Hamilton Baptist Sermons
14/7/24 Pm Psalm 62 Real Faith - Simon Turner
to. I thought we could begin by reading it together this evening. So please do turn on your Bibles to Psalm 62, and we'll read this magnificent word of God. Psalm 62, Psalm of David, "For God alone my soul waits in silence from him comes my salvation. He only 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? The only plan to thrust him down from his high position. They take pleasure and falsehood. They bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse. For God alone, oh 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 oh people, pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us. 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 I have heard this, that power belongs to God and that you, O Lord, and to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love, for you will render to a man according to his work. Well, good evening. It is nice to be on your travels during the day, but it is even nicer to come home, particularly at the end of the day. It is very good to be back with you here in Hamilton once again on a Sunday evening. We are continuing our little series in the evenings of July, looking at life truths in the Psalms. These are just so helpful to look at these Psalms because they do teach us so much that is important just for the day-to-day lives that we lead and live. So please turn back to Psalm 62 and just keep that in front of you as we go through this particular Psalm this evening. Having looked last week at the matter of true repentance, and we saw the importance of having a heart that would repent and repent quickly, we come now to look at true faith. These are not just little peds dispensers, remember those sweets that you would flip up and just get something out. This isn't how we are to treat the Psalms or to treat God's Word at all, but these are deep truths that really should be coursing through our veins as we think about them, and as we think about true faith this evening, we are not putting out there just an example that we should aspire to be like. If we fail to match up to it then we should just pack up everything and go home. But what I hope that we will see as we go through Psalm 62, there are certain hallmarks that we can look at and aspire to and perhaps even see something of in our own life as we grow in the Lord Jesus Christ. So Psalm 62, true faith, trusting in God's strength. Now I have a younger brother, I wouldn't name him because this is great in livestream, I've got two younger brothers so it can be up in the air which of the two I'm talking about, but my younger brother, the one I'm talking about is an enthusiastic singer, and when he was a toddler, maybe about best age, about four, he would sing in the morning meeting, you know that, that great hymn, "Thine be the glory, risen, conquering son," but he wouldn't pronounce it "conquering." He would pronounce it "concrete," risen "concrete son." Now it's true because Christ never changes, and that made us laugh as a family. But the story goes of the young boy who made a similar mistake with a different hymn, the hymn, "Trust and Obey." And instead of singing "Obey," he sang, "Okay, trust and okay." And this evening, I think there's something in that, if we trust in our God, if we trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, it's not that everything will suddenly be great, it's not that we'll have no problems, but as we root ourselves, as we build upon Him, then we know that our future is okay because it is in Him. Faith in God will never be disappointed. I wonder, are you a person of faith? Not some eerie fairy, new age, worldly religion type of faith, but are you a person who has got their faith in Jesus Christ? Sam 62 is very much a Sam that helps us understand what true faith is. And we come to a Sam again written by David, we have that little title that says to the choir master according to Jonathan, a Sam of David. Now, we've got no real information to place this Sam as we did last week with Sam 51, we saw exactly where that was in David's life. We're not given that information for this Sam, but I think it's fair to assume that as David pens these words, he's doing so at an especially difficult time, that David is almost preaching to himself as well as exclaiming to others that he's only going to trust God. And David will only trust God in the face of determined assailants. David writes about trusting in God's strength. This little title was probably added just a little bit later on, but, Jonathan, this is the name of a person. If you're wondering what this is, Jonathan's a person, he was the worship leader of the day, so think Andrew or Ali or Kenny or Hugh. And that's who we're talking about when we think about Jonathan, something that would lead others in the singing of the Sam and this is written, and this is out there, it's quite clear. Let us sing these words, because as we sing them, the truth of what is being written here would go into the people of Israel. And this evening, we've even done that, sung this truth and hopefully it gets into our hearts too. So what do we learn from this Sam as we go into verse one? Well, the first thing that we find in verses one to two, we see that true faith is patient, true faith is patient. And David is this man of faith. He's not a man who's got faith, it's what we would call fair weather faith. He doesn't just trust when things are going smoothly, but David has a faith that waits for God, even when the difficulty is at, it's worth. The language of verses one and two is fascinating. It's like David is giving himself a shake. It's like David is reminding himself of really the very thing and things that he has to keep centered upon to get through life. In verses one and two, he mentions salvation twice. He's a man that needs salvation because he's in difficult circumstances. And as David does stand in those tough times, he is ready to wait for God. And David doesn't talk to himself and say, well, here's an option that I could possibly choose. Here's something that I could perhaps fall back on if all else feels no. David's not trying hard