Sermons

Introduction

It is a privilege to be here. We've taken a break from Sunday School, as most of you know, over the summer, and during this last week my mind has began to go back to what we were teaching in the Adult Sunday School in 1 Timothy 4. The lesson today is going to be on Psalm 62; we're going to take the scenic route to get there. 

And so, this past week I listened to Matt's last lesson before the break in 1 Timothy chapter 4, and I started jumping ahead to the next verses because I knew that one of us was going to teach them. And what I'd like for you to do is hold your finger in Psalm 62 and turn with me to 1 Timothy chapter 4, starting in verse 6.  These are Paul's inspired words to Timothy. Timothy is the one that the Lord has raised up that will continue Paul's ministry when he exits the stage when he's with the Lord. These are the words that are a standard for or anyone who is in the ministry. It's a daunting standard. These are the standards for the servants of the Lord, and I think that they serve well to tie into what we're going to be studying in Psalm chapter 62. 

So, in verse 6, Paul writes, "In pointing out these things to the brethren, you" – Timothy – "will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of faith and of sound doctrine which you have been following. But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit." 

Bodily discipline is of profit, but it's temporal profit. It's what the world is concerned with. The world is concerned with the outward. The world is concerned with the facade. The world is consumed with how the human body looks, all you have to do is turn on your television. 

Verse 8 again: "For bodily discipline is of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things since, it holds promise for the present life" – the here and the now – "and also the life to come." 

When Kent called me yesterday to tell me what was going on, I had just left the gym. I got home and told my wife what was going on, and she said, "What are you going to do?" I didn't answer the question, I just sat there, and she said, "What do you think?" and I said, "I think I should have been at home studying instead of in the gym." 

John MacArthur explains these verses in 1 Timothy very well, and he says it's axiomatic, meaning it's given. This is a true statement, doesn't need explanation, that spiritual exercise to godliness is far more important than physical exercise; therefore, exercise yourself unto godliness. You are to be devoted in discipline to attaining personal godliness. 

If the highest attribute of God is His holiness, then the highest attainment of man is to pursue a godlike holiness. Godliness then is the heart and the soul of spiritual character. It all begins for you and I, for the believer, with our understanding of who God is and what He has done. And if it is your goal and my goal to follow God, to seek to be like Him as much as humanly possible, don't we have to know Him first? 

Who am I trying to be like? Who are you trying to be like? Who is it that we are following? It has often been stated here, you've probably heard it said in this church, that a man will never rise above his understanding of who God is. Our understanding of God affects how we view God, and it affects our relationship with God. Man can never know enough about God. There is no end. There is no stopping point. There's never too much God that any of us can understand. 

Think about this. Think about this. The end of the Christian life is heaven. In heaven, we will be beholding the glory of God. He will be revealing himself to us forever. There's never an end. We're never going to be able to get our arms around the infinite God. 

So with that in mind, turn to Psalm 62. That is Paul's direction for Timothy. And it's really, we see it in David's life. The heading of the psalm is "For the choir director; according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David."

Verse 1: "My soul waits in silence for God only; from Him is my salvation, He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken. How long will you assail a man, that you may murder him, all of you, like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence, they have counseled only to thrust him down from his high position; they delight in falsehood; they bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse." Austin Duncan would say, "Selah. Selah." 

Verse 5: "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 your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us." 

Verse 9: "Men of low degree are only vanity and men of rank are a lie; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than breath. Do not trust in oppression and do not vainly hope in robbery; if riches increase, do not set your heart upon them. Once God has spoken; twice I have heard this: that power belongs to God; and lovingkindness is Yours, O Lord, for You recompense a man according to his work." Let's pray. 

[Prayer] Dear heavenly Father, what wonderful words from both Paul and David. And I pray, Lord, that You would speak to us this morning in the ministry of the Holy Spirit, that Your Word and Your Spirit will go into our minds and our hearts, Lord, that You would correct, that You would encourage, that You would convict, and that You would strengthen. I pray, Lord, that You would draw Your people closer to You. Lord, we desire to live in a way that is worthy of the calling with which You have called us. 

And I pray, Lord, in sanctification, You would strip away the parts of the world that occupy too much of our time. Lord, You are the only thing that matters. You have saved a people not just for this world, but for eternity. Lord, I pray that You would open the eyes of the blind, that You would renew the heart, that You would give faith and repentance to the unbelieving. To You be the glory, we pray in Christ's name. Amen. [End] 

Well, as we approach this psalm, I think there's two questions we need to ask, and they concern the author and the circumstances of why this psalm is written. The heading tells us that David is the author. And when we consider King David – which most of his life is recorded in 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel – and we take a broad brush at David's life, there are great moments of triumph. There is sin, mess. It goes from one extreme to the other. 

