Turning to Psalm 62. I'll try
to bring us a study from Psalm 62. I'm entitling the message
as I often, with the term of endearment, call this psalm the
only psalm, Psalm 62. The word only is repeated at
least five times in this short psalm of 12 verses. This psalm
has been one of my favorite for many years. I preached from this
psalm many times, read it hundreds of times, and I hope to be able
to bring a study to you from this psalm this morning. And
as always, I pray the Lord will bless His word to our heart by
the power of God the Holy Spirit, and that Christ will be exalted
in our heart. by His Word. We read a moment
ago in Luke 24, the Lord Jesus said to His disciples as He was
departing back to glory, all things must be fulfilled which
are written in the Law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the
Psalms, and they're all about Christ, Moses, wrote about Christ. The Lord said, Abraham rejoice
to see my day and he saw it. To him give all the prophets
witness. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea,
Nehemiah, Ezra, all the prophets talk about the Lord Jesus Christ. And I pray the Lord will do for
us what he did for his disciples in that day. He opened their
understanding that they might understand the scriptures. And
I desperately want to understand what God's message is in this
book. And if we have any understanding
given of God, we'll see in thy book revealed the beauty and
glory of Christ. That's what we see in the book
revealed is Christ. It's all about Him. All about
Him. Now in verses 1 and verse 5,
a threefold lesson is given unto believers about resting in Christ. Look at verse 1, truly my soul
waiteth upon God, from him cometh my salvation. Again in verse
5, my soul wait thou only upon God for my expectation. is from him, wait thou only upon
God." Now, upon whom do we wait? We wait upon the Lord, the Lord
our God, who is Almighty, God who is truly God. He said, beside
me there is no other. Isn't He worth waiting upon? He is our God. Let's wait upon
Him. He is a God of all providence,
of Him and through Him, and to Him are all things. He's too
wise to err, too holy to do wrong, shall not the judge of all the
earth do right? Yes, He will. And whatever He
does is right. He is a God of all power. It
says down in verse 11, God has spoken once, twice have I heard
this, that power, power belongeth unto the Lord. He is the God
of all power. All sovereignty belongs unto
the Lord. And because all sovereignty and
power belong to the Lord, He is so almighty, so strong, that
whatever He says is done, whatever He wills is accomplished, and
none can change His purpose. He said, I've spoken it, I've
purposed it, I will do it, none can stay in my hand. How much
power does He have? All power. All power in heaven,
All power in earth, all power in hell is His. He is God. He has all power. He's a God
of all providence. He's a God of all power. And
thank God He's a God of Mercy and all grace we studied in first
Peter 5 10 that he's the God of all grace He's called in the
book of Corinthians 1st Corinthians or 2nd Corinthians He's the father
of all mercy mercy belonged unto the Lord look at verse 12 Psalm
62 verse 12 also unto thee O Lord belongeth mercy He has all power
And because he has all power, he will have mercy on whom he
will have mercy. Sovereign mercy. Mercy belongs
to the Lord. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we're not consumed. He said, I will have mercy upon
whom he will have mercy. Well, how do we wait? We wait upon God. Now, how do
we wait? Well, he tells us here. He tells
us here, truly my soul waiteth, waiteth, waiteth upon him. We wait with sincerity. My soul
wait thou only upon God for my expectation is from Him. How
do we wait? We wait upon Him truly. We wait
upon Him in sincerity of heart. We wait upon Him submitting to
His will. We wait silently resigned and
surrendered unto Lord not my will. but thy will be done. Oh, that we could learn that.
Turn over here to Psalm 27. You remember, David, he had to
learn this, to wait upon the Lord. Psalm 27 verse 13, I'd
fainted unless I'd believed to see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord, be of good
courage, he shall strengthen thy heart. Wait again I say,
wait upon the Lord. Look over here at Psalm 37, Psalm
37, 34. Psalm 37 verse 34, wait on the
Lord and keep his way. He shall exalt thee to inherit
the land when the wicked are cut off. Wait upon him, wait
in sincerity of heart, in submission of will, surrendered unto the
sovereign will of the Lord. like a little child waiting upon
his loving father to speak a word, like a faithful servant unto
his master. Speak, Lord, thy servant heareth.
