We are introducing a new song, Psalm 62, to our congregation this week. Whenever we introduce a new song, I usually try to spend some time singing it repeatedly throughout the week so I gain a familarity with it. It fits in well with the 40 minute each way commute that I have. If you ever see a guy singing his heart out on 101, yeah, that’s me.

But looking up the Scripture from which that song comes, I found something more than insight into a song. I found a respite for my own soul.

5 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. 6 He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. 7 On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. 8 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.

Psalm 62:5-8

How far have I removed myself from the beautiful simplicity of placing the entirety of my soul’s longings on God alone? Life in a fallen world, in my not yet glorified flesh, full of worries, full of idols that my heart so easily goes after. Full of restlessness.

Sometimes I feel as if people are leaning on me, counting on me to be strong. Eventually, it becomes clear that I’m not that strong. I’m not as steady as I wish I could be. As much as I want to be a rock that the church can lean on, I realize I can’t bear that weight. When you realize you don’t have the strength that others are counting on you to have, what is a man to do?

This Psalm turns the burdened heart back to an unending well of strength. God ONLY is my rock and my salvation. How many other things have I tried to make a rock to lean on in my life? In how many other things have I tried to obtain another version of salvation?

Bringing it closer to home, how many times have I tried to trust my OWN strength as my rock and my salvation? How many times have I simply thrown yet another load on my own back, figuring that my strength was sufficient to absorb that weight?

Eventually, this kind of thing will crush a man. It brings a mixture of frustration, self-righteousness, guilt, anxiety, and despair. In a word, restlessness.

But as I sang the refrain from Psalm 62 — repeatedly until I lost count — all those feelings that had seemed so weighty, so pressing, so imminent…suddenly they didn’t really matter anymore. The only thing that mattered was that I was singing to my God, joining a refrain that one day all His saints will sing in unison.

“O praise Him, Hallelujah! My Delight and my Reward! Everlasting, never failing, My Redeemer, my God”

For a few glorious moments, I forgot about that restlessness. It came when my thoughts were overwhelmed with God and nothing else. Truly our souls were made to find rest in Him alone.

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