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Psalm 61 Bible study: The rock that is higher than I

Psalm 61's rock, higher, tent and shelter (61:2-4) are four Hebrew words that Psalm 27:5 also has. Its "strong tower" (61:3) is a pair of Hebrew words found only three times in the Hebrew Bible, once as "The LORD’s name" (Proverbs 18:10). And it opens asking God to hear (61:1), then says, "you, God, have heard" (61:5).

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“From the end of the earth, I will call to you when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”
Psalm 61:2 · World English Bible

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“Psalm 61 opens by asking God to hear, and later says God has heard.”

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What's really going on

"The rock that is higher than I"

In the text

After its title, the psalm's first request is to be heard: "Hear my cry, God. Listen to my prayer" (61:1) (tap cry). Then it says where the psalmist calls from, and when: "From the end of the earth, I will call to you when my heart is overwhelmed" (61:2) (tap end, overwhelmed). And then one request: "Lead me to the rock that is higher than I" (61:2) (tap rock, higher). Here is what almost everyone misses: the psalmist doesn't say he will climb to the rock. He asks to be led to it. Lead me is one Hebrew word, tancheni, from nachah, which Brown-Driver-Briggs gives as "lead, guide". Rock is tsur, "rock, cliff" (Brown-Driver-Briggs), and is higher is yarum, from rum, "be high, exalted, rise" (Brown-Driver-Briggs). The psalm doesn't say more about the rock than that it is higher than he is.

Honest questions

Questions people ask about Psalm 61

That was a taste

The rest of Psalm 61 is waiting in Favor

  • Rock, high, tent and shelter: Psalm 27 has all four
  • A refuge, and a strong tower
  • "Forever", three times, and then "daily"
  • "Overwhelmed" in other prayers
  • Psalm 63: wings, and the king at the end
  • Vows heard, vows paid
  • 6 questions as you read
  • 13 more Hebrew words
  • A short check at the end
  • Your notes, saved as you go
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The Hebrew word behind it

צוּרtsursay TSOOR

Brown-Driver-Briggs: "rock, cliff". Strong's: "generally, a rock or boulder; figuratively, a refuge". "Lead me to the rock that is higher than I" (61:2): to the rock is betsur. Psalm 27 has it with the verb of 61:2's higher: "He will lift me up on a rock" (Psalm 27:5). Psalm 62 has three of 61:2-3's words in one line: "The rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God" (Psalm 62:7), where strength is oz, 61:3's strong, and refuge is machseh, 61:3's refuge. The Psalms have it 26 times in Hebrew.

For your group

Psalm 61 Bible study questions

  1. 1"From the end of the earth, I will call to you when my heart is overwhelmed" (61:2). When have you felt far away from God? What does calling to him look like for you then?
  2. 2"Lead me to the rock that is higher than I" (61:2). The psalmist asks to be led, not to climb. What in your life right now feels higher than you can reach on your own?
  3. 3"For you have been a refuge for me" (61:3). The psalmist remembers what God has already been to him. What would you name from your own past if you prayed that line?

Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Psalm 61 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.

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Questions

What is Favor?

Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home