But there's one thing that characterizes David's life above all else, and that's where his heart was. It's in 1 Samuel 13:14 – you don't need to go there. Paul quotes it in Acts 13 on the first missionary trip. Paul says this: "And after He" – God – "had removed him," – Saul from being king – "He raised up David to be king, concerning whom He also testified and said, 'I have found David the son of Jesse, A MAN AFTER MY HEART, who will do all My will.'" 

David is seeking in sin and shortcoming. David's life is characterized by the fact that he is seeking the Lord. He is seeking the Lord's will. He is seeking to do what the Lord wants him to do. And this psalm reveals how David views the Lord. This is a parallel. It's a call to holiness. It's a call to godliness. It's a parallel to the passage that we read in 1 Timothy 4. 

Second, if David's the author – and we know that he is – second, what is the context, or the occasion, for this psalm? It doesn't tell us. We don't know specifically. There's two theories that have been brought forth. If you remember in 1 Samuel chapter 16, Samuel anoints David the shepherd boy to be king. And an evil spirit goes into Saul, and Saul starts throwing spears at him. He's chasing him around the mountain. He wants to kill David. It could be that. 

It could also be that when David is king and he's in Jerusalem, in 2 Samuel 15, and Absalom his son leads the rebellion, marches with men on Jerusalem, and David with his entourage has to flee Jerusalem. Whatever the occasion, David's life seems to hang in a balance. It doesn't tell us exactly, but David has enemies, and the enemies are to end David's life. 

And I hope that not many of us are ever in this situation. But the pressure, the enemies at the gate – the pressure that David felt is probably not a pressure in a sense that you and I hopefully are ever going to feel in our lives. When you read the account of his life, he is one step ahead it seemed like time and time again. 

Now having said that, the believer is under tremendous pressure to live the life that they confess for the Lord Jesus Christ. The opposition to the believer in our lifetimes, in this country, has never seemed more real. The enemy is real. The pressure is mounting. The pull of the world is real. The one to stand in one's faith is real. We feel it every day as a believer. 

And the believer is called to live by a different standard. The believer is called not to fight the way the world fights. We're called to live to a higher standard. We're called to live to a godly standard. We're called to live according to God in His way. It's almost as if you and I are playing the game of life – if I could say that – by different rules. We're playing rules in reference to the One who sent His Son to die on the cross for our sins. And so when you think of all this, when you think of David, when you think of the pressure in your life, as only you and the Lord knows ultimately, what does this do? It reveals character. 

The character of a man is not revealed when everything's going right. The character of a man is not revealed when there is no pressure. The character of the man is revealed when the deck is stacked against you and it just doesn't feel like there's any way to go forward. And the way you react to that, me, what I mutter under my breath to the Lord, tells me where I'm at spiritually. It's a litmus test. In James 1, "Rejoice when various trials come upon you for your testing." All this, the Lord is refining His people. This all is used by the Lord to grow our faith, to grow our dependence upon Him. And so when you read these words, it's difficult, it's convicting. 

The Enemies Of Faith

The psalm naturally breaks into three sections, three sections of four verses. I titled the – I don't know if I said this – the title of this is "God Alone, God Only" for the entire Psalm. Verses 1-4, the first break, "The enemies of faith." I'm going to read these verses again, but I'm going to read them this time in the ESV, and the reason I'm going to read them in the ESV is I just think that it adds more color and insight into these words. 

Verse 1: "For God alone my soul waits in silence; from Him comes my salvation. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; and I shall not be greatly shaken. How long will all of you" – the enemy – "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."

There's some striking observations when you read through this psalm several times that I think we need to note from David's words. Number one, that "the trials of life" – this crisis in David's life, the fact that his life is under threat – "brings everything into focus. It crystallizes everything that is important in life." When you are under intense pressure, all the fluff and the trivial things of life, they go by the wayside. When life hangs in the balance, you're questioning things, the deep things of life, your relationship with God, everything. It's like you have tunnel vision all of a sudden to focus on what is important. And that's what David is doing here. This is a serious moment in life. 

Number two, in section one and in section two, there's a chorus to this psalm, there's a refrain. It's repeated almost verbatim, verses 1 and 2, and 5 and 6. The chorus is typically at the end of a section, but it leads off these first two sections. As we will see when we go through this, the reason that David is repeating himself is for his own benefit, for his own mind on what he is going to focus on. 

