Psalm 62 - The Refuge of the Righteous
INTRODUCTION:
Interest:
Have you ever been in a situation in which you earnestly are seeking a place of refuge? A place of security from a potentially hazardous situation?
I remember a time when our family was driving from here to North Dakota around Christmas time to visit our extended families. We got caught by snow on the west side of Chicago. The roads were getting worse quickly. Our kids were young at the time, so I certainly did not want to get stuck out on the Interstate at night. This was before the days of cell phones and Google maps, so I recall watching quite anxiously for an exit that advertised a hotel. I wanted to get off the road and to a place of safety for the night. I wanted refuge for my family from the snowstorm.
I would guess that most of us have had similar experiences; times when we suddenly face a situation that leaves us concerned for our safety, times that leave us looking for a place of security, a refuge.
Involvement:
This morning, that is where we find our psalmist. He once again feels threatened and is looking for security.
Context:
Psalm 62 is another psalm attributed to David. Yet, like many of the psalms with his name attached, there is nothing specific in this psalm that indicates what happened in his life to generate these reflections.
Preview:
Something has happened to generate fear and he is reflecting on where he is able to find refuge. As I have mentioned with some of the other psalms that we have looked at, it is this generic vagueness that actually gives power to this psalm. The danger is so vague, the trials so generic, that it is quite easy for us to see our own situations reflected in David’s reflections. We have surely faced dangers of our own. We have surely had times when we sought security and refuge from the trials of this life, from this broken world and its hostility. For that reason, we can relate to David’s experiences … and more significantly, we can learn from David’s inspired reflections. The lesson that we can learn from Psalm 62 is that God is the only secure final refuge. God is the only secure final refuge.
The twelve verses of this psalm naturally break into three stanzas of 4 verses each; we even have that musical notation “selah” in the margins of our bibles to highlight these breaks. My plan is to look at each of these stanzas in turn and show us that each stanza builds part of this main idea.
Transition from introduction to body:
God is the only secure final refuge. Let’s read the first stanza, verses 1–4…<read Ps 62:1–4>.
In this first stanza David reflects that…
BODY:
I. God is the only refuge.
Only…that is the emphasis as this psalm kicks off. David needs a refuge, but he can only find that refuge in God.
We can’t see it so clearly in our English translations, but the idea of only is highlighted in the original Hebrew. Three of the first four verses begin with the Hebrew word for “only.” Verses 5 and 6, which are largely a repetition of verses of verses 1 and 2 also begin with this word. It is a word, that by its very sound, akh, grabs attention. It communicates earnestness.
Transition:
God is the only refuge. In these first four verses there are a couple of ways this idea is emphasized. First, verses 1 and 2 communicate that …
A. Faith in God brings refuge.
The reason that we don’t have any idea about what is going on in David’s life at this time is because he doesn’t tell us. We can sense that he is under great adversity, but he doesn’t talk about the problems. Rather, either the words have already been said or he can’t find the words to describe his trial. Instead, he is at the point where the issue is being left with God completely. Both David’s voice and heart are silent; he is waiting with expectation that God will deliver Him. He has gone to God and found the ability to wait in the refuge of his faith.
Illustration
You know, there are times when even devote atheists have been forced to admit that they envy believers for their faith. When situations arise that are completely outside our control to do anything about them at all, believers find refuge in their faith. Our serenity becomes a loud testimony for God and the refuge that He provides because unbelievers cannot find any such serenity.
Application
Do you have serenity in times of trouble? The peace that passes all understanding. Are you able to wait in silence because you have found refuge in your rock and your salvation? In your stronghold?
Transition:
Faith in God brings refuge. By contrast, …
B. Faith in man brings danger.
In verses 3 and 4, David contrasts the security that he can find with God to what man might offer. He is wise enough to the depravity of man to realize that everything that man might offer by way of refuge is a lie. Rather, people will seek to do him harm. They might pretend to be on his side, to function even as his counselors, but when the opportunity presents itself for them to get ahead by betraying him, he knows that they will jump at the chance. They will gladly do him harm if it will help them personally get ahead.
Application
You may be thinking that this is a grim view of mankind, and you are right. This is a grim view of mankind. It is also the biblical view. Mankind is totally depraved. There is no natural good in people. Rather, people will ultimately do what will help them get ahead in life … unless, of course, God intervenes in some way.
