Okay, this evening now we want
to take a look at Psalm 62, and I'm titling the message from
this psalm, Psalm 62, as many of the old timers used to call
this psalm, the only psalm, the only psalm. I was in a Bible
conference a number of years ago, and was given the pleasure
of bringing a devotion, a short devotion, for the service,
in that service, and I stood up and I told everybody to turn
to the only psalm. And that's all I said. Turn to
the only psalm. Everybody started looking at
me just a little bit strange, and I said it's Psalm 62, that's
the only psalm. Well, I got their attention,
and I believe the Lord blessed that devotion. And the reason
it's called the only psalm is because in verse one, verse two,
verse four, verse five, and verse six, five times, the word is
repeated, only, God only, only, only. He only is my rock, my
salvation. He only is my defense. Now, this psalm has been one
of my favorite psalms for many years. I've preached from this
psalm several times here and other places. I hope this evening
to be able to bring this study to you from this song. And I
pray as always that the Lord will bless his word to your heart
and to mine. I just don't want to have this
word to be a blessing to you. I want it to be a blessing to
me too. I want to feed upon this and I want you to feed upon this.
And may the Lord be pleased to do it by the power of the Holy
Spirit that Christ will be exalted in the message. He is exalted
on the throne. God has highly exalted him. But
I pray as we meet together that the Lord be pleased to do this,
to exalt himself in our heart. that we might view him as being
high and lifted up, and to trust him as all of our salvation.
Christ in you is the hope of glory. Now in Luke 24, and we're
gonna see this in a few weeks when we get over to Luke 24,
the Lord Jesus Christ said to his disciples when departing
back to glory, remember? He said, all things must be fulfilled
which are written in the law of Moses in the prophets and
in the Psalms concerning me. Then opened he their understanding
that they might understand the scriptures. And I pray, wouldn't
that be something if the Lord would do that for us this evening?
To open unto us the scriptures, the scriptures. Opening up the
scriptures. Now, some of the old commentators
used to say about the book of Psalms, they'd read this Psalm
or that Psalm and they'd say, well, that's a Messianic Psalm,
that is referring to the Messiah. Well, I've come to the conclusion
that 150 Psalms, they're all about Christ, the Messiah. Now, let's get into this. And
we see here in verse one, I wanna couple these together, verse
one and verse five, truly my soul waiteth upon God, from him
cometh my salvation. And it says repeating, my soul,
verse five, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from
him. What would you expect from him? where every good gift and every
perfect gift comes from Him. My expectation of mercy is from
the Lord. A three-fold lesson is given
unto us here as believers resting in Christ, and the first one
is this, wait upon God. Wait upon only, wait upon Him. God who is almighty, God who
is true, God who is holy, Is not he worth waiting upon? Wait, I say. Wait, I say, upon
the Lord. He says that in Psalm 27. Wait upon the Lord. And again
I say, wait upon the Lord. He is a God of all providence.
Of him, through him, and to him are all things. He's too wise
to err. He's too holy to do wrong. Shall
not the judge of all the earth do right? And whatever he does,
it is right. He's a God of all power, as it
says in verse 11, power belongs unto the Lord. He is too wise
to make a mistake, too holy to do wrong, and he's too strong
to fail. God cannot fail. Everything he
does, everything his purpose, from all eternity, he executes
exactly according to his will. He is a God of all grace. He
is a father of mercy. Mercy belongs unto him. Now, how do we wait? How do we
wait? Well, we wait upon him, my soul,
wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from him. How do we wait? Truly, with sincerity
of heart, in submission of will, we wait silently, resigned and
surrendered unto his will. Remember how he taught us to
pray? Lord, not my will, but thy will be done. We wait upon
him as a child, waits upon his loving father's word. As a servant,
waits upon his master's command. We wait upon the Lord, listening
to his word and willing to do his command. Wait with sincerity,
of heart and submission of will. What do we wait for? Well, it
says in verse 5, my expectation is from him. What is your expectation? Pardon from all sin. Righteousness
imputed, redemption given. That's my expectation. What do