Wait upon the Lord. Our Lord taught us to pray, thy
kingdom come, thy will be done. Thy will be done in earth as
it is in heaven. Now, upon whom do we wait? Our
God. How do we wait? Resign to His
will. Praying, Lord, Thy will be done.
What do we wait for? From him cometh my salvation. Look at verse one. From him cometh
my salvation. Every expectation I have of mercy,
redemption. Verse five, my expectation is
from him. Every expectation I have of mercy,
grace, redemption, pardon of sin is from him. I'm gonna wait
upon the Lord. From Him cometh my salvation. All expectation of all spiritual
blessings are from Him and in Him. All hope, hope of salvation. We have a good hope through grace.
The Lord, in our Lord, we have an everlasting consolation and
a good hope through grace. What do we wait for? Salvation. Salvation is of the Lord. That
word is used four times in this song. From Him cometh my salvation. He only is my salvation. Verse 7, In God is my salvation. Four times he says that salvation
is of the Lord. Here we see again that salvation
is all of the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. Turn over here to Psalm 68. Psalm
68, and I love what it says right here, Psalm 68 verse 19, blessed
be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits. I mean every
day he loads us down with benefits. Even the God of our salvation,
he that is our God, he's the God of salvation. unto God belongeth
the issues from death. He said, I am he that liveth
and with dead behold I'm alive forevermore I have the keys of
hell and death. What do we wait for? All hope of mercy. All salvation is found and from,
found in him and is from him. In verse 2 and verse 6, it says
here, he only is my rock. Look at verse 2. He only is my
rock and my salvation. He is my defense, I shall not
be moved. In verse 6, Psalm 62 verse 6,
he only, he only is my rock, he only is my rock, he only is
my salvation. Kind of redundant, isn't it?
I'm glad it is. You see, there's only salvation
upon this rock, this foundation that God has laid. You remember
Isaiah 28, 16? Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation,
a stone, that's the rock. And that rock is Christ. He is
the only rock of our salvation. Christ is the sum and substance
of salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
sum and substance of the gospel, the Bible, concerning the Lord
Jesus Christ. Christ is the rock, the only
rock. Other foundation can no man lay
than that which is laid. Now wouldn't it be quite silly
God has laid the foundation. Wouldn't it be quite silly for
someone to think, well, I'm going to go out and build my own foundation. I'm going to provide my own rock.
He said all other ground is sinking sand. On Christ the solid rock
I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. And yet we see so many people
going about to establish a righteousness of their own. What is that? That's
the man who builds his house upon the sand. The sand. Now you men who are builders,
if you're gonna build a house, you just don't take the grass
away and put your house upon the sand, the ground. I mean,
you dig a footer. And you pour concrete. And some
people even put rebar. If David was building it, he'd
put rebar in it to make it so it wouldn't crack. And then you
build the house. People have got this thing turned
upside down. They build the house, and then
they think, well, will it stand? And then when it crumbles, they
think, well, what happened? No foundation. The Lord Jesus
Christ is that foundation upon which we build. And if we don't
rest on that foundation that's provided of God, blessed of God,
we'll perish. When the wrath and storm comes,
it'll sweep that house away. Let's see if we can find that.
Turn over here, it's in Matthew chapter 7. About the wise man
and the foolish man. You see Christ is that rock. He is that foundation. He's the
foundation of salvation. He's the foundation of righteousness.