himself. He's not applying his own mind to the situation. He's saying from the very outset, I will wait for God. I will trust in God. He's not being fatalistic in saying, well, I'll just wait and see what happens, come what may know. He says, I'm going to trust in God because it's in the Lord alone that there is hope. It's in the Lord alone that I can find this, not just the solace, but the solution to keep living and to keep going and to keep worshiping. David simply says, God, as his only hope. And friends, this evening, if you see the Lord Jesus Christ as your only hope, then you're a person of precious faith. You might think that your faith is weak. You might think that the light of your faith is dim. And for many of us, that is the case at different times in our life. But if you have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, you have something that is more precious than all the wealth that this world has to offer. It's God given. But that is faith that is genuine saving faith, this salvation that David craved. For me, of faith in Jesus Christ, we have that salvation that comes from him alone. And as David is waiting, as David does this, he waits in silence. He's not complaining. He's not grumbling. He's got no gripes. He's got no moans. Not that everything is easy. Not he doesn't find it difficult, but he has a trust-infused focus on God as he patiently waits on his Lord to help him. And so when your faith allows you to keep on going, you have faith that is worth clinging on to it. To wait patiently in silence is something that we see modeled, exemplified in the Lord Jesus Christ. We read of the suffering servant in Isaiah 53, that that suffering servant opened not his mouth. We read in the gospels of how the Lord Jesus Christ, in those terrible moments leading up to the cross at Calvary, standing before these supposedly powerful men of the day, be it the Sanhedrin or even Pilate, and not opening his mouth to complain about what was happening. And the Lord Jesus, of course, suffered for us with a silence that patiently awaited the victory on the very cross upon which he would die. So why is it that David can wait and be silent in his difficulty here? Well, the answer is in verse two, because for David, there is no deliverance. There's no answer. There's no solution anywhere else. It is God alone who is the place of safety. It's God who is immovable, who is steady and strong like a rock. It's the Lord who is high up and impregnable and saved just like the picture here of the fortress that is beyond the arrows and the ammunition of the enemy. And David is not going to be demoralized with those things around about him. He's not going to be greatly shaken. And so friends, when you're patient in your difficulties, when you wait for the Lord in your trials and in your griefs, you're testifying to yourself, you're testifying to those around about you that your faith is genuine. And of course, that doesn't remove the trials of the hearts. But what it does do is it anchors you to the only person who truly knows what you're going through. It anchors you to the person who truly can help you. It keeps you in that only place of safety in the Lord, Jesus Christ. Now, of course, there are further defining factors of true faith as we move through the Psalm and we next see in verses 3 to 4 that not only is true faith patient, but true faith perseveres. And maybe David did feel like giving up at times. Maybe he felt at times he was just being a masochist. He could have even wanted that others were thinking him stupid for trusting in God, despite all of the things that were happening to him. But I don't think David was that sort of man at all. David was a man whose faith in God kept enduring. And in verses 3 to 4, David is no longer talking to himself. He's now directing his words to those that are causing him the problems. And we should never see these problems just as a minor irritation, but they're a serious perpetration of assault after assault upon David. This is a king and we should not gloss over the fact that David is actually the most powerful man in the world at this time. He's got the army that can conquer all other armies. He's got strength in himself as a warrior, but he has so many people that would jump to his defence. And yet he feels like he's been thumped time and time and time again. And we know what that's like. We're not kings or queens, we're not royalty. We're not the leaders of great armies. And yet we still feel time and time again. It's as if this world, this life, has just got something against us. David feels like he could be pushed over with a feather of this tottering fence with a breath that could be blown over. And we get there so often in our lives, we just think that if it was just one other thing, the last straw could come and then I couldn't be able to cope, then I couldn't be able to endure, but no. David tells us, keep going. Because he has these enemies who know how to press home their advantage. And so as you feel like this at times, as if all the circumstances that are around you, all the people that are with you, hurt you, stand against you, make life miserable, knowing how to touch those raw nerves, keep turning to the Lord Jesus, keep coming to him in prayer, keep sharing with him the difficulties that you're in, keep having faith and trust in him that he will see you through. I think verse four is perhaps the greatest insight to the circumstances that David is facing. It's almost as if there's a coup against him as king, they're ready to push him down from his high position. But David doesn't just see the problem as coming from those who have the weapons against him. There are those who have the pretence of friendliness, those that are being so pleasant to his face while conspiring against him behind his back. And we know the heart that comes when those that seem so friendly and so close to his end up damaging us. But as David lays this before the Lord, he has this little word "sila" that we have at the end of verse four. And while we don't know the precise meaning of the word "sila," it does seem to carry with it the connotation