In God Alone

What do you do after you have had a stressful day? Relax on the couch, watch tv, cuddle? Perhaps you go to the gym and exercise, or take a hike through the woods. Whatever it is, it must help you to calm your mind and relax or else it would not be your preferred activity right? I must ask though, is there any thing that can calm your mind, body, and soul more that God? If God is your rock, why lean on anything else?

In God alone my soul finds rest; my salvation comes from Him.

He alone is my rock and my salvation. 

He is my fortress; I will never be shaken.

How long will you threaten a man? 

Will all of you throw him down like a leaning wall or a tottering fence?

They fully intend to cast him down from his lofty perch; they delight in lies; with their mouths they bless, but inwardly they curse. 

Selah

Rest in God alone, O my soul, for my hope comes from Him.

He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress; I will not be shaken.

My salvation and my honor rest on God, my strong rock; my refuge is in God.

Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts before Him. 

God is our refuge. 

Selah

Lowborn men are but a vapor, the exalted but a lie. 

Weighed on the scale, they go up; together they are but a vapor.

Place no trust in extortion, or false hope in stolen goods. 

If your riches increase, do not set your heart upon them.

God has spoken once; I have heard this twice: that power belongs to God, and loving devotion to You, O Lord. 

For You will repay each man according to his deeds.

Psalm 62

Outwardly They Bless, Inwardly They Curse

Inwardly, they curse. This is something we can all relate to, whether it occurs among coworkers, friends and acquaintances, or even among our own family members. We have all experienced times in our lives when we should have been celebrating an achievement, a blessing, and yet we found ourselves immersed in concern over how others may look at the situation. How they may be cursing us for our success, envious that it was not them who got the promotion, the big birthday party, or even won a silly raffle. We have all heard, and even partaken in, the gossip of our neighbors who may be angry with someone’s success. This is most clearly visible in America, where there is constant demand to tax the wealthy at a higher rate than we tax the rest of our citizens. The wealthy have achieved, and so we wish to reap their rewards and use them as we see fit. How we choose to use what is reaped is inconsequential, it is our motivation that is questionable. If we wish to help the needy, should we do this by taking that which does not belong to us? Should we take that which belongs to someone else because they have acquired too much? Outwardly, we condemn the wealthy for their success, but our actions reveal our true feelings. This is but one example.

Will all of you throw him down like a leaning wall or a tottering fence?

They fully intend to cast him down from his lofty perch; they delight in lies; with their mouths they bless, but inwardly they curse. 

Psalm 62:3-4

Together They Are But A Vapor

The rich and poor, the powerful and the meek, they are the same. They live, they acquire, they die. When we use authority, or violence, to take material goods from one portion of society and give it to another, are we really helping anyone? If material goods will not help a person to save their soul, if a wealthy person is at even greater risk of damnation, why would we work to take what they have acquired and give it to someone else?

Those who trust in their wealth and boast in the multitude of their riches, none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him—for the redemption of their souls is costly, and it shall cease forever—that he should continue to live eternally, and not see the Pit.

Psalm 49:6-9

Are we not trusting in our wealth to save the needy, rather than trusting in the Lord? Are we not using our good intentions as a means to justify theft? Does the God of Abraham, who fed Moses and his people with bread from Heaven, need to rely on the wealth of the elite? If not, then why do we?

Place no trust in extortion, or false hope in stolen goods. If your riches increase, do not set your heart upon them.

Psalm 62:10

We do not need to use the force of government, nor the threat of violence to help one another. We do not need to rely on extortion, nor theft, we only need to place our faith in God. Placing our faith anywhere else, reinforces our weakness. The powerful and wealthy rely on what they have acquired to win the favor of society. The poor and needy who line up at their gates, whether it be the gates of a home, business, or government building, are placing their trust in the material goods of the wealthy, just as the wealthy place their trust in those same material goods. The poor and the wealthy, when weighed on a scale will rise up. Together they are but a vapor. There is nothing to their substance that will endure. It is only through faith in the Lord that we can endure for eternity.

Rest In God Alone, Hope Comes From Him.

It is God alone who sustains us. It is He who has provided the earth and all of the material goods that we so easily misplace our trust in. What sense does it make to place our trust in a created object, whether that object be a dollar bill, a pile of gold, or the people who govern us? All of these things were created by God, who remains sovereign over His creation. Given this, should we place our trust in His creation and disregard Him, or should we place our trust in Him who has created us?

God has spoken once; I have heard this twice: that power belongs to God, and loving devotion to You, O Lord. 

Psalm 62:11-12

Rest in God alone my friends.