A FEW YEARS AGO I had the opportunity to travel to Alaska for a couple of weeks to do some fishing and sightseeing. A long-time friend owns a fishing camp and invited me to spend a week with him at his lodge. As long as I was making the trip, I thought it would be fun to have my wife join me for a week after the fishing trip to see Denali National Park, Seward, and other tourist destinations.
I almost missed the connecting flight to the fishing lodge. My first plane flight was delayed a couple of hours leaving Orlando so I missed my connecting flight in Houston. I finally got to Seattle on the last flight out but, of course, missed my connecting flight to Anchorage. I arrived in Seattle at 2 a.m. and was placed on standby for a 5 a.m. flight, so I tried to catch a quick nap on the cozy Seattle airport floor. Every fifteen minutes, however, I was reminded to not leave my bags unattended.
I was able to get on that 5 a.m. flight, which landed in Anchorage just in time for me to catch the small plane that was graciously waiting to fly me out to my friend’s lodge. If I had missed that flight, I would have had to arrange travel to the lodge on my own some two hundred miles west of Anchorage.
For three days, I enjoyed fishing with my friend and his guests at the isolated lodge on a beautiful Alaskan river. But the third night I experienced another sleepless night. About an hour after going to bed, I woke up in tremendous pain. It felt like someone was pushing a knife through my back. I thought maybe I had some kind of food poisoning, and managed to wait until morning to ask for help.
I was two hundred miles from the nearest hospital, in an area with no roads. My friend’s son-in-law is a bush pilot, and he agreed to take me back to Anchorage in one of their little Cessna airplanes. We got close to Anchorage, but had to turn back because of a low cloud ceiling – those small planes have limits and no instruments for that kind of flying. He flew me to a nearby airport and I bought a ticket for a flight on a larger plane.
I finally got to Anchorage, rented a car at the airport and drove myself to the emergency room at the closest hospital, where the doctors confirmed my guess: I had a kidney stone. I was sent to a hotel to wait for it to pass.
It didn’t pass.
My wife was scheduled to arrive in Anchorage for a week’s travel, and I was somehow surviving from one pain pill to the next. When she arrived, we tried to drive to Denali National Park, to the Bed-and-Breakfast lodge where we had a reservation, but the pain of riding in the car was too much for me. We had to stop and find somewhere to stay.
A tiny stone was ruining the vacation I had looked forward to for many months and had planned so carefully. We finally had to go back to the hospital to have the stone removed surgically so I could get on an airplane to fly home.
I believe God is sovereign and that nothing that happens in my life happens by chance or without his control. Sometimes this belief causes frustration. God could have prevented all that trouble and pain, but he didn’t. Was it really necessary for God to allow me to have a kidney stone then and there – on vacation? Why not a couple weeks later when I was back home? I had looked forward to that vacation for a long time. I had planned it out with great care. I had looked forward to enjoying Alaska with Margaret. Instead, I slept a lot (thanks to the pain medicine) and got out to see the sights only in short groggy spurts.
You’ve probably had weeks like that. You’ve probably had times when all you could think to pray was, “God, was this really necessary? What good purpose is there in these annoying things?”
You will speak hundreds, maybe thousands of words out loud today. But that’s nothing compared to the flow of words in your mind and heart. In your mind there is a nonstop flow of words and thoughts: “God, why would you let this happen to me? Why do I experience so many disappointments and so much frustration? Why don’t the plans that I make work out the way I hoped?”
What conversations are going on in your soul today? Are things noisy or quiet inside? When you turn off the television or the CD player or the computer; when you drive somewhere in silence with no music or talk radio; when you are really quiet, what words flow through your mind?
Abuse of power
Nobody is quite sure when Psalm 62 was written or what circumstances in David’s life would fit this psalm. David was the king over Israel about 3,000 years ago, but we actually know a good bit about him.
He was the youngest son of a man named Jesse. Anointed to be king by the prophet Samuel during the reign of Saul, David endured a stormy relationship with Saul, who took to him like a son, and then turned around and tried repeatedly to kill him. David went into hiding, like an outlaw: he lived on the run with his growing band of men and, in the eyes of King Saul, they all became fugitives literally moving from cave to cave.
After many years of living on the run, Saul was killed in battle and David finally ascended to the throne. His reign is remembered as the golden era in Jewish history. Things went well for David until the episode with Bathsheba. David saw her bathing on a rooftop and used his kingly power to have her brought to his palace. When she told him she was pregnant, David again used his power to cover up his adulterous relationship and had her husband killed. Confronted by the prophet Nathan, David acknowledged his sin and came to real repentance.
God forgave his sin.
But trouble plagued his family the rest of his life. His last years saw an attempted coup by his son, Absalom, the rape of his daughter by another son, and the growing threat of division in his kingdom.