He's the foundation of our hope. He's everything. Matthew 7, 24. Therefore, whosoever
heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, believeth them,
I will liken him unto a wise man, which buildeth his house
upon a rock. That rock is Christ. Everyone
that heareth these sayings of mine, the rain descended, verse
25, the floods came and the wind blew and it beat upon the house
and it didn't fall because it was founded upon the rock. Everyone that heareth these sayings
of mine and doeth them not, shall be likened to a foolish man which
built his house upon the sand. The rain descended, the floods
came, the winds blew, and it beat upon the house, and it fell,
and great was the fall thereof." Now our refuge of salvation rests
upon the foundation that God has laid. He is that rock He
is that rock. Look back at one page. Here's
Psalm 61. The psalmist says this in Psalm
61 about the rock. Verse 1 says, Hear my cry, O
God, attend to my prayer. From the ends of the earth will
I cry unto thee. When my heart is overwhelmed,
lead me to the rock that is higher than me. He's the rock upon which
we rest and lay hold of. The Lord said, upon this rock
I'll build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail
against it. He is my rock and because He
is my rock, secondly, He is my salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ is not
part salvation. He's not part, a part Savior. He's all of salvation. He is
my salvation. Remember Simeon, the old man
in the temple, when they brought the eight day old Christ child,
God incarnate in human flesh, eight days old. God who inhabits
eternity, inhabited body of a man, eight days old. And come to the
temple being carried to be circumcised according to the law, And Simeon
the priest takes that baby from Mary's arms and looks at his
face and says, Lord, I'm ready to die. I've seen thy salvation. Salvation is in a person. Salvation
is in a person, not in a pool, a place, a persuasion, a position.
Salvation is in Christ. He's all my salvation. And my salvation, the salvation
of sinners, doesn't depend upon the sinner. Salvation depends
upon Christ, who is the Savior of sinners. He is all my salvation. Not a part of it. He's all my
salvation. He only is my rock. He only is
my salvation. You see, there is salvation in
no other. No other than Christ. He alone
is the Savior. And then thirdly, he said, Christ
alone is my defense. Verse two, he only is my rock,
he only is my salvation, he is my defense. He's my defense. And that means he's my refuge.
He is my refuge in the time of trouble. He is my defense. I shall not be moved. Look at verse six, he only is
my rock, my salvation, he is my defense, I shall not be moved. Now you know why the believer
is not moved? Because he's fastened to the
rock. To move the believer, you've got to move the rock. And nobody's
going to move the rock, because that rock is Christ. You see
how safe and secure we are defended by our advocate, our mediator,
our savior. He's our refuge and strength,
the very present help in trouble. He is my defense. He is my salvation. He is my
rock alone. The believer resting in Christ
cannot be charged with sin. The believer resting in Christ
can never be disowned as sons of God. They can never perish. They can never be removed from
Him because they're fastened to the rock. I mean, they're
just not sitting on the rock. They are the rock. Does that
make sense? They're just not sitting on the
fence. They're sitting on the rock.
They are one with the rock. You see that? That's union we
have with Christ. That's why the believer is not
pushed off the rock. Because we're one with Christ.
We're in Him. He's the rock. And we cannot
be moved. He says, I give them eternal
life and they'll never perish. And you know why? Because He
can't perish. If He can perish, we can perish.
But He can. He's seated and enthroned forever
and ever. Thy throne, O God, is forever. Now, the believer is not without
enemies. Look at verses 3 and 4. The believer
is not without enemies within and without. We can say with
the Apostle Paul, O wretched man that I am, we have an enemy
within us. And that's that old Adam nature.
that's contrary to the ways of God, the ways of grace. How long
will you imagine mischief against the man? You shall be slain,
all of you, as a bowing wall, as a tottering fence. One day
God's gonna get rid of this flesh. Can't you say with the apostle,
oh wretched man that I am? Who shall deliver me from this
body of death? And that's what we have. We live
in this tabernacle of clay. Thank God he's gonna put it in
the ground and thank God one day we'll have a new body, a
resurrected body just like his body. And we won't have this
old dead carcass to pack around every day. Who shall deliver
me from this body of death?" Remember the answer? I thank
God through Jesus Christ my Lord. Yes, we do have enemies, but
they shall be slain. Put in the dust like a wall that's
ready to fall over. I feel like that most of the
time. I'm just ready to fall over. and collapse. This flesh
is so weak, so weak and so, so frail. Verse 4, they only consult
to cast him down from his glory, from his excellency. The enemies
of the gospel would have Christ dashed to pieces. They delight
in lies. They bless with their mouth.
