Psalm 62
We Shall Not Be Shaken
With absolute certainty, what can you be sure will be here tomorrow?
In this Psalm, we sing of the only One that definitely will and the true hope that gives to the soul of the Christian.
For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of David.
1 Truly my soul finds rest in God;
my salvation comes from him.
2 Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I shall never be shaken.3 How long will you assault me?
Would all of you throw me down –
this leaning wall, this tottering fence?
4 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.5 Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him.
6 Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I shall not be shaken.
7 My salvation and my honour depend on God;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
8 Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.9 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.
10 Do not trust in extortion
or put vain hope in stolen goods;
though your riches increase,
do not set your heart on them.11 One thing God has spoken,
two things I have heard:
‘Power belongs to you, God,
12 and with you, Lord, is unfailing love’;
and, ‘You reward everyone
according to what they have done.’
The world-as-it-is is cacophonous, reverberating with voices of accusation and flattery, voices which cannot be trusted but tickle our ears and play on our deepest fears.
It is in this world-as-it-is that David, God’s anointed king, flees to God. For in God he knows he will find rest. The word for ‘rest’ here means stillness or tranquility. For in God, these voices of condemnation and sugar-coated lies are not just muffled but silenced. With God as his fortress, he is shielded from the clamouring cries of the Enemy.
This Psalm then opens with the confident declaration of the True King proclaiming his Rock-solid confidence. Truly he is secure from his foes. Truly he is safe from their attacks. And he knows that he will never be shaken from his firm foundation, for God is immutable and immovable.
The King is assaulted by a storm of voices (v4). Lies and flattery which seek to overwhelm and overthrow him. See the duplicitous nature of those the King contends with. Words which seek to disguise the true intent, lulling the king into a false sense of security. Just as when the Devil sought to seduce Jesus in the wilderness with sweet words which hid a bitter reality (Luke 4.1-11), so the enemies here try to pull the King down. Jesus though trusted only in God and his word. And so here does God’s anointed king.
In v5-7, he reaffirms his deep trust in God, knowing that his hope and future rest in God. For only God can provide rest for his people from the assault of his enemies.
But notice in v8 there is a shift. The King now speaks to his people.
Here we now hear our King speak to us. Jesus, the greater Son of David, urges us to trust in God our Father just as he has done. He longs for us to find the same confidence and assurance he has in his Father. We are encouraged and exhorted to pour our hearts out before God. This is a consistent theme throughout the Bible, where we are urged to lay our concerns and cares before the throne of God. For as Peter reminds, our Father in heaven cares for us (1 Peter 5.7).
Our King knows personally the trials we will go through (John 16.33). The apostle Paul warns the church that Christians will be buffeted by the tempest of false promises and teaching (Ephesians 4.14). But our faith in God neuters the storm of voices which seeks to assail us. The evil one will shoot his fiery arrows at us but our faith is a strong shield. Not because of any strength we possess. But because of who our faith is in.
The Christian abides in Jesus, in whom we are safe. We are safe because he is the same yesterday, today and forever. Unlike our enemies. In v9, our enemies are described as being nothing but a breath. Here today, gone tomorrow. They are fleeting and feeble before the face of the true God. There is nothing substantial to them. As our King tells us, if they were to be weighed on a scale, they would not move it, for they are nothing.
And so our King tells us not to follow the ways of our enemies. Deceit and theft are a fool’s treasure. What might be gained by these means will not survive rust or moth. It will not last. Only the treasure of heaven will remain undimmed and undiminished, kept for us by the power of Almighty God. The heart set on the riches of earth will rust like them. The heart hidden in God will live forever with him in glory.
For this is the reality that the King closes with (11-12). True power, love and justice lies in the hands of God alone. He will reward all for all they have done. So those who have rejected God word and his King will be rejected by God (Romans 2.6; 2 Timothy 4.14). But all those who flee to God, seeking refuge in Christ will be rewarded by what he has done for us, receiving his rest.
Glory be to God the Father, my mighty Rock and Refuge.
Glory be to God the Son, for my salvation and hope come from him.
Glory be to God the Spirit, who stills and anchors our hearts in the storms of this world.
Ever three and ever One.