Psalms 62:7
Psalms 62:7, “In
God is my salvation and glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in
God.”
This
is the 3rd time in just this one chapter of Psalms that we are told
that God is our salvation. This very clearly says God is my salvation. It does
not say my works are my salvation. It says God is my salvation. Of course the
New Testament goes into even more detail about God being our salvation.
Titus
3:5, “Not by works of righteousness which we have
done, but according to His mercy He saved us.” Timothy 3:7, “That being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs
according to the hope of eternal life.” 2 Timothy 1:9, “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not
according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”
In God is my salvation and glory. Glory and salvation go together.
Mankind certainly has a natural desire to glory in something. Sadly for the
most part men glory in themselves, they glory in their own accomplishments, the
tall buildings that they build, the technology that they discover, the
knowledge and understanding of physical things that they acquire,
men glory in their strength and sports accomplishments, men glory in their physical
appearance. We certainly live in a society which is greatly influenced by
The Bible says in Jeremiah 9:23-24, “Thus saith the LORD, let not the
wise man glory in His wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might,
let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth
glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise
lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things
I delight, saith the LORD.”
How few people there are on this earth who
glory in their knowledge and understanding of Jesus Christ. Most people walk
through this world accusing God of being unjust and vengeful in His anger and
wrath. Strange isn’t it that they think it is ok for man to be angry but not ok
for God to be angry and to punish sin. In their minds that makes God unjust.
How selfish and hard hearted they are. They never think about how God feels.
How much they hurt God when they sin. They don’t care how God feels. They are
cold hearted and selfish.
These verses in Jeremiah are wonderful
verses because they tell us a lot about God’s feelings. It’s wonderful to know
what Jesus is feeling and delighting in. The Bible says in Jeremiah
If people knew anything about lovingkindness, judgment,
and righteousness and that God delights in these things, they would have no
reason to accuse God of being unjustly angry at them. When was the last time
you met a person who gloried in their knowledge and understanding of the LORD?
Proverbs 15:3 says, “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and
the good.” 2 Chronicles 16:9, “For
the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew Himself
strong in behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him.”
Just think about God’s work of lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness
that He has done in the earth. He spent thousands of years carefully giving out
His word to us. From eternity past God planned out Jesus coming to the earth
and dying on the cross for our sins. And in the future God has a great and wonderful
plan for those who trust in Him, a plan that includes a world without sin or
suffering. Just think of the billions of people that are alive today, and that
have lived in the past and God was there and is there today in their lives
giving them blessing after blessing and working gently in His mysterious ways
to try to bring them to repent of their sins and trust in Him. All these things
are a great work of lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness. How much it
must hurt the heart of God when a person at last rejects Christ for that final
time and then dies and is cast into hell for ever.
Job
15:8, “Hast thou heard the secret of God? And dost
thou restrain wisdom to thyself?” Psalms 25:14, “The
secret of the LORD is with them that fear Him; and He will shew them His covenant.”
It
is amazing to think that the all powerful holy God
would reveal His feelings to us. There are in fact many things that God reveals
about Himself to us. Yet even though they are revealed they remain secret to
the world because the world glories in itself. The world glories in those
things which are temporary and corruptible things which are full of vanity and
that fade away.
Psalms
62:7, “In God is my salvation and glory” If
they only knew the glory that comes with salvation, the eternal, everlasting,
bright and shining glory. Yes, you can have a glimpse of the glory of God. Psalms 19:1, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handywork.”
We
are very blessed in today’s age to have the technology that we do: the telescopes
and satellites which can see deep into outer space. The amazing images they
bring us of stars, and nebula and supernovas, what fantastic images of the
glory of God. There is just something about space in all its vast unending
beauty and shining stars that hint of the presence of God in all His majesty
and power in both love and judgment.