They seem so pious and religious. Yet inwardly, They're ravening
wolves. Remember the Lord describes those
false prophets as those in sheep clothing, but inwardly they're
devouring, ravening wolves, seeking to devour the sheep of Christ. The enemies the believers have
are real, but they're defeated and they're marked for destruction,
like this wall, like this fence that will collapse in due time. What is the goal of the enemies?
The enemies of the gospel? To bring the believer down. Make him trust himself rather
than Christ. The goal of the enemy is to dash
our hope, to destroy our refuge, but it cannot be done. They delight
only in lies, falsehood, contrary to the way of sovereign grace. They may speak flowery words,
but they delight in lies. Turn over here to Psalm 55. Here's
what we're to do when the enemy, when the enemies assault us,
our flesh And those who hate the gospel, hate God, what are
we to do? Psalm 55, 22. Cast thy burden
upon the Lord. He shall sustain thee. He shall
never suffer the righteous to be moved. You see, we're fastened
to the rock. Let the enemies rail against
us as they will. Look at verse 7. In God is my
salvation, my glory, the rock of my strength, and my refuge.
in God. Let the enemies rail against
us as they will, it does not change the fact that salvation
is of the Lord, and we stand complete in Him. Notice carefully,
salvation is not only from Him, but salvation is in Him. Look at verse 7 carefully, in
God is my salvation. Salvation, He that hath the Son
hath life. He that hath not the Son shall
not see life. One of the surest marks of salvation
is that we glory only in Christ and find all of our hope of salvation
in Him. You see, in Him, that's our glory. The Lamb is all the glory in
Immanuel's Lamb. Emmanuel's land now and forever
in God is my salvation and he is my glory We glory not in ourselves
do we? But of him are you in Christ
who of God is made unto us wisdom righteousness sanctification
and redemption according as it is written he that glorieth let
him glory only in the Lord and Worthy is the lamb that was slain
to receive all honor, glory, blessing, and power, both now
and forever. In God is my salvation. In God
is my glory. God forbid I should glory save
in the cross of Christ. He's a rock of my strength. We're
not strong in ourselves. David says, when I'm weak, that's
when I'm strong. Turn over here to Psalm 46, verse
one. Psalm 46, verse one. God is my refuge. God is our refuge and strength
of every present help in trouble. Find Psalm 27, verse one. Psalm
27, verse one. The Lord is my light and my salvation. In whom shall I fear? The Lord
is the strength of my life. In whom shall I be afraid? What
is the strength of our salvation? Christ. What is the strength
of our righteousness? It's Christ and Christ alone. Christ is all of our salvation.
Every believer can say with Thomas, the Lord is the Lord Jesus Christ
as he said to him, my Lord and my God. Christ is our strength
and Christ is our refuge in the time of trouble. Look at verse 8. Psalm 62 verse
8. Trust in Him. Trust in Him sometime,
most of the time, in the morning, in the evening. Trust in Him
at all times. Is He worthy of our trust? Absolutely. Trust in Him at all times, ye
people. Pour out your heart And this
is what prayer is. Pour out your heart before Him. God, a refuge for us. He is a shelter in a time of
storm. In Him we are hidden. Trust in
Him at all times. Reminds me of another Psalm.
Turn back to Psalm 31. Trust in Him at all times, you
people. Pour out your heart before Him.