Peace amidst storms
Absalom’s attempt to unseat David as king may be the background to Psalm 62. But to grasp the heart of this psalm, you don’t need to know what moved the writer to pen these words. What he says here is what we all experience at different times in our lives. Just think of a time when you were restless. Think of a time when some unexpected problem rocked your life. Think of a time when it felt like everyone was against you.
Now consider this psalm and what it says about prayer.
“For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken” (Psalm 62:1-2).
To wait in silence means to be quiet on the inside, to be at peace. Wouldn’t it be nice to experience that kind of real internal peace, at least once in a while?
What David says in this little psalm is not a theoretical possibility. He says he had learned to live like this. This is not the kind of peace Buddhism teaches: “What you’re experiencing is not real, it’s an illusion.” Buddhism tries to tell you pain is an illusion and you need to learn to meditate and empty your mind of all the fears and pains you’re feeling.
At this point in David’s life, waiting in silence before God did not mean he had no pressures or conflicts or problems, so everything was peaceful. His enemies were spreading lies about him (verse 4) and scheming to overthrow him. That’s a pretty stressful situation.
The internal quietness he’s describing is something he experienced in the midst of all kinds of stress, circumstances, and problems. And he didn’t find peace by trying to empty his mind so he could pretend he didn’t have any problems.
It was a learned composure. It wasn’t just a feeling that came over him. It was something he had learned, something he had chosen. He chose to respond to life in a way that kept the internal words and images from taking control of his feelings and actions.
When we sing this psalm in our worship services, we say, “Find rest my soul in God alone.” Literally, David said, “For God alone my soul waits in silence.” Through all the ups and downs of his life, David knew God.
Consider what is described in I Samuel 30:
“While David and his men were away on a raid, the Amalekites raided their homes and carried off their wives and children as captives.
“David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.”
The circumstances of that situation left David’s men on the edge of despair. They were almost overwhelmed with distress and bitter feelings of disappointment. But David was able to find rest and strength in God. He had learned how to silence his mind and heart before God, even in painful, difficult circumstances.
Back to Psalm 62, verse 3:
“How long will all of you attack a man to batter him, like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?”
Recently, I went to YouTube to find the lyrics of a Christian song I wanted to hear. Below the lyrics was a dialogue of responses to the song. One man’s response was full of vehement, ugly, hate-filled words against Christians. He claimed he didn’t believe in God, so I was surprised he would go to the song in the first place. Why did he even bother to look at the words if he had such strong opinions against Christianity? But there it was – he felt compelled to write comment after comment against Christianity.
It could be that David is thinking of those who are opposing him, like the sad man spewing his hatred on YouTube toward Christians. He uses the analogy of their persistent attacks as being like a leaning wall or tottering fence that is about to fall down – either on themselves or on David. (Perhaps this is how David felt when his enemies taunted him as he was forced to run for his life from his own son, Absalom.)
Verse 4: “They only plan to thrust him down from his high position. They take pleasure in falsehood. They bless with their mouths but inwardly they curse. Selah.”
Think about this
We usually skip over that word, Selah, like it’s a Hebrew punctuation mark, a period at the end of a phrase. It actually is a word of instruction for the person singing this psalm. It means, “Stop and think about this. Take a long pause.”
If David means his enemies are like a tottering fence that is about to collapse, he is saying they seem strong and firm, but their destruction is near. Ponder this truth. Those enemies who oppose you and who seem so strong and dangerous are really like a weak wall that is about to fall flat.
C.H. Spurgeon interpreted verse 3 as a description of what was about to happen to David’s enemies, and our enemies: “they totter to their fall; it will be our wisdom to keep our distance, for no one is advantaged by being near a falling wall; if it does not crush with its weight, it may stifle with its dust.”
David’s enemies battered him, thinking they could throw him down and be done with him. If they could overthrow him with lies, they would delight in falsehoods. They might look like they’re caring, concerned people just fighting for the truth, but their hearts were full of curses. But David knew how they would end up, because he knew the character of God.
“Selah.” Pause and consider with amazement the futile violence of men who set themselves against God and his purposes. And remember the complete security that belongs to those who rest in God.
David continues, verse 5:
“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.”
That sounds great, but how is it possible to rest (to be calm and silent inwardly) in those times when the world threatens to tear you apart? Only when you are convinced in your heart that God is with you can you wait for him and rest on him alone. Only when you are convinced he alone can meet your deepest need in the circumstances you are facing will you be able to rest in silence. When you feel like all you have, all you want, and all you expect are found in God, you can have joy, no matter what the circumstances of life.
Paul was in prison, facing death when he wrote:
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again, rejoice. Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:4-7).
Out of control
In Psalm 131 David says he has stilled and quieted his heart before God. He says: “I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me” (Psalm 131:1b).
