Church: Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia | Text: Psalm 62 | Date: September 8, 2024 | Speaker: Fred Zaspel

Trusting God Alone

Psalm 62. I’ve said that I’m not going to be exhaustive working through the entire Psalter, and so I’ve skipped some. And now that I have done that, skipped some, I’ve wished there were some that I hadn’t skipped. I may end up going back at some point to pick up some of them. But today, Psalm 62. Title of the message: Trusting God Alone. We could hardly have picked a better song set than we had this morning to go with this theme.

Psalm 62, the Psalm of David.

For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. How long will all of you attack a man to batter him like a leaning wall or a tottering fence? They only plan to thrust him down from his high position. They take pleasure in falsehood. They bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse. Selah.

For God alone, O my soul, wait 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 salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah.

Those of a 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 trust in extortion; set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase, set not your heart on them. Once God has spoken; twice I have heard this: that power belongs to God, and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. For you will render to a man according to his work.

Let’s bow for prayer. Our Father, how we thank you for this marvelous book of the Psalms and what a treasure it has been to your people for all the centuries we have lived. We have appreciated and enjoyed and been blessed by the reminder that they give us so often to look to you and to look to you alone as our refuge and our hope. We pray that you will drive our minds and our hearts to see that again this morning. Encourage us in our Savior Jesus Christ, we pray in his name. Amen.

One of the most painful, some of the most painful, I think, of human sufferings is the pain of injustice. Not just opposition, but unjust opposition. We all have an innate sense of right and wrong. “That’s not fair. That’s not right.” And injustice is some of the worst kind of suffering that we can face. And one of the most puzzling conundrums of the Christian faith is that if God is king over all, if he rules over all things, and if indeed God is just and he is righteous, then why all of the injustice? Or, why do so many unjust and wicked men seem to make it so well? And even worse, why do so many wicked people seem to make it so well at the expense of good and righteous people?

It’s difficult to understand. It’s difficult to endure when you’re on the blunt end of that. But it’s a reality of life. It’s the long history of Christian martyrs. It’s the long history of the righteous ever since Genesis chapter 4, Abel slain by his brother Cain. It’s increasingly the mark of our culture. It’s a regular topic in the wisdom literature in the Old Testament, and it’s a frequent topic as well in the Psalms. If God reigns, if he is righteous, if he has promised that he will reign, and that he will exercise his righteousness in the earth, then where is it? Why don’t we see it?

And all of those kinds of concerns combine in the experience of King David in Psalm 62. There’s no precise setting given to us either in the superscript or in the body of the psalm. David is clearly the good guy, but he’s facing injustice of some kind. Injustice is matched by some kind of a threat. He feels like a tottering wall, a tottering fence or a broken wall that’s about to fall over and collapse. So there’s some kind of imminent danger. We’ll see just a little bit of that that he gives us hints of as we work through the psalm. But he’s facing some kind of injustice. And evidently it’s been prolonged. It’s intense; we get that from verse three. “How long?” So evidently, “How long will all of you attack a man to batter him?” Evidently this is something that has been in David’s experience, a prolonged thing, a threat that is looming over him for some time.

Declaration Of Trust

Now the tone of the opening verses sounds like and resembles that of a lament song. But the lament that we have in the opening verses is very brief, and there’s no petition, which is the mark of a petition lament psalm. In fact, what we have throughout the psalm is not a lament, but an expression of trust—an invitation to others to do the trusting as well in verses eight through 10. But in verses one and two and verses five to seven, this is David’s declaration or affirmation of trust in the Lord God. So this is a psalm of trust. And you remember what we’ve seen about these psalms of trust, that they have certain components that usually show up. And this is one of those.

We have the declaration of trust in verses one and two. “For God alone my soul waits in silence. From him comes my salvation.” Actually, the word “wait” here is not in the original in the Hebrew, but the idea is implied. The idea is that my soul is silent, remains silent, something like that. In fact, the word “silent” here, the root is the same one used in Exodus chapter 14 when God says to Moses, “Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.” A silent heart. So the implication is that he’s waiting for God and resting in God or relying on God. And so the NIV translates it here, “Truly my soul finds rest in God.” So he’s in danger, but his heart is calm.

