Psalm 62:5-8 says...

Today's verses are Psalm 62:5-8 which read,
5 - My soul, wait in silence for God only, for my hope is from Him.
6 - He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be shaken.
7 - On God my salvation and my glory rest; the rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.
8 - Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.
 
Let's look at some of the words in this passage.

"soul" - it comes from the word for breath or to take a breath
"wait in silence" - a silence to cleanse or cut away
"only" - indeed in an emphatic sense that is stable
"hope" - a cord to hold onto, looking for
"rock" - large boulder
"salvation" - deliverance
"stronghold" - high place, secure height, retreat
"shaken" - totter or slip
"refuge" - shelter, place to flee for protection

Let's go back through it:

With my next breath that is given by God, I put myself in a quiet place before Him to continue to cleanse me and cut away anything that is not of Him.  I come to Him because He is stable.  He is the cord that I am holding onto.  He is a large rock that I can climb upon that has brought the deliverance of my soul.  He is a high place of security that I can retreat to.  When I am in that place, because of Him, I will not totter or slip.  So I trust in Him and I spill out myself unto God because He is the shelter that I flee to for protection.

Those words point out the importance of our time with God.  We all love the things about God in the passage - hope, rock, salvation, stronghold, refuge - but what comes before all of that in the verses?  A time alone with God to allow Him to cleanse or cut away anything in our lives. 

I tell people who respond to a call of God in a service, young or old, to continue to keep their heart tender to God.  It is so easy for us to become the stronghold and refuge and rock instead of God.  It is so easy for us to portray ourselves as the "strong ones" instead of needing God who is "the" strong one. 

When you get in that quiet place; when God starts to point out things to be cleansed or cut away; keep a tender heart to allow that to happen so that you can go to His high place and sit on His shoulders instead of your own.

Pastor Adam
A simple man serving a great God and the local pastor of Stillwater Community Chapel (stillwater-chapel.org). We are in our 38th year of full time ministry. God directed us to this local body of believers on the Western Range of the Rockies to grow with them in mission and mindedness of Christ.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Connect a bit of Scripture with a bit of life - Spurgeon

     I heard this phrase today along with another that if you connect a bit of Scripture with a bit of life, it will end up effecting all of your life.  This came up in my study of the book of James and specifically the verses dealing with not just being a hearer of the Word but also be a doer of the Word.  It is all about application.  I can't look at preaching the Word without giving steps of applying the Word.  It really is an incomplete sermon if I don't.      Many times I think it has to be big and many points and given cute aliteration that makes it snappy and I think easy to remember and fun to write down.  Reality is, if I would make it a bit of Scripture connected to a bit of life and just that it would probably accomplish much more.  How much time I spend on the opening statement and lame joke and research and introductions and how many points and the closing statement and so little time on connecting the bit of Scripture to the bit of life.      So I guess I ha
Read more

Galatians #15 - Galatians 6:11-18 - "On The Road Again..."

Image
  Another week closer and it involves some more travel for the Wolfgangs.  I feel like the Willy Nelson song, " On the road again... "  I don't know if I agree with the next line though. " ...I can't wait to get on the road again. " One of the members of the church in Wisconsin calculated that I will travel well over 10,000 miles to make this transition.  Traveling mercies prayers please. Last Sunday we will look at Paul's final words to the churches in Galatia.  He brought them the gospel (good news) message of Jesus and what resulted were churches forming throughout the region.  The letter is to defend that message that our salvation comes from and is in Christ alone.  Christ's sacrifice on the cross was sufficient for the forgiveness of our sins.  The summary statement of the letter is found in  Galatians 6:15 (LSB) .  " For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. "  Translated another way earlier in  Ga
Read more

Sermon prep and maybe a video...

     James 4 has brought up some interesting study.  First, "the quarrels and fights among you."  Those are usually worse than you think even though we try to minimize them.  The source is simpler than you think because it is coming from within you.  The solution is easier than you think because the solution that James gives is that we need to humble ourselves before the Lord.  Any sincere resolution is specific and brief.  Beware of lengthy resolutions that usually include explaining it away or excusing some of the behavior.      As I have seen before, the words are a sign of the heart.  I read this week that if we have a critical heart we usually start by speaking evil of another to ourselves.  Then we progress to speaking evil of another to that person with a running tally in our heads of all their wrongs.  Finally, we speak evil of another to others and broadcast in a way that we are thinking that we are helping.  Giving judgment is always easier than giving mercy.  I
Read more