Well, this summer we are looking into the prayer book of the Bible in order to enrich our prayer lives, in order to expand our prayer vocabulary. As it is, last time we began to consider the fact that when we pray the Psalms, we don't just pray to Jesus. We pray with Jesus. We looked at a short little segment of a book by Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Bonhoeffer said the prayer book of the Bible is not only the word of God to us, but the word which God wants to hear from us. And we reminded ourselves that the Psalms were the very words that Jesus himself prayed during his earthly ministry. And they're the words that Jesus now invites us to pray with him. We thought about the fact that we learn to speak to God basically the same way we learn to speak our native language. We learn to speak our language by repeating what has been shared with us. So we learn to speak with God by speaking back to him the words that he speaks to us. By repeating God's own words, we begin to pray with him and to him. So today we're gonna look at Psalm 62. It's on page 479. If you wanna use a seat Bible, I encourage you to have any Bible open in front of you though, so we'll work through that together. Immediately we'll see that Psalm 62 is a Psalm of David. As we begin to read it, we'll see that there's no exact designation given with this particular Psalm to help us pinpoint a timeframe in David's life. during which he writes these particular words. Some speculate this psalm was written when David was at that point in his life where he was running from his own son, Absalom, who was trying to usurp the throne from his father, David. But we'll work through it together, and we'll see what God has for us here today in teaching us to pray with Jesus. Psalm 62, let's read God's word together. to the choir master according to Yaduthin, a psalm of David. 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 his falsehood. They bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse. Selah. 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. Selah. Those of low estate are but a breath. Those of highest aid 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. This is God's holy, living word for us today. Now whatever the circumstances that were going on in David's life that prompted this psalm, the psalm obviously stems from a situation that's going on for David that causes him to be what we would call unsettled. He's unsettled. He is in distress. It's a time of danger for David. In verse 3, David mentions that he's being attacked, he's being battered. In verse 4, he reveals that something is going on that involves a plot. to thrust him down from his high position. And that's the evidence that kind of tips the scale towards the idea in favor of thinking that this psalm was written during the time in which David is fleeing from Absalom, rather than the time in David's life when he's fleeing from Saul. Because if it had come at that earlier point in David's life, it's not likely that David would say they're trying to get me, toss me down from my high position, since he had not yet come into his high position. But whatever the backstory, the unfolding plot that is going on involves treason of some sort. David writes that those who are involved in betraying him, they're fabricating falsehoods, slander. lies, other forms of gossip. They're just swirling around David. They're in the air. And I'm sure many of you have had that happen to you. Have you? You know, that's not very pleasant. It does give us an unsettled and a restless kind of a feeling. But in the face of all that's going down in David's life, we read in verses 4 and in verses 6 that David has this bold confidence He will not be shaken. I hope when we read through the psalm and you think of me saying that phrase, I will not be shaken, it sounds, wow, that seems a little bit familiar. Well, we sang a whole song this morning that was based on this particular psalm. I will not be shaken. David is confident. He's realistic about his problems. He's not ignoring them or denying them. He's trusting himself, though, in the midst of all of his problems and in the face of them, that God is going to protect him. God is going to preserve him. Yes, David is in danger, but his trust in God does not waver. When you read through this psalm, you can kind of sense there's this attitude of serenity. There's this undisturbed peace and unassailable kind of confidence that just sort of breathes out from this psalm. Now, wouldn't you like to live with that kind of all-out assurance and confidence, you know, blessed assurance? Wouldn't you like to have that activated in your life? All of us have things that crop up and tend to leave us feeling unglued or unsettled. Maybe we get bad news from the doctor about ourselves or a family member, a loved one. There's family trouble of one kind or another. Or there's problems at work, a conflict between you and your boss. Maybe there's the termination of a job that you really, really liked. Or financial stress. Financial stress, and there's plenty of that going around, isn't there? In these few short