Month: December 2024

Psalm 64:10 The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and shall trust in him; and all the upright in heart shall glory.

The believer is accounted righteous because of faith in Jesus. Therefore, he responds to this work of Christ by being glad and rejoicing in the Lord. Joy is the fruit of the Spirit, and such gladness characterizes the life of the Christian. And no matter what happens he maintains a joyful spirit, for he trusts in Him for all things.

The Lord grants an upright heart, and because of that imputed righteousness we glory in the Lord. To glory is to boast in the cross of Christ and brag on God about how great and good He is. To glory is to live in God’s reflected glory, which we enjoy by grace through faith. The glory and kindness of God is reflected in us and comes out through us. God is always good, and we glory in that truth.

Psalm 64:1 Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer; preserve my life from fear of the enemy.

In his distress, David prays to God to hear his voice and preserve his life from fear of the enemy. In our own lifetime on earth our spiritual enemies, Sin, Death, and the Devil, scare us with all kinds of threats and attacks. When we sense what is going on in the spiritual world of our soul we realize that enemies are scaring us to be afraid, to doubt, to be anxious, and to worry. That is a signal to lift our voice in prayer to God. We respond to impending trouble by turning to the Lord, asking Him to preserve the soul from fear. “Deliver us from evil.”

We will not turn away from God at the first sign of bad things; instead, we turn toward the Lord. And He preserves us from fear, doubt, and worry. Our sin has turned God away from us (“your sins have separated Me from you”). But God loved us still and sent His Son, so that because of Christ God now turns toward us. He hears our prayer and preserves from fear. So we fear, love, and trust God alone.

Psalm 63:7 Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

God is my help in every time of need; He is my covering and protection from evil at all times. “As a hen gathers her chicks,” so the wings of Almighty God deliver and protect His believing children. Because the Lord hears my prayers and covers me, I am able to respond with a life of joy. My Father provides for me and cares for me always, leaving me free to rejoice in the Lord always. Fear, doubt, worry, and anxiety are replaced by peace, love and joy in the Lord.

We pray, “Deliver us from evil,” from the evil of a bad situation and from the threats of our spiritual enemies. He hears our prayers and fills us with joy. He sets us free, and we are free to enjoy life. Rejoicing is a hallmark of the Christian’s life. We may rejoice always, for we are always under His wings and we always have His help.

Psalm 62:3-5 Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live; I will lift up my hands in thy name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.

David responds to the Lord with praise and blessing to His loving and glorious name, using his lips and hands and mouth to praise the Lord. He vows to bless (say good things about) the Lord as long as he is alive. Dead men can’t praise God, but believers will be resurrected to an eternity of praise in heaven.

The cause of such continual praise and joy is the lovingkindness (faithful love) of God. God’s life, and His love, is better than the corrupted, temporal life in a sinful world. It demands praise. It is awesome that God’s eternal life lives within and next to our sinful, mortal life. Therefore, we praise the Lord.

The result of His abiding life in us is that we are satisfied with the best (marrow) and with abundance (fatness). Therefore we praise. Praise comes from faith, and praise produces more faith, which results in enjoying God forever. We respond with more praise and blessing, which brings more joy and abundant life, which prompts more praise, which brings…etc., etc., in a blessed circle.

Psalm 63:1 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longest for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is.

David was in the wilderness of Judah, and the dry physical circumstances reminded him of the spiritual condition of the soul in a parched world, without the refreshment of God’s presence as the water of life. In the midst of dryness and emptiness he responds by seeking God early. He recognizes how empty life is without God. His soul and flesh feel the thirsting and longing for God. The physical thirst reminds him of what is spiritually missing, what the soul really needs: it is God Himself, His life and love, the joy, peace and refreshment of God living His life in ours.

Therefore, we begin the day seeking the Lord, listening to and turning our attention to Him. We do not seek as though He were lost or hiding. We find Him where we know He is: He is in His Word of Gospel and Grace; He lives within us as Lord and Savior; He is in the fellowship of believers. We know where to find Him and we go there to find, not to search. “Seek ye first…” “Seek and you will find.” He is not far; He is near. He is always seeking us. Thank God He found us.

