Trusting God’s Deliverance (Psalm 62:1)

For God alone, my soul waits in silence. From him comes my salvation.
– Psalm 62:1

And then I’m going to go ahead and read also Psalm 62:5,

for God alone, oh my soul, wait in silence for my hope is from him.

Isn’t that interesting? This repetition of this imagery of your soul waiting in silence for God alone.

Psalm 62:1 Portrays the Psalmist’s Struggle With Patience

The first time in verse one, the psalmist David in this instant says, for God alone, my soul waits in silence. But then it’s interesting when you get down to verse five, he says, for God alone, oh, my soul is speaking to himself, telling himself to wait in silence, to hope in God as his salvation. And I just think about that picture of your soul waiting. Waiting is so hard sometimes, isn’t it? At least it is for me. I had to wait when you want something to happen so badly, and you don’t understand why it’s happening.

So interesting. Even as I say that, I think about a part of my story that I’ve shared many times about how for five years, Heather, my wife and I walked through infertility and we waited month after month after month, year after year, not as long as Abraham and Sarah in the Bible, but it felt like that just waiting and learning to trust that God was working all of this together according to his good plan and purposes.

And now, here I am years later with children that God has provided in our family, first through adoption and then biologically along the way. And now interestingly enough, we find ourselves waiting again. We’ve been waiting for over three years now to go pick up one of our children that we’re adopting overseas. So we find ourselves waiting again. I totally get how David can say in verse one, my soul waits in silence.

Psalm 62:1 Encourages Us to Trust God’s Sovereignty

Then in verse five, he’s having to tell himself to wait in silence, because waiting is a struggle. And just as I have seen God work in response to years of waiting in the past, I’m having to remind myself many days that I can wait on God and trust that he is working.

And I just want to encourage you with that today, especially if you’re in a season, at a time of waiting here, God speaking to you right now through his word saying to you, he is your salvation, he is your hope, and your soul can wait on him in silence, in trust, that he is working a plan and purpose that you or I may not realize, but that he promises is ultimately good. Oh God, for you alone, our souls wait in silence. And even if we pray that we say to our souls before you, oh God, wait in silence. God help us to wait with trust, with patience, with strength, with joy, and yes, with hope in you and you alone.

We are not waiting ultimately on our circumstances or in situations to change on other people to do this or that, we’re waiting on you. You’re sovereign over it all. And we trust in you. Our hope is in you. You are our salvation. And God, we praise you, as the one we can trust in our waiting. We praise you that we can find rest in you when we are waiting in this world.

Praying for the Unreached

And God, even as we pray all of this, we plead on behalf of people around the world who don’t know you as their salvation, don’t know you as their hope, and in a very real sense are waiting to hear the gospel for billions of unreached people in the world. God, we pray that their waiting would come to an end, and that the gospel would get to them. We pray, God forgive us for keeping them waiting, and a way that is not good for them. We pray that you’d to help us to spread the gospel through them.

Oh God, we praise you as our salvation, as our souls wait in silence, and we pray for the spread of your salvation through us. In Jesus’ name, we pray according to Psalm 62:1 and 5. Amen.