A Severe Mercy for Our Highest Good: Psalm 62-Supplication through the Scriptures

A Severe Mercy for Our Highest Good

Psalm 62

You can never learn that Christ is all you need, until Christ is all you have.
Corrie ten Boom

In our western culture where GrubHub, over-the-counter medication, Kindle books, 2-day Amazon prime delivery (or same-day, depending on what you order), livestream, and countless other services designed to meet our every desire quickly, it can be hard to imagine an existence where we are left with only one necessary thing. With the surplus of our society, and the quick meeting of every need, how do we come to a place where we understand David’s statements in Psalm 62 where he repeats that he waits for God alone, and only He, the Lord, is David’s rock, salvation, and fortress? 

I think the answer to that will be found in the hard places of life. The circumstances that leave us wondering what God is doing and how He could purpose good out of the mess we find ourselves. Those severe mercies: severe because they cause discomfort or hardship and they are painful; mercy because it is intended as a blessing of God’s favor and compassion toward us. The circumstances of life that come to us as afflictions, distresses, and sufferings, but they are brought to us to wean us from this world and its lesser comforts and joys, and replace those with the only and all-satisfying one, Christ Himself. “You can never learn that Christ is all you need, until Christ is all you have” (Corrie ten Boom). And it’s when we see no other remedy, when God has removed every crutch, when there is no hope in what this world could devise, when we come to the end of ourselves and our ideas, we can truly begin to understand, “For God alone my soul waits in silence.” 

And it is God alone that our soul desperately needs. And what great comfort do we find? “He gives Himself to needy ones” (Spurgeon). He gives Himself and He gives freely. Herman Bavinck, a Dutch theologian, states, “God, and God alone, is man’s highest good.” And when all else that we have hoped in or depended on has been stripped away, we see more clearly the beautiful truth, “Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And besides Thee, I desire nothing on earth. My heart and my flesh may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:25-26). So let whatever severe mercy God has sent you lead you to your highest good, the Shepherd and Guardian of your soul. 

But what if you are in a time of relative ease, and your life circumstance is not desperate? Can you still embrace and live the truth that God alone is your rock and salvation? Absolutely! We embrace by faith the truth we see in His Word. We accept that what He tells us in His Word is true, even if we do not feel it or yet completely understand it. And then, when you are met with challenges and difficulties, the Lord will teach you by experience that which you have embraced by faith. We are being transformed little by little, and that includes understanding and experiencing our need and reliance upon God alone. 

“Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us” (Psalm 62:8, emphasis mine). At all times, ease and prosperity or hardship and woe, we can lean into the Lord, our only hope and portion.

Pray Psalm 62 for a hope that rests in God alone.

Daily Dagger: 
  1. “My soul, wait in silence for God alone, for my hope is from Him” (62:5).
  2. I will trust Him and pour out my soul to Him (62:8).
  3. God is a refuge for me (62:8).

For God Alone

62:1-4 For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. How long will all of you attack a man to batter him, like a leaning wall, a tottering fence? They only plan to thrust him down from his high position. They take pleasure in falsehood. They bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse. Selah 
Let’s pray: 
▫️Today, our souls would wait in silence for God alone. In whatever situation we need Him to act, we would wait in peace and rest, quiet and trust.
▫️He would bring the salvation and deliverance that He alone can provide, and we would trust His sovereign leading even when we feel perplexed.
▫️We would say confidently, “He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.”
▫️His truth and His peace would guard our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus as we make all our requests known to Him (Philippians 4:6-7).

Pour Out Your Heart Before Him

62:5-8 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah 
Let’s pray: 
▫️We would rest our hope firmly on Him, and He, the God of hope, would fill us with all joy and peace in believing that we would abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13).
▫️When we feel shaken, the Lord would help us to fix our eyes on Him, and find refuge in His everlasting arms.
▫️We would turn to our mighty rock and stand firm in the faith (Philippians 4:1).
▫️We would trust in Him at all times, pour out our hearts before Him, for He is a refuge for us!

Power Belongs to God

62:9-12 Those of low estate are but a breath; those of high estate are a delusion; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath. Put no trust in extortion; set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase, set not your heart on them. Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. For you will render to a man according to his work.
Let’s pray:
▫️We would be aware of anything else that we might be tempted to trust in, and we would not set our hearts on those things, but on God alone.
▫️We would be filled with rejoicing that power belongs to our God. He is our Mighty Warrior and great Champion. We will overcome because He is fighting for us.
▫️We would comprehend the breadth and length and height and depth, and truly know the steadfast love of Christ which surpasses all knowledge, and we would be filled with the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:18-19).

May the Lord do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, for His glory and our good. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Psalm 62 quoted from the ESV.
Photo credit to jonnymckenna.

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