of just taking a breath and pausing and considering what is going on. And David is reflecting here, and his reflection as it's through the whole of the Psalm, his reflection is that he will keep having faith. Even though he has enemies who are powerful, he doesn't reject God and try to side with them. But he stays faithful to his Lord even when it's so tough. And so when we keep trusting the Lord, especially in the midst of these provocative circumstances, we are persevering. And we are doing so not through anything wonderful in ourself, but we are doing so through the grace that our Lord gives to us himself. And so even when we are clinging on to Christ with our very fingernails, or so it seems, remember that his hand is under us, lifting us up. Faith keeps on trusting. But as we continue through the Psalm, we come to verses 5 through to 8, and we see that true faith is positive. Now, by using this word "positive," I know I run the risk of perhaps painting a picture of mindless optimism that we just paint on our faces, some crazy smile. That's not what I mean here. David is remaining realistic, and he's doing so against the backdrop of knowing that whether our difficulty is God can and must be trusted. Being positive for David here is that his faith sees the great blessing of trusting God. And David here does paint. He truthfully paints himself as a man who's filled with the hope of being rescued by God. Now, you might notice that at the beginning of verse 5, it's almost as if David repeats himself from verse 1, using similar words, he's waiting in silence because God alone is his hope. And it's not that David is just trying to tattoo into his own heart the truth of this, but David just sees the wonder that he can wait for God. He is hopeful. He is positive. He is ready to endure. He is ready to keep going. He is ready to be patient because ultimately he knows what his God is like. And so as David speaks in verses 6 and 7 of God being like a rock and a fortress, he's reaffirming in his own heart this positive state of mind that salvation is found in God. As things perhaps ramp up against him, the postcode for safety hasn't changed. God and God alone is where salvation is. And so as we go through the trials that life throws at us, as we perhaps face down those who would stand against us and cause us grief, we're not being asked to do a jig of joy as we go through it. There's no place in God's word that calls us to ignore our pain or to gloss over our trials, but we are instructed. We are advised. We are shown that we must keep trusting the Lord at all times to have this faith. And that's what's positive about faith, that we have faith because we know where God is like. And David won't be diverted from this course of faith, far from it. In fact, David calls on others to copy him in verse 8. Rather than talking to himself, he spreads abroad this great call to everyone to come and trust in God. He's being evangelistic. He's reaching out with the truth that this is the God who can be trusted. This is the God who does deliver. This is the God who has eternal salvation in his very gift and will give it to those who will come and have faith in him. And David is the king in the ruler of Israel. He's not playing politics here. He's not abusing his position as the ruler of the world or at the ruler of Israel, sorry, but he's saying to people there's no option. The only way to go is to come to God. And this is good leadership. And the call is clear. Come and pray. Pray constantly. Pray with certainty as you pour out your heart before him. And that prayer is brought and given to God because God is the only place of refuge. And so there's this lovely little lesson for us in verse 8. One of the clear hallmarks of post of faith is that we will pray. That we will pray on our knees. That we will pray in our desperation. That we will pray in our grief. Fervent prayer that seeks the Lord at all times and in all things is prayer of faith. And that's how we can have positive faith by coming time and time and time again to pray to our Lord for his help. But as David espouses the hope that is in his faith, we come to the climax of the Psalm. And we see in the closing verses, verses 9 through to 12, that true faith is prudent. Far too often we talk about faith as being a leap in the dark. When I was growing up, one of my favourite films was the Indiana Jones series. And I think it was in the third one. I think there might be five now, but certainly the third one was the last one when I was a child. And there was that scene at the end of it where to get to the goal Indiana Jones had to step off this precipice in a leap of faith. And he lands on a bridge that he couldn't see because of an optical illusion. And too often in church life, we say that this is what our faith is to be like. We just take a shot in the dark of something, but no, that's not what David is teaching us here. That's not what God teaches us in his word. Faith isn't about just simply throwing caution to the wind. It's not about dispelling all logic. It's not about taking reason throwing it out the window. Faith comes from understanding. And what David brings to the four of these closing verses is that faith is thinking. It's discerning, it's analytical, and it's wise. And what David does in these closing four verses is that he highlights the contrast between the folly of man's efforts and the eternal blessing that God alone can give. Now, verse 9 is quite a stark assessment of man's position. And in verse 9, essentially, David is saying that no matter what a person's status is, they are utterly unable to help themselves. If they're of low estate, they are but a breath. And a breath is seen for such a short space of time, even then only when it's cold. But if you're of high status, if you're of the nobility or you're rich or you've got position, David says all of that, it's just a delusion. When everything's brought together in the close of life, these things have got no significance whatsoever. And David says, whether you're of low estate or high estate, when you're in the balance, you go up. And here he paints the picture of a