“I depend on God alone; I put my hope in Him.” (Psalms 62:5)
This psalm was written by David most likely during Absalom’s revolt. The whole psalm is only 12 verses long. And although he’s afflicted, he asks nothing of the Lord. He declares God’s faithfulness, protection and honor. He declares his own dependance and trust in God. Then he urges the people to trust in Him. The psalm was given to Jeduthun, the chief musician and was meant to be sung.
Notice that it’s a personal psalm. David is not including the people in his declarations. He did not write we depend on God alone, but I. It’s his intimate adulation that he expresses for all to know and hear. This is important because everyone knew about his son, Absalom’s treachery. They might have been expecting David to be depressed, to plead with the Lord or to cry out with anguish. But he did not. Instead, he pens a psalm of acknowledgement of Who God is, his dependance and hope in Him.
Also notice that David is not expecting any help from anyone else nor himself to resolve his affliction. David writes that he depends on God alone. No one else, not even himself. He did not overtake Absalom. He did not command anyone to capture him. He did nothing to stop Absalom and only depended on God.
What do we do when we’re afflicted? Think about it. Do you leave things in God’s Hand completely, even though you are in the right and have the ways and means to take control? Do you cry out to the Lord and beg Him to help you? We have so much to learn from David. Paul writes: “Let your hope keep you joyful, be patient in your troubles, and pray at all times.” (Romans 12:12) When we’re afflicted, it’s difficult to be joyful. But this is what we should do. It may seem hypocritical. But in actuality it is not. We can be joyful because no matter the problem, no matter the difficulty, no matter the tragedy, no matter what disaster and no matter how hopeless it may look, God is on our side. He is powerful. He will not allow us to go through anything that will destroy us, but will take what the devil uses to destroy us to make us stronger and to bring glory to His Name. The angel told Mary, “For there is nothing that God cannot do." (Luke1:37) But like David, will we praise Him and declare His greatness or beg Him to intervene on our behalf? Can we leave the situation or whatever the impossibility in His Hand?
One of the worse things we can do is solicit the help of someone else. I know, this is just the opposite of what we’ve been told all our lives. The saying is that two heads is better than one. That’s because our thinking is so small. And it’s because we don’t trust ourselves. If you don’t trust yourself, you are in a perfect position to allow God to glorify Himself in your situation. But turning to someone instead of trusting God is actually saying, “God, I don’t trust You to do right by me.” But let’s see what God says about that. “The LORD says, "I will condemn those who turn away from Me and put their trust in human beings, in the strength of mortals.” (Jeremiah 17:5) There you have it.
Now what if we do put our trust the Lord and the result isn’t what we wanted? The key words in that question are “what we wanted.” Whatever happens, even if it doesn’t go our way, God is in control. Sometimes we have to suffer the consequences of our bad choices or bad actions. And the Lord may or may not bail us out. But He will still be in control.
We can please the Lord by believing that He has our best interest. “To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see.” (Hebrews 11:1) Faith pleases God. We have examples throughout the Bible; Noah and Moses are two. They went through terrible times, but their faith helped them go victoriously to the other side of their troubles. “No one can please God without faith, for whoever comes to God must have faith that God exists and rewards those who seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6)
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