Psalm 62 Complete Jewish Bible
62 (0) For the leader. Set in the style of Y’dutun. A psalm of David:
2 (1) My soul waits in silence for God alone;
my salvation comes from him.
3 (2) He alone is my rock and salvation,
my stronghold; I won’t be greatly moved.
4 (3) How long will you assail a person
in order to murder him, all of you,
as if he were a sagging wall
or a shaky fence?
5 (4) They only want to shake him from his height,
they take delight in lying —
with their mouths they bless,
but inwardly they curse. (Selah)
6 (5) My soul, wait in silence for God alone,
because my hope comes from him.
7 (6) He alone is my rock and salvation,
my stronghold; I won’t be moved.
8 (7) My safety and honor rest on God.
My strong rock and refuge are in God.
9 (8) Trust in him, people, at all times;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us. (Selah)
10 (9) Ordinary folks are merely a breath
and important people a sham;
if you lay them on a balance-scale, they go up —
both together are lighter than nothing.
11 (10) Don’t put your trust in extortion,
don’t put false hopes in robbery;
even if wealth increases,
don’t set your heart on it.
12 (11) God has spoken once, I have heard it twice:
strength belongs to God.
13 (12) Also to you, Adonai, belongs grace;
for you reward all as their deeds deserve.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Psalm 62 is about waiting.
What are you waiting for?
Do you find it hard to wait?
Do you sometimes feel like God doesn’t hear your prayers?
Do you struggle with the distance between when you pray, when God answers?
Psalm 62 is in the Bible to convince you, remind you, that God is worth the wait.
Psalm 62 English Standard Version
My Soul Waits for God Alone
For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.
How long will all of you attack a man
to batter him,
like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
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.
For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
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.
Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us.
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.
Put no trust in extortion;
set no vain hopes on robbery;
if riches increase, set not your heart on them.
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.
Psalm 62 is arguing for the importance of waiting for God. Now, here’s what you need to understand.
Waiting on God is not like the purposeless waiting that you do in a doctor’s office. You know, say you’re a man, you’re waiting in the doctor’s office, and you’ve waited so long, you’ve read all the men’s magazines that are there, and you’re reading Ladies Home Journal, then the Doctors’ professional literature.
All that professional stuff does not hold any interest, And you’re back reading the chicken recipe and you’re thinking, “I didn’t know that went in chicken.”
You know you’ve waited too long!
You still have a very long day ahead of you with meetings and a plane to catch.
You are tempted to just get up and tell the secretary, you will call to reschedule and get up and leave all flustered as you waited 6 months for this appointment.
That’s not what waiting for God is like.
I want you to studiously hear this principle; it’s really argued in this Psalm 62.
Waiting on God is not about waiting for what you expect or hope, dream you get at the end of the long wait; waiting on God is what you become as you’ve waited.
Let me say that again. Waiting on God is not just about what you get at the end of the wait, but about what God already knows what you’ll become as you wait.
You see, waiting changes you.
You begin to learn that there is no salvation apart from God, that there’s no rock to stand on in life apart from him, that there is no fortress to be found outside of the Lord. You learn that to hope in him will never disappoint you.
You learn that you can pour out whatever is in your heart to him, and he won’t reject you, and he won’t turn his back on you, he won’t turn a deaf ear to you.
While you wait he is answering! You learn that when power is fading, and riches are fading, and you put the rich man and the poor man in a balance, and there’s not much difference, that real power and real steadfast love belong to the Lord.
You see, you need both of those.
If God just were awesome in power, he would be terrifying. If he was just all love but had no power, he couldn’t help you. If he was weak in character, he would not probably help you. You need the power and the love of the Lord, and as you wait on the Lord, you become more deeply convinced he’s 100% worth the wait.
He’s an immovable rock; he’s an indestructible fortress; he is an unchangeable hope. He can handle absolutely anything in your heart, orders chaos around.
It’s that 1 invaluable reminder for us all that he’s that indescribably beautiful combination between power, infinite power, and inexhaustible steadfast love.
Isaiah 40:28-31 Amplified Bible
28
Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become tired or grow weary;
There is no searching of His understanding.
29
He gives strength to the weary,
And to him who has no might He increases power.
