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PSALM 61

To him that presides upon Neginah; a Psalm of David.

1. Hear my cry, O god; attend to my prayer.
2. From the end of the earth I cry to you; when my heart fails lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.
3. For you have been a refuge for me, a strong tower from the enemy.
4. I will abide in your tabernacle for ever; I will take refuge under the covert of your wings. Selah.
5. For you, O god, have heard my vows; you have given me the heritage of those that fear your name.
6. You will prolong the days of the king; his years shall be from generation to generation.
7. He shall dwell before god for ever; O prepare mercy and truth, and let them preserve him.
8. So will I sing praises to your name for ever, by performing my vows daily.

Verse 2. When my heart fails, lead me to the rock that is higher than I. It is an eternal truth, that the lord governs heaven and the earth, also that no one lives from himself except the lord, consequently that the all of life flows in, good of life from the lord, and evil of life from hell; this is the faith of the heavens; when man is in this faith, in which he may be when in good, then evil cannot be affixed and appropriated to him, because it is not from himself, but from hell; when man is in this state he can then be gifted with peace, for then he will trust solely in the lord. AC 6325.

Rock denotes the lord as to the truth of faith, because by rock is also meant a bulwark which is against falses, the bulwark itself is the truth of faith, for combat is waged from that [truth] both against falses and evils. That jehovah is called a rock, and that on such occasions is meant the lord as to faith, is manifest from many passages in the Word, as from the following, "You have forgotten your salvation, and have not remembered the rock of your refuge," Isaiah 17:10; and in David, "From the extremity of the earth I cry to you, when my heart fails, lead me to the rock that is higher than I," Psalm 61:2. AC 8581.

Verse 4. I will abide in your tabernacle for ever, I will take refuge under the covert of your wings. To abide in your tabernacle for ever, signifies the Divine Good of love, to take refuge under the covert of your wings, signifies in Divine Truths, for the wings of jehovah signify spiritual Truths. AE 799.

Verse 6. You will prolong the days of the king, his years shall be from generation to generation. Years denote what is eternal, for the subject treated of is concerning the lord and his kingdom. That year in an internal sense does not signify year, may also be manifest from this consideration, that the angels, who are in the internal sense of the word, cannot have an idea of any year, but inasmuch as year denotes a full period of time in the natural world, therefore instead of year they have an idea of what is full in respect to states of the church, and of what is eternal in respect to states of heaven: times with them are states. AC 2906.

The Translator's Notes and Observations

Verse 7. He shall dwell before god for ever; O prepare mercy and truth, let them preserve him. The union of mercy and truth in these words, will not fail to remind the intelligent reader of the Marriage of the divine love and wisdom, which has been so often noted in the above pages as the distinguishing criterion of the Divine origin of the Sacred Scriptures. The same union will instruct him, that man cannot hope for the great blessing of dwelling before god for ever, only so far as mercy and truth preserve him by being formed into his life, as its ruling principles of conduct and conversation.