God is refuge for us. Look at Psalm 31, verse 15. My times are in, my times are
in thy hand. Psalm 31, 15. Deliver me from the hand of my
enemies and from them that persecute me. Make thy face to shine upon
thy servant and save me. Save me, for Christ's sake. for
mercy's sake, trust in Him at all times. Look to Him, believe
Him, rely upon Him in times of plenty or in times of poverty,
in times of loneliness or times of fellowship. Even in times of poverty, in
times of loneliness, the Lord said, I'll never leave you, I'll
never forsake you. In times of sickness, Trust Him. In times of health, trust Him. In good times and lean times. In bad times, in God's time. Bad times. In good times and
bad times. Trust Him at all times. For our time is in his hand trust
him at all times you people pour out your heart before him. God
is a refuge for Him fix your heart upon him And cry out unto
him set your affection on things above not on the things of the
earth now look at verse 9 and verse 10 Trust him at all times
pour out your heart before him at all times. God is a refuge
for us at all times Now verse 9 and 10, we're told here what
not to trust. So we're to trust Him at all
times, right? And here we're told what not to trust. Trust
not in oppression. And become not vain in robbery.
If riches do increase, well, don't trust them. Set not your heart upon them.
Verse 9 and 10. Surely men of low degree are
a lie. Surely men of low degree, verse
9, are vanity. Man at his best state, man at
his best state is altogether vanity. Men of high degree Those
Pharisees thought they were pretty high. Our Lord said, you are
they which justify yourself before men, but God knows your heart.
That which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in
sight of God. Surely men of low degree are
vanity, men of high degree are a lie. To be laid in the balance,
the balance of God's justice and righteousness, they're altogether
lighter than vanity. They're zero, zeros. Being a poor man is no evidence
of grace or salvation, nor is being a rich man evidence of
the Lord's blessings. Set not your heart upon worldly
gain. If riches do increase, don't
trust them. Turn over here to Matthew chapter
6. You remember what the Lord said
about this, Matthew chapter 6. Verse 19, Matthew 6, 19. Lay
not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth where moth and
rust doth corrupt, where thieves break through and steal, but
lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. You see our treasure
is in heaven. He's able to save to the uttermost
all that come to God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make
intercession for us. He's ascended to heaven and is
seated in the heavenlies, and we're seated in him. But lay
up for yourself treasure in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth
corrupt, where thieves do not break through and steal. For where your treasure is, that's
where your heart is also. to you who believe Christ is
precious and altogether lovely. For where your treasure is, Christ
is our treasure. That's where your heart is. God's
people have a heart after him. Now, in closing, look at verse
11 and 12 back in our psalm. Verse 11. I love this phrase
right here. God hath spoken. Now you think about the blessings.
God hath spoken. God said, let there be light,
and there was light. God hath spoken. You see, the
word of the Lord is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged
sword. God hath spoken once, and even
twice. Oh, what a blessing. Twice I've
heard. God has spoken once, rather,
but twice have I heard. I've heard this, that power belongeth unto the
Lord. You remember those old movies where they used to show
the Navy and the captains and the captain would come on the
speaker and he would say, now hear this, now hear this. That means you better set up
and pay attention to something important coming. God has spoken
once, twice have I heard this." What have we heard? What has
God spoken? He speaks in power, all power
in heaven and earth. God has spoken in His Word, the
whole volume of Scripture speaks of His power that He does according
to His will in the army of heaven among the heavens of the earth
and we have heard this over and over that power belongs to God. Well how much power does He have?
He has all power, all power in heaven and in earth. He has so
much power that no one dare accuse him or assault him or attack
him. He has all power, all power. Now there are those who think
they might bring God down and they might try to attack him
but with no success because he has all power. all power in heaven. Power belongeth unto God. I like that. He's spoken and
power. God declares, I am God, beside
me there is no other. He has all power in heaven and
in earth. You remember Let's read this. Turn over here to Matthew 28.
When the Lord, just before He ascended to glory, the resurrected
Lord, you know what He says over here in Matthew 28? Turn over
there, let's read it. Matthew 28, verse 18. He prayed
in John 17, Father, I thank you. that you've given me all power
over all flesh that I should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given to me. And then he says here in Matthew
28 verse 18, the Lord came and spake unto them saying, all power
is given unto me in heaven and earth. He has power over all
flesh. Go ye therefore and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things I've commanded
you, and lo, I'm with you always, even unto the end of the world.
