Hear My Cry (Psalm 61)—Paul Demer

by Paul Demer

Crying has been on my mind lately. My 3-month-old daughter cries every day. Of
course she smiles and coos and giggles sometimes too. But crying is her main mode
of communication. As is true with me and my heavenly Father, at least in the sense that a baby's cry is a request - a petition. Unlike my daughter, I try to balance my cries for help with thanksgiving and silence and speaking God's words back to him. But crying out my needs is my most natural and immediate prayer. God seems to intend for this sort of relationship - he calls me his child.

I wrote "Hear My Cry (Psalm 61)" in early 2023 and it turned out to be a needed prayer that year. As a beloved family member struggled with a grueling mental health crisis my cries to God were frequent, even as I was often at a loss for words.

My favorite part of this song is the rhyming of "cry" and "sighs." 

"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we
ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words." (Romans 8:26,
NRSV)

Often we don't even know what to cry. We ask for what we desire and then pray, "thy
will be done." Do our prayers even influence the Divine? Is the serenity to accept what we can't change the truest prayer? Maybe. Or maybe not. Jesus says, "ask, seek,
knock" - that our heavenly Father, even more than a human father, knows what we
need and will give it to us. Then why the wait?

There is no satisfying answer to why some prayers seem to go unanswered and why
those prayers that are answered often take so long. This aching for our prayers to be
answered is the very nature of our crying out to God. Still, becoming a parent is
changing how I see prayer.

When our sweet daughter cries we take it seriously but we don't always act
immediately. This is, we think, for her good. We've learned that often she will wake
from a deep sleep, cry a few times, stir, and then fall right back into her slumber. If we were to spring to pick her up every time she called out she would never get a night's rest. But we are there, watching and listening and assessing her needs. And we do pick her up often. Sometimes holding her is a consolation to her. Other times our firm and steady hands hold an inconsolable child who fights the very sleep that would surely soothe her. But either way we hold on when it is time. And lay her down when it is time. And pick her up again. We do so with love and weakness and compassion and occasional exasperation.

How much more will our Father in heaven care for those who cry out to him? We may not always feel his hands as consolation but we trust that he is holding us and will see us through another night.

"Hear my cry, O God;
listen to my prayer.
From the end of the earth I call to you,
when my heart is faint.
Lead me to the rock
that is higher than I;
for you are my refuge,
a strong tower against the enemy."
(Psalm 61:1-3)

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Hear my cry, O God
And listen to my prayer
Hear my sighs, O God
I'm trusting that you care

I'm calling on you
With a heavy heart
I need a foundation
Or I will fall apart

Chorus

I'm calling on you
With a heavy heart
I need a foundation
Or I will fall apart
You have been my refuge
You have been my tower
But now I need you to hold me
In my darkest hour

Chorus

O you have heard my vows
And called me family
I know you're near me when I cry
All through the night
So may I dwell within your house
My rock of safety
Under the cover of your wings
Lord, I will sing

Chorus

And as you sit upon your throne
For generations
Your loving-kindness never fades
It is my portion

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written & produced by Paul Demer
mixed & mastered by Chris Bethea
from the album "Psalms"

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Paul Demer is a singer-songwriter, record producer, outreach musician, worship leader, and family man. In addition to his ongoing work on a multi-volume collection of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, Paul is keeping busy producing records for other indie artists, playing concerts in local nursing homes, and serving as a music minister at St. Matthew's Cathedral in Dallas, TX. Listen closely to hear his wife Trisha's frequent harmonies and their infant daughter's cooing in the background.