we wait for? From Him cometh my salvation. All spiritual blessings are from
Him and found in Him. of His fullness have we all received
grace for grace. He is all my expectation of mercy. He is all my expectation of salvation. I have no other. Neither is there
salvation in any other than the Lord Jesus Christ. This word
salvation here is used four times in this psalm. He only, verse
2, is my rock. in my salvation, therefore I
shall not be greatly moved or I shall not be moved." We see
once again that salvation is of the Lord, is it not? Salvation
is of the Lord. It's the Lord's doing and it's
marvelous in our eyes. Psalm 118, salvation is of the
Lord. Now in verse 2 and in verse 6,
He says, He only is my rock. You see that? He only is my rock,
verse 2, my salvation. In God, verse 6, He only is my
rock, my salvation. He's my defense. I shall not
be moved. He only is my rock. He is a rock of ages. The sum
and substance of the Bible is salvation that is in the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is called God, our Savior. He's the only just God and Savior. Christ is the rock, that is,
He's the foundation. God has only provided one Savior,
one foundation, one rock, and that's Christ. We had a couple
weeks ago, remember from Isaiah 28, God said, behold, I lay in
Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tribe stone, a precious cornerstone. He is that rock. The Lord said,
I build my church upon that rock, and the gates of hell cannot
prevail against that, whatever the gates of hell are. They cannot
prevail against the purpose and will of God. His will will be
done. Christ alone is our only Savior. He is the only salvation. He's the only one who has salvation
to give and He earned salvation by His precious blood. The whole of salvation in its
planning, in its performance, in its purchase, in its perfection,
all of it From Alpha to Omega, from the beginning to the end,
all of it is salvation by His doing. What part do we have in
the saving of our soul? Absolutely none. He did it all. He planned it. He performed it,
performed all things for us. He purchased it and us with His
own blood and salvation of the Lord in its perfection. predestinated
to be conformed to the image of Christ. That's the end goal,
is it not? Christ alone is our only defense,
therefore I shall not be moved. What better defense could we
present against the charges of the law and all condemnation
from sin? For Christ is our advocate. Christ
is our mediator, one God, one mediator between God and men.
That's the man, Christ Jesus. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
all our righteousness. That's pretty good defense, is
it not? There is therefore now no condemnation to those who
are in the Lord Jesus Christ. The believer trusting Christ
can never be disowned as sons of God. He said, I'll never leave
you. I'll never forsake you. We can
never perish. He said, my sheep, they have
eternal life. They're in my hand and they'll
never perish. They can never be removed from
Him because we are one with Him in that vital, eternal union
of grace in Christ. What's true of the head is true
of the body. We are one with Him and one in
Him. Now, look at verse 3 and verse
4. The believer is not without enemies. David had a pacifle. a house full of enemies. So did
our Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 3 and verse 4.
How long will you imagine mischief against a man? You shall be slain,
all of you, at the bowing wall, at the tottering fence, ready
to collapse. They only consult to cast him
down, and that's The Pharisees and Sadducees, they consulted
to do what to the Lord Jesus Christ? They went out and held
a council how they might destroy him. They cast him down or would
attempt to do so, His Excellency. They delight in lies. They bless
with their mouth. But they curse inwardly in their
heart. The believer is not without enemies. You remember what the Lord told
the disciples just before he was crucified? He said, they
have hated me. And you know what? They're going
to hate you as well. The believer's enemies are real. But they are defeated and marked
for destruction, as sure as a bowing wall and a tarring fence is sure
to fall and will collapse in due time." Remember the Lord
said their foot will slide in due time. Our God said to the
Lord Jesus Christ, sit at my right hand until I make all your
enemies to bow with your footstool. Now, what is the goal of our
enemies, the enemies of the gospel? To bring the believer down from
trusting Christ who is our excellency, from trusting Christ alone for
all of salvation and causing us to look to other things, other
people for acceptance with God. We could talk about man's works.