30
Even youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
31
But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him]
Will gain new strength and renew their power;
They will lift up their wings [and rise up close to God] like eagles [rising toward the sun];
They will run and not become weary,
They will walk and not grow tired.
No matter how much time has passed, or how much time will pass before you recognize and acknowledge His answer, waiting on God is never purposeless.
It’s not just about what you get at the end of the wait; it’s about God already knows what you will become, what you have already become, as you waited!
Suggested Questions for Personal Reflection or Group Discussion
1. Why do you think waiting on God can feel so difficult? So purposeless? So frustrating? Do you struggle with the distance between when you pray and when God answers? If so, why do you think that waiting time is so hard for you? Can you remember a time when you waited on God? What was that experience like for you?
2. If waiting on God is not like waiting in a doctor’s office, what makes the two so different? Why is waiting on God not just about what you get at the end of the wait, but about what you become as you wait? How can you intentionally make choices to shift your perspective about waiting on God and allow it to change you?
3. As you come to process the all encompassing truth that God is all powerful and simultaneously all loving, how can that change your perspective on waiting for him? Do you authentically believe that he can handle anything that’s going on in your heart? If so, go ahead, pour out every vestige of your heart to him right now, confess that you struggle with waiting on him and his timing. Admit to him you’ve felt as if your waiting was purposeless. Now admit that you are in need of him to help you change and become a different person as you wait on his perfect timing.
4. As are reading or you have read and studied and pondered, discussed and prayed through the length and breadth and height and width and depth of this Psalm 62, repeat the same process for this passage text from the Gospel Narrative of Matthew;
Matthew 11:25-30 Amplified Bible
Come to Me
25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth [I openly and joyfully acknowledge Your great wisdom], that You have hidden these things [these spiritual truths] from the wise and intelligent and revealed them to infants [to new believers, to those seeking God’s will and purpose]. 26 Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. 27 All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one fully knows and accurately understands the Son except the Father; and no one fully knows and accurately understands the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son [deliberately] wills to reveal Him.
28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavily burdened [by religious rituals that provide no peace], and I will give you rest [refreshing your souls with salvation]. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me [following Me as My disciple], for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest (renewal, blessed quiet) for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy [to bear] and My burden is light.”
While we Wait and look at our Watches, Is Jesus the Answer?
A song we sang over and over again at a three day Christian retreat worship service had these words:
“The world is searching for answers. Whom can we turn to?” And it answered: “There is someone—he is the answer. His name is Jesus. A ray of hope in a hopeless world.”
https://www.musixmatch.com/de/songtext/GroupMusic/Light-of-the-World
But if Jesus is the answer, why do we still have so many unanswered questions? Why so many problems, and why are we waiting, and why so much suffering?
God himself gave us the only answer we require to many of our questions on the day Jesus was born more than 2,000 years ago.
His one and only answer came in the form of a baby, his one and only Son, who came to save the world and all who confessed to believe in him (John 3:16-17).
In today’s Bible passage the Lord Jesus explains why he is the answer.
He offers us His Living Word to give us rest for our souls by making us God’s children. He is, in the words of that song, “A ray of hope in a hopeless world.”
All we need to do is accept his invitation to come to him—and when we do, we will find rest for our souls. Then will we know that he truly is the only answer.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 29 The Message
29 1-2 Bravo, God, bravo!
Gods and all angels shout, “Encore!”
In awe before the glory,
in awe before God’s visible power.
Stand at attention!
Dress your best to honor him!
3 God thunders across the waters,
Brilliant, his voice and his face, streaming brightness—
God, across the flood waters.
4 God’s thunder tympanic,
God’s thunder symphonic.
5 God’s thunder smashes cedars,
God topples the northern cedars.
6 The mountain ranges skip like spring colts,
The high ridges jump like wild kid goats.
7-8 God’s thunder spits fire.
God thunders, the wilderness quakes;
He makes the desert of Kadesh shake.
9 God’s thunder sets the oak trees dancing
A wild dance, whirling; the pelting rain strips their branches.
We fall to our knees—we call out, “Glory!”
10 Above the floodwaters is God’s throne
from which his power flows,
from which he rules the world.
11 God makes his people strong.
God gives his people peace.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 