I thank you that you are the speaking God. You have spoken about your power, about your love, about who you are, so we can know you and trust you.
I pray that would happen today. Please speak to each one of our hearts as Irene reads your word. And then as I try to speak, please, Lord, we encounter your word by your spirit. In Jesus' name. Amen.
So today's scripture reading is taken from Psalm 62. Please follow along your Bible. If you don't have a Bible, please do grab them from the front of the stage or at the back near the doors.
So our passage is on page 448 in the church Bible. Hear then God's word to us today.
To the Choir Master, according to Juduthin, a Psalm of David.
For God alone, my soul waits in silence. From him comes my salvation. He alone 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?
They only plan to thrust him down from his high position. They take pleasure in falsehood. They bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse.
Selah.
For God alone, O 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, O people. Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us. Selah.
Those of low estate are but a breath. Those of high estate are a delusion.
In the balances they go up. They're 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 have I heard this, that power belongs to God, and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.
For you will render to a man according to his work.
Let us believe and respond to God's true and living word.
Great. Thanks, Irene. That's okay.
Okay, shall I try to speak without notes?
Just in case.
My memory fails me at my age.
Yeah, now to keep that passage open, we're gonna...
It's quite a short passage, right?
Sometimes I've preached here on like 10 chapters.
This is actually a lot easier, so hopefully this will be good.
But yeah, we're gonna look closely at these words.
We're in this series on praying the Psalms.
And yeah, today is a great psalm that many people love.
Now, I don't know if the date 7-7 means anything to you?
7-7?
No.
It's not as famous as 9-11.
I see some people, they know.
7-7 is the London bombings.
It's when in 2005, there were some suicide bombs in London.
Free on the tube.
We don't have photos of that.
One on a bus.
And yeah, that was a big shock to many people.
I lived in London at the time.
I actually, I took the train.
The only thing is I took it a bit earlier.
I went for a swim before work.
So yeah, I was swimming and I came to my office and everyone was glued to their screen because
everything was so quiet.
At the time, people thought, well, it was just some electrical short circuit that had caused
these explosions.
But then the truth came out.
These were actual bombs.
I had suicide bombs on the train in London.
And my colleagues just freaked out.
They went crazy.
Like, can I ever take the tube again?
How am I gonna get home?
Where can I get a sleeping bag?
So I need to stay in my office.
I've never seen people so anxious because suddenly here was a problem that seemed so real to them.
Now, most of life is not dramatic.
But actually, for many of us, we have things that worry us, that make us so anxious, right?
Maybe you're unemployed and you're looking for a job and the money's running out and you're
not having any success.
And you're getting worried about that.
And maybe you're a youth.
I don't know.
Are your DSE results, are they out yet?
I'm not sure.
Maybe you're worried about those, about maybe getting into the right uni.
Health scares.
There's so many things that make us worried.
Well, then this psalm sounds so great, right?
Such an amazing promise.
Finding rest in God.
What does he say?
Verse 1.
For God alone, my soul waits in silence.
From him comes my salvation.
Here is David.
And he's having real rest in God.
I mean, we know trusting God is important, right?
I mean, what is a Christian?
A Christian is someone who trusts in Jesus.
That's what we all say.
And I guess we trust Jesus for salvation, right?
Because he died for our sins to save us from condemnation.
And yet so often in daily life, we struggle to trust, right?
Things happen, and we're anxious, and we're worried.
And then, actually, David is here, and he seems to be trusting God.
And we admire him.
We wish we could trust God like he would.
I mean, we all want peace.
We all want to end anxiety.
But how do we do that?
I mean, some people, you know, medication, mindless entertainment, doom scrolling.
I don't know how, maybe you're here, you wouldn't call yourself a Christian.
How do you deal with stress and anxiety?
But actually, if you were a Christian, I think we should know, right?
The answer is in God.
So how can we learn to trust God?
Well, that is what this psalm is about.
It's about trusting God, learning how to trust God.
Right?
This series is praying the psalms.
We're going to look at all kinds of psalms.
And basically, not just, okay, what do they teach about God?
But how can we learn to pray?
How do they help us, you know, adore and confess?
And in this case, how does it help us to trust God?
Because trusting God is so basic, right?
Trusting is faith.
Prayer, I mean, prayer is faith, right?
Prayer is faith verbalized, as someone said.
It's just how do you show your trust God while you pray to him?
So we're going to learn to pray.
The context, I guess we've heard it read out.
It's a prayer of David.
David was Israel's greatest king.
I mean, you can hear some of those things, right?
He talks about being thrust down from his high position.
He is leading the people, right?