Number three, the word "alone" or "only" is in verses 1 and 2, it's in 5 and 6. It emphasizes God: God alone, God only. It emphasizes God and what He has done. It is only God, the sovereign One, Him alone that David has in view here. David isn't looking to anybody else. He isn't looking to himself. He's looking to the Lord God and the Lord God alone. 

Number four, "These words are personal to David." This is his heart. God is personal to David. This is David's God. This is David's relationship with God. I hope this characterizes in some sense your relationship with God. Is He your God? Look at the words that he uses: my soul. my salvation, my rock, my salvation, my fortress. This is David speaking to the heart about the one that his heart is most in tune with, and that's the Lord God. 

Five, the fifth point, which is extremely striking when you read these verses: "There's no petition to God in this dire situation." David is not crying out to the Lord to ask for help. David doesn't ask the Lord to remove his enemies. There's no cry to the Lord for action. There is no beseeching the Lord for intervention. 

Think about your own life. The trials of life come. Don't we often cry out to the Lord, "Lord, are You there? Are You seeing? Help me. Take this away, Lord." Think about your heart when you're under distress; and David doesn't do any of that. How's that possible? That's only possible because David has comfort and peace and a mature faith in the Lord. 

Instead, David says this, verse 1, verse 5: "For God alone, my soul waits in silence." His life hangs in the balance, and because he is anchored and secure to the Lord God, he is calm and composed in the trial and the fire of this trial. David's faith is strong. He knows the Lord. He knows what the Lord is able to do. He knows what the Lord has done. 

Remember, the Lord had delivered him as a young man, young boy, shepherd boy, from the hand of the Philistine. David knew that God. He knew that God was in control of all things. He knows that the Lord is sovereign. And because he knows that, it isn't just lip service that he's giving. He knows that with his heart and he knows that with his mind. He trusts the Lord. He is waiting upon the Lord. He is not a man who is willing to take matters into his own hands. 

You know, I think it's easy for us, it's easy for me. I'm praying to the Lord, and then I try to figure out what I can do to get out of it – my wit, my wisdom, my resources. And I'm three steps in front of providence because ultimately I like to trust myself at times more than I trust the Lord. 

Remember in David's life. So Saul is chasing him – chasing him with a spear, chasing him with an army. David is hiding in caves twice. The Lord delivered Saul into David's hands – once in the cave, once in the camp with the water jug when he was sleeping. And all of David's friends are looking at him like, "Now's your chance. Put the knife in him. Eliminate him." 

And what does David do both times? I mean, it's so telling. He's got him dead to rights. And he says, "Who am I that I would raise my hand against the Lord's anointed?" I mean, what a trust in God's sovereignty, in His plan. What a trust that the Lord knows what's best for you. David has a chance to eliminate his enemy, and he waits upon the Lord. Only a man that has the peace of God can do this. 

You know, the Lord Jesus Christ, think about Him in the garden. He knows He's going to the cross. He knows that He's going to bear the sins of His people. He knows that He's going to suffer physically. But more importantly, He knows that the Father's going to unleash His wrath upon Him, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" He knows that's happening. And what does He do? He submits to the Father's will, "Take this cup from Me. Not My will be done, but Your will be done, Lord, Father." 

I have had the privilege of listening to Matt teach many times over the years, and Matt is consistent in what he says, and I know he's consistent in his life. Anytime there's a big decision – marriage, job – "What are you going to do?" "I'm going to pray. Then I'm going to pray and I'm going to wait. Then I'm going to pray, and I'm going to pray, and I'm not going to move, and I'm going to wait till the Lord in His providence makes it plainly evident what His will is for my life." And that's David. That's this psalm. 

David is doing this in silence, and I find that incredible in the fire of life. Verse 1, David knows that his saving, that his salvation is from the Lord. And this salvation, I think that on this side of the cross where we live now, when we use the term "salvation," we're talking about the eternal state of our soul – we're saved, we're saved to heaven, we're saved to be with God forever. And I certainly think that that's a part of it, but I don't think that's the whole story. 

I think that David is asking at the same time or telling at the same time that God is his Savior right now, the here and the now. He is the One that is sustaining Him in this trial, sustaining His life, though it looks like it hangs in the balance right now. He's making provision for right now. It's a temporal and an eternal salvation, meaning moment by moment from his enemies. 

Verse 2, David's security is solely in the Lord. The Lord is David's security. The Lord is his safety. He is his protection. Look at the words that David uses to describe it – his rock, his stronghold. These are in the battle, places of strategic protection. They're often up high. And David is saying, "The Lord," – not a place, not an army, not a location – "The Lord is my protection." He has cast his lot fully in with the Lord. 

Verses 3 and 4, David describes his enemies and their plans against him: "How long will you assail a man that you may murder him, all of you?" He's facing an army. He's facing a group of men that is more than him. They have counseled together only to thrust him down from his high position. 

