I don’t know about you, but I find reading the newspapers and watching the news on TV quite, well, depressing, really so much of the time. It’s very hard when all you seem to see and hear is of things going wrong in the world, and it breaks our hearts to see and hear of all that goes on. And, maybe it’s just me, but sometimes I find that life doesn’t go the way that I perhaps hoped or expected it to, and that I can be really caught out by some of the things that happen. Sometimes it feels like the ground is shaking beneath our feet and that we simply don’t know what we’re supposed to do for the best.
Just in case you were wondering if we’d all be better off if I kept quiet, I have some good news . . . . King David has this to say to us in Psalm 62:1-2 . . .
“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. “
It can be so easy to trust God when things are going well, but David reminds us that we need to ‘trust in Him at all times’ (v.8). Trusting in God at all times means trusting him not only when life is easy, but also when things are not going so well.
Just to give a bit of an explanation, David wrote this psalm when he was on the run after one of his sons started to rebel against him and tried taking over the kingdom of Israel. So we can know that these aren’t just some nice words, but that they’re coming from a man who when you look at the surface had every reason not to trust God right then.
David reminds us that that if we trust in God we can find soul-rest – that in the midst of all our fears and anxieties we can find our peace, and that even though everything else in life is uncertain, and ultimately insecure, God alone is our rock and salvation – that in him we will not be greatly shaken.
Even though this psalm was written three thousand years ago, we can know that everything it says is still true for us today, because God promises that he is always faithful and that he never changes in the love that he has for us. So, please, if you’re going through a hard time, come to God, he longs to hear from you and he will make sure that you are not greatly shaken by whatever you may face in life.
Heavenly Father, today may our souls find rest in You alone. Thank you that you promise that we will never be greatly shaken. Father, we trust in you today and thank you that you are always faithful to us, no matter what we may face in life.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
*Some of the points I’ve made here have been adapted from the Alpha Course Bible in One Year notes, that are available here:
Madoc Davies 