Psalm 62
For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.
How long will all of you attack a man
to batter him,
like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
They only plan to thrust him down from his high position.
They take pleasure in falsehood.
They bless with their mouths,
but inwardly they curse. Selah
For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God.
Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah
Those of low estate are but a breath;
those of high estate are a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
they are together lighter than a breath.
Put no trust in extortion;
set no vain hopes on robbery;
if riches increase, set not your heart on them.
Once God has spoken;
twice have I heard this:
that power belongs to God,
and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.
For you will render to a man
according to his work.
Welcome to Getting ready for Sunday, a podcast of first Lutheran Church. Each week I introduced the readings for the upcoming Sunday with some notes and explanation so you can be ready for worship when you arrive. I look at the Old Testament, song, epistle and Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday and offer a few notes and explanation. The psalm for Sunday January 21, is Psalm 62. For God alone, my soul waits in silence. From him comes my salvation. He alone is my rock and my salvation my fortress, I shall not be greatly shaken. How long will all of you attack a man to batter him like a leaning wall, a tottering fence. They only plan to thrust him down from his high position. They take pleasure in falsehoods, they bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse for God alone, oh my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation my fortress, I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory. My mighty rock, my refuge is God. Trust in him at all times, oh, people pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us. Those of lowest state are but a breath. Those of highest state are a delusion. In the balances they go up. They are together lighter than a breath. But no trust in extortion, set no vain hopes on robbery. If riches increase, set not your heart on them. Once God has spoken, twice, have I heard this, that power belongs to God, and that You oh Lord, belong steadfast love for you will render to a man according to his work. Here hence the reading. Psalm 62 is a Psalm of David. And he begins by saying confidence about God and His salvation. It goes for God alone, my soul waits in silence. From him comes my salvation. He alone is my rock and my salvation my fortress, I shall not be greatly shaken. Now, this is an image of God that we use throughout the Bible, the idea of God being a rock, a foundation or a fortress, we have the hem A Mighty Fortress is my God right now, this is compared in the next statement to the trustworthiness of human beings and the threat that they take. How long will all of you attack a man to batter him like a leaning wall a tottering fence, they only plan to thrust him down from his high position. They take pleasure and falsehood they bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse. This is an expression of the human humanity that is all around us. How many of us know people who are are just always on the hunt for you? Like they're always looking to peck at you in some way. They they want to take you down somehow. Usually, it's not an aggressive thing like, like violent, like it might have been in David's day. But it's the people who are as he says, they blessed with the miles but in really they curse. They take pleasure and falsehood. They're just hoping for you to fall. What a contrast is that between humanity and God, who is a solid fortress, a rock and salvation. And that's what David says in the next section. For God alone, oh, my soul wait and silence from my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation my fortress, I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory, my mighty rock, my refuge is God. So he says this again, he repeats this image of salvation and the mighty Rock says For God alone, oh my soul wait and science from my hope is from him. This is a reminder that human beings we just can't trust each other. I mean, we there's trust that we can share, and it comes back and forth. But at a certain point, only God is the one that we can truly trust. People will always fail us. People will always hurt us. Even the people who love us most, there will come a point where they just can't live up to their promises. They their weakness means that they won't support us the way they said we should. And it's the same for us, right? Every one of us does that same thing to other people. Which is why David says For God alone, oh my soul, wait and silence from my hope is from him. And it's so funny that David has so much confidence in God that he can say I will just wait. I'll just wait in silence. God knows what I need and he'll give it to me. He is my rock and my salvation. and David makes it even more clear. He says, Trust in him at all times, oh, people pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us. So not only can we trust God, but we can also pour out our hearts everything that we are before God because we have so much trust in Him. And we don't have to worry about what we say. What a contrast is that between the people in high position who want to take you down, the people who take pleasure and falsehoods who blessed with their mouths, but in really they curse. They're always looking for an in, you can't trust them. You can't trust them with your confidence, you can trust them with their hope. And you definitely can't pour out your heart, because all they will do is use it against you. But not God. You pour out your heart to God, He returns with love only. Next, those have low estate or butter breath. Those of high estate are a delusion in the balances they go up they are together lighter than a breath. Put no trust and extortion set no vain hopes on robbery. If riches increase, set not your heart on them. So again, this is a contrast between humanity and God. People of lowest state. They're just a breath, people of highest state of delusion. It reminds me of what Solomon says when he says Vanity, vanity, everything is vanity, or emptiness, emptiness, everything is emptiness. It's nothing. He says that riches, power, wealth, humanity, pleasure, all that is nothing. And David goes, people are like that, too. They are worth nothing compared to God. Don't trust an extortion or robbery. Don't trust enriches. None of that will get you ahead only God. He finishes. Once God has spoken twice have I heard this? That power belongs to God, and that You oh Lord, belong steadfast love for you will render to a man according to his work. So this phrasing once God has spoken twice have I heard this is saying it's emphasizing in a lyrical way, what God says one that God has power and steadfast love. And that rendering according to his work means that God has judgment, but he also has grace for all those who follow him. That's all we have for today. We'll see you on Sunday. Bye
Transcribed by https://otter.ai