Teaching Trust In God | Psalm 62

Scripture

• Psalms 62

About this sermon

Introduction: Where do the people of God find our security? In a world that is hostile to us. In a time when that hostility is most pronounced and perhaps most personal — maybe you find yourself in a personal crisis. In a time when trouble seems to be looming on the horizon — we find ourselves in something like Paul refers to in 1 Corinthians 7:26 when he talks about “the present distress.” Times of distress that we can all recognize. Particularly difficult times, times of upheaval, times that could unnerve the people of God. Times that portend real suffering. Where do God’s people find their courage? Their sense of safety? Their STABILITY? Of all the gifts a godly man can impart to his family — to his wife, to his children, and to his children’s children — one of the greatest is that he would be a model of QUIET TRUST IN GOD. A man who demonstrates that he knows that God is TRUSTWORTHY. A man who knows that God ALONE is our rock, our salvation, our stronghold, our hope. We need godly women to impart that same gift to their families. But, on this Father’s Day, as I exhort us all to embrace the truth of Psalm 62, I especially want to call our men to examine ourselves on this question. HAVE WE LEARNED, ARE WE PRACTICING, ARE WE TEACHING, THE KIND OF TRUST THAT WE SEE ON DISPLAY IN DAVID IN THIS PSALM? Are we men who model faith in the CERTAINTIES that belong to the people of God — this is a Psalm about certainties. Are we men who model the faith that makes for the CONTRASTS seen in the people of God — this is a Psalm about contrasts. Are we characterized by a kind of strength that is only known in godly people, a strength only found where this is faith — a strength explained by the knowledge of God’s name? NAU Psalm 9:10 And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, For You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You. This Psalm calls us to that — exhorts us to that. This is a Psalm of personal confidence in God. It comes from David, and no one knows for certain the circumstances that it refers to. But what we CAN say about it is that it’s more than a testimony, it’s a teaching instrument. It is a song that calls the CONGREGATION to REST in the care of God. What it PROCLAIMS it EXHORTS everyone to EMBRACE. What it CELEBRATES it CHARGES everyone to BELIEVE. We will examine this Psalm in three parts, each section marked out by the word “Selah.” Three sections of four verses each. Note: One of the questions before us at the very outset is how to understand a little Hebrew word that is fronted in several of these verses, and prominent throughout. The little Hebrew word אַךְ It is translated “only” in the NASB. It is translated “alone” and “only” in the ESV. It is translated “surely” in the LSB. And if you wondered about why the differences in translation, the answer is because all of these are possible given the context. Allen Ross summarizes: “The word “alone” (אַךְ) begins both verses in this first section. The word can be a restrictive particle, translated “only” or “alone,” or it can be an asseverative (to affirm or declare positively or earnestly — mine) particle, translated “truly, surely.” So, the word can be used in this context to indicate that what David declares is restricted only to God, or it can be used to indicate that what David declares is absolutely true. And, not only is there the question of how to translate it, but how do you translate it EACH TIME IT APPEARS in this Psalm. James Boice — “It is hard to see this in the English text, because the Hebrew is almost untranslatable, but in the Hebrew text the word only or alone occurs five times in the first eight verses (in vv. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6), and once in verse 9. The Hebrew word is ʾak, and the reason its use in the psalm is almost untranslatable is that no one English word seems to be an adequate translation in all the six occurrences. Moreover, in the Hebrew text the word occurs at the beginning of each of the six verses for emphasis, and that too does not lend itself to any easy translation into English.” HERE IS THE GOOD NEWS. Regardless of which way a translator goes, you arrive at the same place. The reason why David’s confidence would be in God alone, is because what He knows of God is absolutely certain. Or, you could say that because these things about God are absolutely certain, absolute trust in God is fitting and right.

Topics

• Faith
• Bible Study
• Trust in God