We can go about our daily lives knowing that God is on the throne. He has all power, all dominion
in heaven and in earth. All power belongs unto the Lord. The kingdom of God is not in
word only, but in power. Power. Now look at verse 12. Also, Psalm 62 verse 12. God has spoken once. I've heard
this repeatedly. Power belongs to the Lord. Also
unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy. Mercy. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we are not consumed. Not by works of righteousness
we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us. Now when you marry power and
mercy together, What do you come up with? Sovereign mercy. Sovereign power. It's not of
him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but it's God that showeth
mercy to whom He will. And it says in Psalm 130, turn
over there. Psalm 130. It says in Psalm 130,
verse 7, that Israel hope in the Lord For with the Lord there
is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption. Psalm 130 verse 8,
He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquity. Power belongs unto
the Lord. How about mercy? I'm a mercy
beggar, aren't you? You remember the publican in
the temple? He smote his breasts, he poured
out his heart before the Lord, and he said, God, be merciful
to me, the sinner. Isn't that our cry? That's the
cry of my heart every day. Lord, merciful to me, I need
mercy. He says, come boldly unto the
throne of grace that you may obtain mercy. Find grace to help
in time of need. Well, I'm gonna come. He has
a storehouse of mercy that never can be exhausted. power belongs
to God that he may dispense mercy at his will. Now in closing look
at this, the last part of verse 12, for
thou rendest to every man according to his work. Now what does that
mean? That means that he's going to
weigh my bad works against my good works And ultimately, if
my good works outweigh my bad works, then I'll be received
to glory. That can't mean that. That just
can't mean that because it's not consistent with the rest
of the Word of God. But here's what he's teaching.
The Lord our God will reward those outside of Christ with
the wages of their work, the wages of their sin, which is
deserving of eternal death and condemnation. He will judge them
and reward them according to their deed, according to their
doing. Depart from me, you workers of iniquity, I never knew you.
He will also reward those in Christ with the merit of His
work, His doing, His dying, and it will be the eternal reward
of grace. Blessed is the man whom the Lord
imputeth righteousness with out works. You see, turn over here
for just a moment. I'm just gonna leave you with
this one right here. Turn over to Psalm 111. Psalm
111. You see, our salvation is based
upon not our works, not our obedience, not our faithfulness. Our salvation
is based upon His obedience, His faithfulness, and His work. His work. You remember He said,
I finished the work my Father gave me to do? Psalm 111. Look at verse 1, Praise ye the
Lord, I will praise the Lord with my whole heart. In the assembly
of the upright, in the congregation, the works of the Lord are great,
sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. His work is
honorable. He's going to reward us according
to His honorable work. His righteousness endureth forever.
We're blessed in Christ who is the Lord our righteousness. Look
at verse 4. He hath made His wonderful works
to be remembered. Well, His works are wonderful.
God says they are. The Lord is gracious and full
of compassion. He hath given meat unto them
that fear Him, meat of His Word. He will ever be mindful of His
covenant, the covenant of His grace. He has showed His people
the power of His works. that He may give them the heritage
of the heathen. The works of His hand are verity
and judgment, true and just. All His commandments are sure. They stand fast forever, and
they're done in truth and uprightness. Verse 9, He sent redemption unto
His people. How did He do that? He sent the
Redeemer. in the fullness of time. God
sent forth His Son made of a woman, made under the law to redeem
them. He redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a
curse for us. He sent redemption unto His people. He commanded
His covenant forever. Holy and reverent is His name. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. A good understanding have all they that do His commandments. His praise endures forever. How
do we do all His commandments? By looking to Christ. You see,
He obeyed the law of God for us. He said, I didn't come to
destroy the law, I came to establish it. Do we make void the law of
God through faith? No, we establish the law in Christ
and Him crucified.