Someone wants to take you down, but God is waiting to help you
By Dean Collins
It might be your competitor who would like to take you down. It might be someone whose goal is to win at any cost who gives you problems. Maybe it’s a disgruntled employee or former employee who just keeps coming after you. Sadly, even in family and church relationships there exist members who just won’t stop their verbal and their passive-aggressive attacks. And somewhere the enemy smirks as you experience these attacks.
The goal: discourage
The psalmist spoke of this kind of opposition when he wrote, “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.”
The little Hebrew word ‘ak is used in this sentence and is translated to mean “only” or “surely.” The implication is that this is the solitary goal of the enemy. He wants to wear us out, knock us down, discourage us, and leave us leaning against a wall and not sure if we can regain our balance (see Psalm 62:3).
It’s good to remember that some who probably unknowingly are fueled by the enemy seek to make us miserable and destroy. But do not worry and don’t give up hope! Psalm 62 uses that same little word, ‘ak, to remind us there is another who is only for us and will never let us down or abandon in our seasons of difficulty. God alone (only) is our rock and salvation (see v. 2). “He only is my rock” (v. 6). So we must not look to our well-conditioned bodies to hold us together. Don’t think it’s your bank account or anyone else’s that can save you. It won’t be your superior intelligence or great strategy. Neither your personality nor good looks will carry you through your challenges. It is God, our rock and our fortress, who will bring us help in times of great need.
The strategy: silence
This psalm opens with the psalmist’s declaration that he will wait for God alone in silence. I suspect we sometimes wait for God in silence because it seems he is in a long delay pattern. We’ve been struggling and growing weary, and there is no help in sight; our fatigue is so great we can’t find the words or the energy to speak.
But maybe the psalmist waits in silence because to discover that God alone is our strength, we must come to him alone. Maybe it’s in the stillness of the morning or late evening where we are apt to finally give up on our strategies and wait for real and sustainable help. Maybe when we stop moving long enough and shut out all the voices in our head and all the well-intentioned suggestions from others—maybe then we can actually hear what God has to say.
To discover that God alone is our strength, we must come to him alone.
It might come while we read his Word. It might come by the Holy Spirit who lives in us and has been trying to get our attention. And either way we cannot possibly hear while we clang around grumbling or attempting yet another answer on our own. One reminder of our need for silence is not enough. In verse 5 the writer reminded himself and us again about this silent and critical pause.
The opportunity to hear from God and depend on God starts alone. You and I must individually turn our hearts and minds and close out the noise to meet God. But the psalmist makes a sudden turn in verse 8 when, after declaring our individual dependence on God, he explains that we can now do it communally. We are encouraged in this verse with this message: “Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. “
God is not just your help. He is our help, and we must pour out our hearts before him. Don’t just drip out your need. Give the faucet a full turn and pour out to God your needs and your struggles.
Pour out to God your needs and your struggles.
Just as the psalmist reminded himself twice to wait in silence, in verses 11, 12 he declared he heard God not one time, but twice, and the message was the same: “. . . power belongs to God, and . . . to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. For you will render to a man according to his work.”
Maybe the apostle Paul was remembering this very psalm when he told Timothy ( and us) not to give into a spirit of fear but rather remember that God gave us a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind. Paul reminds us that God offers us the gift of the power and love mentioned by the psalmist. And he threw in the ability to think and act with purpose.
The promise: God is waiting
So today don’t let the enemy have the day or his way with you. Read and pray this powerful and life-changing psalm. But before you do, don’t forget you must first find a place to be alone and away from the noise so you can hear and experience the God of the universe who is right now waiting to meet you there.
Your time with God’s Word
Psalm 62:1-12; 2 Timothy 1:7 ESV
Photo by GR Stocks on Unsplash
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