Trust in him at all times, O people.
This is not just an ordinary believer.
But at the same time, I mean, as Christians, we're in Christ.
As we heard last week, we have a high position, right?
We are on the throne next to Jesus.
And of course, it's a lesson for everyone.
He says, trust in him at all times, O people.
And he has learned to trust God.
And he wants everyone else to also trust God and to learn from him.
That's why he's, in a way, writing this psalm, right?
That's why he says, trust in him, O people.
And so we can learn trusting.
So it's like a lesson in trust that we're having.
And what was David going through?
I guess it wasn't unemployment.
He was the king.
But people were trying to bring him down.
Verse 3.
How long will all of you attack a man to better him?
Like a leaning wall, a tottering fence.
They only plan to thrust him down from his high position.
He has some kind of conspiracy to bring him down.
And he feels like it's working.
He feels under attack.
He describes himself as a leaning wall, right?
A wall that's kind of, it's almost toppling over.
And he feels like, you know, just a little bit more and I fall down.
He is, yeah, really something to be anxious about.
But that is when he, yeah, I guess he's prayed for protection.
He's prayed that God would keep him safe.
And now he is trusting.
And again, that may not be our situation.
I don't know if you face a conspiracy at work.
Hopefully not.
But, you know, trust in him at all times.
I think in every situation, this will help us trust.
Whether it's, yeah, all those things I've mentioned.
Now, what is this psalm?
I guess many people know this psalm.
Many famous verses.
Some people refer to it as the kind of the alone psalm.
Because it mentions the word alone so much, right?
For God alone my soul waits in silence.
He alone is my rock and my salvation.
Actually, that's true.
But that word shows up even more than it seems here in the ESV.
I guess a better way to translate it maybe is the word surely.
Because then you can translate it the same in every verse.
And you can see that's quite a lot of times.
Surely is a kind of affirmation, right?
Yeah, this is true.
Sometimes, yeah, that's what he does, right?
He is reminding himself of things.
And so he says, yes, this is true.
And so he says, yes, surely for God my soul is waiting.
Surely he is my rock and my salvation.
But then surely they're trying to bring me down.
Surely those of low estate are abreast.
Surely.
So I'll mention that word a few times.
And just so you know, that's quite a few times in this psalm
as he's reminding himself of what is true.
But what do we learn here?
So I think there's three things that we're going to look at
that we can see from David.
How he trusts and how he wants us to trust.
And the first thing is focus.
Right?
Focus.
Focusing on God.
The big thing to help us trust, I guess obviously,
is that we focus on God.
Right?
If we remind ourselves who God is.
When you want to trust God,
you need to know that he's trustworthy.
Right?
So you need to remember who he is and what he's done.
Right?
The psalms actually, yes, they're prayers,
but they're so full of theology.
So much rich material about God and who he is.
Yeah?
So same with David.
Yeah?
62 verse 1.
Again, a kind of affirmation.
Right?
From him comes my salvation.
Surely he is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress.
I shall not be greatly shaken.
And this real image of safety and protection and stability
a rock,
a fortress.
It's a place where you're safe.
It's a place where you're not shaken.
All those things that worry you,
you don't have to worry about them
because you're safe.
You're stable.
That's the picture here.
Right?
It comes up so often.
Also at the end.
Once God has spoken,
twice have I heard this,
that power belongs to God.
And that to you,
oh Lord,
belongs steadfast love.
Not just an image,
but actually God,
yeah,
you have the power.
You're able to do anything.
You're a God of steadfast love.
You're committed to me.
And so,
yeah,
God,
you're able.
You're willing.
And so,
I can trust you.
Right?
You're trustworthy.
Reminding yourself of,
yeah,
who God is.
What I find encouraging though,
is that David seems to struggle a bit.
He seems to struggle with trusting God.
I don't know if you found it so weird
that verse five kind of repeats verse one.
Right?
So,
verse one,
for God alone,
my soul waits in silence.
From him comes my salvation.
All sounds very good.
But then verse three,
how long will all of you attack a man to better him?
Like a leaning wall,
a tottering fence,
surely they plan to bring him down from his high position.
It's like his mind wanders.
Right?
His mind is,
you know,
he's focusing on God,
but then he's thinking about his enemies
and that is,
you know,
that dominates him.
What is true?
Well,
they're attacking me.
They're trying to bring me down.
He's,
yeah,
it feels a bit like he's distracted.
And then verse five,
for God alone,
it's like he repeats verse one again.
Actually,
with a little change.
For God alone,
oh my soul,
wait in silence.
Not,
oh my soul waits.
No,
he gives a command.
Hey soul,
come on.