Illustration
Frankly, this is the problem with the view presented by the liberal left in our society. The liberal left is truly seeking to improve society, but they fail to understand that the core issues of society are in the human heart, rather than in the structures created by those hearts. The broken structures of society cannot be fixed without addressing the brokenness in every individual human heart.
Transition:
Faith in man brings danger. We need to remember this second reality that contrasts with the reality that faith in God brings refuge; only God. God is the only refuge.
God is the only secure final refuge. That is the overall idea in our psalm. The first stanza teaches us that God is the only refuge. Let’s go ahead and read the second stanza now … <read Ps 62:5–8>.
Here we find the emphasis on final; …
II. God is the only final refuge.
We are certainly familiar with the importance of that which is final.
Illustration
It doesn’t matter what the score in a basketball game might be throughout. One team can lead the entire game, but if the other team pulls ahead by a single point through a last second basket, the second team wins. It is only the final score that matters.
This is the concept that are causing both political parties to fret so much this month. Both parties realize that it doesn’t matter what all various polls show leading up to the elections next month. The only thing that truly matters is the final vote tallies from the election itself. Their inability to predict that tally now is what leads to all the fretting and all the money being poured into advertisements of various kinds.
Well, the same is true of a refuge. We might seek refuge in various places, but it is the final one that must be able to stand the onslaught of the trial when it arrives.
Transition:
God is the only final refuge. Again, let’s notice a couple of things in the four center verses of this psalm that emphasize that point. In verses 5–7 David makes the point that…
A. Faith in God is final.
I mentioned earlier that verses 5 and 6 are nearly repeats of verses 1 and 2. They are nearly repeated but not quite. There are a few significant differences. For example, “salvation” in verse 1 is changed to “hope” in verse 5. Because he has sought refuge in God, his hope is now in the Divine Warrior who will fight on his behalf. Also, in verse 2 David had said that he would not be “greatly shaken.” Now in verse 6 the word “greatly” is removed. His confidence is absolute. He has unqualified assurance that God is his final refuge.
Most significantly, though, is that the word “wait in silence” is actually a verb now, an imperative actually. In verse 1 David was simply observing that he was silent as he waited on God. Now he commands himself to remain silent in his waiting. He is in his final refuge. There is nothing left of him to say. All that is left now is to wait in faith for God to reveal His ability as David’s salvation, David’s strength, David’s refuge.
Application
Are you equally settled in your faith in God? Are you able to command yourself to remain silent as you wait because your faith in God is final?
Transition:
First, David has shown us that faith in God is final. Second, we see in verse 8 that …
B. Faith in God is available.
This verse is surprising. The emphatic confession that David has just made regarding his own trust in God transforms, as one commentator puts it, into a bold call on all the godly to put their trust in God. He wants all the people to experience the refuge that he is experiencing, “God is a refuge for us.”
Notice too, that David calls on the people to pour out their hearts before God. In other words, people are to take their troubles to God in prayer.
Application
This is the other side to the silence that David was experiencing. Before someone can be silent in their faith, they must take their burdens to God. As Peter says in 1 Pet 5:7, we are to cast all our anxiety on Him, because He cares of us.
Yet not only are we to do this ourselves, we are to urge others to do likewise. Folks, people are terrified all around us. They are living in fear. Fear of what will happen with COVID. Fear of what will happen with the election. Fear of what will happen in their families, with their jobs, with their health. There is rampant fear. But we have the answer to that fear; we know the refuge where they can hand that fear to the only One who can replace it with the peace that passes all understanding. But are we sharing that truth? Are we telling others about the One who died for them so that they might have life? Are we telling people about the One who rose from the grave so that they no longer need to fear death? And are we telling of the God who sent His own Son so that they could have a true refuge through faith? Are we sharing that faith in God is available?
Maybe you are listening to me this morning, but all you feel is fear in your own life. If that is the case, let me talk directly to you. God offers a refuge to you through His Son, Jesus Christ. The ultimate source of all your fears is sin, sin that has broken this world, and frankly, sin that has broken each of us. Faith in Jesus is the answer to sin. Now, I am not saying that your fears are not real, nor that they can be addressed through a simple prayer or three-step process or something. What I am saying is that there is an answer available. Faith in God is available. I would love nothing more than to spend the time needed to explain what I mean more fully. I urge you to contact me. My email is on the screen. Send me a note and I will get back to you to help you learn more fully the answer that the Bible gives to your fear.
