{"id":865,"date":"2009-08-30T04:01:44","date_gmt":"2009-08-30T04:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/2009\/08\/sunday-inspiration-from-the-high-calling-66.html"},"modified":"2009-08-30T04:01:44","modified_gmt":"2009-08-30T04:01:44","slug":"sunday-inspiration-from-the-high-calling-66","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/08\/sunday-inspiration-from-the-high-calling-66.html","title":{"rendered":"Sunday Inspiration from The High Calling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lead Me to the Rock<\/h3>\n

READ Psalm 61:1-8<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0From the ends of the earth,
\nI cry to you for help
\nwhen my heart is overwhelmed.
\nLead me to the towering rock of safety.<\/p>\n

Psalm 61:2<\/a><\/p>\n

Psalm 61 expresses the desperate prayer of one who senses a great need for God. David prays \u201cfrom the ends of the earth\u201d (61:2). Although this could mean that he was far away from home, the sense of this phrase is more than literal. It speaks of neediness, when we are far away from what is comfortable, familiar, and safe. It may also point to times when we feel far away from God, when it seems as if he isn\u2019t near to hear our prayers.
\nIn such times, our hearts can become overwhelmed. The Hebrew term \u2018ataf<\/em>, translated here as \u201coverwhelmed,\u201d can also mean \u201cfaint\u201d or \u201cweak.\u201d There are times when circumstances batter us, when our inner reserves are drying up. We can feel as if life is just too much for us, and that we\u2019re not going to survive.
\nIn such times, like David, we cry out to God for mercy. Even though God might feel far away, and even though we are emotionally spent, we nevertheless call out to God to lead us to a place of safety and security. The \u201ctowering rock of safety\u201d is a place where the floods cannot engulf us or our enemies crush us. The rock that is literally \u201chigher than\u201d we are signifies God\u2019s protection and presence.
\nPerhaps you\u2019re in a place like David today, feeling far away from God and overwhelmed by the challenges before you. If so, cry out to the God who will lead you to his rock of safety. If you\u2019re not in such a place today\u2014thanks be to God!\u2014I\u2019m sure you know people who are. Their hearts might even be too faint to pray, but you can do it for them.
\nQUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION<\/strong>: When have you felt like David, far from God and completely overwhelmed? How did you pray? How did you experience God\u2019s deliverance? What, for you, is the \u201ctowering rock of safety\u201d?
\nPRAYER<\/strong>: O Lord, there are times when you feel so very far away, when it seems as if you aren\u2019t even there to hear my prayers. And there are times when I am so haggard in soul that I can barely pray. Thank you for the example of David, whose desperation reminds me that I am not alone.
\nThank you also for his quiet confidence in you. Help me to know that you will lead me to the towering rock of safety when I am feeling lost and exhausted.
\nToday I want to pray for ________. Be with them in their desperation and neediness. Reassure them. Encourage them. Lead them to the rock of your protection. Amen<\/em>.<\/p>\n