Wait for God.
Right?
It's like he's struggling to trust.
I think that's,
that's quite encouraging
because I don't know about you.
When,
when I pray,
I so often find myself distracted.
Right?
I want to focus on God.
I want to pray,
but my mind wanders
and it thinks about my problems
and things that I should worry about
and that dominates my thinking.
Now,
I need to turn back to God.
That is what he's doing.
So yeah,
if David had that problem,
it's okay.
We can do that.
Just go back to God.
That is what he does.
Right?
He,
he gets distracted,
but then no,
I'm going to focus on God.
And yeah,
the second time it's kind of,
it works,
right?
He goes on,
not just two verses,
but you have verse seven.
On God rest my salvation
and my glory.
Verse eight,
trust in him at all times,
oh people.
God is a refuge for us.
Yeah,
a real focus on God.
So yeah,
let me encourage you to do that.
Right?
You want to trust God.
What do you do?
You want to pray.
You want to remind yourself
of who he is.
And Michelle prayed just now
so much about God in there
because that is what helps us,
right?
What helps us trust.
So how do we do that?
Well,
of course,
the big input we need for that
is the Bible,
right?
You want to remind yourself
of who God is.
You need to read about him
in the word.
So yeah,
I don't know if you know,
faith and truth are related.
It's always,
it comes from the same word.
Faith is when you,
you know,
we consider something true.
So we need to know the truth.
So yeah,
read your Bible,
read the Psalms,
read the rest of scripture.
That is how we know God
so that we can focus on him
so that we can remember
who he is
in times of trouble.
And of course,
try to avoid distraction.
I mean,
distraction happens.
We can make it worse
for ourselves though,
right?
By keeping our phone on
and stuff.
So please don't do that.
Turn it off,
use a paper Bible.
We sell them here.
It's great.
So,
not just a sales advertisement,
it's really helpful,
right?
Try to avoid distraction.
I find it very helpful.
So yeah,
so we want to focus on God
but then,
what does that give us?
The second thing is,
it gives us perspective.
When we focus on God,
well,
actually,
that gives us perspective.
That is what David has,
right?
So after the distraction
in three and four,
he goes back to God
and he really has this breakthrough.
Yeah,
God is our refuge.
Verse nine,
he comes back to his enemies
but now,
he talks very differently,
right?
Verse nine,
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.
And again,
this verse starts with surely,
he's saying,
okay,
this is true.
That those of low estate,
they're but a breath.
They go up in the balances.
Right?
Suddenly he says,
hey,
they're so small.
It's the same people
but before it was,
you know,
toppling me
and lies
and conspiracy
and now,
actually,
they're nothing.
Right?
They're but a breath.
You know,
the kind of vapor.
You know,
there's some countries
in the world
where in the past
it used to be cold
and you go outside
and you get this little
vapor that is gone
in a second.
That's the word here.
People who,
yeah,
they're nothing.
They're gone in a second.
That's what they're like.
I love that phrase,
in the balances
they go up.
Right?
So you know,
these kind of scales,
you put something
on the scales
and it goes down.
Right?
David says,
well,
if you put these people
on the scales,
it goes up.
It doesn't go down,
it goes up.
They're lighter than air even.
They're nothing.
But why does he have this?
Well,
because he's just
compared them with God.
He's focused on God.
He can see how great God is.
And then now suddenly,
actually,
these people are very small.
I don't know.
Have you been to Mongping,
the big Buddha?
I mean,
it's quite a fun place to go,
right?
But it's such a huge statue
of Buddha,
right?
First time I went there,
it was cloudy.
I couldn't even see his head.
It was so big.
Except that other times,
I climbed Lantau Peak,
and then I looked down
from the highest point
you can climb in Hong Kong,
and,
you know,
it was so tiny,
right?
Here's the big Buddha,
and he is so tiny.
That's perspective,
right?
It looks very big.
Actually,
it's very small
from up high.
That is what David has,
right?
He focuses on God,
and suddenly,
this conspiracy,
and these enemies,
and these people,
it's so small.
Well,
what is this compared to God?
Right?
That's the idea of perspective.
Now,
I'm not saying that
there's nothing going on,
right?
This is not just positive thinking,
you know,
everyone is actually nice.
No,
he has real enemies,
right?
There's a real conspiracy,
real problems,
and yet,
compared to God,
he would say,
it's nothing,
right?
Compared to God,
the infinite creator,
who controls every molecule
in the universe,
right?
Who made the stars
and the heavens,
compared to them,
it's nothing.
What can they do?
Can they stop me being saved?
Can they stop God's plan?