verses, David has so much to teach us about coming to God, trusting in God, and standing strong in God. And as we have noted about the Psalms as we read them, it's not just about David. And it's not just about us that we want to think as we read through, work our way through Psalm 62. When we read this Psalm, we want to think about the life and the ministry of Jesus Christ. It's so easy to see how David's experience is parallel those that Jesus will face during his earthly ministry. Some have looked over time and they've called David the lesser David and they've called Jesus the greater David because in a sense Jesus is the fulfillment of all that David represents as the great king, the king of kings, the lord of lords. Indeed, you know, as well as I do, Jesus had his critics then, he still has his critics now. Like David, Jesus is subjected to lies, to falsehood, to slander, to gossip. Like David, Jesus is attacked. He's battered. Satan does all that he can to thrust Jesus down from his high position. We know Satan tempts Jesus. We know Satan incites others to distrust and to speak out against Jesus. Everything that David experiences and faces and sets down in the psalm is something that Jesus knows infinitely more intensely than David did or you and I ever will face in this life. So imagine it. Right now, at this very moment, Jesus is engaged in a ministry of intercessory prayer for you. He's seated at the right hand of God the Father. Jesus is praying for you. And as we come to him, and we come to him with this psalm, we can hold on to the fact that not only is Jesus praying for us, Jesus invites us to pray these verses with Him. Jesus invites you to pray Psalm 62 with Him. So this Psalm is especially for you if you're feeling threatened, If you're feeling you're in danger, you know you may have been in that setting in the past. You may be there right now. You may be there in the future. You may have a loved one who's there. But what God is calling us to do is to take these words. Take Psalm 62 and just repeat them. Pray them right back to the Lord. Let them come from your heart. Let them become the expression of your heart before the Lord. I want to take just a closer look with you at these wonderful words that God gives to us through the mouth of his servant David and the experiences, the lens of his life that is reflected in Psalm 62. Now if you look at the psalm, you'll see basically there's three main characters or three groups of characters in the psalm. There's God, of course, there's David, and then there are David's enemies. In the face of whatever attempts that David's enemies are making to overthrow him, David states that he is trusting God alone. This is very important. I want to be sure that you take this home with you today. He is trusting God alone. Look at verse one. For God alone, my soul waits in silence. Look at verse two. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress. His truths are restated again in verse 5. Verse 5, for God alone, O my soul, wait in silence. Verse 6, He only is my rock and my salvation and my glory, my mighty rock. My refuge is God. Now, I believe that there are many people who trust God. But I do not believe that there are as many people who trust God alone. There are probably significantly fewer number of people who trust God alone than who would just say, I trust in God. But in Psalm 62, David states that God only is the object of his trust. David does not trust in God plus something else, or God plus someone else. David trusts in God alone, and that is why he is so confident. David trusts in God alone, period. End of story. David's statement gives us pause to stop and think and consider whether that can actually be said about me or not. Can that be said about you? Is it true of you? Can you truthfully say, I trust God alone? I want you to think about that. Now, later, maybe go back home and read the Psalm again and ask, yeah, is that me or do I need to think about that? many trusts got up to a point and then they supplement that trust with trust in their own experience or they supplement it with trust in their own common sense or their own pragmatic solutions or technology or methodologies or other sorts of tools and I'm not suggesting that there's not a legitimate place for experience or common sense or technology or pragmatism But our human hearts are so bent and so twisted toward trusting ourselves and trusting the world's tools and the mechanism the world has for us, rather than having complete trust in God and God alone for guidance and help and wholeness. So I ask you today, is Jesus Christ sufficient for you or do you need Jesus plus? Do you need Jesus plus something? So much that's... Available to us today so much at our disposal, there is a tendency even among well-intentioned followers of Jesus Christ to disbelieve in God that he has the power to save through his word and through his word alone. Many today do not believe that God actually works through his word to convert unbelievers and to strengthen and form Christ-like character in Christians. The gospel does not need the addition of man-made gimmicks