Pastor Boyd often uses this expression in his prayers. You’ve heard it many times in the morning prayers when he speaks of addressing God for some concern in the congregation, someone who’s facing a serious illness or something like that. He’ll often use the words, “Lord, quiet their hearts.” That’s the idea here. My soul waits in silence. I’m not in a panic. I’m not worked up over this. My soul waits in silence, or as the NIV smooths it out, my soul finds rest in God. So he’s facing threat of some kind and danger, but he’s waiting patiently for God. And the reason is, in verse 1 at the end of the verse, the reason he can wait so confidently is, “from him comes my salvation.” He’s trusting God for deliverance.

Verse 2 expands on that. “He alone is my rock, my salvation, my fortress.” This is familiar imagery here, symbolizing God as one who is trustworthy, someone you can hide behind—the idea of a rock that you can stand behind in the face of a storm or in the face of an attack, or a fortress atop a mighty, a great hill, and you’re safe inside this impregnable fortress, hiding. That’s what God is to me, he says, and he says he’s my salvation. God is my deliverer. So he says, because God is my rock, God is my fortress, my salvation, “I shall not be greatly shaken.” That’s the same as verse one. My soul waits in silence. So he’s confident. Despite the challenges, despite even what appears to be contrary evidence, he waits on God for his deliverance.

The Ruthless Wickedness Of Enemies

Well, that’s verses one and two. Now verses three and four, he contrasts the ruthless wickedness of these enemies of his. “How long will you attack a man to batter him like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence? They only plan to thrust him down from his high position. They take pleasure in falsehood. They bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse.”

So in verse 3, he describes them as attacking and battering him. But evidently from verse 4, the attack and the battering that he’s receiving from these enemies so far seems to be only verbal. “They take pleasure in falsehood,” verse 4. Or the end of verse four, “they bless with their mouths but inwardly they curse.” So these are men who are presumably part of the nobility, people of influence; they pretend to love, they pretend to honor the king and so they give all the outward courtesies and with their mouths they flatter. Publicly, they give the court praise and all of that. But their objective in it, verse 4, is to thrust him down from his high position. So he has traitors, traitors who are trying to topple the king. We saw this, you might remember, in Psalm 4 as well. It’s something David had faced several times.

Verse 9, he makes reference to the high estate, so evidently some nobility is involved. In verse three, because of all of this, David feels like a leaning wall and a tottering fence. So evidently he feels vulnerable. He’s on the brink of losing his position altogether and to have his kingship taken from him. Now it’s in this context then that David composes this psalm in which he reflects a calm heart that waits patiently for God, a psalm of confident trust in God. There’s no trace of anxiety. There are hints maybe perhaps that could reflect some would-be anxiety, but David has put that down and he just waits in silence.

Now we should be careful to notice, and we’ll see this again before we finish, but notice here as we go through these verses, the exclusiveness of David’s trust. This is something that David emphasizes through the psalm. Look at the word “only” or “alone.” Same word in Hebrew. In verses 1, 2, 4, 5, 6. Verse 1, “For God alone, my soul waits in silence.” Verse 2, “He alone is my rock and my salvation.” Now verse 4, there’s the contrast: “They only plan to thrust down.” But verse 5 again, “For God alone, oh my soul, wait in silence.” Verse 6, “He alone is my rock, my salvation, my fortress.” Now the repetition of that—David is emphasizing the exclusiveness of his trust. There’s probably also some poignant sense of earnestness to it as well. He reminds himself, he wants us to hear it, that he waits for no other but God himself to help. He waits for God alone. However God may bring that help will be great. But here I am, I’m helpless, I’m without recourse. God himself and God alone is my whole hope.

Well, verses one and two then, we have his declaration of trust. Verses three and four then, we have the background. David’s the anointed king, he has divine promises, and yet there are traitors among him and they’re trying to topple him. And he is feeling vulnerable. It looks like the traitors could succeed.

Further Affirmation Of Trust

Well, we turn to verse five and we come now to further affirmation of trust. Instead of continuing the lament, he turns again to expressions of trust. “For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.”

