As You Wait for God Alone

As You Wait for God Alone

Psalm 62

 

Illus. Line up!

This morning we turn to Psalm 62, which is a Psalm that describes a time in the life of David where he gives a statement about waiting, and just who he was waiting for, God alone. Like many times in the Psalms, psalm 62 is a time of defined trouble for David, and he was waiting to be delivered and saved, but he knew his deliverance would come from God alone. It is in this Psalm where David famously wrote, “my soul waits in silence for God alone.”  It is a unique Psalm in that, it makes no requests of God and it does not share any particular prayer to God, but throughout the Psalm we see David’s and his trust, confidence and disposition because of his description of God.

 

In the Bible, we consistently see the call to wait on the Lord…

 

Psalm 27:14, Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord.

 

Psalm 37:7, Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not get upset because of one who is successful in his way, because of the person who carries out wicked schemes.

 

Psalm 37:34, Wait for the Lord and keep His way…

 

To wait in these verses are words that show us the picture of one looking for, hoping for, lying in wait for. To wait longingly, to look eagerly for, the linger for.  The Bible not only tells us to wait, but there are also promises for those who wait…

 

Lamentations 3:25, The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him. (NASB 95’)

 

Isaiah 40:31, those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.

 

Psalm 33:20-22, Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. For our heart rejoices in Him, because we trust in His holy name. Let Your favor, Lord, be upon us, just as we have waited for You.

 

Isaiah 64:4, Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him. (NIV)

 

Illus. Who waits?

 

As we pick up in Psalm 62, David is in a time of waiting. The Psalm is not one that gives us a specific occasion at to when it was written in the superscription, however, the common belief is that it was written during the period of David’s life when his son Absalom rebelled against him and his throne.

 

Illus. Some context from 2 Samuel chapters 13 to 19.

 

Psalm 62:1-2, My soul waits in silence for God alone; from Him comes my salvation. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I will not be greatly shaken.

 

The Bible defines the soul as a part of a person that is not physical, it is that which lasts eternally, after the body experiences death. It is distinct from the heart (Deut. 26:16; 30:16), and the mind (Mt. 22:37, Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind”; Mark 12:30).  In Genesis 35:18, we read of Rachel, Jacob’s wife, and we learn that as she was passing away, “her soul was departing.” George MacDonald once said, “You don’t have a soul, you are a soul. You have a body.” The soul is the essence of who we are. David is essentially saying, “with all that I am, my whole being, I wait in silence for God alone…” Waiting in silence is one word, that pictures a person in waiting with trust in stillness, quietness, and silence.

It is a Psalm that seems to take place after David had done all he could do and said all he could say. Either that, or the place he had come to left him speechless with nothing to say. Regardless of the reason for his silence, David determined in his trouble, to turn his attention to God and focus his attention on who he knew God to be and trusted God to be that to him personally. Not only this, however, David turns his attention at the end to those who would hear or read His words to the importance of always trusting the Lord, particularly in times of waiting.

 

1. Let His Description Drive Your Disposition

 

• A person’s disposition is the predominant or prevailing tendency of a person’s outlook, mood, or attitude. On the run again for his life, many outlooks, moods, or attitudes could have arisen for David. But he allowed his description of God to be that which determined his disposition.

 

• David wrote three descriptive statements regarding who God alone was to him, and because of God’s description, he then gave two statements about his disposition.

 

• David wrote that God was his salvation, rock, and stronghold. Let look at all three of these descriptions.

 

• David was able to wait in silence for God alone because David’s salvation comes from Him, and He alone is David’s salvation.

 

• When David speaks of his salvation, he is speaking of his deliverance, his victory, his being saved by God.

 

• David seems to have done all he could do, he looks to the Lord, God, I am waiting on you!

 

• The word for Salvation is used in several other places in Scripture that David would have been aware of.

 

Illus. In Exodus 14:13, Pharoah is in pursuit, nothing the people could do.  

 

Exodus 14:13, But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will perform for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again, ever. The Lord will fight for you, while you keep silent.”

 

• Perhaps David looked back on that story, Lord, you alone are my salvation, I am going to keep silent, I need you alone to fight for me.