in order to help it succeed. And so it is so vital for us to begin where this psalm begins by assessing whether we truthfully can say, I trust in God alone. God only is my rock, my salvation, my fortress, my hope. David learns that if he is to trust in God at all, he must trust in God only. Trusting God alone is what gives us the confidence we need to declare that God is our rock, our salvation, our fortress. Trusting that God is his rock is what will lead David to his confident claim in verse two, he will not be greatly shaken. I won't be moved. I won't be demoralized. Now there's one other aspect of David's stance here that strikes me as very important for us to learn something from. If you look at it, it's in verse 1 and it's again in verse 5 that David says that he's waiting on God in silence. Silence is such a rare commodity in our culture today. Whether it's stuff that's coming at us from the outside, the constant drone of our wired world and the constant presence of our electronic devices and talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. More importantly, there's the noise that's always inside of ourselves. It's so hard to unplug. Not only electronically, it's so hard to to step aside from the busyness of life, the pace of life, to stop the recycled thoughts that keep tumbling and swirling around inside of our heads. But there's something here that we need to come to terms with as we read that David says, I wait for you in silence. We need to wait upon the Lord in silence to be still before him so he can speak to us. It's a discipline. Practicing silence is a discipline. Most of us, I have a feeling, would better identify and say, I'm a doer. I'm not one to sit still. I've got to be on the go. I've got to be doing something. But here David is saying, no, we've got to stop. We have to sit silently before God. Unplug. So this silence David is speaking of here, it reflects a patient trust as well as an uncomplaining spirit. I mean, you know Psalm 46.10, we mentioned at the beginning of the service, be still and know that I am God. Psalm 37 verse 7, be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him. Well, quiet resting is so hard to do, but it is essential. Something we need to work on. The English words that are translated for us in verse one where it says, waits in silence, actually translate a single word in the Hebrew language. And if we were trying to get our best literal, it would be a little wooden translation, but it would say, my soul sits in silence before God. My soul is in silence before God. David knows that although his circumstances are unreliable, he knows that God is as unmovable as a rock and as protecting as a fortress. And so as David waits for God in silence, David is confident that he won't be shaken. He knows that circumstances will never lead him to contentment. He knows that God is the only true source of contentment. When we're restless, when we're disturbed, when we're unsettled, God and God alone is the source of peace. He is the source of rest for our souls. There's such a great word picture under that Hebrew, that single word there, and that's the picture of a baby. relying upon its mother. That's the level of relationship and trust that God is offering to you. He offers that to you. It's a free gift. If you are rightly related to God through Jesus Christ, you have every reason to trust that God is watching out for you and taking care of you just like a good mother takes care of her baby. Some of you know the name of Augustine who lived five centuries after Jesus. Augustine lived a very promiscuous life. He was constantly chasing sexual pleasure. He was trying to grab hold of anything that affluence might have to offer to him. Augustine actually fathered a child outside of marriage, and he even joined a cult. But none of that brought him satisfaction. None of that brought him contentment. All of it left him feeling empty on the inside. Augustine had a restless, unsettled soul. At a certain point in his life, Augustine began attending a church that was led by a very famous pastor at the time named Ambrose. Augustine was fascinated by what he heard Ambrose preaching and teaching, which was the Word of God. Just the Word of God. Eventually, Augustine embraced faith in Jesus Christ and he became a powerful leader both in his own day and for two millennia of Christian thought. But reflecting on his own pre-converted state, it led Augustine to write us a somewhat familiar and famous quote. Augustine wrote, Until they find their rest in you, O Lord. Are you resting in God and God alone? Only in God can our souls find rest. Do you know that rest? Have you cultivated the ability to rest in the Lord? By and large, that kind of resting in God when you feel unsettled and when you feel restless, that doesn't come automatically. Maybe you'd be one of the one in a million fortunate ones that it might, but it's likely that that you're not going to wake up just someday and suddenly find you have in your possession a heretofore undiscovered ability to wait upon God, to rest in Him, to wait in silence. I want you to look at verse 5 