From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. (Psalm 61:2)
When the floods of trouble swirl around us, our most obvious need is to find a sure, safe place on higher ground. That is what the Gospel of Jesus Christ offers every man, woman, and child. When Peter and John were hastening into the temple after the Savior’s Crucifixion, Resurrection, and ascension into heaven, a beggar called out to them from the steps of the temple asking for alms. The scriptures say that he was a man crippled from his birth who had spent nearly forty years of his life being carried to and from these temple steps where he could beg of those going into the house of the Lord.
When he saw Peter and John, he made his appeal to them. These two Apostles, former fishermen who had left their nets to follow the Savior, had no material wealth of any kind. Peter said to the man, “Look on us.” And the man looked on them, expecting to receive alms. Peter then said, “Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.”
And then the passage says, “And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up.”141
President Harold B. Lee said of that experience: “Will you see that picture now of that noble soul, that chiefest of the apostles, perhaps with his arms around the shoulders of this man, and saying, ‘Now, my good man, have courage, I will take a few steps with you. Let’s walk together, and I assure you that you can walk because you have received a blessing by the power and authority that God has given us as men, his servants.'” Then President Lee said to the audience, “You cannot lift another soul until you are standing on higher ground than he is. You must be sure, if you would rescue the man, that you yourself are setting the example of what you would have him be. 142
All of us have days when we are “overwhelmed,” days of meekness and lowliness of heart. In such times all of us cry out for someone—anyone—to lead us to higher ground, to more stable footing. How grateful we are to those who are strong and faithful, those who reach down, lift others up, and set them on the rock of Christ. In those times we give thanks to heaven for all helpers—and he who is our ultimate help always, who not only stands on higher ground but is higher ground, who not only raises us to a rock, but is that rock. ~Jeffrey R. Holland, For Times of Trouble (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2012). 95-6