_________________________________________________<\/p>\n

<\/a>Would you like to receive a Daily Reflection like this one in your email inbox each morning?\u00a0 <\/strong>
\nHere’s how . . . . <\/em><\/strong>
\nThis devotional comes from The High Calling of Our Daily Work <\/em>(www.thehighcalling.org<\/a>), a wonderful website about work and God<\/em>. You can read my Daily Reflections<\/a> there, or sign up to have them sent to your email inbox<\/a> each day. This website contains lots of encouragement for people who are trying to live out their faith in the workplace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lead Me to the Rock READ Psalm 61:1-8 \u00a0From the ends of the earth, I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety. Psalm 61:2 Psalm 61 expresses the desperate prayer of one who senses a great need for God. David prays \u201cfrom the ends…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sunday-inspiration"],"yoast_head":"\nSunday Inspiration from The High Calling - Mark D. Roberts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/08\/sunday-inspiration-from-the-high-calling-66.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sunday Inspiration from The High Calling - Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lead Me to the Rock READ Psalm 61:1-8 \u00a0From the ends of the earth, I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety. Psalm 61:2 Psalm 61 expresses the desperate prayer of one who senses a great need for God. David prays \u201cfrom the ends…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/08\/sunday-inspiration-from-the-high-calling-66.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-08-30T04:01:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.markdroberts.com\/images\/high-calling-screenshot-4.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sunday Inspiration from The High Calling - Mark D. Roberts","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/08\/sunday-inspiration-from-the-high-calling-66.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sunday Inspiration from The High Calling - Mark D. Roberts","og_description":"Lead Me to the Rock READ Psalm 61:1-8 \u00a0From the ends of the earth, I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety. Psalm 61:2 Psalm 61 expresses the desperate prayer of one who senses a great need for God. David prays \u201cfrom the ends…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/08\/sunday-inspiration-from-the-high-calling-66.html","og_site_name":"Mark D. Roberts","article_published_time":"2009-08-30T04:01:44+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.markdroberts.com\/images\/high-calling-screenshot-4.jpg"}],"author":"Mark D. Roberts","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/08\/sunday-inspiration-from-the-high-calling-66.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/08\/sunday-inspiration-from-the-high-calling-66.html","name":"Sunday Inspiration from The High Calling - Mark D. Roberts","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/08\/sunday-inspiration-from-the-high-calling-66.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/08\/sunday-inspiration-from-the-high-calling-66.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.markdroberts.com\/images\/high-calling-screenshot-4.jpg","datePublished":"2009-08-30T04:01:44+00:00","dateModified":"2009-08-30T04:01:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/1ff094a57b7e41f534434b1723df3d73"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/08\/sunday-inspiration-from-the-high-calling-66.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/08\/sunday-inspiration-from-the-high-calling-66.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/08\/sunday-inspiration-from-the-high-calling-66.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.markdroberts.com\/images\/high-calling-screenshot-4.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.markdroberts.com\/images\/high-calling-screenshot-4.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/08\/sunday-inspiration-from-the-high-calling-66.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sunday Inspiration from The High Calling"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/","name":"Mark D. Roberts","description":"Mark D. Roberts: Thoughtfully Christian Reflections on Jesus, the Church, and the World","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/1ff094a57b7e41f534434b1723df3d73","name":"Mark D. Roberts","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","caption":"Mark D. Roberts"},"description":"The Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a pastor, author, retreat leader, speaker, and blogger. Since October 2007 he has been the Senior Director and Scholar-in-Residence for Laity Lodge, a multifaceted ministry in the Hill Country of Texas. Before coming to Laity Lodge, he was for sixteen years the Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California (a city in Orange County about forty miles south of Los Angeles). Before his time at Irvine Pres, Mark served on the staff of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood as Associate Pastor of Education. (Thanks to Janel Pahl for taking the photo to the right.) Mark studied at Harvard University, receiving a B.A. in Philosophy, an M.A. in the Study of Religion, and a Ph.D. in New Testament and Christian Origins. He has taught classes in New Testament for Fuller Theological Seminary and San Francisco Theological Seminary. Mark has written several books, including No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer (WaterBrook, 2005), Dare to Be True (WaterBrook, 2003), Jesus Revealed (WaterBrook, 2002), After \"I Believe\" (Baker, 2002), and Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (Word, 1993). His most recent book is Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (Crossway, 2007). He is currently working on a commentary on Ephesians that will be published by Zondervan in 2014. Mark writes a devotional for The High Calling of Our Daily Work, a website associated with Laity Lodge. His \"Daily Reflections\" can be viewed online or sent as a daily email. If you wish to receive this email, just visit TheHighCalling.org and sign up. Mark serves on the editorial board of Worship Leader magazine, where he publishes articles and reviews, including his regular column \"Lyrical Poetry.\" Additionally, he has published dozens of articles in leading magazines and journals. He often speaks for churches and other Christian groups, and has been interviewed on over seventy-five radio programs nationwide. Mark is married to Linda, who is a Marriage and Family Therapist, a Spiritual Director, and a retreat speaker. They have two children, Nathan and Kara.For Publicity Photos and Bio Statements for Mark, please check here. Mark's Dossier Professional History: Senior Director and Scholar-in Residence, Laity Lodge, October 2007 to present. Senior Pastor Irvine Presbyterian Church, June 1991 to September 2007 Adjunct Assistant Professor Fuller Theological Seminary, 1994 to 2007. Courses: New Testament Theology and Exegesis. Adjunct Instructor San Francisco Theological Seminary, 1995 to 2001. Courses: New Testament Greek and Exegesis Associate Pastor of Education First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, 1987-1991 Teaching Fellow Harvard University, 1980-1983 Education: Ph.D. in the Study of Religion. Harvard University, 1992. Area: New Testament and Christian Origins M.A. in the Study of Religion Harvard University, 1984. A.B. magna cum laude in Philosophy Harvard University, 1979. Phi Beta Kappa; Danforth Fellowship Books: Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Crossway, 2007 No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer. WaterBrook, 2005 Dare to Be True: Living in the Freedom of Complete Honesty. WaterBrook, 2003. Jesus Revealed: Know Him Better to Love Him Better. WaterBrook, 2002. After \"I Believe\": Experiencing Authentic Christian Living. Baker, 2002. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther in the Communicator's Commentary Series. Word, 1993. Contacting Mark: You can reach Mark at: E-mail: mark@markdroberts.com mroberts@laitylodge.org Phone: Laity Lodge: (830) 792-1216 Address: Laity Lodge 719 Earl Garrett Kerrville, TX 78028","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/author\/mroberts"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}