Man's tradition, religious tradition, religious ceremony, man's work,
man's will, the enemy would take us off looking to the Lord Jesus
Christ alone for all salvation and divert our attention to something
else, feelings, emotion, tradition, rather than trusting Christ alone. The man who precedes me on the
radio program, Sunday morning, every Sunday morning, he has
that same distraction. Go to the water, go to the water,
go to the water. That's where the blood washes
away, is in the water. That's where you regenerate,
is in the water, in the water. I'm thankful that we have a good
water system, the mountain water system, and I'm glad they produce
water that is drinkable and we can bathe in and wash and clean,
but that water they produce, it'll never wash away our sin. It might be good, good water,
but it'll never take away our sin. But you see, the false prophet
would always distract us to this to that ordinance, whether it
be the Lord's table or whether it be baptism. Now those things
have their place as are ordained of God, but both baptism and
the Lord's table tells us and demonstrates to us the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't find salvation in those
things, do we? So many people are so distracted. They would only delight to cast
us down from trusting Christ alone. They delight in lies. God's done all he can do. Now
the rest is up to you. That's a lie. That's a lie. God the Holy Spirit is trying
to save you, but you won't let him. My soul, you're more powerful
than God the Holy Spirit. You see, they delight in lies,
falsehood, things contrary to the way of sovereign grace in
Christ. Well, I thought every man had a shot at that. I thought every man salvation
was up and according to his will. Oh, no. Christ didn't die to
make salvation a possibility for all men. Christ died to make
salvation an absolute certainty for his covenant people. But
that's the way the flesh, they bless with their mouth while
they're at war with God in their heart. Don't turn, let me just
read this to you, I found this today. And it describes this
crowd. In Psalm 55, 21 it says, the
words of his mouth were smoother than butter. Oh, God loves you. God loved everybody. The words
of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart. His words were softer than oil,
yet were they drawn swords. They delight in lies. Now, look
at verse 7. In God, in God is my salvation
and my glory, the rock of my strength, and my refuge is in
God. Let the enemies rail against
us as they will. It does not change the fact that
salvation is of the Lord. No matter what they say, no matter
how far they go, no matter how they try to discredit us personally
or discredit our ministry, we stand unchanged and complete
in Christ. in Christ. Notice carefully that
our salvation is from Him. And God is my salvation. He's God my Savior. He is my
glory. He's the rock of my strength.
We have no strength in the flesh, do we? He is our strength. He is our
refuge. And it's all of God. One of the surest marks of our
salvation is that we glory only in Christ and find all other
hope and find all of our hope only in Him. We can say with Thomas that the
Lord Jesus Christ, He's my Lord and He is my God. We can say with the psalmist
in Psalm 46, he is my strength, he is my refuge, is in God at
all times. God is our refuge and strength,
very present help in trouble. It's all of God. Christ is a
rock of our strength. Paul said, when I'm weak, that's
when I'm strong. Remember Psalm 27, the Lord is
my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is
the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? He
is my strength. He is my refuge. You see, we
hide, not in a refuge of lies, but we hide in the refuge God
has provided. Remember those six cities of
refuge? They all picture the Lord Jesus
Christ and salvation that we have in him. Salvation that is in him. Psalm 66. Let me just read this
to you. Come and hear, all you that fear
God, and I will declare what He hath done for my soul. I remember hearing a man read that
one time in a church service, oh, probably 30 years ago, and
it gripped my heart. I've never forgotten that. Come
in here, all you that fear God, and I will declare what He has
done for my soul. You see, salvation is a declaration
of what He's done for us. It's not what we must do for
Him. It's what He has done for us. Now, all that being so, look
at verse 8. Psalm 62, verse 8. Now, trust
in Him at all times. Trust in Him. at all times, ye
people. Pour out your heart before Him.
God is a refuge for us. Now, everything God has for us
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, trust Him at all times. That's a good definition of faith.
I know whom I have believed and persuaded that He is able. to
keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. Trust
him, that is, believe him, look to him, rely upon him. Seeing that our God and Savior
is the only refuge given and provided for us, it would be
utter nonsense and foolishness to look somewhere else, would
it not? Would you trust in the law for
salvation? Would you trust yourself that
you're moral enough, good enough, that you would merit salvation? It would be utter foolishness
and nonsense to trust something else or someone else. We say
with the apostle, we are the true Israel of God, which worship
God in the spirit, that rejoice in Christ Jesus, and we have
no confidence in the flesh, none at all. In times of plenty or
in times of poverty, what are we to do? Trust the Lord, trust
in Him. In times of loneliness or in
times of fellowship, what are we to do? Trust Him at all times. In times of sickness or in times
of health, in good times and bad times. Trust in Him at all
times, you people. Pour out your heart, he says
there. Pour out your heart. Let your request be made known
unto God. Pour it out before God. His heart
is fixed upon us. May God be pleased to fix our
heart upon Him. He tells us to set your heart
on things above, not on the things of this earth. God at all times
deserves our confidence our attention, our worship, our love, and devotion. Look to Him at all times for
salvation, at all times, in the morning, in the afternoon, in
the evening, at all times, in birth, in life, in death. Look to Him and trust Him. That's what faith does. It trusts
Him. It leans upon Him. God is our
refuge. Verse 9 and 10, we're told what
not to trust. 9 and 10, verse 9 and 10, we're
told what not to trust. Surely men of low degree are
vanity, and men of high degree are no better. They're just a
lie. to be laid in the balance, they're all together alike, lighter
than, what's lighter than vanity? What's lighter than nothing?
