THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

Psalms: Living By Faith In God

LXII. Our Sole Reliable Help

(Psalm 62:1-12)

Introduction: (To show the need . . .)

A lot of leaders and institutions upon which many people once relied are now proving to be unreliable:

(1) It occurs with many of our public schools: “Teachers across the country are robbing children as young as 5 of their innocence. They are routinely taken to drag queen shows where men in women’s clothing dance for them (sometimes lewdly) . . .” (Dennis Prager, “It’s already happening here,” Republican-American, April 12, 2023, p. 8A)

(2) It occurs with our universities, medical schools and medical institutions: “Our universities have become moral and intellectual wastelands” and our “medical schools are embracing Soviet-like science,” with “incoming doctors” being “instructed not to use the terms ‘male’ and ‘female,’” and “children’s hospitals are using hormone blockers . . . and mutilating perfectly healthy teenagers.” (Ibid.) Then, “(i)n the COVID-19 era . . . virtually every . . . national medical and health agency largely abandoned science . . . and became tools of the Left.” (Ibid.)

(3) It occurs with our justice system: The “indictment” of “former President Donald Trump . . . by the district attorney for Manhattan is not justified by the cant coming from Democrats . . . that ‘no one is above the law,’” for the “Manhattan district attorney himself . . . has been routinely reducing felony charges to misdemeanors for offenders who are not named Trump” and “Bill and Hillary Clinton both broke criminal law while in office but received prosecutorial discretion . . . (S)omeone everywhere is always above the law.” (Chris Powell, “Someone is always above the law,” Ibid., April 18, 2023, p. 6A)

(4) It occurs with our Connecticut state legislature: “The Democrats” with a super majority want to “raise from 16 to 18 the age at which Connecticut allows marriage,” but “under other state laws the same minors” would be “free to have abortions and even get sex-change therapy in school without parental consent or awareness.” It’s clear that “(t)he objective of the marriage . . . legislation is not really to protect young people but to be politically correct.” (Chris Powell, “Democrats make little sense about competency of kids,” Ibid., April 6, 2023, p. 8A)

(5) It occurs in the business realm: Shannon Pettypiece’s April 16, 2023 story, “‘Trapped’: How federally backed financing is making mobile homes less affordable” (msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/) reported, “(T)he access to relatively cheap, low-risk capital provided by the federally-backed entities has contributed to a surge in mobile home park acquisitions where new owners are raising rents and fees” to where many retired elderly people on limited, fixed incomes fear that they will be financially forced out of their mobile homes!

(6) It occurs in the religious realm: In a letter to the Republican-American (April 11, 2023, p. 8A), The Rev. James M. Sullivan, Pastor of Waterbury’s Mother Church, the Basilica, responded to transwoman Roberta Crispino’s letter that had complimented the reverend for treating Roberta as “‘a child of God.’” The reverend replied that he was “delighted that Roberta and so many others have found God’s love and a home of acceptance and compassion at the Basilica,” but like “Pope Francis” had said, “‘Gender ideology . . . is dangerous,’” for “‘it blurs differences and the value of men and women . . . making the world . . . all dull, all alike and that is contrary to the human vocation.’” Yet, neither reverend nor pope voiced God’s fury at today’s blurring of the differences of men and women, that in Deuteronomy 22:5 God is said to view crossdressers as abominable in a society where “male and female dress were similar.” (Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to Deut. 22:5). If God detested crossdressers when the different gender dress styles were similar, His intolerance of today’s blatant, mass-blurring of the different genders must be very great!

Need: So we ask, “What can we do if the entities that so many people have relied on are proving to be unreliable?”

I. When David composed Psalm 62:1-12, he faced foes who were trying to destroy him by slandering him before his associates to get them to turn against him. (Psalm 62:3-4; Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 839)

II. In this crisis, David realized that he had nowhere else to turn but to God, so he acknowledged this fact:

A. The Hebrew word ‘ak meaning “surely” or “only” appears six times in Psalm 62 to start each verse in which it appears, making it emphatic, Kittel, Bib. Heb., p. 1027-1028; B. D. B., A Heb. & Eng. Lex. of the O. T., p. 36.

B. ‘Ak is rendered “surely” to explain how David’s foes “surely” tried to destroy him with lies (v. 4a) and even all mortal men such as himself were “surely” (‘Ak) futile sources of deliverance for him from his foes (v. 9a).

C. However, in contrast to David’s foes and mortal men like himself, David asserted that “only” (‘Ak) God gave his soul “silence, repose” (v. 1a, 5a; dumiyyah, Ibid., p. 189), and that “only” (‘Ak) God was his Rock, Salvation, and Fortress (v. 2a, 6a), that David would thus not be greatly shaken in insecurity (v. 2b, 6b).

