Let Us Quietly Look to God Alone
[Psalm 62]
We need to learn how to be silent before God. Henry Nouwen, in his book The Way of the Heart, said this about silence: “As pastors, the most important issue we need to focus on in leading all the organizational activities of the church is not how to keep people busy, but how to help them not be busy so they can hear the voice of God speaking in silence.” (Nouwen). We live our lives in such busyness. And especially, our hearts are filled with busyness. To what extent are our hearts busy? So busy that we don’t even have the space to quietly listen to God’s voice. We need to hear what the prophet Isaiah says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.” (Isaiah 30:15). We need to hear that trusting God in silence is our strength.
Today, let us look at Psalm 62:1 and 5: “My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him” (v. 1), “Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him” (v. 5). With these verses in mind, under the title “Let Us Quietly Look to God Alone”, I want us to listen to the voice of God that speaks to us, as we stay in silence before Him, seeking to hear His voice.
First, what does it mean to quietly look to God alone?
To quietly look to God means to rely completely on Him without being moved by our own desires or trying to do something on our own (Park Yoon Seon). Let us look at Psalm 62:8: “Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge” (Selah). Here, the term “at all times” refers to “whenever.” David is encouraging the people who are loyal to him to trust completely in God, at any time. He is also telling them to “pour out their hearts before Him”. In other words, David is urging them to pour their hearts out before God. This phrase means to offer your heart to God as though pouring water (Park Yoon Seon). Dr. Park Yoon Seon points out that there are two things we should consider when offering our hearts to God:
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First, we give our hearts to Him completely in order to receive His love, because we love Him.
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Second, pouring out our hearts before God means to lay all our troubles before Him, to rely on Him fully, and to rest in His care.
We must look to God in silence.
We must trust in Him completely and at all times. We should offer our whole hearts to God, who sees deep within us. We must quietly approach Him and pour our hearts out in prayer. Let us look at the chorus of hymn 483, “Come to Jesus Quietly”:
“Come quietly to Jesus,
Pour out your heart to Him,
The Lord, who always sees in secret,
Will give great grace.”
We must approach God in silence and pour out our hearts before Him.
Second, when should we look to God in silence?
David looked to God in silence when his enemies, the people of Absalom, rebelled and persecuted him. Let’s look at Psalm 62:3-4:
"How long will you attack a man?
You will all be destroyed,
Like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence.
They only plan to bring him down from his high position;
They take delight in lies;
They bless with their mouths,
But inwardly they curse." (Selah)
David’s rebels tried to bring down the king that God had established on the throne. They blessed him with their mouths but cursed him in their hearts. They plotted to kill David all together. In the midst of all this, David completely relied on God.
What is interesting is that David described his rebellious enemies as "a falling wall and a tottering fence." Although, to many, Absalom and his followers appeared strong and firm, to David—who was quietly looking to God—they seemed like a "falling wall" and a "tottering fence." This teaches us that the perspective of someone who looks to God in silence during a crisis is different from someone who does not. In other words, ordinary people, who do not look to God in silence and do not trust fully in Him, see those who oppose them as strong and unshakable. However, those who fully rely on God, like David, see such enemies as "falling walls" and "tottering fences."
What about our perspective? Do we see the adversities and struggles we face in life as "falling walls" and "tottering fences," just like David, who looked to God in silence?
Third, why should we look to God in silence?
The reason is that "my salvation" and "my hope" come from God. Let’s look at Psalm 62:1 and 5:
"My soul finds rest in God alone;
My salvation comes from Him." (v. 1)
"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
My hope comes from Him." (v. 5)
The reason why David’s soul rested silently in God, even in the midst of Absalom’s rebellion, is that he knew and believed that only God was his salvation and hope. Therefore, he confessed the following in today’s passage: "My soul finds rest in God alone" (v. 1), "Find rest, O my soul, in God alone" (v. 5), "He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress." (vv. 2, 6).
What is our problem?
The problem is the tendency to rely on "God + something else"—in other words, relying on someone or something other than God. Ultimately, God addresses this issue by cutting off everything we rely on besides Him. Therefore, as the hymn 539 "What is my hope in this body?" says in its third verse:
"Though the day comes when everything we trusted in the world will be cut off,
I will trust in the Savior's covenant, and my hope will grow even greater,"
God makes us confess in this way. One of the things I still can’t forget is when my grandfather asked me to sing hymn 82 ("My Joy, My Hope") for him before he passed away. Every time I sang that hymn, especially verses 1 and 4, these lines particularly resonated with me:
"My joy, my hope,
My life, the Lord is You..." (verse 1)
"... My life and my true hope,
Only Jesus, the Lord, is my hope." (verse 4)
Finally, fourth: How should we look to God in silence?
(1) We must recognize God's sovereignty.
That is, we must understand that only our God is "my rock," "my salvation," and "my fortress." Let’s look at Psalm 62:2 and 6:
"Only He is my rock,
my salvation, my fortress;
I will not be greatly shaken." (verse 2)
"Only He is my rock,
my salvation, my fortress;
I will not be shaken." (verse 6)
Those who understand that God is their "rock," "salvation," and "fortress" and who rely on Him in silence will not be shaken. In other words, those who know God are strong. Those who know Him and rely completely on Him will not be shaken. However, those who do not know God, and do not take Him as their rock, salvation, and fortress, are the "people like falling walls and shaking fences" (verse 3).
(2) To look to God in silence, we must rely on no one and nothing else but God.
(a) We must not rely on people.
Let’s look at Psalm 62:9:
"Surely the lowly are but a breath,
the highborn are but a lie;
if weighed on a balance,
they are nothing;
together they are only a breath."
People are not worthy of our trust. Therefore, David confessed in Psalm 60:11: "...the salvation of people is vain." He relied only on God and acted courageously (verse 12).
(b) We must not rely on power or wealth.
Let’s look at Psalm 62:10:
"Do not trust in extortion
or put vain hope in stolen goods;
though your riches increase,
do not set your heart on them."
Our human instinct is to rely more on power or wealth as they increase. Therefore, David warns us not to rely on oppression, stolen goods, or riches. We should rely entirely on God alone.
(3) To look to God in silence, we must rely on His power and mercy.
Let’s look at Psalm 62:11-12:
"One thing God has spoken,
two things I have heard:
Power belongs to you, God,
and with you, Lord, is unfailing love;
you reward everyone
according to what they have done."
The message that David heard from God was "Power belongs to God" (verse 11). War belongs to God, and victory in that war also belongs to Him. God, in His power, rewards everyone according to what they have done. David, who trusted God completely and waited for Him in silence, was saved by God, but those who tried to kill David—Absalom and his followers—were destroyed by God.
Let us all look only to God! Let us all fully rely on God, who is our salvation, our hope, our rock, and our fortress. And let us all come before God in silence and pour out our hearts to Him. Let us not rely on people, power, or accumulating wealth. Instead, let us trust in the power and mercy of our God. When we do this, even the problems or difficulties that may seem strong like Absalom in the eyes of others will appear to us, who fully trust in God, as a fallen wall or a shaky fence.
Let us all look quietly to God alone, who is our rock, our salvation, and our fortress!
"O my soul, wait in silence for God!"
Shared by Pastor James Kim
(Trusting in the Lord, who is our salvation and our hope).