Isaiah 40 says, collectively, individually, or nation together,
they are the dust of the balance, vanity, vanity of vanity. Let me see if I can read that
to you. Behold, you are nothing. That's not the one I want. Here
it is. All nations before him are as nothing. All nations before
him are as nothing. Psalm, rather Isaiah 40 verse
17. All nations before him are as
nothing. They are counted to him less
than nothing and vanity. That's pretty low, is it not?
All nations before him, Russia, boy, United States, nothing. Before him, nothing. So, don't trust in that which
is nothing. Trust not this sinful flesh,
yours or anyone else. Cursed be the man that trusteth
in man that maketh flesh his arm, whose hearts departed from
the Lord. And then he says in verse 10,
Psalm 62, trust not in oppression. A lot of people have the idea
because they're poor and cast out and maybe homeless, they
think that maybe they merit somehow God's special favor. Trust not
in oppression and become not vain in robbery. If riches would
increase, don't set your heart upon them. So he tells us what
not to trust. He says, first of all, you trust
him. And then he said, don't trust anything or anyone else.
Trust not in poverty nor in plenty. Being a poor man is no evidence
of grace or salvation, nor is being a rich man. That's not
the evidence of salvation either. The evidence of salvation is the Lord blessing us in the
Lord Jesus Christ. If riches, earthly, worldly riches
do increase, don't trust those riches. You know, that's why
this thing of the lottery, that mega lottery, that big lottery
where you can win $500 million. People are so vain in their thoughts
and their thinking, they think if they can just hit that lottery,
they can just hit that lottery, all my troubles are gone away.
Boy, how far, how deceived. Your troubles are just really
starting. The studies that have been done
of people who have hit them big lotteries, their life has been
ruined. It's ruined. I would be afraid to buy a ticket
being afraid that I might win. I'd be afraid I'd win. What would
you do with $500 million? That would scare me to death
just to think about it. I wouldn't buy a ticket for fear
that I'd win. The psalmist said, give me neither.
This is Solomon said this. He said, remove me far from vanity
and lies, give me neither poverty nor riches, feed me with food
convenient for me, lest I be full and deny thee and say who
is the Lord, or lest I be poor and steal and take the name of
God in vain. Remove me far from lies and vanity,
give me neither poverty nor riches, just feed me, having food and
raiment, Let us therewith be content. So, verse 11 and 12. God has spoken. You know, that's
a miracle right there. God has spoken. God has spoken. That reminds me of a verse, if
I can find it over here. God, who in sundry times and
divers manners spake in tongues passed unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son."
God has spoken. God has spoken. You have his
word written right there in your hand. God has spoken once. David said, twice have I heard
this. Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did he in heaven and earth see in all deep places. God has
spoken once, twice, have I heard this, that power belongs to God. He said, all power is given unto
me in heaven and earth. God has given Him power over
all flesh, that is, to the mediator that He should give eternal life
to as many as the Father has given to Him. God has spoken
once. Oh, may God give us ears to hear
Him. If He's speaking, I want to hear
Him, don't you? I've heard this, and here's what
we've heard. The Lord reigneth. The Lord reigneth. Power belongs
to God. Doesn't belong to man. Man has
no power. Man is impotent. God is omnipotent. He has all power. Sovereign power. Eternal power. Belongs to God. Power to save. Power to condemn. Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth
mercy. Now you couple the two together,
power and mercy. Power and mercy. What is that
equal? Sovereign grace. He said, I will have mercy upon
whom I will have mercy. I love whom I will love. Power belong unto the Lord. Mercy. Moses cried, Lord, show
me your glory. Remember he said, I will have
mercy upon whom I will have mercy. Thank God the word of the Lord
said he delights to show mercy. He delights to show mercy. I'm
going to take my place before him as a mercy beggar. If he
delights to show mercy, I need mercy. The Lord's mercies are new every
morning. I'm not worthy of the least of his mercy, but Lord,
I pray for mercy. Have mercy upon me, thee sinner.
Now, this last statement here, for thou rendest to every man
according to his worth. Everybody, every person, every
soul is gonna get exactly what they deserve. Everyone outside
of the Lord Jesus Christ deserves nothing but judgment, wrath,
and condemnation. Every man in the Lord Jesus Christ
will be judged according to his doing, his righteousness, his
obedience, his faithfulness. He will reward those in Christ
with the merit of his work, his doing, his dying, with the eternal
reward of His grace. The wages of sin? Death. The gift of God? Eternal life
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. You see, God's going to give
every man exactly what he deserves. Those in Christ deserve His mercy. Because he's earned and merited
righteousness, redemption, and mercy for us. Power and mercy
belong unto the Lord. And salvation, we know, is by
the grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ.