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 y’all’s heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah.
Psalm 62:5-8, NASB with "Texan Bible" Chrome app edit
In context, David is under attack when he pens these words. As enemies surround him, (see vss 3-4), he encourages himself in God by focusing his gaze on His character. The assailants are living a lie, and under their attack he feels "Like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence" (vs 3).
Although he may feel he is tottering or on the verge of collapse, he talks to himself. "My soul," he says, "wait in silence for God only." He tells himself to hush in the midst of the lies the enemies spout and to wait for God and God only. As he waits, he remembers the many ways God is the provision of his needs in this battle.
The God for whom he waits is:
- his source of hope (5);
- his stability (his rock, in whom he will not be shaken or "upended," NET, vs 6);
- his salvation, his rescue, his deliverance (6);
- his security (stronghold, 6);
- his support (his salvation rests on God, 7);
- his significance (glory, 7);
- his strength (rock of my strength, 7);
- and his shelter (my word for 2014, "refuge," 7 and 8).
In short, David finds in his God everything he needs at that moment, in that trial.
He makes the application clear in verse 8. He has been talking to himself, but now he talks to us:
Trust in Him at all times, O people;
Pour out y’all’s heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us.
He exhorts us to trust this safe, strong, stable, sure refuge at all times. He summons us to pour out our heart in "earnest prayer" (ESV Study Bible note, s.v. 8) before the Lord. He invites us to make his refuge our refuge, too.
Meditating on these words has blessed me this morning, friends, and I pray the Lord makes them a word of sustenance to some weary reader, too (Isaiah 50:4). The Lord is our hope, our stability, our salvation, our security, our support, our significance, our strength, and our refuge. Let's trust Him and pour out every sorrow and joy in our hearts to Him today.
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Thanks be to God for His good gifts this past week:
His living Word,
the freedom in Christ to dump the junk drawer of my heart out before the Father without fear,
my sure refuge in Him,
those who minister to the congregation in song Sunday mornings,
the adjustment process to my new orthotics,
an interview scheduled for a loved one in need of employment,
profession of faith in Christ by my nephew Thunder,
a beautiful, warm March 1 for Mezzo's birthday,
much laughter, food, and encouragement at her tea with friends, Terza, Mom, and me,
more laughter and lots of hugs from the after-party with family only,
my whole immediate family together to celebrate,
another upper respiratory infection,
Bradford pear trees beginning to bloom out,
shelter from yesterday's ice storm and "thundersleet,"
& freedom to stay cozy at home today.
(#626-640 on 2014's 1,000 gifts count)