 

• We see another situation where stillness came before God’s salvation in 2 Chronicles.

 

Illus. in 2 Chronicles 20.

 

2 Chronicles 20:12, We have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you. (NIV)

 

• Then the Lord responded…

 

2 Chronicles 20:15;17, This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s….You need not fight in this battle; take your position, stand and watch the salvation of the Lord in your behalf, Judah and Jerusalem.’

 

• What is intriguing about these stories is that they both reference the salvation of God, and the powerlessness of His people to save themselves…He alone was their salvation. This is representative of David’s disposition.

 

• David waited in silence for God alone, know that He alone was David’s salvation.

 

Psalm 62:2, He alone is my rock…

 

• In calling God his rock, he is referencing God alone as his source of stability, that which is solid and sure enough to not only stand on, but stand in.

 

• The rock is written of and referred to quite often in Scripture. And the Lord, is consistently referred to as the Rock of Salvation.

 

2 Samuel 22:47, The Lord lives, and blessed be my Rock; and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation.

 

Psalm 89:26, ‘You are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.’

 

Psalm 61:2, 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.

 

• In the Old Testament, we see the Israelites hiding out in caves and clefts of rocky mountains. These places were looked at as places of protection and stability. David declares here that God alone is his rock, and he needed a rock that was higher, a rock that was sure, the rock of his soul salvation.

 

• The other description David applies to God is that God is his stronghold.

 

• This word is translated elsewhere as “defense,” or “fortress,” or “refuge.”

 

Psalm 9:9, The Lord will also be a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.

 

Psalm 59:16, But I will sing of Your power; yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning; for You have been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble. To You, O my Strength, I will sing praises; For God is my defense, my God of mercy.

 

• The Lord is my defense, my refuge, my stronghold David wrote. David did not simply say the Lord will be my defender, but rather, the Lord is my defense, He is my protection plan.

 

• David describes the Lord as his salvation, his rock, his stronghold!

 

• And because David knew who the Lord was, and who the Lord was to him, two things define his disposition in the midst of the trouble he was in: First, he could wait in silence for Him alone (he did not need to strive, shout, or be stirred up). Secondly, he declared that he would not be greatly shaken.

 

• He is looking at his situation, and His God, and seems to say, I might be a little bit shaken, but I won’t be greatly shaken.

 

• Other translations ready, “I will not be greatly moved,” or “moved much.”

 

• In other words, at this point of the Psalm at least, he understands that he would not escape all difficulty or calamity in his life, that he would have troubles in this world, but God was a rock that was higher, he would not be moved in the greatest sense of the word.

 

Illus. Status updates.

 

Psalm 62:3-4, How long will you attack a man, that you may murder him, all of you, like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence? They have planned only to thrust him down from his high position; they delight in falsehood; they bless with their mouth, but inwardly they curse. Selah

 

• David here asks a question of the enemies who are attacking him. David’s statements here fit quite well with the attacks coming from his son Absalom to overthrow his kingdom and take his life.

 

• David was getting attacked, people were assaulting him verbally, coming after him physically, his former chief counselor was finding ways that he could further ruin David and his family.

 

• In 2 Samuel 17, David learned that his former chief advisor was trying to take 12,000 men of war, find David wherever he was hiding, and wage war against him. The plan got diverted by a spy David had sent to obtain information…Still, David was aware that he was being attacked, that people wanted to murder him and he asks the question of them, “how long will you do this?”

 

• He continued, verse 4, to note that their plans were only to take him down from his position as king, that they delighted in falsehood, that they blessed with their mouth, but inwardly, they curse.

 

• This was all we see his enemies talk about and plan together, how to take him out. David knew it, that was what they were set on, being against him.

 

Psalm 62:4(b)-5, They delight in lies; they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah

 

• This was surely happening, his son Absalom, when he returned to David’s house bowed before him, putting his face to the ground in honor and humility…Absalom refers to himself as David’s servant when in his presence, but, after leaving David’s presence, he started making promises to people about what would be true if he were king. He was stockpiling people would revolt with him and declare him king.

