Where Do We Rest? (Psalm 62)

Where do you get your honor? Is that a weird question? Example: David, the presumed author of this psalm, was the king. He could have found his honor in his title, his throne, his crown. He was kind of a Big Deal. But in this psalm, he tells of a conspiracy against him. He writes of attempts to “topple him from his lofty place.” Based on the timing, it’s likely that David is on the run from his own son, Absalom, who is enraged by his father’s mishandling of a family situation: the rape of Absalom’s sister by their half-brother, Amnon. Absalom not only wants his father’s throne and title, he wants his father to pay for having let this atrocity go unpunished.

Imagine David taking shelter, perhaps in a cave, and thinking about all that has transpired. Is he mourning the loss of his crown? Maybe. Is he grieving his son’s betrayal? Probably. Is he exhausted, disappointed, and angry? Very likely. But is he afraid, worried about his safety? Not so much. Despite the fact that he has been forced to flee or be killed by his own son, he is still confident in God for his strength and protection. As king, he might have felt the need to justify his actions, or his inaction, to his family and his people, but he knows he is ultimately accountable only to God. So he can stand in God’s presence, in silence, and rest. “My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.”

Most of us will never know what it’s like to be in the kind of danger David experienced. For most of us, the biggest fear we face is making a big mistake in front of other people and then feeling the need to justify ourselves, to make excuses so those people won’t think we’re incompetent frauds. Even children, once they’re past a certain age, know when they’ve messed up and try to cover their tracks, sometimes by blaming others. Grownups do that, too. But, like David, we can choose instead to let go of our need to appear perfect to others and embrace the rest we can find in being silent before God, who alone is our judge. Trying to justify ourselves to him is just foolish, because he knows us with the knowledge of the One who made us, and he forgives us our shortcomings, covering us with his grace and mercy. “Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.”

Jesus is also a King. Unlike David, he willingly gave up, for a time, his throne and his crown so that he could come to earth, teach us how to live and to love, and die for us, and in so doing save us from our sins and justify us before the Father. When we come before God’s throne we can be silent, knowing that only the perfect Son can speak for us, offering us strength and hope, salvation and life. “One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving.” Stand in his presence, be silent, and rest in his strength and his love.

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