My soul, wait in silence for God only,
For my hope is from Him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.
On God my salvation and my glory rest;
The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.
Trust in Him at all times, O people;
Pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us. – Psalm 62: 5-8
The Christian life is a life of faith. From start to finish it is a life of trusting God, relying on God and depending on God. It is by faith we entered the Kingdom of God and by faith we progress in it. From beginning to end and every step in between, the Christian life is a journey of faith.
Yet, even as believers we all fight the temptation when thrown into difficult times to trust God and someone else, trust God and something else, or even trust God and our own selves. In the fiery trials of life, the temptation is often for us to trust God and our own abilities, our own solutions, and our own resources, when in reality what we must do in EVERY circumstance is trust God and Him alone.
We must understand as believers that faith is laying both hands upon God; it is fixing our eyes upon Him; turning our ears to Him and planting our feet upon Him. Faith is a total complete trust in God. It is looking to Him exclusively and relying upon Him completely. Throughout the entirety of Psalm 62 this is the most important message; that David is making God his only object of trust. He is not trusting in someone or something else; he is trusting in God alone. This is where His confidence arises.
The background behind Psalm 62 is that David is being assailed, basically he is under attack. This is possibly from either his son Absalom’s rebellion or possibly even Saul’s pursuit of him. Nevertheless, David remains strong and immoveable; How? It is because he has put his trust in God and God alone.
Now our estranged child or our predecessor may not be actively seeking us out to destroy us, but we all face very fiery trials within our lives. So often, when we find ourselves in a trial we want to take matters into our own hands, working out our own solutions according to our own wisdom. Our temptation is to act immediately and impulsively, rather than waiting upon God to act. When we make these rushing judgments we only worsen the situation. We jump from the fire to the frying pan, but not David here. He waits silently for God only. In speaking to his own heart he says, “My soul, wait in silence” David is saying that he is going to surrender his thoughts, his heart and his will to silently waiting on God alone. He was not holding anything back from God, are you?
David would continue, “He ONLY is my rock and my salvation.” This is a result of David’s personal relationship with God. Knowing God makes him our rock and our stronghold. David did not say “He is A rock,” he says, “He is MY rock,” can you say the same today? Do you trust God today? Is your faith personal; is it patient? Is your world shaken, your life unstable? Then wait silently on God alone.
You see David is very much in a place of great instability, but in these verses he speaks truth into himself and reminds himself of the hope he has in God. We need to be very much like David in this passage and speak to our own soul. We need to quit listening to our fears and our doubts and we need to declare that we will wait upon the Lord and Him alone. For God alone is our safety. In good times or bad times, on the mountain top or the valley low, both in prosperity and adversity we must trust and confide in Him. I hope you are not reading this thinking, “If only so-and-so could hear this,” this is for you. God is your refuge; will you pour your heart out to Him?
It amazes me how quick we are to seek wise council from ignorant sources when we have an immoveable rock and the source of all knowledge that gets looked to last. I pray that we understand that “half trust” in God is no trust in God. In commenting on what it is to trust God John Calvin writes, “It is that settled submission when the faithful rest in the promises of God, give place to His word, and obey His rule.”
My friends we are in the violent waves of life, but we must anchor our ships to the unshakeable and immoveable pier which is Jesus Christ. For no matter how tempestuous the storm may be this Rock remains unshaken. Now as you are reading this, I do not know where you are at in your relationship with Christ. However, I do want you to know that He alone is the way to life. Church will not save you, baptism will not save you and good works will not save you. Only through faith in Christ and Him alone can you be saved. May our words reflect that of these from a wonderful classic hymn, “In my hands no prize I bring, simply to the cross I cling!”
