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Thinking today about contemplation, waiting silently before God, refocussing or centring upon him, from the Old Testament Ps 62
1. (1-2) David’s soul silently waits for God.
Truly my soul silently waits for God; From Him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.
There are lots of thoughts here especially as we are being told that singing is banned in church at present, so silence is on the agenda! the online ‘Enduring word commentary’ reflects on the ascription to
Jeduthun (mentioned also in the titles of Psalms 39 and 77) was one of the musicians appointed by David to lead Israel’s public worship (1 Chronicles 16:41; 25:1-3). Charles Spurgeon wrote regarding Jeduthun: “The sons of Jeduthun were porters or doorkeepers, according to 1 Chronicles 16:42. Those who serve well make the best of singers, and those who occupy the highest posts in the choir must not be ashamed to wait at the posts of the doors of the Lord’s house.”
Maybe we can learn to worship and serve humbly in other ways, but it all starts with knowing him who we worship.
Perhaps the NT equivalent is found in Heb 12: 1-3
12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
In life there is sin to be put off and as we seek to follow the Lord, opposition to be resisted. The key to freedom and fruitfulness is not more discipline or stricter rules or trying harder but to deepen our love for Christ by focussing upon him, the one who has started and will help us complete our journey of faith.
Tony Horsfall says: ‘To be weary is to tire with exertion, to labour to the point of weariness, to feel exhausted, to become sick. To lose heart, is literally, ‘fainting in the soul of you’ suggesting despondency’ (Rhythms of Grace p 67)
We might call this burn out. The antidote is found in focussing upon Christ.
David learnt to trust God in all the pressures he repeats his opening lines in v 5-6 of his psalm,
‘The emphasis again reflects David’s decision to trust in nothing or no one else. God alone is his salvation, his glory, his rock, his strength, and his refuge. We sense David was tempted to trust many different things, but he refused and kept his expectation in God alone’. (Enduring word commentary)
If we can learn to fix our eye upon Jesus, we can then expect to run the race marked out for us with perseverance, or as Isaiah put it in 40:29-31
29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in (or wait upon) the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
May God bless our days so that our friendship and time with him is the foundation for all we do