That can’t mean questions did not come into his mind. I’m sure he wondered what God was doing. It would have been natural for him to wonder why God was allowing difficult things to happen to him. When you experience troubling circumstances, you can’t help but wonder why God tolerates evil things and why he doesn’t make things better for good people and worse for people who don’t honor him. Why doesn’t God do what we think he should do?
David said he had learned an important truth: There are things he could not begin to understand (“I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me”). There are things I can’t control. I have to leave those things in God’s hands; they are beyond my ability to understand.
David had learned to make a choice: instead of dwelling on those things and being frustrated with what he didn’t understand and could not control in the world around him, he had learned to leave those things in God’s hands.
The result was a quiet mind and heart, a soul at rest in the Lord. David experienced a kind of quiet confidence.
Think of how much internal noise is stirred up in you. How much frustration do you experience because of anger about things you can’t control? People don’t do what you want them to do. Your children don’t respond the way you think they should. Your husband doesn’t say what you wish he would say. Your wife doesn’t see the situation the same way you do. What if you could turn those things over to God and trust him with all your unanswered questions?
There are so many things you can’t control, so many things you won’t understand. Can you trust God with those things?
To trust God, you need to know why he is trust-worthy.
Refocus
When people face unexpected, serious difficulties, I often hear them say something like: “I just don’t know if I can believe what I’ve been told about God. My faith is weak.”
I don’t think that’s actually the problem. If you’re trying to work up stronger faith, you’re focus is on the wrong person. You’re focusing on yourself and your ability to believe rather than focusing on God and his character.
Look at David’s focus in Psalm 62:
“He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God” (verses 6 & 7).
Notice how the psalmist makes this personal. Look back through the psalm and notice that he says, “My rock, my salvation, my fortress, my glory, my rock, my refuge.” It’s not a general truth that God is all these things. It is the word “my” that makes all the difference. What good is it to know God is “a” refuge, “a” mighty rock if he isn’t that for you personally? David lays claim to the character of God in action toward David.
He continues:
“Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us” (verse 8).
It’s one thing to trust God when you can pretty well see what he is doing. It’s another thing to trust him in those times when everything seems dark and you can’t see what God is going to do.
But how do you know you can trust God?
Well, why do you think he told all these stories in the Bible of real people with real problems? They trusted God and found him to be their Rock, their Defender, their Fortress. To need a Rock, a Defender, a Fortress, a Refuge – to need saving implies that you are in trouble. It’s when you are in a terrible storm and your boat is sinking that you need a refuge and a shelter from the storm. It is when you are surrounded by a hostile enemy that you need a strong fortress.
But, you might say, what about people who trust in God when they need a shelter and a fortress who are not delivered from their troubles? What about those people described in Hebrews 11 who had faith in God, but were killed? They died believing and trusting God. But notice they died. They weren’t rescued at the last minute.
The writer of Hebrews said they died in faith, that is, they died believing God. What was it they believed about God? Was it just that he would rescue them from the immediate, physical danger or keep them from suffering? No.
Consider Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego before the King Nebuchadnezzar. When they were threatened with immediate, painful death in a blazing hot furnace for refusing to bow down and worship a statue of the king, they said, “God is able to save us. But even if he doesn’t, we won’t bow down and worship the statue…” (Daniel 3:17-18).
They were confident God had the power and ability to rescue them from the fire. But they were equally confident God could accomplish their ultimate deliverance from this fallen world by allowing them to die in the fire and taking them into his presence. Long before the Apostle Paul penned those beautiful words at the end of Romans 8, they believed that nothing in all creation could separate them from the love of God – not even death.
Selah
Again, Psalm 62 points us toward the trustworthiness of God:
“Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us” (verse 8).
What an amazing and beautiful admonition: “pour out your heart before him.” Where else can you go with all this stuff in your heart? God’s heart is opened to you in Scripture. Now you open your heart to him and tell him what you are thinking and feeling, what you’re afraid of, what doesn’t make sense to you. Don’t hide anything from God (as if you could). Unburden your soul to him. Let him be the one you talk to about what you are thinking and feeling. Pour out your heart to God.
What a great invitation to honest, personal prayer. God is a refuge for you. He is a safe place. You can pour out your heart to other people, but they often can’t handle what you tell them. You discover that people are quickly overwhelmed when you pour out your soul to them. But God is never overwhelmed. He can handle your questions and grief and disappointments.
At this point in Psalm 62, the writer again inserts the word, “Selah.” Again, there’s the need for a timely silence. Pause to think long and deeply about this.
He continues:
“Those of low estate are but a breath; those of high estate are a delusion; in the balances they go up, they are together lighter than a breath” (verse 9).
So often when we face difficult situations, we look for someone who can help us figure out what to do. We look for someone who can fix the problems for us. We look for human solutions to our problems.
Have you ever wondered why people can’t help you figure out some of your difficult problems? The fact is people don’t make very good gods. They can’t be your defender the way God can. And the simple reason is they are “but a breath.” They are mortal and finite.
But we keep trusting in human solutions. We think “if we can just get our political party in power, everything will change and all the wrongs will be righted.” Certainly there is a place for political action, for working for what is best for society as a whole, and there is a time to fight for justice. But don’t put all your hope in that. It’s “but a breath” that leads to disappointment. Put your hope in God. Put your trust in him.
One word is enough
The Psalmist says:
“Put no trust in extortion; set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase, set not your heart upon them” (verse 10).
Spurgeon’s comment on this verse is great: “Gain and fame are only so much foam on the sea. All the wealth and honor the whole world can afford would be too slender a thread to bear up the happiness of an immortal soul.”
Don’t set your heart on a solution money can provide. It’s too unreliable. Psalm 62 concludes with these words:
“Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. For you will render to a man according to his work” (verses 11 and 12).
So unchanging and unchangeable is God, that we only need him to say something once. He is infallible: he doesn’t make mistakes when he makes a promise. He is all powerful (omnipotent). One word of God’s intentions is all it takes for God to do what he says.
But notice, “twice have I heard this.” Maybe he means God said it, and he hears the echo of it in his soul again, and again. This is the message going around and around in the head of the psalmist: power belongs to God, and steadfast love. This is God’s character. This is what God has revealed about himself.
David says, “This is what I will believe.” God is able to do what he promises because power belongs to God. And God is willing to do what he promises, because he is a God of steadfast love. Therefore, trusting in God will not lead to disappointment.
“For you will render to a man according to his work” (Psalm 62:12b).
That’s a difficult verse to interpret because we read it in terms of what we know about God’s saving grace. We are justified by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ, apart from any works that we bring to the table. David is not talking here about justification. He’s talking about trusting God in difficult circumstances and resting in God’s ability and goodness. It is more likely that what this phrase means in this context is that God will show himself powerful to those who trust him. Your trust in God (“according to your work”) will not prove empty. God will do what you are powerless to do.
For God to be your defender and fortress does not mean you will have no problems. We live in a fallen world. We are not spared the fallout of all that sin does to distort and disrupt life. God nowhere promises Christians that they will escape the pains and sorrows of life. What he promises is redemption. He will preserve you through whatever difficulties, problems and sorrows he chooses to allow in your life, and he will accomplish the final restoration of this world, the ultimate redemption (see the last half of Romans 8). Nothing will keep him from accomplishing what he has promised. Nothing will separate you from his love in Christ Jesus.
Instead of letting your desires, your fears, your opinions, your worries, or the things that irritate you take control of your life, you can choose to push them down and put them in their place.
How do you do that? Not by pretending your problems aren’t real or that they aren’t painful. Evil things that happen to you are still evil. Painful circumstances still hurt. It’s not that you just empty your heart of all worries. Biblical faith is realistic. We do live in a broken, fallen, pain-filled world. But that brokenness is not the final word. It is not the ultimate reality. God’s character is still one of steadfast love and his power has not diminished in the slightest. So don’t let the difficulties and disappointments you experience rule your heart and mind.
Confidence in God
This is important to understand: you can’t beat down the restlessness of your heart by sheer will power. You can try to tell yourself, “I will not be irritated by this. I will not let this bother me.” But it won’t work. Like the Scriptures ask, can the leopard change his spots? You can’t do it. You’re not strong enough. Your heart is too strong. And you can’t change your heart just by telling yourself you need to calm down and think differently.
Biblical faith does not tell us “just don’t let these things rule you.” Instead, we are taught to replace the fears and restlessness in our hearts with something else. It’s a process of replacing worries and the attitude that stirs up frustration in your soul with a confidence in God.
When your heart is filled with trust, it pushes out fear. When your heart is filled with confidence that God knows what is best for you and that what he has allowed is wise, you quit kicking against it. You rest in him when you trust him.
This is where prayer comes into the equation. When you know you can’t change your own heart or overcome your fears and doubts by sheer willpower, turn to God in prayer and ask him to do in you what you are unable to do for yourself. Pour out your heart to him.
This is a huge part of the purpose of prayer. Page through the psalms and notice how often the psalmists pour out their confusion, their fears, their disappointments, and even their anger before God. They are not afraid to tell God what they are thinking and feeling. And as they do that, perspective returns.
You don’t have to understand everything God is doing. You don’t have to be able to explain what is happening in your life. You can trust God with those things if you are confident that he is for you, that power belongs to him, and that mercy and steadfast love are found in God.
“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29).
Will you believe that God is wise and that he is good? Will you trust that he is working in all things for the good of those he loves?
It is this kind of quiet confidence in God that develops as you learn to pour out your heart to him in prayer.