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Psalm 62 | King James Audio Bible
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Psalm 62 expresses faith and trust in God, highlighting the unwavering relationship between the psalmist and God. The psalm is a testament to enduring belief in God’s unchanging character and His role as ultimate source of salvation and refuge.
The opening lines of the psalm set the tone for overarching themes. The psalmist declares, ‘Truly my soul waiteth upon God,’ conveying a sense of patient expectation. This waiting is not passive but filled with a deep and abiding trust that God will come through, providing strength and deliverance in times of need. It is a powerful reminder of the importance of patience in our relationship with God, acknowledging that God’s timing is perfect, even when it may not align with our own.
Throughout the psalm, the psalmist reaffirms the unshakable nature of God. God is described as a rock, a symbol of strength and stability. This imagery underscores the idea that, in God, there is a firm foundation upon which to build one’s faith and life. The psalmist’s reliance on God as his salvation echoes the sentiment that salvation is not to be found in human achievements or worldly possessions but in the divine.
The psalmist’s unwavering trust in God contrasts with a fleeting and often deceptive nature of human existence. The psalmist speaks of the transient nature of human beings, comparing us to breath and vanity. It is a stark reminder of impermanence of worldly pursuits and the need to look beyond the material realm for true meaning and fulfilment.
The psalmist warns against putting trust in ill-gotten riches, emphasizing that true power and mercy belong to God. This sentiment resonates with the idea that material wealth and worldly success can be deceptive, offering a false sense of security. In contrast, trust in God provides an enduring and genuine refuge.
Psalm 62 | King James Audio Bible KJV | Love Revealed By Jesus Christ
Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation.
He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.
How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? Ye shall be slain, all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence.
They only consult to cast him down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.
My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved.
In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.
Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.
Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.
Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.
God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God.
Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy: for thou renderest to every man according to his work.
Key Themes Of The Psalm For Reflection | Love Revealed By Jesus Christ
- Trust In God’s Unwavering Character And Salvation: Psalm 62 emphasizes the importance of placing one’s trust in God. The psalmist acknowledges God as rock and salvation, highlighting the unwavering and dependable nature of the divine. This theme underscores the significance of a strong, unshakable faith in God, even amidst life’s challenges and uncertainties.
- Patience And Waiting Upon God: The psalmist encourages patience and waiting upon the Lord. The use of the term ‘wait in silence’ suggests a tranquil patience, allowing God’s plan to unfold. This theme reminds us that not everything happens on our timetable, and patience in waiting for God’s timing is vital.
- Impermanence Of Human Existence: The psalmist acknowledges the fragility of human existence, comparing people to a mere breath or a fleeting shadow. This theme invites reflection on life’s transitory nature and the need to focus on eternal values and God’s presence, as opposed to fleeting worldly pursuits.
- Warning Against Trusting In Ill-Gotten Riches: Psalm 62 contains a warning against placing trust in ill-gotten riches or fraudulent gain. It speaks to the temptation of relying on material wealth and the consequences of dishonesty. The psalmist cautions that such wealth can never provide genuine security or lasting contentment.
- Finding Refuge And Strength In God’s Unchanging Character: Throughout the psalm, the psalmist seeks refuge in God. This theme underscores the idea that in times of trouble or turmoil, individuals can find solace and strength in God’s unchanging character. God is portrayed as a refuge, a mighty rock, and a fortress. This imagery illustrates the protective and unwavering qualities of the divine.
- Silent Meditation And Prayer: The psalm emphasizes value of silent meditation and prayer. This practice allows for personal reflection, communion with God, and a deepening of one’s spiritual connection. In our often noisy and hectic lives, this theme encourages the practice of stillness and reflection as a means to draw closer to God.
- Rest In God’s Presence: The psalmist expresses finding rest in God. This theme signifies the peace and tranquility that come from entrusting one’s worries and cares to God. It points to the idea that resting in God’s presence can offer solace and relief from life’s burdens.