In
thinking about the glory of God we have a description given of Jesus in
Revelation 1:13-16 which says, “And in the midst of
the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment
down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a
golden girdle. His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow;
and His eyes were as a flame of fire; And His feet like unto fine brass, as if
they burned in a furnace; and His voice as the sound of many waters. And He had
in His right hand seven stars: and out of His mouth went a sharp two edged
sword: and His countenance was as the sun shineth in
His strength.
His
countenance was as the sun shineth in His strength. First
John 3:2, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it
doth not yet appear what we shall be: be we know that, when He shall appear, we
shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.”
His
countenance was as the sun shineth in His strength.
And one day we shall be like Him. This gives us an idea of glory, eternal,
everlasting glory, not the vain glory of man that boasts of physical things
which whither and die and fade away.
Yes,
just look at the glory of man, the great things which he thinks he
accomplishes. Man builds cities and tall buildings. Man gathers to himself
riches. Man increases in technology and wisdom and understanding of physical
things. Man has his feats of strength and speed and prowess in the Olympics.
Man has his music and acting in Hollywood that he is so proud of. Yet what are
all these things? They are vanity. They are not eternal.
In
God is my salvation and glory. Let the world glory in its vanity which fades
away. But let the child of God glory in that he understandeth
and knoweth Jesus Christ. Daniel 12:3, “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the
firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and
ever.”
Yes,
the people of the world get their 15 minutes of fame and glory while the
children of God are ridiculed and persecuted in this world but the day is
coming when God shall change our vile bodies, that it
may be fashioned like unto His glorious body. And we shall shine as the stars
for ever and ever. Therefore he that glorieth let him
glory in the LORD.
Psalms
62:7-8, “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.”
One
of the challenges of the Christian life is to trust in God at all times in both
the good and the bad through both the mountains and the valleys when things go
our way and when life is uncertain. When disasters befall us our goal should be
to be like Job. Job
This
is certainly one way to help make sure you trust in God at all times and that
is to bless God or to give Him thanks in all things. There is always something
to be thankful to God for. If anything, you can at least be thankful for the
salvation and glory that you have received and will receive in the future.
Psalms 62:8,
“Trust in Him at all times; ye people, pour out your
heart before Him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.” The phrase pour out
your heart is a very interesting phrase. God puts a lot of effort into our
lives and we should do the same toward Him. The phrase pour out your heart has
the same idea as taking a cup full of water and pouring it until all the water
has spilled out and the cup is empty. Deuteronomy 6:5, “And
thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul,
and with all thy might.” Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust
in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In
all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.”
Perhaps the
best example of someone pouring out their heart before God is the example of
Jesus Himself when He prayed in the
This does not
mean that you need to pray until you bleed but it does show the effort that
Christ gave when He poured out His heart toward God.
Psalms 62:8, “Trust in Him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart
before Him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.”
If you pour
your heart out before God and trust in Him you will find that Jesus is a refuge
for you; a place to hide from the cares of this world, from the gnashing
tongues of men, a place of peace and rest, comfort and love even while the
storms of life are raging.
Psalms 62:9-10
says, “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.”
There is no
respect of persons with God. We are all created in God’s image. We are all born
in sin. And we will all die and stand before God to be judged. In this sense
there is no difference between rich or poor. These verses make it clear that
some people, instead of trusting in God trust in their ability to manipulate
other people to take advantage of them to rob and steal from them to get what
they want or even trust in their own riches. Many people in the world make this
mistake.
But the next
several verses remind us that power and mercy belong to God and God will judge
men according to their works. Psalms 62:11-12, “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.”
The words
power and mercy certainly go together very well. From a human standpoint when
we think of power we certainly do not think of mercy because men are evil and
it is usually evil men that have power in this world. And they are not
merciful. But when you think of God think of power and mercy together. It was
by the power of God that Jesus rose from the grave defeating death and that was
part of the work of God’s mercy in sending His son Jesus to die on the cross
for the sins of the world.
If you have
never turned from your sins to Jesus Christ you can do so today and experience
the power and mercy of God.
___________________________________________________
Copyright; 2017 by Bruce
Creech
All Rights Reserved