Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Psalms 62. Psalm 62. There's a word that we find at
the end of certain verses in the Psalms. and also in the book
of Habakkuk that carries great significance. And the word is
Selah. And looking up the word, I think
most commentators will agree that it's a word that is hard
to interpret. It was originally put, I thought
at first, by just reading it, that it was put there by the
translators. No, it was part of the original. But some of the definitions of
the word means to lift up or to raise your voice higher, like
in a song. It seems to be a musical word. But it means also to pause in
order to emphasize. It's a word that tells us to
weigh or to value what we've just read. And it gives us instruction
to give special attention, special attention, to what we're considering
are rejoicing in. I'll look this up. There's 2,461 verses in the Psalms. And in all those verses, the
Holy Spirit was pleased to place the word Selah. In those verses in the book of
Psalms, 71 times, and in the book of Habakkuk, three times. Now, I know that every verse,
every word spoken by God, recorded in God's Word, is of the Lord. They're all God-breathed. And every word in God's scriptures,
God's spoken. The scripture says, according
to Hebrews 4.12, they're quick. That means they're alive. Powerful,
sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing
asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow and
is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. Hebrews 11.3 says, through faith,
we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God. So the things which are seen
were not made by the things which do appear. Psalm 138.2, the scripture
declares, I will worship toward thy holy temple and praise thy
name for thy loving kindness and for thy truth, for thou has
magnified thy word above all thy name. That passage of scripture
right there just especially just grips me. The Lord has magnified
his word above his very name or character. Oh, the weightiness of the Word
of God. So we know from these scriptures
that God's Word, everlasting, heaven and earth are going to
pass away, but not the Word of God. These words that we read in these
scriptures, are the very words by which we're going to be judged. This word, right here. While
we're here, listen. Frank Tate wrote something, an
article. No he didn't, he wrote me a text.
And he told me, he said, Marvin, he said, I'm often reminded how
serious we ought to be. concerning preaching
and hearing the word of God. This life is going to be over.
This life is going to be over. In light of eternity, eternity,
forever, forever, forever. We're just a blip on the grand
scale of eternity. We're here just a moment. Vapor, that's what scripture
says. This is gonna be over. And I know, I know this in my
head for sure. Lord, help me to know this in
my heart. I best give heed to what this
book's got to say. I wanna hear and I wanna know
what God has to say. Now, considering the seriousness
of God's Word, 66 books, the seriousness of it. Over 70 times,
and in the book of Psalms, and in the book of Habakkuk, the
Spirit of God has exhorted us to pause, to weigh, and to silently value
what we just heard. of all the scriptures of which
God has taken all His Word and has magnified His Word above
His name, I think. But then the Spirit of God would
say concerning what you just read, you be silent and you meditate
on what you just heard. He's saying this to us. Let me just say, especially to
me, who's so prone to read something and just glaze over it. You ever
done that? Just read something and then go back and say, I don't
even know what I just read. I need to go back and read that
again. I can read that, get into the genealogy and the names,
and I just kind of, you know, and I'm thinking, what are you
doing? Today, I'd like for us to consider
one time that the Spirit of God was pleased to especially mark
a passage of scripture. It's found in Psalm 62. I'm just going to just look at
verses five to eight. And if you're looking at verse
62, you'll see there at the end of verse four, It says Selah. There was something said right
there, that 1, 2, 3, 4, Selah. But then he said in verses 5
through 8, there was another one, another Selah that was especially
marked. I'd like for us just for a minute,
let's just stop and just pause and pray truly. Lord, forgive
me for what I've done and what I sadly admit I will do again. But Lord, if it please you, would
you just give me just a moment and let me just hush and listen
to what you have to say. And where you have especially
marked a passage of scripture, Lord, grant that I might do so
by your good pleasure today. Verse five. My soul. Now this is that which is eternal. This is what's gonna live forever. My soul. My soul. My soul. Wait. Be still. be astonished with
amazement and admiration. Wait thou only upon God for my
expectation, for my cord of security, my ground of hope, and my outcome."
