Our One And Only

Our One And Only Psalm 62:5-12 New King James Version (NKJV) 5 My soul, wait silently for God alone, For my expectation is from Him. 6 He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved. 7 In God is my salvation and my glory; The rock of my strength, And my refuge, is in God. 8 Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah 9 Surely men of low degree are a vapor, Men of high degree are a lie; If they are weighed on the scales, They are altogether lighter than vapor. 10 Do not trust in oppression, Nor vainly hope in robbery; If riches increase, Do not set your heart on them. 11 God has spoken once, Twice I have heard this: That power belongs to God. 12 Also to You, O Lord, belongs mercy; For You render to each one according to his work. This is the Word of God, for us the people of God, thanks be to God! Let us pray.... Heavenly Father, Lord of hosts. Creator of all that is good. We come to you once more and ask for your presence, your guidance, and your Word. Please bless us with the meassage that You want us to recieve here today. We ask this in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. The psalmist uses several words to describe God in Psalm 62. Let's start by taking a closer look at each of these words. First of all God is called our rock. Dictionary.com defines 'rock' as a large mass of stone forming a hill, cliff, promontory, or the like. When I here this definition, it brings to mind movie scenes where someone is being carried away down a river through roaring rapids toward a waterfall and sure death, but find a rocky outcropping or promonotory to grab hold of them and 'save' them. The word 'rock' also brings to mind other bible references. Matthew 7:24-27 New King James Version (NKJV) 24 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 "But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall." This scripture may be one of the most important you'll ever read. It tells you the secrets of life if you pay attention. If you build your life upon Christ, the rock, who is unchanging and immovable, you will always have solid foundation that isn't easily shaken. If you build your life upon the world, the sand, constantly shifting and changing. You will always be off balance and never stable in any aspect of your life. Another scripture that comes to mind is: Matthew 21:41-43 New King James Version (NKJV) 41 They said to Him, "He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons." 42 Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORDs doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes? 43 "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. When we make Christ the cheif cornerstone of our life and our home, we are building our everything on the one who created everything that is good in the universe. What could be a better start to any building project? Also, let's keep in mind that 'bearing the fruits of it' part for later. The next word the psalmist uses for God is that He is our 'salvation'. Salvation is defined as : 1. the act of saving or protecting from harm, risk, loss, destruction, etc. 2. the state of being saved or protected from harm, risk, etc. 3. a source, cause, or means of being saved or protected from harm, risk, etc. 4. Theology . deliverance from the power and penalty of sin; redemption. These seem to be very fitting descriptions of our God don't they. He saves us both physically and spiritually from destructive forces. Often times these forces are ourselves. Another word used for God here is 'defense' and it has several definitions such as: 1.resistance against attack; protection: Two more regiments are needed for the defense of the city. 2. something that defends, as a fortification, physical or mental quality, or medication: This fort was once the main defense of the island. 3. the defending of a cause or the like by speech, argument, etc.: He spoke in defense of the nation's foreign policy. 4. a speech, argument, etc., in vindication: She delivered a defense of free enterprise. 5. Law . a. the denial or pleading of the defendant in answer to the claim or charge that has been made. b. the proceedings adopted by a defendant, or the defendant's legal agents, for defending against the charges that have been made. c. a defendant and his or her counsel. Just think of these terms when God is invilved. Think of regiments of angels defending God's children from evil. Think of God's arms and His angels wings as our fortifications against the enemy. Think of His Word as medication for our souls. A kind of spiritual anti-biotic to fight of the infection of sin. The legal terms for defense here bring to mind a vision of Jesus as our mediator before God's judgement seat. The Son as our attorney reasoning with our Father at our final judgment. Jesus isn't defending us from a wrathful Father, but defending us from the mess we make of ourselves. Yes, God is our defense in many ways. Next, our the psalmist write that God is our 'glory' and how is glory defined? 