III. David then provided a summary lesson for fellow believers relative to comprehensive security in living:

A. We believers should “fully rely” (batah, Ibid., p. 105) on the Lord at all times, pouring out our hearts in our petitions unto Him, for God is a “Refuge” (mahsseh, Ibid., p. 340) for us, Psalm 62:8.

B. In fully relying on God, we should not “fully rely” (batah again, Ibid., p. 105) on extortion, take pride in stolen goods, or set our hearts on riches if they increase, for they are inadequate sources of security, v. 10.

C. David had also heard God assert two truths about security – that (1) power belongs to God, and (2) with Him is “loyal love” (hesed, Ibid., Kittel; H. A. W., T. W. O. T., 1980, vol. I, p. 305-307), that He thus “rewards” (shalem, Ibid., B. D. B., p. 1022) one according to his “deeds” (ma’aseh, Ibid., p. 795-796), Psalm 62:11-12.

Lesson: To handle the threat of foes who sought to undermine his credibility before his associates with slander, David refused to rely on other people or even himself, but instead to rely fully on God alone for help, trusting God’s claim that His power and loyal love would cause Him to reward David in accord with David’s upright deeds.

Application: (1) May we trust in Christ Who died as our Atoning Sacrifice for sin that we might receive God's gift of eternal life, John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. (2) Thus related to God, may we handle destructive foes by abandoning all reliance on other people or ourselves instead to rely fully on God alone for help, trusting His promise that He has the power and grace to bless us according to our upright works that are done in His might.

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message and provide additional guidance . . .)

Since the Bible defines the works we must do (in relying on the Holy Spirit’s power, Galatians 5:16) that God will bless, we view Bible verses that reveal the deeds God wants us to do in response to the issues in our introduction:

(1) On the exposure of young children to drag queen shows in public schools, on the moral decay in medical schools and institutions, on the Connecticut legislature’s politically correct but immoral, legislative acts that really do not protect young people, and on the failure of religious leaders to teach the Bible’s truth on all non-binary gender orientations and deeds, and what is God’s edifying solution to it all, we apply 1 Corinthians 6:9-11: (a) Paul’s teaching in these verses “was given against the background of incest, homosexuality, pederasty, and other unnatural sexual vices which were prevalent among the Greeks and Romans” in his day. (Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to 1 Corinthians 6:9) Thus, the apostles’ teachings on addressing each of these immoral issues is especially applicable to us in our present, decadent era. (b) Accordingly, we parents must rear our children in the “discipline and instruction” of the Lord, not provoking them to anger in being inconsistent or unjust, but in being filled with the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 6:4 with 5:18-21 ESV. (c) If we are children living at home, we must rely on the Holy Spirit to honor and obey our parents in the Lord, for this is right and brings with it God’s promise of a wholesome, long life, Ephesians 6:1-3 with 5:18-21 ESV. (d) In facing the decadence of the medical, business and government realms, we must not love the world system with its lusts of the flesh, the eyes and the pride of this life, but love God and do His will with eternity’s values in view, 1 John 2:15-17. (e) Since Paul taught that the solution to moral depravity is justification by faith in Christ (1 Corinthians 6:9-11), may we evangelize ungodly people around us as God gives us the opportunity.

(2) On the intellectual decay in our universities, may we heed Harvard University’s “Rules and Precepts” that were adopted in 1646 for its students. It stated: “‘Every one shall consider the main end of his life and studies to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life. Seeing the Lord giveth wisdom, every one shall seriously by prayer in secret seek wisdom of Him. Every one shall so exercise himself in reading the Scriptures twice a day that they be ready to give an account of their proficiency therein, both in theoretical observations of languages and logic, and in practical and spiritual truths . . .’” (“How Christians Started The Ivy League,” The Rebirth of America, Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation, 1986, p. 41) This statement is supported by 2 Timothy 3:13-17 and Deuteronomy 17:14-20.

(3) On the deterioration of equal justice under the law in our judicial system, (a) to avoid needless trouble, we must fully obey every law of man as 1 Peter 2:13-15 ESV directs that “by doing good” we might “put to silence the ignorance of foolish people,” not giving room for any charge to be made against us. (b) The sole exception is that we must obey God over the government if God’s and the government’s demands of us contradict each other, Acts 5:29.

(4) On abusive marketplace greed coupled with misguided government aid that threaten vulnerable people like the elderly on limited incomes in mobile home courts, (a) 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 calls us to function independently of others to avoid being in material need and to have a good testimony. (b) This may also involve working, owning our own housing outright, and/or having multiple income streams even in retirement. (cf. Proverbs 31:10-31)

May we trust in Christ Who died as our Atoning Sacrifice for sin that we might receive God’s gift of eternal life. May we handle destructive foes by relying on God alone, trusting His ability and graciousness to meet our every need as we align with His Biblical will in word and deed.