don't think so...

Or how about Elijah?

Or what about Mary, as she watched her Son die a death He didn't deserve?

King David knew all about heartache, pain, despair, and fear. He didn't try and hide it. He didn't lie about it like most Christians do...

"Oh I'm not sick." Stop the lies. Jesus doesn't like it.

"Oh I'm not afraid." Then why are your knees knocking sounding like percussion instruments?

"Oh I'm not in pain." Then why is it that your face whinces every time you take a step?

See the reality is this: we all feel. There's nothing wrong with feeling. Feeling is part of the human experience. Jesus never condemned people for feeling. Feeling is not a sign you doubt. Feeling is the essence of your being reaching out saying, "God, I feel this! It hurts!"

Life does hurt....trust me.. I know. I have a grandmother, and uncle and a niece in the hospital right now. Hurt? Oh yeah, I'm there. I ache. I cry. I wonder why. I pray....the best way I know how. Overwhelmed? Yup...I could teach a course called "Overwhelmed 101".

David was a rejected kid, a rejected man who killed giants, a friend who fought till the end. He was a man who had some definite character flaws, stole a man's wife, killed the man in war, messed up big time. Lost his best friend, was chased and in war with many nations. He hid in caves. I think David knew a thing or two about being overwhelmed.

Yet, his prayer was... when my heart is overwhelmed.... Lead me.

What does that mean? Lead me... he couldn't do it alone. He had Someone there to draw him close.

Lead me to the Rock.

Where? The Rock ... that which is firm, solid and a strong foundation. That's exactly where we need to be.

Lead me to the Rock that is Higher than I. - This means we can't rely on our own strength. Remember we're overwhelmed! There is no strength in overwhelmed. We rely on those things which cannot and will not change.

Psalm 61
To the Chief Musician. On a stringed instrument.[a]A Psalm of David. 1 Hear my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer. 2 From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. 3 For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy.