Do you ever feel weary right down in your bones?
I’m not talking about the weariness that comes from staying up all night with a crying baby (although that most certainly makes one weary).
I’m talking about the kind of weariness that creeps into your soul and steals your joy and peace. The kind of weariness that begets worry and stress and makes you want to throw in the towel.
I’m talking about soul-weariness.
There is only one solution for soul-weariness, friend. It’s rest. And it’s not the kind of rest that’s found in a good cup of coffee or a long afternoon nap or putting all the precautions in place that you can think of.
This rest is not found in any thing we do. It’s found in a person.
This morning we’re going to look at Psalm 62:5 and exhort our souls to rest in God alone.
Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
Psalm 62:5 (NIV)
my hope comes from him.
Context
Psalm 62 was written by David. Tim Keller calls this “a psalm for those under stress.” The Psalm seeks to answer the question: Where is the ultimate source of one’s wellbeing? The ESV answers this question by repeating the phrase “God alone”, “He alone”, “In Him only”. David exhorts us to not set our hope on wealth or power but to “trust in Him at all times”(vs. 8).
Observation – What does it say?
Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
David is preaching to his soul, a good and necessary practice. The ESV translates this verse, “For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence”. The Hebrew word for wait is sometimes translated as “silence” or “peace” or “rest”. This paints a picture of a kind of restful, peaceful waiting on the Lord. I love the ESV’s inclusion of the words “God alone.” This peaceful, silent rest is only found in God.
my hope comes from him.
David is not just waiting. He is waiting hopefully or expectantly for what God has promised: his salvation and his glory (vs. 7).
Interpretation – What does it mean?
We believers who live in the “already” of Jesus’ first coming and the “not yet” of his second coming are no strangers to waiting expectantly.
Jesus came and conquered sin and death once for all and for that we rejoice. He has removed the power and penalty of our sin, but he has not yet removed the presence of our sin. For this we wait and say, “Come, Lord Jesus. Come soon.”
But even though we still live in the presence of sin and suffering, our waiting need not be stressful. We have a God in whom we can trust, and into whose rest we can enter now.
But this rest in only found in God. It’s not found in our striving, in our earthly possessions, in all our preparations for the future, or in our good works.
Rest and peace for our weary souls are found in God alone.
Jesus invites us into this rest:
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)
We rest in Jesus by putting our trust in him. And when we put our trust in Him, Jesus gives us hope.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)
This is such good news for us with weary souls.
Application – How should it change me?
I have trouble finding my rest in Jesus.
I tend to put my hope in earthly things in an attempt to find rest for my soul.
Sometimes I put my hope in my morning cup of coffee. I expect it to give me the rest that my soul craves, or at least to resurrect the dead (which is pretty much what I am before my coffee). But, really, only Jesus can do that.
Sometimes I put my hope in naptime. If I can just get my boys to sleep for at least two hours at the same time, then I will have peace and rest. Don’t put your hope in naptime. It almost always disappoints.
Sometimes I put my hope in the safety measures I put in place for my kids. Just recently there were 5 confirmed cases of measles in a city 90 minutes from here. My youngest is six months old and is not yet vaccinated for measles. I keep thinking about the relief I will feel at his 12 month appointment when he’s finally able to get the MMR vaccine. I’m putting my hope in that vaccine.
I asked my dad (a family doctor) what I can do to keep my son safe from measles. His answer to me was, “Be wise and trust a Sovereign God.”
He was telling me to find my rest in God.
God is sovereign whether or not I have my morning coffee, or my two-hour nap time, or my son’s measles vaccination.
No matter what good things I do, no matter how prepared I am, no matter what precautions I take, I will never be able to thwart God’s good plan for my life.
And that’s a very good thing.
So I make wise decisions and then I rest in his sovereign care.
I rest from all my worrying and all my striving and all my fretting and find peace in the hands of my good, good God.
Because no matter what his plan is for me, my hope is ultimately in Him. And he is coming back and will set everything right.
So, rest my soul, wait for your perfectly loving Father and find your hope, your salvation, and your glory in Him.