Truly my soul finds rest in God;
my salvation comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.
How long will you assault me?
Would all of you throw me down—
this leaning wall, this tottering fence?
Surely they intend to topple me
from my lofty place;
they take delight in lies.
With their mouths they bless,
but in their hearts they curse.
Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
My salvation and my honor depend on God;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.
Surely the lowborn are but a breath,
the highborn are but a lie.
If weighed on a balance, they are nothing;
together they are only a breath.
Do not trust in extortion
or put vain hope in stolen goods;
though your riches increase,
do not set your heart on them.
One thing God has spoken,
two things I have heard:
“Power belongs to you, God,
and with you, Lord, is unfailing love”;
and, “You reward everyone
according to what they have done.”
~Psalm 62
-----
Two things the Lord has told us;
that He is powerful, and He is loving.
And I am living proof.
"How so?"
You may start to ask.
Two simple things we have all learned in Sunday School, from our parents or from listening to maybe 5 minutes of your youth pastor:
God is powerful, and God is loving.
Again, simple. Everyone knows that. But have we ever closed our eyes, sat back, and really listened to what that means? Have we ever really allowed ourselves to be...
In awe of that very truth?
This past year of my life I have never been more aware of the fact that I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing.
Ever been there?
This brings me back to those two simple truths.
I know that God is powerful, and that He is loving.
And that simple assurance might just be all I'll EVER need,
especially if I take my own life into consideration:
Because...
I know me.
I know the desires, and the thoughts, and the passions that no one else sees.
I see the pride and the lust that never dies and I can feel the dark blood that pulses in my veins.
We all know ourselves in this way.
What do you look like?
If everyone only knew what really goes on inside our heads, nobody would want to be anyone's friend... let alone hear what we all have to say.
And so, it is an absolute mystery that God would be good to us...
That He would carry us through our own confusion, deceitfulness, and sin and bring us to a place where we have an education, loving parents, health, friends, and if none of the previous... the promise of being just a prayer away. The promise of being all we'll ever need. The promise of being a father to the fatherless. The promise of being the great physician and comforter. The promise of being a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
And that's why God calls us to live in the mystery.
In the midst of the unanswered questions, unanswered pains and turmoils of this world... these two words, these two simple words:
Strong.
Loving.
...can begin to lose it's meaning... BUT when we truly think about it... they begin to help tremendously.
God is not loving toward us, because we have deserved it.
He is loving to us, because Christ deserved it for ALL of us.
He isn’t good to any of us, because we’re really good at saying our prayers and really good at loving other people.
He isn’t faithful to us, because we’re faithful to Him.
He loves us, because that’s who He is.
He is faithful to us, because He cannot deny Himself.
That’s who He is.
That’s what He’s about.
And it’s that knowledge that begins to change us.
It’s changing me.
It’s only that knowledge that will allow us to love Him back
in the way that He desires.
“We love because He first loved us.” ~1 John 4:19
And so truly we can find rest in God...Our salvation comes from him. He is our rock and our salvation; he is our fortress, we will never be shaken. Our hope comes from Him... because His promises remain: He loves YOU. He is Strong. He is loving. He does not fail. We can show Him by loving others, standing up for others and just being a friend to those who need one. And we can pray to know God's love and to live in it... wholeheartedly and intimately. That's what He wants for us.
But then there are verses 5 through 8:
Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
My salvation and my honor depend on God;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.
"My salvation and
my honor depend on God;"
Back in Bible times... honor depended upon other people.
A daughter brought honor to her father.
A son brought honor to his father's name and his father's household.
A woman brought honor to her husband and her husband's name.
A man's honor was weighed against the people in his life.
Today, we measure people's honor based off what they have done with their life, or how they live their life.
A soldier lives an honorable life... "Because they stand upon a wall and say, 'Nothing's going to hurt you tonight, not on my watch.'"(A Few Good Men, *Excellent Movie!)
A psychiatrist lives an honorable life because they treat mental illnesses and try to give people their lives back.
A doctor lives an honorable life because they save lives every day.
Must I continue?
But this Psalm tells us that our honor depends upon God... and to trust in Him at all times. To pour out our hearts to Him... Why? Because God is our refuge.
Refuge.
-shelter or protection from danger or distress. (Merriam-Webster)
Danger from comparing ourselves to other people.
Danger from having our self worth defined by other people.
Distress of thinking we have to work for something to have any kind of honor.
God is our refuge... our shelter from those thoughts and feelings.
Because our honor comes from Him.
Mirrors of His image.
He defines us.
He created us.
He pursues us.
He redeems us.
Will we trust Him?
Will we pour our hearts out to Him?
Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.
Let's live in the mystery of what that means.