Transition:
Faith in God is available. And, as we saw, faith in God is final. God is the only final refuge.
Let’s consider our main idea again: God is the only secure final refuge. We have seen the only part and final part in the first two stanzas. In the in final stanza, we find the secure part; …
III. God is the only secure final refuge.
Let’s read the last four verses of our psalm … <read Ps 62:9–12>.
Transition:
The distinction between “men of low degree” and “men of rank” is based on the use of two different common words for “man” used in verse 9. It is possible that both simply refer to mankind rather than a distinction in the class of men, but in either case, the point that David makes in verses 9 and 10 is that…
A. Faith in man is empty.
The word that we have translated “vanity” in the first line, as well as “breath” at the end of verse 9 is the well-known word from the book of Ecclesiastes’ “vanity of vanities” phrase. The word for “vainly” in verse 10 is also related to this word. The general meaning is something that is futile or empty. David’s point is that any sort of faith in man, or even the things that man can offer, is futile, vain—empty. It doesn’t matter if a person is trying to trust in positions of power or in positions of obscurity. Neither provide secure refuge. This is also true of riches, which is what most people look to for self-sufficiency. Money cannot buy security in this life.
Application
Sadly, this is a truth that we need reminded of regularly. We are prone to putting our faith in that which we can see, that which we think we have some measure of control over.
Illustration
There is a reason that people get so incised over politics in an election year. There is a temptation to believe the words of the candidates that their influence in the office that they are running for will improve our lots in life. We want to trust in their promises and their abilities. We can see them; they are tangible.
But such faith is empty. Our politicians cannot provide us security. History is filled with all sorts of political systems and people who were suddenly overthrown and removed from power.
The same is true when it comes to our bank accounts and our 401K plans. Ultimately, these too are placing our faith in man. They can disappear overnight. The economy can collapse and currency can be dissolved.
Illustration
I will never forget the first time when I traveled to Brazil. The country had just come out of a massive recession and for the first time in a decade the economy was somewhat stable. People would line up in front of ATMs every lunch hour. I asked what they were doing and learned that most of them were simply checking their account balance. They wanted to check to see if their money was still there because they were used to it disappearing if it was left in the bank.
Transition:
Faith in man is empty. By contrast, David ends our psalm by demonstrating that …
B. Faith in God is secure
David has heard two divine promises: God is powerful, and God is loving. In fact, God’s love is His covenant-loyal love, His hesed—that Hebrew word that we find so often that emphasizes that God loves because of the covenant relationship that He has formed with His people.
Because of that covenant relationship David knows that he is secure. It doesn’t matter what might happen during this life, in the end God will deal with every person justly. For those who oppress God’s people, there will be just recompence; God’s people will be vindicated and the oppressors will be punished. For those who are God’s people, there will also be just recompence. God will reward their faith. In God is security.
Application
Do you have that security? Do you have faith in God? Is your confidence settled in the covenant relationship that you have with God through Jesus Christ? Nothing is more secure that faith in God. God is powerful. He is loving. He is just.
In fact, do you notice that the final verse of our psalm is a direct address by David to God? David is reciting to God these glorious character traits of God. In other words, David ends this psalm in worship.
That is the proper response to recognizing that faith in God is secure. Such recognition, such comfort, such assurance produces worship in God’s people. Is your heart resonating in worship this morning because your faith in God is secure?
Transition from body to conclusion:
Faith in man is empty. Faith in God, by contrast, is secure. God is the only secure final refuge.
CONCLUSION
God is the only secure final refuge.
That is the truth that rings out of our psalm, Psalm 62.
When I encountered severe snow on that Christmas time trip with my family, I sought out a refuge—a hotel that would give us final security for the night from the storm. It was a great relief to find one, a place of safety.
In a similar fashion, trials and oppression in this life causes us to seek spiritual refuge. David has shown us that God is the only secure final refuge. Do you have a secure final refuge for your life? God is the only secure final refuge.