Now listen, it's from him. David, like all believers, is
speaking to himself. A believer knows something of
the necessity of being honest with himself. Let's just be honest. We don't know the heart of another,
but I know something about me. And so David says, my soul, that which is going to be forever,
that which is imparted by the grace of God, regenerating grace,
my soul, wait thou. You wait. You wait. What is? Be silent. Be quiet. Be silent, pause, be quiet in
a spirit of submission. only upon God. Now listen, if I don't trust
only upon God, then I'm not trusting Him at
all. If I don't trust only in Him, then I've got something else. Lord, help me to trust you only. And forgive me for failing to
do so. Do you know what I just realized? I need to be justified by the
faith of Jesus Christ. I need His righteousness. Because Fred, mine's not going
to stand. He did always only those things
that pleased His Father. The Father said of Him on the
Mount of Transfiguration at His baptism, this is My beloved Son
whom I'm well pleased. You hear Him. Lord, cover me. Lord, atone for
me. Lord, robe me in your righteousness. Because I know something, I know
something of the bent of my old man. That old man that is always
desiring to be free from the only anchor that a sinner has
the only foundation, the only hope, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we're ever tempted by the
body of this death, that old man, that old nature, to look
and to trust anywhere else for security, for comfort, for reliance. I'll
look. I'll look. Just give me something
to look at. I'll trust you. I'll trust my bank account. I'll
trust my health. I'll trust the government. I'll
trust my soul. Wait only upon God. For my expectation Again, my cord of security is
from Him. Only a believer in Christ desires to use language like
that, because the world, like I said, looks to itself, looks
to its will, looks to its works. But a believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ by that new man. There's a new man there. And
he says, as the Apostle Paul says, to will is present with
me. Let me ask you this, you that
know him. Don't you want to wait only on the Lord? Only upon Him. My soul, wait only upon God. Because I know this concerning
my salvation, He is my only salvation. And I know that it's by grace
that I've been saved. If the Lord saved me, it's been
by the grace of God. Through faith, I believe Him. Not of works. The gift of God,
not of yourself. My soul, wait thou only upon
God, for my expectation is from Him. My life, my salvation. As we said in verse 6, He's my
rock and my salvation. The scripture declares truly
concerning salvation. I know we think about it as being
a position, it's a state, and that's true. It's a person. It's
a person. What did Simeon say when he held
the babe, Christ Jesus? Lord, let me go in peace, for mine
eyes have seen thy salvation. A person. And technically, truthfully,
we've been saved. That's what 2 Timothy 1.9 says.
Who has saved us and called us. Saved us. At which God purposes
is eternal. The counsel of the Lord stands.
He saved us. And we're being saved. Right
now. How? Being kept. by the power
of God through faith, we're being saved. And then we're going to
be saved. Matthew 25, 34. Enter in. Beloved of the Lord. Enter into the kingdom prepared
for you before the foundation of the world. So, my soul Wait thou only upon
God for my expectations from him. He only is my rock and my
salvation. He's my defense. I shall not
be moved. He only is my rock. If I am founded upon that which
is stable, enduring, then I'm founded upon Him who is the rock."
That rock that was smitten, Paul the Apostle, under the inspiration
of God's Spirit, said, and that rock was Christ. He is my only
salvation and defense exclusively. He's the fortified refuge. I mean, everything just appears
as though to me, everything I see right now that's going on around
me looks like it's just falling to pieces. Nothing seems stable
to me, not in this country, not my family. He only is my... Where else am I going to go?
Where am I going to go? He's my rock, my salvation, my
defense, and by the grace of God I shall not be broken. I don't have anywhere else to
go. I don't have anywhere else to
go. I will not be moved. From what?
