Today's Meditation - Monday, June 8, 2020

Today's Meditation

Read Psalm 62

¹For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.

²He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall never be shaken.

³How long will you assail a person, will you batter your victim, all of you, as you would a leaning wall, a tottering fence?

⁴Their only plan is to bring down a person of prominence. They take pleasure in falsehood; they bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse.

⁵For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him.

⁶He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.

⁷On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge is in God.

⁸Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.

⁹Those 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.

¹⁰Put no confidence in extortion, and set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase, do not set your heart on them.

¹¹Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God,

¹²and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord. For you repay to all according to their work.

     Today's Psalm is rich with meaning and worthy of careful consideration and contemplation.  Breaking this psalm down into parts:  There's a refrain in verses 1-2, repeated and expanded in verses 5-6, and 7, then the first stanza of the "song" in verses 3-6, a second stanza in verses 8-10, and a final conclusion in verses 10 and 11.  

     Verse 3 is difficult to read in light of the Black Lives Matter movement.  How often to we batter the victim and assail them with hateful words and curses?  How often do we break them down in spirit?  How often do we physically attack them?  But in verse 4, the psalm turns it around and we batter and attack a person for being famous, prominent, an easy target.  We humans aren't happy unless we are breaking each other down, trying to raise ourselves up, are we? 

     Verses 9, 10 again expands on this regardless of a person's "station" in life - those of low estate are but a breath and those of high estate are a delusion.  When will we learn that all are equal in God's eyes - "in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a feather"?

     Only in the salvation of God can we find refuge and not be shaken from a path of compassion and love for one another.

In Christ Alone

I've shared this song before.  Here is another version.