David’s opening words in Psalm 61, “from the remotest place on earth” (v. 2), are striking. Pause for a moment and think. What is the most remote place you’ve ever been? How did it feel to be there?
For me, it was during a college mission trip to Peru. We took the Jesus Film to a small village tucked deep in the Andes mountains. To reach it, we traveled eight hours by bus, then trekked several more hours on horseback. This was a village without roads and without cars. It was completely cut off. The setting was breathtakingly beautiful and majestic, yet there was also a profound sense of loneliness and distance. It felt like I was so far from everything and everyone I had ever known.
David pairs this imagery of remoteness with despair. Scholars believe Psalm 61 was written during one of the darkest chapters of his life—when he fled from his rebellious son Absalom. David, though called a man after God’s own heart, had made choices that had broken his family.
The story of Absalom’s rebellion is full of pain, betrayal, and tragedy. Absalom ultimately died in his attempt to seize the throne. While his death ended the rebellion, it left David deeply broken-hearted and crushed in grief.
Life can overwhelm us like this too—sometimes because of our own choices, sometimes because of circumstances beyond our control. Emotions come in waves, threatening to pull us under. And yet, in that place of despair, David cried out to God. He asked for something very specific: to be led to a rock that was higher than himself—a place of safety and stability above the storm of his own soul.
This echoes Jesus’ parable of the wise and foolish builders (Matthew 7:24–27). A house built on sand collapses in the storm, but one built on solid rock stands firm. Scripture repeatedly reminds us that God Himself is that rock.
“The LORD is my high ridge, my stronghold, my deliverer.
My God is my rocky summit where I take shelter”
–Psalm 18:2
And when do we need that refuge most? In the storm.
I’m deeply grateful that God is our rock, our refuge, our stronghold, and our safe place. When our thoughts spiral and our emotions overwhelm us, we can run to Him and find shelter. When we are weak, He is strong. His wisdom and strength never fail.
As God reminds us in Isaiah:
“‘Indeed, my plans are not like your plans,
and my deeds are not like your deeds,’ says the Lord,
‘for just as the sky is higher than the earth,
so my deeds are superior to your deeds
and my plans superior to your plans.”
Even from the remotest place on earth or the darkest storm of the soul, God is near, and He is our rock.