Now if you’ll notice, verses five and six that I’ve just read are almost identical to verses one and two. Verse one: “For God alone my soul waits in silence. From him comes my salvation.” Verse two: “He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress, I shall not be greatly shaken.” And then verses five and six, he repeats the same thing, almost verbatim. Now there are a couple of changes, three or four changes here, and I think most, two of them at least, are just stylistic. For example, in verse one he says, “from him comes my salvation,” but in verse five it’s, “for my hope is from him.” So salvation has not yet come, but now in verse five he’s emphasizing that his hope is that God will bring that salvation. When deliverance does come, David will sense some relief, but he will not experience surprise. His hope is in God. He expects God to help.

Also, in verse 1 and verse 5, he moves from affirmation to exhortation. And here’s where I say there might be some hint that he’s trying to fight back anxiety. Verse 1 affirms it; he’s waiting on God. “For God alone, my soul waits in silence.” And then verse 5, he exhorts himself to wait on God: “For God alone, oh my soul, wait in silence.”

But most significantly, the biggest difference between verses five and six and verses one and two is a deepening sense of confidence that we see. Verse two: “He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress, I shall not be greatly shaken.” Verse six: “He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress, I shall not be shaken.” Verse 2: “I shall not be greatly shaken.” Verse 6: “I shall not be shaken.” So he is settled now in his confidence toward God. This is really the same as verse 1: “my soul waits in silence.”

So it must have seemed for a long time that God hasn’t helped. That’s what we get from verse 3, “how long.” And in fact, now he seems like, he feels like a leaning wall and a tottering fence. He’s about to be pushed over. But now he’s reminded himself; he’s exhorted himself with reference to God. He’s exhorted himself with regard to God’s promise, God’s character. He believes that God will keep his promise. And so he says, “I’m not gonna lose any sleep over this. I will not be shaken. I will not be in a panic. Tonight I’ll sleep well.” This is not far from what we read of Jesus in the New Testament when Peter says of Jesus, when he was being persecuted, that he entrusted himself to him who judges right. And this is what David has done here.

Now verse 7, he introduces a new idea. “On God rests my salvation and my glory.” On God rests my salvation and my glory. My glory—well, that’s his royal position and God’s promise that he would be king. So God will keep his promise. He is my glory, he will deliver me from this threat. My kingship is his promise and it is in his hands to deliver me from this. So despite the plots against David, he determines to set his mind on God rather than on his enemies and encourage himself in that.

There are a couple of occasions in 1 Samuel, reading of David’s experience before he became king, that illustrate this kind of thing. For example, in 1 Samuel 23, you remember the context: Saul is against David, Saul is trying to kill David, and David is on the run. And you remember Jonathan went to David secretly, and it says in 1 Samuel 23:16 that Jonathan strengthened his hand in God. Jonathan strengthened David’s hand in God. And what that must mean is that Jonathan—a remarkable thing because Jonathan now would be the heir to the throne, but he recognizes that God has appointed David as the next king. And so Jonathan, the heir apparent, goes to David, the one who has received the promises, and encouraged David in God. “God has given you the kingship, David. He has promised it. He will bring you through this.” A remarkable scene when Jonathan encourages David or strengthens his hand in God.

We have another example in 1 Samuel chapter 30 when David’s own men were talking of a coup, trying to stone him. It says David strengthened himself in the Lord God. The idea is that he reminds himself of God’s promise, reminds himself of God’s character, and he strengthens himself in it and quiets his heart accordingly. That’s verses one to eight of Psalm 62. David does not focus on the threat; he focuses on God himself. And he pictures himself standing behind this massive rock. Whatever comes, this rock will protect me. Or he pictures himself as standing in a fortress atop a big hill that’s impregnable, and these enemies cannot get to me because I am safe in God’s care and God’s promise.