Can they get between me and God?
They can't,
right?
Because God is so big,
and by comparison,
all these things are just so small.
That kind of perspective,
that's what,
yeah,
what is the thing that helps David?
That is what we need,
right?
We focus on God,
but then we pray for perspective,
that we see our problems,
you know,
in that light.
And so,
I don't know what you're facing,
you know,
maybe there's a health issue.
Surely,
the God who made the human body
can do something about that
if he wants to.
And,
unemployment,
God can give you every job in the world
if he wants to,
right?
So many things,
actually,
compared to God,
it's so small.
I'm not saying that
these are not problems.
I'm not saying that
life is going to be easy,
right?
That's sometimes what people think,
hey,
God is so great,
and he loves me,
therefore my life is always going to be wonderful,
right?
He's the king,
I'm the son of the king,
so I'm a prince,
and my life will be royal luxury,
basically,
right?
That's some people who think that.
Sadly,
that's not true.
One day it will be,
right?
When we are in the new creation,
then it will be great.
Right now,
God wants us to learn to,
trust him,
and so often we go through difficulties,
as we,
you know,
we learn to relate to him,
learn to rely on him,
learn to,
well,
stop trusting ourselves,
and trust in him,
but the thing is,
because he is so great,
everything that happens is his decision.
Everything that happens is in his control.
Nothing happens to you outside what he wants.
Everything that happens is for your good.
Everything that happens,
God will get you through.
He's already planned that,
right?
If you know how big God is,
actually,
we can see these things in perspective.
And if we have that,
well,
we can have,
thirdly,
patience.
I think we should pray for patience.
David has patience.
I mean,
there's a lot of waiting in this psalm,
right?
For God alone,
my soul waits in silence.
Trusting means waiting.
Shows up a few times,
right?
Verse five again,
waiting.
Because I guess the temptation,
if we have problems,
is not to wait,
right?
And to do it ourselves.
I think that's the point of verse 10.
Verse 10,
I don't know if that sounded weird,
right?
Put no trust in extortion,
set no vain hopes on robbery.
As riches increase,
set not your heart on them.
Why is he suddenly talking about extortion and robbery?
Well,
it's those first few words,
right?
What is it?
Put no trust.
We are tempted to trust something else.
Basically,
when God takes his time,
when we need to wait,
and we think,
well,
God is not going to do it.
I have to do it myself.
When you stop trusting him,
that's when we want to do it ourselves.
Yeah?
What?
I mean,
obvious example,
maybe you want to go see a movie
with a friend.
The old C is out,
whatever.
And your friend said
they would get the tickets.
And you're waiting,
and it's five minutes
before the movie starts,
and your friend is still not there.
All right?
You forgot your phone,
so you can't call them.
What do you do?
Well,
if you trust your friend,
you'll wait,
right?
And if you don't trust your friends,
you,
well,
you buy a ticket yourself,
because you really want to see it.
Right?
It's obvious.
Trusting means waiting,
while in other cases,
yeah,
you do it yourself.
And that is the thing.
You don't,
now,
when I say do it yourself,
I'm talking particularly about sinful things,
right?
Things that are wrong.
I mean,
he mentions extortion and robbery.
Doesn't mean that we should do,
you know,
that,
I mean,
there are things that are good to do,
and we should do them.
So if you're sick,
it's good to go to the doctor.
Doctors are a gift from God,
right?
You pray,
and you also go to the doctor,
and that's a good thing.
It's not wrong to go to the doctor.
If you are unemployed,
it's good to apply for jobs.
Don't just sit at home,
and trust God,
and wait for that email about a job interview out of nowhere.
It doesn't work like that.
But they are legitimate things.
There's also illegitimate things,
right?
Extortion and robbery,
and David knows that.
David's,
okay,
there's this conspiracy.
Hey,
I could just go to the royal treasury,
and get a lot of money,
and pay people off,
and sort out my problems.
But that would be wrong,
right?
I'm the king.
I shouldn't do that,
right?
And so he doesn't do that.
So instead,
I'm going to wait for God.
If,
God never wants you to sin,
right?
If the only way to get something is to sin,
then God wants you to wait.
It's very simple,
right?
So,
yeah,
patience,
waiting.
I don't know what it would be for you.
Maybe,
again,
you're unemployed.
It would be very tempting to kind of make my CV a bit nicer,
right?
Add a few things.
In the interview,
you know,
talk about what my colleagues did,
as if it's my achievements,
just to really get that job.
Well,
then you're not trusting God anymore,
right?
Then you're not trusting that he can give it to you,
because I'm going to resort to lying.
I don't know,
maybe you're in your job.