From Him. From Him. Paul the Apostle said,
for I know whom I have believed. And I'm persuaded that He's able
to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day. I'm persuaded. The scripture declares, in God,
in God. That word is Elohim. Elohim. And it's plural. It's a plural
word. In God. In the triune God. In God is my salvation and my Glory. That's what he said. Verse 7, God is my salvation
and my glory. He's the object of my glory. He's the foundation of the one
in whom I boast. He is my dignity before God,
robed in His righteousness. He is the rock of unyielding
strength and impenetrable hardness. And
I flee to Him. He is my shelter of safety. I don't have any in myself. I
don't know... What am I going to do? I have Him. David declared that the Lord
was his salvation, deliverance, and everything that was honorable
and glorious was in Him. That's what he said. And he rejoiced
that the God of all grace was his God. Verse 8, trust in Him
at all times. Trust in Him at, oh I love that
word, all. Trust in Him at all times, you
people. And pour out your heart before
Him. God is a refuge for us. Trust in Him. You know, the only
way I can trust in Him, turn with me to Romans 10, Romans
10, 13. The only way I can trust Him,
the only one I can trust is one that I know. If I don't know
somebody, I don't know if I can trust you. I mean, if you don't
know them, how are you going to trust them? Look at Romans
10, 14. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. And then the Spirit of God moved
upon the Apostle Paul to say, how then shall they call on Him
in whom they've not believed? How shall they believe in Him
in whom they've not heard? How shall they hear without a
preacher? Eternal life, this is eternal,
this is life eternal. The Lord said this, that they
may know thee. The only true God and Jesus Christ
whom thou hast sent. You know, you can't trust somebody
if you don't know them. God's going to have to teach me who
He is. Trust in the Lord. How do I know Him? Spirit of God. Trust Him for
your temporal need. The Lord knows that you have
need of all these things. What we're going to eat, what
we're going to drink, Are you going to live, shelter, clothing? The Lord knows that. We trust Him, Romans 8, 38. We
trust Him for our eternal need. Romans 8, 38, 39. Now listen, here's a promise. I'm persuaded that neither death
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature. Now you know what he just said
pretty well covered it all. Shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. David
said, trusted Him at all times. The One that has taught you who
He is. That He's God. The Rock. Salvation. Refuge. Trust in Him. Who? I said it a while ago, that word,
that name, that title, God is plural, it's a plural word. You
trust in the Father who according to His covenant mercy chose to
show you mercy. I will have mercy on whom I'll
have mercy. Trust Him. Trust Him. Wait on Him. Trust in the Son who has lived
for us, establishing righteousness, who bore our guilt in His own
body and willingly laid down His life and put away our guilt,
the guilt of all the sheep. Trust Him. Trust Him. And the Spirit of God that crossed
our path and through these scriptures being preached, regenerated us
in power and grace, and made us willing in the day of that
power, and has taught us, and sealed us, and led us. Trust Him. Trust Him. Trust Him in times of laughter,
trust Him in times of sorrow, but trust Him right now, because
you can't trust Him yesterday, and you can't trust Him tomorrow.
but you can trust him today. Pour out your heart before him
like water. Just tell him. He knows. Just tell him. Lord, help me. Lord, pour out
your mercy. Lord, forgive me. Lord, I don't
want to promise you that I won't do that again because I don't
want to lie to you. And I'm so ashamed to have to say it, but
Lord, help me. God is a refuge for us. I'm so thankful for that word,
us. There's a remnant. There's a
remnant according to the election of grace. There's a people that
God is going to save. Paul the Apostle said, under
the inspiration of God's Spirit, God has left us a remnant. And
if he hadn't, we'd all have been like Sodom and Gomorrah, obliterated. He's a refuge for us, and he's
not going to leave us to ourselves. He has revealed to us that we
are his bride. that He's loved and betrothed
us to Himself. And He's called us, preserved us, and He shepherds
us. All of us who the Scripture says
in that great final book of the Scriptures who came out of great
tribulation. What is that? This world right
now. We're in it. We're in it. great tribulation,
and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood
of the Lamb. The us who for Christ's sake
have been made to come through afflictions and trials and persecutions
of this world that we might learn to trust Him. And also behold
the sufficiency of His grace. Selah. Selah. Just stop for just a minute. And be silent and meditate upon
that which the Spirit of God has said. And may we be made quietly to
remember with a thankful heart that which God, for Christ's
sake, has been pleased to teach us. I was going over these notes
this morning, and I got to thinking about that thief on the cross. He heard only as far as I know. I don't know, but I know that
he heard the words of the Lord. Faith cometh by hearing, hearing
by the Word of God. I know that there were some things
that the Lord said from the cross. But I know this. That thief was
hanging there and he was getting ready to leave this world. Now let me ask you what he had. He had the Lord. My soul. Wait only upon Him. Where else was he going to go? only upon God. Trust only in Him. He is my salvation. Lord, when you enter into your kingdom,
would you remember me? Verily I say unto thee, today. Today, you'll be with me in paradise. Buddy, can you imagine the rejoicing
of that needy sinner? There's my refuge right there.
I pray God bless this to our hearts for his glory in our