Rob's Expository Sermon Preparation | Psalm 62:1–8 (2)

Introduction:

A tottering fence

YOU MIGHT HAVE NOTICED THAT’S ONE OF THE WORD PICTURES THAT DAVID USES TO DESCRIBE HIMSELF.

I) Falling-Down Fences & Wobbly Walls: Knowing our Weakness

A. When We Feel like Tottering Fences (vs. 3)

i. Tottering Fences & leaning walls are pictures of weakness & vulnerability

1. Use your imagination to picture: A fence, and a wall falling a part

2. Both of these communicate weakness, vulnerability (Have you felt this?)

ii. David’s experience leaves him like a worn-out wall, a falling-down fence

1. David is on the run from a king who wants him dead

2. Many of his friends have left him

B. Why We Feel Like Tottering Fences (vs. 4)

i. We feel vulnerable because people want to “take us down

1. Saul in David’s downfall (as people enjoy watching others fail)

2. Schadenfreude: The A-student fails a test; kid you don’t like gets cut…

ii. We feel vulnerable because people take pleasure in falsehood

1. People fool us into believing things that aren’t true

2. EXAMPLE: Social media leaves us insecure, anxious, depressed

iii. We feel vulnerable because people bless (but really curse)

1. The outside doesn’t always match the inside

2. EXAMPLE: friendly, compliments, but you find they’re talking about you

WE ALL FEEL LIKE FALLING-DOWN FENCES, OR WORN-OUT WALLS; BUT WE SKIPPED THE MOST IMPORTANT PART: WE NEED TO KNOW THE GOD WHO IS BIGGER THAN OUR PROBLEMS!

II) Rocks, Fortresses, and Refuge: Knowing Who God Is

A. Knowing Who God Is… (vv. 1-2)

i. God is a rock (A place of strength, rescue)

1. A rock is a picture of stability and strength, something to stand on

2. David might be weak…but God is not!

ii. God is a fortress & a Refuge (A place to go for security, safety)

1. A refuge/fortress is a place for protection and safety

2. So, even as David hides in a cave, he knows his real shelter is God

B. …allows us to patiently trust in God (vv. 1, 5)

i. We wait for God (because he doesn’t always act on our timeline)

1. “How long?” – when he’s tired of feeling this way…

2. We must learn to wait on God – even if his timing isn’t ours!

ii. We trust that God will protect us

1. Those things we look to for shelter, protection may let us down

2. But we know God will be the one to rescue, deliverus!

SINCE GOD IS BIGGER AND STRONGER THAN OUR WORST PROBLEMS, WE CAN FIND REST IN HIM. HOW DO WE DOTHIS?

III) Talking to Yourself: Ministering the Gospel to Ourselves

A. What to do?

i. We speak to our soul about what God has done (vs. 5)

1. Self-talk: That inner voice that runs through our minds

2. The Psalmist models this for us – when threatened, speak to ourselves!

ii. We pour out our hearts to God Because he is our refuge (vs. 8)

1. To pour out means to spill it, to hold nothing back(EXAMPLE)

2. Sometimes; Sharing our fears, pain, sadness – all to God

B. The Greatest Hope We Have:

i. Jesus is our greatest rescue: Trust in Him!

1. God’s greatest rescue – his greatest answer to this Psalm – is in Jesus

2. Unshakable: “Jesus is the cornerstone!”

ii. Jesus is our greatest glory: Rest in Him! (vs. 7)

1. Your honor is your “significance” – your repuation;

2. Our “glory” is tied to Jesus

3. EXAMPLE: Romans 8 – Who will bring any charge? Ultimately, it only matters what Jesus thinks of you

Transition:

Conclusion

Lean on Jesus!