Tuesday, November 14, 2017

2017.11.14 Hopewell @Home ▫ Psalm 62

Questions for Littles: For whom is David waiting (v1, 5)? Who else is His rock and salvation (v2, 6)?  What have David’s enemies been doing, according to v3? But what were they doing with their mouths in v4? Who is described as a rock in v6 and again in v7? Who is described as a vapor in v9? Which one weighs more? What else is not weighty enough to trust in v10? To whom does power belong (v11)? What else belongs to Him (v12)? What are we to learn to do with God in v8, based upon David’s experience?
This week’s Call to Worship, Invocation, and Confession of Sin came from Psalm 62. In this Psalm, David has learned to trust the Lord no matter what. He’s under attack (v3), and his enemies are blessing him to his face and cursing him in their hearts (v4). But, David’s life hasn’t just been a life of being attacked and cursed over and over again. It has been a life of God faithfully pulling him through, over and over again.

This is why David isn’t afraid of men, saying “I shall not be moved” (v2, 6). And it’s also why David doesn’t trust  in men of any class (v9), or in the ability to use force or theft or bribery (v10). No. David knows who’s in control. And it’s never them. It’s always God.

Let us learn not to open our mouths in complaint against God (v1, 5), but rather wait upon Him. He is well-proven and full of both power (v11) and mercy (v12). If this was true 1000 years before Christ, how much more true it is now!

Is God’s power well-proven? Behold the resurrection! Is God’s steadfast love well-proven? Behold the cross!

Therefore dear Christians, let us trust in Him at all times. Not just when things have gone ill with us. Even in the good times, let us trust only in Him and not lazily slip into trusting in how comfortable or easy the time is.

But let us also trust in Him at bad times, the hard times—the times when we are tempted to hope in our own wits, schemes, plans, or resources. Do not set your heart on them (v10).

What then are we to do with our hearts? Pour them out before the Lord! Note that the silence in v1 and v5 is not an absolute silence. It is a silence against complaint, but it doesn’t teach us to just shut up. It is actually a very noisy silence: “Pour out your heart before Him!”
What tough circumstances are you in? Have you poured out your heart to the Lord? What wrong responses are you tempted to, that you need to avoid by trusting in the Lord instead?
Suggested songs: ARP62A “My Soul Finds Rest,” or HB113 “My Soul with Expectation”

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