How do you talk to your colleagues?
How do you,
are there things that you do behind the scenes to try and make sure you keep your job?
Because there's so much uncertainty.
I'm not saying don't be a good worker.
It's good to be a good worker,
but,
again,
there's things that are wrong,
right?
And we shouldn't do them.
Or other kinds of waiting,
right?
You,
you know,
you want to wait for the right spouse,
and don't,
well,
I can't wait,
I'm going to marry the wrong spouse.
That's the wrong thing,
right?
So many applications.
Now,
the right thing is to wait,
to trust.
Yeah,
and that means having patience.
And it's not easy.
Again,
there is this temptation.
We want to get our problems sorted out now.
It's hard to wait for God,
but,
yeah,
we really trust God.
It means praying for patience.
Patience that we wait for him to do what's,
yeah,
we trust he will do.
I mean,
ultimately,
that's because there's a relationship there,
right?
I mean,
here is God,
and he,
we know he loves us,
and we want to be on his side.
Again,
after that warning about extortion,
David goes back to who God is,
right?
Verse 11,
once God has spoken,
twice have I heard this,
that power belongs to God,
and that to you,
oh Lord,
belongs steadfast love,
for you will render to a man according to his work.
Again,
God is able,
God is willing,
I can trust him.
But then that last thing,
right?
You will render to a man according to his work.
He knows that one day God's going to come,
and everyone will stand before him,
and he's just thinking,
where do I want to be?
Do I want to be like my enemies,
those who have rejected God,
those who have betrayed God,
or actually,
do I want to be on his side?
I mean,
ultimately,
God is just more important to him than anything else,
right?
Than his problems.
And so he,
now I want to be on God's side.
Because to just not trust him,
and do my own thing,
it's betrayal.
Right?
If you're waiting for your friend,
and you buy your own ticket,
and then your friend shows up.
In a way,
you've betrayed him,
right?
You've said,
hey,
I don't trust you.
No,
you want to trust,
yeah,
David,
he wants to keep trusting God,
because he,
ultimately,
he values God the most.
So that is,
well,
yeah,
that's why we should pray for patience.
And I guess,
especially as Christians,
right?
I mean,
it says,
God will render to each man according to his work.
That is true.
We've said it in the catechism.
And yet,
as Christians,
we also know God didn't always do that.
I mean,
2,000 years ago,
God didn't give us what we deserve,
right?
He,
actually,
he laid all our sins on Jesus,
and all the punishment we deserve.
Jesus died for it.
Right?
In a moment,
we're going to take the Lord's Supper together,
and we're going to remember what Jesus did for us.
Right?
We can see his incredible grace,
his incredible mercy,
paying for our sins to bring us back.
And doesn't that mean he's someone we can trust?
Right?
We're thinking about trusting God.
How do we know we can trust God?
Well,
he gave,
Jesus gave his life for us.
What more can he do?
And so we want to trust him.
And in a way,
in a moment,
when we take the Lord's Supper,
and we receive the bread,
and the cup,
isn't it a sign,
it's a sign from God,
saying,
hey,
you can trust me.
Remember what I've done for you.
You can trust me.
And then eating it for us,
it's a way of saying,
yes,
I trust you.
I'm going to wait for you.
I'm going to trust you,
because of what you've done for me.
Yeah,
so that's what we're going to do in a moment.
Yeah,
let's do this in a moment,
as we reflect,
and then,
this week,
right,
let's focus on God.
Let's pray for perspective.
Let's pray for patience.
I'm going to pray,
and maybe during the time,
the stewards can come to the front.
Father,
thank you,
we can trust you.
Thank you for your power,
your love,
your greatness.
You are so trustworthy.
We often forget that.
We're often distracted.
Our problems can seem bigger than you.
Fix our eyes on Jesus.
Fix our eyes on who you are,
so that we see things in perspective,
Lord.
We know that whatever we're going through,
nothing is outside your control.
We can trust you.
Help us to be patient.
Help us not to go off the wrong ways
that would betray you,
but we want to stay with you.
We want to love you.
Please help us with that.
And in a moment,
as we take the Lord's Supper together,
we remember what Jesus did.
We remember the cross.
We remember how he took bread
and broke and said,
this is my body given for you.
Do this in remembrance of me.
And after supper,
he took the cup
and gave you thanks
and gave it to his disciples
and said,
this is my blood in the new covenant.
Do this in remembrance of me.
Because this cup is for the forgiveness of sins.
Lord,
we need that.
We need forgiveness for our sins.
Thank you for Jesus.
We pray that this would be a special time
of renewing our faith in you.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.