1.very great praise, honor, or distinction bestowed by common consent; renown: to win glory on the field of battle. 2. something that is a source of honor, fame, or admiration; a distinguished ornament or an object of pride: a sonnet that is one of the glories of English poetry. 3. adoring praise or worshipful thanksgiving: Give glory to God. 4. resplendent beauty or magnificence: the glory of autumn. 5. a state of great splendor, magnificence, or prosperity. What could be a more fitting description of God? He surely deserves all of our praise, honor, fame, and admiration. We are glorious creations ourselves. When you think of all the things it's takes to make human life possible, it truly is a miracle, but that is only possible because of our creator, our God. We are a distinguished ornament, because we have been set apart by God. We have been chosen. We have been adopted as cherished children of God. Therefore, we should give all of our glory back to our Father. God is also called the rock of our strength here in Psalm 62. So what is meant by strength? 1.the quality or state of being strong; bodily or muscular power; vigor. 2. mental power, force, or vigor. 3. moral power, firmness, or courage. 4. power by reason of influence, authority, resources, numbers, etc. 5. number, as of personnel or ships in a force or body: a regiment with a strength of 3000. The quality or state of being strong. Sounds godly doesn't it? Mental power and vigor; aren't we mentally stronger and more vigorous in our convictions when we are in God's Word regularly? Moral power, firmness, or courage; this is true strength. We all know that there is no better way, let me rephrase that, there is no other way to have moral power than to be lving with God in our lives. Strength is also defined as power by reason of influence or authority. What better authority could a human being weild than that of speaking the Word of God to the nations? Lastly, strength is described as numbers, as in personnel or resources. What greater numbers to have on your side than that of the heavenly host? The last description of God from the psalm that I want us to cover is refuge. God IS our refuge and it's defined as: 1.shelter or protection from danger, trouble, etc.: to take refuge from a storm. 2. a place of shelter, protection, or safety. 3. anything to which one has recourse for aid, relief, or escape. Many things come to mind when we think of a refuge or shelter. We have homes to shelter our families, storage shelters to protect our possessions, storm shelters, homeless shelters, crisis shelters, and so on. Our church sanctuaries have been refuges to many through the centuries and are still spiritual shelters to us today. You may also think of a refuge as a castle with high walls or you may think of it as a fortress. I think we all know what Fort Knox is. It's the fortress that is refuge to our nation's gold reserves, keeping it safe from theives both foreign and domestic. So much gold. So much precious metal that so many crave. God is our Fort Knox for our very souls. We are more precious to our Holy Father than all of the gold in the universe. That is why He is our refuge, our recourse for aid, our relief from the trials of the world, our escape debt of sin. When we take Him into our hearts, He fortifies our defenses. So we've talked much about who God is and what God is to us, but what of us. Well, what of us? A man who thinks himself something more than anyone else or 'better' than everyone is is nothing but a lie in the words of the psalmist here. The person who thinks to highly of himself is nothing more than a breath in the flow of the universe. At the same time, humble man is loved so much by God that He gave His only begotten Son so that that humble, even meek man may have everlasting life in His heavenly kingdom and yet that same man is but a vapor in the grander scheme of things as well. When we think of the length of our lives, we think in decades, but our God's universe can't be measured by decades, but by millennia, or maybe it can be measured at all. Our God, who isn't affected by time, whose power knows no bounds, also takes the time to save individual souls and further more, gets to know all the little things about those souls, because His love also cannot be measured. The God of immeasurable power is also a loving God. Finally my friends, we are told here that God renders His mercy according to our works. I know I've just recently preached about our works being the fruits of God's grace in our lives. We're reminded of that in Psalm 62. When we truly confess ourselves to God, accept Christ as our savior, and start living in His ways, we will want to give back to the Lord. We will want to serve Him passionately. We will witness His glory through the way we live our lives. Weshow our undying love to our triunal God; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The three persons of the one spirit. The God of Jacob, The God of Isaac, The God of Abraham. Our God. Our one and only. Peace be with you my friends, Pete.