So what is that high position? Maybe he's the king, maybe that's what he's talking about. I do know this, that whatever position David is in, David has received that authority, he's received that place of honor from the Lord because it all comes from the Lord. 

And I think that you and I, when we live our lives, whether we are men or women of influence, whether we are of renown, whatever we have is from the Lord. We are simply temporary stewards of it. It is all from Him, and it's all going back to Him. We're unprofitable servants on the Master's estate. 

"They delight in falsehood. They bless with their mouths, and inwardly they curse." I don't know where you work. I don't know the circles that you run in. You may be blessed to deal with believers and believers only. If you are out in the unbelieving world, if you work in an unbelieving company, they delight in falsehood. Everything's upside down in the world, and the world revels in everything that's upside down. They will flatter you, they will flatter you with their mouth and stick a knife in your back. They're not playing the game the same way. The goal isn't the same goal. These are David's enemies. By any means necessary, their goal is to eliminate David. The threat is real. David's faith is real. 

What an example for us. What an example as we go through this life. If you're a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you do know that your end is not this world, your end is in heaven with the Lord. He is preparing us by stripping away the things of the world and causing us to desire the things of Him more and more. There are times we dig in with our fingernails to the things of this world; but if you're a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, this is not our end. 

The Object Of Faith

Second section, verses 5-8, "The object of faith." David starts with this chorus again, this refrain in 5 and 6 that he stated in 1 and 2. It's almost verbatim: "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." 

I said this earlier, I want to say it again. David is saying this to train his mind. He is saying this for his benefit.  He's saying it for our benefit. The mantra is who God is and what God has done. Instead of looking at the circumstances of life, instead of looking horizontally, David in his mind is training his mind to look vertically to God. It's beautiful. It goes counter to the way of the world. David is reflecting on who God is and what He has done. Again, he's under the trial. He's doing this for his own benefit. Hold your finger there. 

If God has saved you and He is the God of your salvation and He has sent you His Son to die for the cross, if you have the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ but you're still in this physical world, the question is, "Is if He has done all this for you, will He not carry you home to the end? Will He not provide all things that you need? Does He not know everything that is going on in your life?" 

Go to Romans chapter 8, the end of Romans chapter 8. Paul records this beautifully, starting in verse 31. Romans 8:31, "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us," – and He is for His people – " if God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of the Father, who also intercedes for us." 

Here's the crescendo question: "Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or the sword?" The answer is none. The believer is bound to the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Go back to Psalm 62:7. David reveals that God is everything to him – his salvation, his glory, his rock, his refuge. The object that David is focused on is the Lord God. The Lord God, if I could say it this way, is the prize, the apple of David's eye. It's what motivates him. It's what sustains him moment by moment. Verse 7, "On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God." 

Think about David again. He was king when he slew Goliath. They sung his praises in the streets. He had fame. He had prestige. He was king. He had wives. He had children. And in David's mind, all of this is secondary. He doesn't mention any of that in this psalm when the trial comes. To him, one thing is preeminent, and it's the Lord God. None of that other stuff matters because he's focused on what is important. He's been given the opportunity to focus on what will last. 

When push came to shove in David's life, sin, triumph, it was always about the Lord. David's faith, the object of his faith was the Lord. And the Lord is the object of everyone who has saving faith. And the question that's at hand that we all have to ask ourselves, "Is that you? Is that me?" Is the Lord God the most important thing? Are we willing to forsake all else? Are we able to say with David with all of our heart that "the Lord is my salvation"? 

Verse 8, "David turns to instruct the people." He turns to instruct the people to turn to the Lord. In a sense, he turns to instruct us. "Trust in Him" – the Lord – "at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him." Talk to Him. Pray to Him. You have a relationship if you're saved with Him. "Pour out your heart before the Lord; God is a refuge for us." That's what the believer is to do. That's what I am to do – trust in the Lord, talk to Him, pray to Him, rest in Him. 

I ran across this quote this morning. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote a book called Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure, and he said some very striking words: "Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourselves instead of talking to yourself?" He goes on to explain that "rather than just going along with the thoughts that come to you in the morning, which bring back to all the problems of yesterday, you are to take yourself by the hand, preach to yourself, question yourself. You ask yourself, 'Why am I cast down?' Then you are to exhort yourself to hope in the Lord. And then you must continue to remind yourself of God – who God is, and what God is, and what God has done, and what God has pledged Himself to do. Then having done that, end on this great note: defy yourself, defy other people, defy the devil and the whole world and say with this man, 'I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance, who also is the health of my countenance and my God.'" 

We get so wrapped up: "How I feel. What does this mean to me?" Who cares? That's not what you've been called to in Christ. That's not what I've been called to. And so David is repeating this mantra so he doesn't look horizontal at the circumstances. He's repeating this mantra to train his brain so that he looks to the only one that can affect anything, and that is the Lord God. He looks to the one that is sovereign. 

The Power And Love That Sustains Faith

Section three, "The power and love that sustains faith. The power and love that sustains faith." When we understand what is the object of our faith, by comparison, we've got to understand what is not included in the object of our faith. And what is not included in the object of our faith is man. If you want to trust in man, you're telling me you want to be disappointed because that's all man's going to do. 

Look at verse 9: "Those of low estate are but a breath." Okay? Can you see a breath? Can you measure a breath? A breath is temporal, it's fleeting, it's nothing, it's air. "Those of high estate are a delusion," a lie, it's ethereal. "In the balances they go up." The picture is the balance of a scale. In the ancient world, they had a scale, they would put a weight, a pound weight on one side, then they would put the grain on the other side until the two balance out. And what David is saying, divinely inspired, is you take all men, you take the highest and the lowest and put them on the scale. And what do they measure? Nothing. "And together, they are lighter than a breath." 

Man is a creature. We are praying to the Creator. Man is described as a breath, a delusion, a vanity, a lie. Man is immaterial, he's impotent, he's helpless, he's powerless. As hard as man tries, he cannot do anything in and of himself that will last. 

You go to the great cities of Europe and men have tried to build legacies for themselves, and there's monuments and buildings. And we come in 2024 and we go straight to the plaque because we don't know who built it, we know nothing about them; and unless we read about it, we're not even going to know who they are. Man dissipates, he disappears, he evaporates. Man is finite. 

Verse 10, "Do not trust in sordid gain; and even if you have been blessed with riches, don't trust in them either." Job, "Naked I came into the world, naked I shall return." 

Verse 10, "Put no trust in extortion," – in a corrupt gain – "Set no vain hopes on robbery". If I had a nickel for every time one of the guys in my office said, "I didn't win the lottery last night, I hope I win the lottery next time," I'd have a lot of nickels. Man wants something that he can't earn." Do not put trust in extortion; do not set no vain hopes in robbery; if riches increase, set your heart not on them." When you die, you're not taking it with you. 

If you have been blessed with great riches, it's all from the Lord. You're a steward, a temporary steward. Most of the people that have a lot of money don't even end up spending the money, the heir gets the money. Money will not grant you access into heaven. You cannot buy your salvation. The Lord stands in contrast to man. 

Verse 11, "It is the power of the Lord. He is God Almighty." Verse 11, "Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God." His power is seen and realized in His sovereignty. 

Is there anything that the Lord can't do? Is there anything that is not possible for the Lord? Isn't He the one that created the world by speaking it into existence? He's all-powerful. Why would we look to man when the only one that can affect anything, the one who has all power, who has all sovereignty, is the Lord God Himself? That power belongs to God. 

Verse 12, "His loving kindness, His steadfast love." In the New Testament we would probably use some combination of grace and mercy. This is the love, the faithfulness that the Lord bestows upon His people. David knows that the Lord loves him personally and that nothing will change this love that the Lord has for His children. It's steadfast love. It's a faithful love. 

Verse 12, "and that to You, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. For You render to a man according to his work." The last line is a little puzzling. Is this the Lord, His mercy, or is this the Lord in His judgment? And I think the answer is yes, it's part of His character. 

Conclusion

At the end of the age, everyone will stand before the Lord. The unbeliever, the books will be opened: "Guilty" will be the sentence, and the term is eternal damnation. For the believer, everything that is done in the power of the Spirit, everything that is not done by human means – the servant who had ten minas, who gains ten minas – this is 1 Corinthians chapter 3, it's verses 13 and 14, "Everything that withstands the fire and is not burned up is a reward." The Lord uses us, uses his servants. When we do things in the power of the Lord, relying upon the Lord, the Lord will bless His people for it. 

It begs the question when we go through this psalm, "How do I measure up against this psalm? Where do I stand? Am I like David, and do I have a heart after the Lord? Do I have the maturity of faith to sit and to wait upon the providence of the Lord, His sovereign hand moving?" 

I find this extremely challenging. I find it challenging; and at the same time, I find it encouraging. And at the end of the day, the question is going to be asked, "Who is the object of your trust? How great is this God that you trust in?" And I hope and pray that you can say that. If you're here and you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ, I beseech you to look at Him, to consider Him, consider your sin, and pray that the Lord would remove the scales from your eyes, and that He would circumcise your heart.