with me and think about that for a moment. Verse 5 says, Oh my soul, wait in silence. Now that is a slight departure. It's a slight variation on what David writes in verse one. What does David write in verse one? In verse one, David simply states a fact. My soul waits in silence. But now here in verse five, David is actually commanding himself to rest in God. Oh my soul, wait in silence. So we see from David's example, waiting on God is not always our first or our most automatic response. Like David in verse five, sometimes you need to talk yourself into resting in God. David's testimony reminds us there are times in life when we do live in verse one, and we can readily, joyfully, confidently, triumphantly say, my soul waits in silence. But there are other times when we live in verse five, and waiting on God is more of a challenge. It's more of a struggle. It takes more doing to still our anxious thoughts, to settle and to center our attention, our affections on the Lord. That seems to be a little back and forth thing that's going on for David, and we can learn something from that. that we sometimes have to really just stop and talk ourself into doing the right thing. I think it's very much the heartbeat of, you might remember there's a father in the New Testament in Mark chapter 9 verse 24. He brings his sick son to Jesus and he's hoping for healing and he says to Jesus, if you can do anything, Jesus, have compassion on us and help us. And Jesus says, if If you can, all things are possible to him who believes. And the Father says the immortal words that we can all take comfort in. He cries out, oh, I believe, help thou my unbelief. I think there's equally just as many times when we all might say, oh God, I am resting in you, but help me in my restlessness. I rest in you, but I'm also still somewhat restless. So can I suggest you need to learn to talk to yourself? Now, I'm not suggesting anything that might be a kind of abnormal psychology, but yeah, we do. We have to learn to talk to ourselves. We have to actually learn to command ourselves to do the right thing. Command yourself to do the right thing, which is to rest in the Lord. So often our emotions get way out ahead of us and the cart starts pulling the horse rather than the other way around. I think David shows us a real positive example here. A how-to in taking hold of ourselves, talking to ourselves, talking ourselves into making wise, sound, biblical choices. When it comes to speaking the truth in love, which we are commanded to do in the New Testament, you really ought to begin to speak the truth in love to yourself first. Speak the truth to yourself. Notice the way David tells himself the truth. In the opening section of the Psalm, David is up front, he's realistic about his problem. David's enemies are on the attack, they're battering him, they're trying to put him down, they're trying to push him over like one might try to push over a leaning wall or a tottering fence. And David's enemies are just intent on seeing David get removed from office. So it's at that end they're telling lies about David, they're two-faced, they're hypocritical, they're all honey and sweetness on the outside, but inside they're all bitterness, they're bitter as vinegar. So David knows his situation, his circumstances, they're real. But notice how much truth David tells himself about God in the second part of the psalm. God is David's salvation. God is David's glory. God is David's mighty rock. God is David's refuge. Because God is both powerful and mighty to save and compassionate, David knows he will not be shaken. Verse eight is David talking to himself, and I think David's calling across the centuries to us, do the same thing, talk to yourself. Trust in God at all times, pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us. Learn to tell yourself the truth about God, about others, and about yourself. James Montgomery Boyce, that great pastor of the 20th century, wrote one time, most of us are willing to agree, at least verbally, that we do not fear man, assuming we're Christians. We believe that Jesus is strong and that God is able to care for us. We find the words, surely I am with you always to the very end of the age, to be a great comfort. But it's the second part we have trouble with. We trust God. But we want to trust man too, or at least look to other people for something we doubt that God is able or willing to supply. But other people will always let us down. They are sinners just like we are. They cannot be trusted. But even if they could be, they will still be but a breath. They will be quickly taken away and gone. If God has given you a faithful and good friend or a loving life companion, well, thank him for it. It is a great gift. But do not place your deepest hope in man. Instead, trust him who is eternal and unchanging, and you will never be shaken when people disappoint you. In the final two verses of this psalm, David summarizes two great life lessons that he has learned about God, and these life lessons really provide fuel for our prayer life. Lesson one is in verse 11, where it says, power belongs to