 

• David thought about his enemies, they were two-faced, saying honorable things, but doing evil things.

 

• I love the word that comes at the end of verse 4, “Selah.” That is a pause, a break, a stop of sorts.

 

• Perhaps David was getting stirred up as he thought about those who were against him… So perhaps that is why there is a “Selah” there!

 

1. Remind Your Soul About Your Savior

 

Psalm 62:5-7, My soul, wait in silence for God alone, for my hope is from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my refuge; I will not be shaken. My salvation and my glory rest on God; the rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.

 

• I love the shift in verse 5, because in verses 1 and 2, David states the truth of who his God is and the state of his soul in light of who God is…But now he speaks to his soul.

 

• He knew something theologically, that his soul waits. He knew the description of God historically. He is my Salvation, my Rock, my Stronghold!

 

• But now he needed to remind his soul to put it in to practice personally.

 

• He reminds himself, coaches himself, encourages himself, to wait for God alone, because his hope is from Him alone.

 

• He reminds his soul that God is his rock, and his salvation, and his refuge!

 

• And in your life, when you are in a situation that is beyond you, nothing you can do, nothing you can say, if Jesus Christ is your Lord, you too can do like David did and remind your soul of your Savior!

 

• If you have put your faith and trust in Jesus, you have a Savior!

 

John 3:16, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

 

Acts 4:12, Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.

 

• If you have put your faith and trust in Jesus you have a Rock to rely on for now and forever!

 

• David pointed to a Rock that was higher!

 

Isaiah 28:16, Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “Look! I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem, a firm and tested stone. It is a precious cornerstone that is safe to build on. Whoever believes need never be shaken. (NLT)

 

Illus. Healing and Teaching (Acts 3 and 4).

 

Acts 4:11, Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, ‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’ (NLT)

Psalm 118:22, A stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.

 

• In Bible times, when buildings were built, they weren’t built with 2×4’s. Rather, they used stones.

 

• Today if you go to Israel, you can see sections of the temple, which was built stone upon stone.

 

• The cornerstone was always the most important stone, the stability and symmetry of it all was set by the cornerstone. And if the stone wasn’t just perfect, everything would be off.

 

• So, the builders would select just the right stone for the cornerstone, the perfect stone which determined the integrity of the rest of the structure.

 

Illus. Rejected Stone.

 

• Don’t be shaken, o my soul, my Savior is a sure Rock, the Chief Cornerstone!

 

• David continued, in verse 6, reminding his soul that God is his refuge. There is that word again, my “defense,” my “fortress,” my “stronghold!”

 

• He is your stronghold, and He has a strong hold on your soul!

 

John 10:27-29, My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

 

• David had a sure Savior, it was God, and he reminded his soul all about Him in the midst of his trouble.

 

• I encourage you to do the same. To remind yourself about your Savior. To know that he is the Rock you can stand on and build your life on! He is the refuge you can run to, the one who will never let you go. He is the Savior who can bring hope to your life today, and promises upon your life for eternal days!

 

• I encourage you, to remind your soul about who His Word says He is!

 

Illus. Who is He to you?

 

Psalm 42:5, Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God…

 

 

III.  Trust in Him at All Times

 

• As David closes out Psalm 62, he turns his attention away from his situation, and gives a word of instruction to all people, at all times, in all situations…

 

Psalm 62:8-12

 

• David was confident that what he found God to be, others would find God to be.

 

• He told the people to trust God at all times, not just sometimes, or part-time, all the time.

 

• He told them to pour out their hearts before Him, to share their sorrows, their joys, their trials and troubles, their doubts and their fears, to clear it all out and pour it out to Him, because He is a refuge and safe place for them, just like he was for David.

 

• David was waiting on God, trusting in Him. Which is to have confidence in, security in, and to place ones hope in.

 

• David continued, don’t put your trust in people, they do not have the power to save, do not trust what oppression or difficulty will determine for you, do not rely on what you can take or get from others, do not set your heart on wealth and the worldly power that might come with it.

 

• Rather, David wrote, know that power belongs to God, and He is faithful, trust in Him alone as you wait for Him alone to do what only He alone can do!

Psalm 62