Psalm 62:8 Trust in him at all times, ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.

Because God only is my rock, salvation, defense, and refuge, I can respond to Him with trust at all times and any time, especially in times of trouble and need. He is my refuge to whom I can turn all the time. Then I trust in Him, and only in Him, as my rock and refuge to answer my prayer and meet my need.

I believe that I can, and I will, pour out my heart before Him. He is attentive to me and the problems I face. When I empty my heart of all the issues I’m dealing with, He fills my heart with Himself, His life, His Spirit, His wisdom, and His word and promise. He already knows what’s troubling me, but He wants me to specifically give it to Him, so that I know He has it in His mercy and power. “Pouring out” is telling Him my issues and feelings, confessing my sin and weakness, and letting it all go to God. It implies trusting God to take it and do what He wills.

In 1 Samuel 1:10, 13, 15 Hannah pours out her heart to the Lord while Eli watches: “She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly….Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved and her voice was not heard…‘I am a woman troubled in spirit…I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord.’” The Lord heard her prayer and gave her a son, Samuel.

Psalm 62:5 My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.

When things get tough and bad things threaten us, we are encouraged to be patient. We get tempted to give up on God too soon and turn to self or worldly things for help and comfort. Instead, our response to present need and impending trouble is to wait expectantly for the Lord, and turn to Him first and only.

Faith sees us through the waiting time, for “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen,” the present possession of what we we cannot see that we already have. Faith expects God to act and do great things for us, even if our physical eyes do not yet see it. David and the OT believers could not yet see the fulfillment of the promised Messiah, but God-given faith expects the Promise as present and real and effective.

So it is with us. Although the historical Christ has come, we still wait expectantly for His return in the unseen future. Additionally, we expect Him to enter in to our present lives and answer our prayers to save us. He will come. So we wait.

Psalm 62:1-2 Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from Him cometh my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, he is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.

Faith is my response to the sure word and promises of God, secured for us through Jesus Christ. I can wait on the Lord, silently, patiently, expectantly, and in faith. He will act in His time and way. Of this I can be certain. Thus I will not be shaken, and nothing can move me. Salvation will come, so I wait in faith. I will not look for or wait for anything else. The Lord only is my rock, salvation, and defense.

Nothing can move me from the solid position I am in because of Christ. I will not give up on Him and He will not let me down. I can wait in faith for He has already died for me and presently lives and reigns for me. Waiting patiently is a gift of God, given assuredly by the Holy Spirit through the Gospel. Waiting is a blessed way to live, not an endurance contest.

Psalm 61:7-8 He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him. So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows.

The king shall abide forever before God. He will preserve mercy and truth to preserve him. Therefore, I will sing praises to His name forever. David himself is the king who will live forever before God. It is also a veiled reference to King Jesus, who lives forever.

And those who believe in Jesus will live forever before God and sing praises forever to His Name. This is our response to the mercy and truth which God gave us to preserve life. Jesus is mercy and truth. John 1:14: “The word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the father, full of grace and truth.”

Once we have received Him and His Eternal Life, we praise His name forever without end. What will we do in God’s eternal kingdom? Sing praises, for we will be so full of joy and love it must be eternally expressed. Meanwhile, while we still live in this mortal coil, the life of God in us sings praises day and night. The Christian life is one of continual abiding in Him and praising Jesus.

Psalm 61:4 I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings.

When the enemy is close by and threatening, David responds by entering into the presence of God on the earth and abiding there in His tabernacle. For NT believers the believer’s body is the tabernacle of the Presence of God on earth. “Your body is the temple of God.”.He is in our heart and on our lips: we believe and confess. He is always near and so close to us. We may consciously and purposefully abide with Jesus and live safe and comfortable lives there forever. We sing, “Abide with me.” We are aware of the presence of God within.

When we go to God, give it to God, and live there, we may trust in Him under the shelter of His wings. Wings refers, in the first place, to the overspreading wings of the cherubim covering the Ark of the Covenant, the exact place of God’s residence. That’s where we are, by faith in Christ. We believe and are baptized, and so we are saved, protected, and blessed. Secondly, we believe the presence of His angels sent to minister to us, keeping us safe and protected from our enemies.