Psalm 62
“Trust”
There’s a story about a guy named Speedy Morris.
Speedy was a basketball coach for LaSalle University.
He was shaving one day when his wife called out to tell him he was wanted on the phone by Sports Illustrated.
Speedy Morris was so excited by the prospect of national recognition that he nicked himself with his razor and ran—with a mixture of blood and shaving cream on his face—down the hall.
He rushed down the stairs so quickly that he slipped on the third to the last step and fell to the floor.
Limping, and in pain he finally got to the phone and the voice on the other end said, “For just a dollar an issue you can get a one year trial subscription…”
The pain of disappointment is something most of us are all too familiar with.
Can you ever remember a time when you were counting on someone to be there for you at some critical moment, but they failed to show up?
Have you ever given your heart to someone, only to have that person break it?
Have you ever shared a secret with a friend, but they gave it away?
Have you ever put your faith in a doctor, financial advisor, or counselor of some other kind only to have their “wisdom” prove disastrous?
Few things are more sacred than trust between people, and few things are more devastating than to have that trust fail.
There can be no doubt that trust is an essential part of life.
In order for us to healthily develop mentally, emotionally and spiritually we need an environment of trust.
How else could we possibly expect to be able to endure hardships with peace, with calm?
A colleague writes, "In 2007, my family's house burned; we lost everything.
As I watched it burn, I heard myself say, 'I've been preparing for this.'
I didn't mean I expected a tragedy, but I had learned to be at peace no matter what happened."
He continues, "I don't know when, like the psalmist, I started to trust in God at all times and without anxiety.
I know it happened gradually, the result of a long-term relationship with the Lord...
...because I remember what the Lord did in the past, I take my rest in the present...
...God has been teaching me to trust."
Has God been teaching you to trust?
God will if you allow Him.
A famous theologian once said, “Fish need water in which to swim, birds need air in which to fly, and we human beings need trust in order to develop our humanity. Trust is the basic element in which human life exists.”
Psalm 62 is basically a “personal testimony.”
Apparently, the psalmist was a victim of persecution and deception by persons who were masquerading as friends.
Have you ever been “stabbed in the back” by someone whom you had considered a friend?
Ever been torn down by a friend?
This is what happened to the psalmist.
In verse 4 the psalmist says, “The only desire of this people is to bring others down low…with their mouths they bless, but inside they are cursing.”
In other words, those who have brought disappointment to this person were fakes or frauds.
They seemed to be one way outwardly, but inwardly they were something else altogether.
The Associated Press ran a news story which caught my attention.
The headline read: “Man Crashes Wearing Fake Seat Belt.”
According to the article, a man in New Zealand just would not put up with the hassle of seatbelts.
He just couldn’t be bothered with them.
The police ticketed him 32 times over a period of 5 years for failing to use his seat beat.
And even though this was costing the guy big money, he still refused to buckle up.
Finally, instead of obeying the man made a fake seat belt that would hang over his shoulder and make it appear as if he was wearing a seat belt when he wasn’t.
His trick worked for a while.
Then, he had a head-on collision.
He was thrown forward onto the steering wheel and killed.
Discussing the accident, the coroner described the fake seat belt: “Though his car was fitted with seat belts, an extra belt with a long strap had been knotted above the seat belt on the driver’s side, providing a belt to simply sit over the driver’s shoulder.”
There can be no doubt that when something is truly tested, that which is fake will fail us!!!
And this is what the writer of Psalm 62 has found.
The psalmist’s life has been a struggle between despair and trust.
How many of us can say the same thing?
He has been let down by persons who have said they were friends.
He has experimented with violence and robbery.
And even wealth has proven to be a false hope.
Augustine declared that we humans are made for God and, therefore, “our hearts are restless until we find rest in [God].”
And the author of Psalm 62 has found this to be the truth: “Only in God do I find rest; my salvation comes from him.
Only God is my rock and my salvation—my stronghold!—I won’t be shaken anymore.”
What do you believe?
Whom do you trust?
In Psalm 62, the psalmist informs us that we must orient our lives in such a way that our ultimate trust is found in God!
Because by comparison, all other things are weak and erratic.
It is only when we put our faith in God first, that the rest of life falls into place.
God is the only One in Whom we can place our absolute trust and our final hope!!!
The career that shows so much promise, the children that seem so exceptional, the nation that appears so strong—all these things are like shifting sand…
…they offer us no permanent security, no eternal life!
Only when we put our full trust in God can other things become valuable.
As it is put so well in 1st John 4:19: “We love because God first loved us.”
Everything else in our lives is to flow from that knowledge, from that trust, from that faith!!!
God bears our burdens, shares our grief, forgives our sins, and bears with our unfaithfulness.
God’s sharing, forgiving and enduring qualities are proven most strongly in the suffering of Jesus Christ on the Cross.
Jesus came and died for you and for me.
It should not be difficult to trust in a God like that!!!
The rich can’t make their lives secure by the things they collect.
The poor can’t make their lives secure by getting what the rich and powerful have.
Both are equally vulnerable to desolation.
Hope, peace, love and salvation can’t be bought!!!
The lives of all people are so fleeting—just a flash in a pan!!!
How can we find security and safety outside the realm of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior?
We can’t!!!
Our experience, human history and the Cross teach us that we can only and ultimately trust in God!!!
And this trust provides us with the confidence to take risks, to live life to the full, and to share our faith, and our lives in loving service with others.
How many of you have taught a child how to swim?
I remember when Mary Ellen was about a year old and I was trying to get her to jump off the side of the pool for the first time.
I lifted her out of the pool, stood her on the side and said, “Come on, jump!”
I think that at that moment, she wrote me off as a crazy man!
The look on her face, in about two seconds went from confusion to dawning understanding.
She frowned and said between tears, “No.”
But I refused to surrender, chased her down, and eventually convinced her to come back to the pool.
And so we came to the moment of truth.
I jumped into the water again and stood with my arms outstretched, watching her bob up and down in her “swimmy-diaper” as one-year-olds do when they “kind of” want to jump, but not really.
“Come on, baby,” I said.
“I’m right here. I’ll catch you. I promise!”
She looked at me half skeptically, did one more little wind-up, bouncing at the knees, and then fell into the pool with what was more a flop than a jump!
And I caught her!!!
After that we were off to the races.
“Do it again, daddy! Catch me again!”
And so commenced half an hour of jump, catch, lift, reset, jump, catch, lift, reset.
When it was over I started to worry that maybe she had gotten a bit too comfortable with the water.
What if she tried to jump in when no one was looking?
But never once did my little girl think about jumping into the water—at least not unless I was standing underneath her with my arms out, promising to catch her.
Despite all those apparent successes, Mary Ellen’s trust was never in her own ability to handle the water.
It was in her, very-flawed, father…
…and in my promises of “Come on baby, I’ll catch you.”
If a child develops that kind of trust in a mortal being, how much more can we bond in trust with the God Who has created us, died for us, and Who’s love for us can never be shaken nor taken away?
Verse 8 of Psalm 62 links two important words: "trust" and "heart."
The psalmist urges us to trust God and pray.
I'm getting better at that only because---through experience in my relationship with Him--God has been teaching me to trust.
"My deliverance and glory depend on God.
God is my strong rock.
My refuge is in God...
...Trust in him at all times!
Pour out your hearts before him!"
God will never let you down.
God will never turn you away.
Only trust Him.
Only trust Him.
Only trust in Him!!!
You can!!!
Trust Him today.
Praise God.
Amen.
