Psalm 62:1-2, 5-6 (NASB)
My soul waits in silence for God only; from Him is my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken. My soul, wait in silence for God only, for my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be shaken.
No, I didn’t mess up and type the same verse twice. In the first two verses, David expresses the state of his soul, while in the second set he is speaking to his soul. In other words, David was preaching to himself to remind himself or charge himself to assert the realities of who God is. And while that is a secondary thought in today’s devotional, it is certainly worth noting. Most Christians wait until Sunday to hear the Word preached to them…but we all should be preaching the word to ourselves on a daily basis. Of course, that would require that you know the Word yourself, or at the very least, that you have access to it (perhaps on that device in your pocket or sitting on the table besides you).
The great Yoggi Berra once said, “You can observe a lot, just by watching.” The main point of Psalm 62 lies in a little word that you can’t even see in English translations, although you can see it show up four times in these four verses. Most translations use the English word “alone,” which is derived from the tiny little Hebrew word “ak.” It shows up six times in this 12-verse psalm, and for comparison’s sake, it is interesting to note that “ak” is only used 24 times in the entire Book of Psalms. The term carries both a restrictive meaning – “only” or “alone” – as well as an assertive meaning – “truly” or “indeed.” When reading through this psalm, then, you can apply it both ways for a double-barreled hit of truth and exclamation:
“My soul waits in silence for God Only!”
“My soul waits in silence for God Alone!”
“My soul waits in silence for God Truly!”
“My soul waits in silence for God Indeed!”
To wait for God alone means to wait on God indeed! To truly hope in God means that one must hope only in God! And that is the big faith-lesson conveyed by this small particle (“ak”) in this short psalm. The life of faith carries both restrictive and assertive qualifications. To trust in the Lord, according to Israel’s scriptures, means to trust in the Lord alone. As Pentateuch clearly proclaims, “Hear O Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” Meaning, we have one God — and only one God. But, moreover, to have only one God is to know exactly, precisely, definitively to whom we entrust our lives — to God indeed! Those who follow Abraham and Sarah’s God are spared the confusion of those who either worship many gods – whom shall we trust in this matter? – or those who trust no gods – in what shall I trust?
John Trapp, a 17thcentury English Reformer, stated in his famous commentary, “They trust not God at all who trust him not alone. He that stands with one foot on a rock, and another foot upon a quicksand, will sink and perish, as certainly as he that standeth with both feet upon a quicksand.” Do you have one foot on the Rock of Your Salvation and one on the pebble of your own ability? Is your hope in the person and promises of Christ or in your own ability to manage and manipulate? If you are a follower of Christ, then you must strive to put your ultimate faith, hope, and trust in Him Only! Alone! Truly! Indeed! Get the point? Amen.
