God Alone

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
my hope comes from him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation;
He is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
My salvation and my honor depend on God;
He is my mighty rock, my refuge.
Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.
(Psalm 62:5-8)

A man of quiet strength – it’s a vision of someone that everyone aspires to, and Hollywood portrays on a regular basis. We see it all the time in the movies, a self-reliant person who directs himself from within, always appearing to know what to do, and what to say, never appearing to need anyone or anything. But the reality is that everyone relies on something or someone.

We all have a source for our strength and what David is writing about here is the true source of strength and wisdom. When we read the Psalms we don’t often put into context the dire straits that David was in, which makes it hard to truly relate to what he is trying to convey. Evil men were threatening David’s life and scheming how, not only to topple him as king, but also how to kill him. In our daily lives we deal with hurt feelings, someone cutting us off on the freeway, conflict with a co-worker, but few of us deal with someone on a daily journey to kill us. That is where David was at when he penned the above verses.

In these short verses I quoted above the word “alone” appears a couple times. In all of Psalm 62 it appears six times, four in reference to God. Thus by repetition, David hammers home the concept that we will enjoy God’s peace in the midst of life’s most threatening moments when God only—God alone—is our salvation and refuge. We all struggle to get to that place. In this short Psalm David is writing to tell us WHAT not to trust in, but WHOM to trust in.

I read recently a story about a young family in Dallas with two children and a third on the way. At seven months along, the wife became deathly ill. The doctors finally decided that they would deliver the premature baby by C-section and then attempt to save the mother’s life. Thankfully, everything came out well. The baby and the mother both survived. But during the height of the crisis, the wife’s parents, who were not believers, thought that their son-in-law must not really love their daughter, because he was so calm. He explained to them that he loved her dearly, but he was trusting in the Lord, who gives His peace to those who trust Him.

The main reason that we should “fight” for God’s peace in threatening times is not so that we will be at peace, but so that God will be glorified and others will be drawn to Him through us. God’s peace comes to us in life’s threatening times when He alone is our salvation and refuge.

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(DISCLAIMER: I read several sources, commentaries, devotionals, etc., when I study the bible. Some of what I write is heavily inspired by what I read, and some sections may not be all my own words. I try to distill and paraphrase but there are way too many great writers who know the depths of God’s Word more than I ever will. I try to give credit where possible, and I don’t want anyone to think that everything I write comes straight from my brain – it’s all inspired by God and others He has chosen to write through. I encourage you to look to those who have also studied and written about Scripture, while at the same time remembering they are only men, and the ONLY true standard is the Word of God – everything written by me or any other human MUST be measured against that standard.)