Now this is one of the lessons we’ve seen many times in the Psalms, and we’ll see it, I’m sure, many times over again. And that’s this lesson of perspective. He focuses not on what is going on and the circumstances around him, but he focuses on what he knows to be true and what God has said and what God has promised. We see this often in the Old Testament, whether it’s Abraham who’s childless or Abraham told to sacrifice his son and Abraham has to reason this out. “Now God has promised. God has promised a child, he’ll give it. Or God has promised Isaac and now he wants me to sacrifice him. God will have to raise him from the dead because he’s made a promise.” Strengthening himself in what he knows to be true about God. That’s David here. He’s under threat and under danger and yet God has made a promise. And so he quiets his heart. God has made a promise. God is true. He will deliver.

Invitation To Trust

And so in light of all of that now, evidently there are other people, of course; if he’s the king and he’s under threat, there are other people who are caught up in danger in this. And so in verses eight to 10, we have his invitation to trust. Here he addresses others with regard to the lessons that he himself has learned.

Verse eight: “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 trust in extortion. Set no vain hopes on robbery. If riches increase, set not your heart on them.

All right, verse 8. “Trust in him at all times, O people.” He’s reminding himself that the God he trusts in in this particular circumstance is a God who can be trusted in every circumstance. What he has been for me, he will be for all of his people. It is always true, verse 1, that God is a rock and our salvation and our fortress. It is always true, verses 7 and 8, that God is our refuge. And so he calls on the people, “Just as I am quieting my heart and trusting in God in this time, you look to God the same. Circumstances change, but God does not and his promise will remain.” So David invites God’s people everywhere to trust in him also. Verse eight: pour out your heart before him in trust. Empty yourself of your anxieties. Cast your care upon God and find in him a refuge.

In verse 9 and following, verses 9 and 10, he’s describing God as the only sure, safe object of trust. Verse 9: those of low estate, those of high estate—that is the nobodies and the somebodies, the important people and the not-so-important people, the weak and the powerful. Those of low estate are but a breath. Same word used in Ecclesiastes: vanity, just a vapor. Those of low estate, he says, are just a breath, a puff of wind. They amount to nothing; they have nothing to offer. Those of high estate, he says, are a delusion. Is that a lie? They’re not what they appear to be. He knows that back in verse four. They bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse. That is to say that people of all kinds are untrustworthy. They are not safe objects of trust. God alone is. These people provide no safe place for your hope. They will fail. They will let you down, whether intentionally or not. People will let you down.

Verse 9: “in the balances they go up. Together they’re lighter than a breath.” They have nothing to offer. Picture these scales weighing out the food or whatever you’re purchasing. Can you imagine anyone arguing, “Hey, you’ve made it heavier”? They’re lighter than a breath. They mean nothing. When it comes to the scales, they’re nothing.

Verse 10, he extends the exhortation further. “Put no trust in extortion. Set no vain hopes on robbery.” But you have to wonder, what lies behind that? Remember we’ve seen in the Psalms, this is poetry, and so everything’s condensed. It’s tight. You gotta think, what’s going on here? He doesn’t spell it out at length. We don’t have a narrative here. Maybe his enemies have paid off others to be involved. They promised gain of some kind if they’ll join the cause. Verse 10: “If riches increase, set not your heart upon them.” That is, riches are uncertain. They’re undependable, just like people. That’s a common theme we come through in the New Testament. Jesus speaks of the uncertainty of riches. People trust in the uncertainty of riches. Riches seem like they’re pretty stable security. You may be the wealthiest man in the state, and there are circumstances you will find where that wealth cannot help. So Paul exhorts, for example, in Timothy, exhort the wealthy not to trust in uncertain riches. And this is David. There’s only one safe object of trust, and that is God. Whatever they’ve offered to pay you off and whatever gain you hope to have by joining that cause, forget it. God is the only safe object of trust.

The Basis Of Trust

And then verses 11 and 12. He closes the psalm by asserting the basis of his trust. “Once God has spoken, twice I have heard this.” That’s a rhetorical way of drawing attention to what he’s going to say. Maybe this is some kind of prophetic message given at the temple. “Once God has spoken, twice I have heard this: that power belongs to God and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love, for you will render to a man according to his work.”