God. Lesson two is in verse 12, to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. God is strong. and God is loving. God puts his power on display through the way he sovereignly superintends all the events of history, including whatever the dangers are that threaten David at this moment. God's steadfast love comes to us in so many different ways. His mercy, his kindness, the way he faithfully keeps his covenant and fulfills all of his promises. Just think about this for a minute. Without the power and the love of God, without both those things, power and love, there would be no salvation. Without power and love, there would be no salvation. If God had power, But if he lacked mercy, he would be able to save mankind, but he would have no inclination to do so. If God were loving and merciful, but he didn't have power, well then he might desire to save us, but he wouldn't have the ability to do so. Power without love is brutality, and love without power is weakness. Power is the strong foundation of love and love is the crowning beauty of power. So fortunately for us, God is both. God is both strong and loving. He is powerful and loving. So I want to invite you to pray. Pray Psalm 62 with Jesus. When the rug gets pulled out from underneath you, when others are gossiping about you, slandering you, spreading falsehoods about you, when you feel all shaky inside, then pour out your heart before Him, verse 8, because God is a refuge for us. God is for you. Remember what's real. Remember what is true. I like verse 9 too. I was brought up with a handful of sayings that seemed to come up. I suppose every family has their sayings that are part of their family culture. One of the sayings in our family, rather than sticks and stones will break my bones and names will never hurt me, all that, it was consider the source and ignore the remark. You know, somebody says something bad, well just consider where did that come from? and just ignore it. David kind of does that in verse 9, considers the source, ignores the remark, he says, those of a low estate, they're but a breath. Those of a high estate, they're a delusion. In the balances they go up, they are taken together lighter than a breath. So in all that swirling around you, remember God is for you. Remember what is true. Tell yourself the truth. Do what Jesus does when he is on trial. And the lies are swirling around Jesus as much as flies on a piece of cow dung. How does Jesus trust God's power and God's love when he is under fire? Look at the way that Peter describes Jesus' steadfastness and his demeanor when he's under fire. He says, Jesus commits no sin, neither is deceit found in his mouth. When Jesus is reviled, he does not revile in return. When he suffers, he does not threaten, but he keeps on entrusting himself to him who judges justly. What a faithful example that is of entrusting yourself to the Lord. And Peter prefaces that exhortation to us by saying, you know, to this you have been called. You've been called to do this, to follow the example of Christ, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps. So when you're in the thick of it, when you're feeling unsettled, when you're feeling restless, when you're shaky on the inside, come to Psalm 62. Bring these words back to the throne of Jesus. Say, Jesus, I know you know. You know all about this. You went through even more than I can possibly be going through in my life, and I know that you know the way out. I'm trusting you. I'm depending on you. You're my rock, my fortress, my refuge. Let's pray about that together. Lord, I thank you and I praise you again for the wonderful words that you have included in this book that's filled with songs of praise and prayers and petitions. Songs that reflect every possible emotion we could ever feel. I'm thankful for the fact that you brought David through. Even more thankful that you brought Jesus through. Lord, we count on the fact that He is our God, He is our Savior, that He is both powerful and He is both merciful and loving. So thank you for all that. I pray for any of our friends here today who may have that kind of unsettled feeling like something's going on, something's not right, I'm restless, I'm stirred up inside. I pray they'll come and they'll drive their stake into Psalm 62 and they'll bring these words right back to your throne and pray them to you. and confess the truth, Lord, to be honest about the problem, but confess the truth that you are a fortress, you are our salvation. We will not be greatly shaken. We'll just keep on learning how to tell ourselves the truth. Help us to know how to wait upon you alone, God, and to come to you in a restful attitude, just pausing in your presence and asking you to speak in the silence, that still, small voice that communicates to us Whatever it is you need to say. Lord, whether it's words of rebuke or words of encouragement, whether it's words that call us to confess our sin or words that are an outpouring of your grace and of a reminder of your forgiveness for us. Lord, teach us to listen. Help us in all of that. And we thank you in advance for it. In Jesus' name, amen.