person's life being weighed by God. And we know that in those old-fashioned scales, we use the digital ones now. I'm just glad for that when I do the cooking and the baking at home, just getting that out there that I do do that, maybe once a year or something. But those old balances that we would have perhaps in the size lab at school, when there was an equilibrium, when everything was equally would be right there together. But the minute something heavier than the other side was put on, they would go like that. As David pours this out before God and as he says to other people, the very truth of our lives goes up in the balance of God. And so the best that we have has got no hope of instating this equal-looking set of scales. We're like a cup of air against a ton of let. Sin always outweighs mankind's best work. And so David is saying here, don't trust your apparent strength. Don't trust the things that you think you're good at or the things that you think you're bad at. And he gives two or three examples here. The first is he says, don't trust an extortion. That is the accumulation of wealth and possessions by the threat of force. And he says, equally don't trust in robbery, getting these things unethically by stealth, sneaking in at night. He says, don't trust in accumulating all of this the way that mankind would naturally do it. And the third example is at the end of verse 10, if riches increase, set, note your heart on them. If you're sitting there thinking saying, well, I would never extort from anybody. I would never rob from anybody. That's unethical and immoral. Well, David says, even if you have riches, not by these underhand methods, but if you just have them because that is the blessing you have in life, don't trust in them. If you have things that start to grow that are material, nothing wrong with that, but don't trust them. How is faith prudent? Well, faith is in Christ Jesus, it's prudent because it's a faith that rejects any notion of doing it herself. It rejects the possibility that we can figure out a way through life and eternity by human wisdom and achievement. Faith in Christ is prudent because it realizes that he is the way, the truth in the life that he is the only Savior. And David hammers home this contrast in verses 11 in the first part of verse 12 because he gives a great contrast, taking mankind and compeding against God. There is no starker contrast that can be made anywhere at any time. Well, man is whimsical and fickle and untrustworthy by nature. God is unchanging. In verse 11 at the start it says, "Once God is spoken." It doesn't mean when God is spoken, it means God is spoken once. And it's not just that he's opened his mouth once and then never utters another word again, it's not that. What David means here is that God has given his message that is unchanging. Spurgeon puts it this way, he says, "We speak often and say nothing." God speaks once and utters eternal truth. God's message in the time of David is the same as the message that we have today. And the message is this, "Pleasure faith in me, and you'll be saved." And David says twice, I've heard this, he might be saying something along the lines of the old adage that two years are often a sign of listening twice as much as we should speak. But I think the hearing twice means that we listen firstly with our ears and then we listen with our heart. That the information comes into our minds through our ears and then we respond with the obedience or otherwise of our heart. And David says, "power belongs to God, per to save, per to deliver, per to help." Because ultimately God is a God of steadfast wealth. And so as we set our hearts upon our God and our Savior, we know that we're coming to the one who isn't just loving, but the one who is love itself. And it's from there that God will render to a man according to his work. Those who reject God, those who strike against him have no faith, and they have a bleak eternity ahead of them. But for the man, for the woman, for the boy, for the girl, whose faith is in God and Jesus Christ will be safe forevermore. Friends, where is your faith this evening? We really can only place our faith in one person. That person is the Lord Jesus Christ, is the one to whom we run. He's the one that we call our rock. He's the one who is our salvation because he is one our salvation. And in Christ our fortress, that mighty fortress, we are safe not just for these days, but for all eternity. So what's your faith like? I think faith is a neutral word. We can have faith in anything. We can have faith in the seats that we're sitting on that they won't collapse. We can have faith that gravity will work. As Craig was saying last week, we can have faith in that airplane as it flies through the sky. But you know all of these things that we have faith in will at some point be disappointed. It's in whom you have your faith that will give a quality to your faith. And if you're faith in Jesus Christ, you will see something of these landmarks. And you note that all of these four points from this Sam would be perfectly demonstrated every moment of every day in our lives. But we would have a faith that is patient, a faith that is persevering, a faith that is positive, a faith that is prudent. Because we know that our faith is anchored, it is orientated, it is centered on Jesus Christ alone. And as Luther says, let's keep to Christ and cling to Him and hang in Him so that no power can remove us. As soon as we finish this evening, maybe the case that you will trust in Christ alone, even when things are at their most bleak way, He is your refuge. Let's pray. Our Father, how we thank you, that we not only should have faith in you, but that we can have faith in you, that you have opened a way for us to come. We are so blessed that you have given us the very faith that saves us. We have nothing, we offer nothing, but you have given us everything in the Lord Jesus Christ who saves us. Help us be a people who realize the importance of faith and who live to show that faith in Jesus Christ, your Son. We pray these things, asking them in that precious, wonderful name, the name of Jesus, amen.