John Franklin
Pastor
Salem United Methodist Church
For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge is in God. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. 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. Put no confidence in extortion, and set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase, do not set your heart on them. Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord. For you repay to all according to their work. Psalm 62:5-12. NRSV
We do not like to wait, and we do not like silence, do we? Yet the Psalmist says he waits for God alone in silence.
I look back to my childhood and remember a lot of silence growing up in a secluded rural farming community. My grandmother, who raised me, only watched one soap opera, “The Edge of Night.” We watched the local news, the national news, and after Walter Cronkite said, “And that’s the way it is” and “Good night,” the television set was turned off.
Many were the nights my grandmother read her Bible until bedtime after putting away the food from supper and washing the dishes. She had raised eight children and was raising her first grandson, so I imagine she had learned to wait on many things.
Her advice to me from as early as I can remember was to “put your trust in the Lord,” a very simple statement that I now understand was the very bedrock of her deep trust and faith in Almighty God.
She wanted me to have that. She knew I would need it. I know as minister of the Gospel that everyone needs to trust God. It may mean going against the political correctness of our modern society, but the words of Psalm 62 are some of the most important words we will ever hear in our life.
Total trust in God, in all things, and at all times will see you through to the reward God has promised to all of us who believe. Praise God for putting these words into the heart of the Psalmist, and preserving them for us to have today in our lives and our journey with God.