‘Death,’ says His Grace, ‘throws it all apart. For we are not as we should be. Faith requires our adjustment to God’s truth. God’s triumph in a very real sense requires in us the loss of our everything. Which, as with Mary at the other end of Jesus’s life, is God’s truth.’ The Gospel reading is of John 11: 1-45, which is a long passage, and His Grace’s homiletic theme commences in textual wilderness. Our brokenness – in this place – a family home. Our faith, our doubt, our death… The irruption – death, doubt, fear – within our precious scenes and our most intimate places. Our domesticity. His Grace speaks from the chair, as is a bishop’s prerogative, and says: ‘So much is obscure in the Gospels. We’re always reaching through them. We’re never there. Really, we never are. Our knowledge, our understanding, of the Gospels is never complete, and with each reading comes a new revelation. There are always new riches there. Just as there are between all of us, between myself and you. The Gospels are living texts. This is a part of the conversation we have with our own Christianity. It is a part of who we are in our relationship with Jesus. We are in this sense always on the brink. ‘So yes, there is plenty that doesn’t seem to make sense. As one of the order of bishops, we would be lying if we said that weren’t the case. They are not easy texts to encounter, if by that word we may signify something more than a superficial glancing off against, but rather a profound search for the word of God. The Gospels are written by people who had their own ideas, and often didn’t know what had really happened. Luke is quite explicit on this point. His is an investigation, from the explicitly claimed point of view of an historian, rather than that of a first-hand witness, who attempts, so he says, to set out an orderly account, out of the chaos, the sheer muddle, that has been handed down to him. It is possible to imagine Luke researching and composing his account after many years, when there has arisen a desire to know what exactly happened, and this implies a certain call to faith and certain demands of historicity, to historical exactitude. So in these different ways, the people of the first years of Christian faith are in the dark. There is also a decisive need to define the life of Jesus. And people didn’t get Jesus. The whole meaning of Christianity is only now beginning to take root throughout the composition. So much needs to be evangelized. The light shines almost in tentative fashion like that first star, which drew the wise men from the east to our Lord’s cradle. ‘John’s is widely held to be a very late Gospel. There are others who say that John’s Gospel might have been the first to acquire its true shape, because it most fully expresses Jesus, as we know him to be, as members of the Catholic Church. We don’t really know when any of this is being written, but we get a feel in John of a Gospel refined over many years, through a community. So there’s a lot going on there that I’d like you to think about. ‘What I would like to suggest to you is that, while within the Gospels we are often confronted with clues, guesswork, stories that have been handed down through so many people, and so in this sense we might find ourselves to be in the wilderness, this is the very desolate space itself to which we must give ourselves in order to experience Christ’s full redemption in our lives. I suggest it is for God’s glory that we do so. ‘As we become aware of ourselves, in this seminary, we find ourselves in a very secure, comfortable setting, and there are signs of Easter everywhere. Within the very fabric of these buildings, our Lord is risen; our Lord lives. But now this is our Lenten journey, where death enters, where death breaks us. We are to ride into Jerusalem in triumph, and then we are to be utterly broken, all hope gone, our hope extinguished. And really, I suggest to you, it is only by inhabiting this thought, as if we don’t know Easter is there, that our new life can follow, just when we have given up all hope, when every promise that Jesus made to us seems to have been cancelled. ‘And here now we have the story of Lazarus. I should like to suggest to you that we have a very powerful call now. In our very comfortable space, our domesticity, with all this comfort, where so very little might seem to happen each day, so it might seem to you, there is a disturbance within all of this comfort, and that is a disturbance within ourselves, and that is our call to Jesus. I think it is correct to say that our most comfortable places break in the light of Jesus from the inside, in order that we may take the necessary steps to be with Jesus. ‘Faith is not comfortable. I think that we can all receive the message of the rolling away of the rock from the tomb of Lazarus to say something of vital importance to ourselves concerning our openness to God’s love. The rock we roll away can come in all sorts of guises, but we know when we are blocked, and I firmly believe if we are truthful then we know where those blocks might be. ‘Next Sunday, which will be Palm Sunday, we process as it were to Jerusalem, to begin our Holy Week. Now as I speak to you we are on the brink. Even now, I suggest it might be very good for all of us to lay aside what we think we know, to fall apart a little, and so […]
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