So we have two attributes of God here that are named: power and steadfast love. Two great themes of the Psalter. Power—this is the God who created the world with a word. This is the God of the Exodus. This is the God who brought his people into the land of Canaan, brought them over the river, defeated the enemies. This is the God who has defeated David’s enemies. “Power belongs to God.” And steadfast love—this is a word we find all the time in the Psalms. It’s God’s affection for his people, but it’s not just his affection. I’ve told you before this is one of those words in the Hebrew; it’s just difficult to translate. There’s not an exact English equivalent. It carries the idea of affection, so love has to be there. But it’s more than that. It’s a loyal kind of love. And so we translate it “steadfast love.” Faithful love, continuous love—that’s the way this word is used in the Old Testament continuously, steadily. The idea is that of a person in an inferior position being helped by a superior, a person in a superior position. And that superior has shown steadfast love. And so sometimes we hear this referred to as covenant love. He has an affection for these people. But when that person in an inferior position finds himself in danger or in need of any kind, yes, this person who is superior to him has affection, but he’s loyal to him as well and he will bring that help because he’s promised it. And that’s the idea.

God is a God of power and he’s a God of steadfast love. Both of those are essential. Power without love would be tyranny. And yet if you had love without power, how could you be trusted? Can you depend on him? Can he really pull it off? And so God, he affirms, is both merciful and mighty.

But then at the last part of the verse, he refers to another attribute of God, and that is God’s justice. “You will render to a man according to his work.” God will render to a man according to his work. That is a theme in the Bible that ought to make everyone tremble. David points to it here and this is what has to shape our perspective when we’re suffering injustice. This injustice will not remain forever. God will settle the score. He’ll bring everyone into account. A day of justice is coming and God will render to a man according to his work. So this powerful, devotedly loving God is a just God who will right the wrongs and settle the scores. And this is the basis of David’s trust. If God is such a God as this, surely we can wait quietly for him.

So David has calmed his heart by putting the situation in perspective and by focusing not so much on the circumstances but on the God who rules over all. God is a safe refuge for him at every moment.

Well, there’s the psalm. As we’ve done several times, I would like to go back and just reflect on this, make some observations about the psalm.

First Observation

Number one, first observation: In his firm trust in God while his kingship was being threatened, David foreshadows the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus’ kingship also was threatened. Jesus seemed like, verse 3, a leaning wall and a tottering fence as he endured the silence of heaven, waiting for God to respond. He was abandoned like David was in these early verses of the psalm. Jesus was abandoned by those who had followed him. In his unjust treatment by men, Jesus was condemned under the just judgment of God. And all Friday evening, Friday night, all day Saturday, Jesus waited in silence for God’s vindication. On Sunday, God raised him from the dead, and now Jesus is exalted to heaven. He’s honored at the right hand of God, and he’s obtained universal authority to rule over all. Jesus waited in trust as David did.

He, Jesus, could take confidence in verse 12 in a unique way. Verse 12: “you will render to a man according to his work.” Well, in fact, what Jesus tells us in John chapter five is that the Father has committed all judgment to the Son. The Father judges no one; he’s committed it all to the Son so that all will honor the Son as they honor the Father. Jesus’ kingdom still to this day is under assault continually. But in God’s good time, history will witness the reign of Jesus in its glory and it’ll be unmistakable that he is the judge. And Jesus waited; David waited in a way that foreshadows the patient trust of our Lord as he lived in his incarnate state under the guidance of his Father.

Second Observation

But there’s more to it than that. Our second observation: In verses eight to 10, David calls the people of God to trust in God also. He’s confessed his own trust in God, and now he calls others to trust in God as well, even as they face injustice. The Bible has a range of answers. This is not the only thing the Bible has to say. This is a big one. The Bible has a range of answers to the problem of the injustice that comes to God’s people. The answer of Psalm 62 is in a way the same as the answer given in the book of Job: Wait. Trust. God knows what he’s doing.

The words of this psalm are not the words of David only. And they are not to be the words of Jesus only. These words David tells us expressly in verses 8 to 10 are to be our words as well. We ought to pray, verse one, “For God alone my soul waits in silence. From him comes my salvation. He alone is my rock, my salvation, my fortress. I shall not be greatly shaken.” In the words of verse 12, we ought to affirm to God our contentedness to wait for that day when all accounts are settled as well, and he renders to every man according to his work. We look forward to that day when this seemingly mismanaged world will be brought to account to its judge—a day at last when God will reward everyone according to his work.

People of God through the centuries have suffered all kinds of injustice. People of God through all of it have learned what David is expressing here, and that is to persevere faithfully, trusting in God’s promise. Paul speaks of this kind of thing in 2 Thessalonians 1. He speaks of the persecution of the people of God in Thessalonica. Be patient, wait. The day will come and the Lord Jesus will return in flaming fire and he will trouble those who trouble you. Whatever the difficulty, whatever the injustice, whatever the suffering, we’re obliged to wait patiently and honor God with the trust that he deserves. We see that over and again in the Psalms. David is a model for that. Honor God with the trust that God deserves.

We see it every night in the news. We don’t know where our culture is heading, but it’s heading there fast, and it’s not good and it doesn’t take a prophet to see that it’s going to bring pressures to bear on the people of God. And as they come, we need to have our minds equipped with just what this psalm is telling us. Wait patiently; calm your heart. A day is coming when the God of all power and of all love will reward every man according to his work. He’ll fulfill every promise.

One More Observation

There’s one more observation I want to make from the psalm before we close, and that is we have to note again the exclusiveness of David’s trust—that repeated “only” in verses two and following. Verse two: “He alone is my rock, my salvation.” Verse five: “For God alone, oh my soul, wait in silence.” Verse six: “He alone is my rock, my salvation, my fortress, I shall not be shaken.” The exclusiveness of David’s trust.

David trusted in the Lord. It doesn’t necessarily mean he sat back and did nothing, but his trust was in God alone. This is a huge theme in the Old Testament. We find it—this is the lesson Israel had such a hard time to learn. Over and again, God will send a prophet to the king and say, “You don’t trust in that Assyrian alliance. You don’t trust in that Egyptian alliance. You don’t even trust in your own military strength. Trust in God alone. Trust his promise and he will save.”

And all of that in the Old Testament becomes the backdrop of an enormous theme in the scriptures: there is no other hope for salvation but God alone. And our trust must be in God alone for our salvation. There’s no room for any other. No room for other hope but Him. It is true that God is our judge. It is true that God will render to every man according to our work, but it is also true that God is the only one who can save us. And that is the message of the Bible: God has come to the rescue. He has come in the person of his Son and taken the place of sinners and borne our sin, and taking our sin has absorbed our curse. He did all of the work that saves. And Jesus is everything that God requires.

And so our hope is an absolutely exclusive one. This is the Reformation doctrines of Christ alone, faith alone, grace alone. He is the only one who can save; it’s our whole hope. Verse five: “He alone is our rock, our salvation, our fortress.” In a few minutes we’ll be singing a song written by Augustus Toplady, his most famous hymn—a hymn that some have said he had written after experiencing a thunderstorm of some kind. Historians have disputed that. You don’t find it in his own writings, but at any rate, it is the imagery of the psalm that his famous hymn captures: “Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee.” When the great day of judgment comes, where do you hide? When God comes to render to every person his work, where do you hide?

Toplady’s hymn continues with it: “Not the labors of my hands can fulfill the law’s demands.” In fact, he continues, “Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I’ll cling.” I love the expression: “Naked, come to you for dress; helpless, look to you for grace; foul, I to the fountain fly; wash me, Savior, or I die.” It’s the exclusiveness of David’s trust. There’s no other help. And when we read this, we ought to read it with our New Testament glasses on. And when we see in verse 5, “For God alone, my soul, wait in silence,” “He only is my rock,” verse 6, we ought to be thinking, “Christ alone is my rock. Christ alone is my salvation.”

We witness to others. This is our message. You dare not trust anything else. You don’t trust your own strong arm. You don’t trust your good works. You trust in Christ alone. In fact, when our own conscience accuses us, we answer the same way: Christ alone is my rock and my salvation. Christ was delivered over for my offenses and raised for my justification. And when that day finally comes and God renders to a man according to his work, in that storm of judgment, it is the Lord Jesus Christ behind whom we will hide. And we will say in so many words, verse six, Christ alone is my rock, my salvation, my fortress; in him I trust.

Let’s pray.