Hi, this is Abner Chow, one of the translators of the Legacy Standard Bible. This month, they're releasing certain psalms for us to read. And they've asked me, could I share any insights on these passages? Well, that's kind of tricky. It's a little bit tough because which passages do you choose?

Which texts do you select? I have about 150 favorite psalms. So which one do we want to study? Well, I try to select a few where we not only learn some deep theology about God, some things that encourage us and convict us, but also that would give us some tips on how to study our Bibles better, tips on what to look for as we read our Bibles and all of that to help us not only remember the scriptures, because if you know how it all breaks down and how you all can put it together, then you can remember it and recall it more.

You're familiar with it, but on top of that, it also helps us to be convicted by scripture better, because when you understand what each detail is doing and its significance, then you understand how it has significance in our lives and how it points on particular applications that need to happen in our heart to conform to the standard and the truth of God's word.

So that's kind of the design of the next series of videos that they've asked me to do on various passages in the Psalms. And we're going to start with Psalm 62. This is an amazing passage. This is a wonderful text. I read this passage all the time because what it reminds us and what it molds us to do is to have our peace and our security and our trust, even our silence in God.

This is so important how we need that. And there is so much going on in this text to accomplish that goal. There is so much happening, so much sophistication that all comes together to push us deeply and powerfully to that conclusion. Now, I can't share everything or observe everything in the text that I possibly could.

That would take a long time. But let me give a few observations. And the way I'd like to work it is that we'll start broad, zoom out, and then we'll move our way inward. We'll zoom in. So we'll start general and then become more specific. And with that, we can start with structure, with the structure of this passage.

Notice verse one, the psalmist begins with conviction. Surely my soul waits in silence for God. Verse two, surely he is my rock and my salvation. Two phrases of conviction right next to each other. And then there's some discussion. And then notice a little bit later, he says in verse four, surely they have counsel to thrust him down.

So you have two parallel lines that begin with the word surely and then some discussion and then the word surely again. Well, if you have that in mind, watch this verse five, surely wait in silence for God. Verse six, again, a parallel line. Surely he is my rock. And then you have some discussion.

And guess what happens then? In verse nine, it says, surely men of low degree are merely vanity. Do you notice a pattern? Do you notice two verses, each of them begin with surely, then some discussion, and then it concludes with the word surely. What we have now then are two parallel sections.

This psalm breaks down into two major parts and you say, OK, what are the two major parts doing? How do they help us to understand how to have solace, how to have security, how to have peace in God all the more? Well, the first section you could say, at risk of oversimplification, is offense.

Offense. And the second section would be what we might call defense. Another way to put it is that the first section is about something that is interpersonal and the second section is about something that is personal. The first section might be about boldness and the last section might be something about perspective.

These are all ways to describe these two sections. And let's think about them now, because if you understand that. Trust in God is for times that are interpersonal and personal, if trust in God is times for things that are on the offense or on the defense, if trust in God is about boldness to the outside world or perspective in your own personal life, then trust in God is about everything.

It pertains to every single situation, every single moment. And that's what Psalm 62 is driving at. And let's get into the details of that. In verse one, what we have is that the psalmist's confidence, our confidence, it needs to be convictional. It is surely my soul waits in silence for God.

It is about our determination, our certainty, our exclusivity, that we must, we must and we must only find our peace in God. He is my rock, no one else. And I'm going to seek him. That is our conviction. That is our determination. That's what we need to have. And when we meditate on him in this way with such confidence, with such conviction, with such exclusivity, and we contemplate that he is our salvation, he is our rock, he is our salvation, he is our stronghold.

Notice what the text says. Well, well, we won't fear. We won't be greatly shaken. And in fact, it's more than just that we won't fear. We will even have, in a sense, an attitude of courage, an attitude of courage. Notice verses three and four. It says, how long will you assail a man?

The wicked that maybe intimidated us, the wicked that maybe caused us to fear, we don't fear them anymore. We can stand up to them. We can show that they are wicked. We can point out boldly that they are in the wrong. Surely, as it says in verse four, they have counseled to thrust him down from his high position.

They are in the wrong. And we are confident and courageous about it. When we meditate on who God is, the outside world won't scare us. We can stand up. We can be bold and courageous against them. And as we meditate and as the psalmist guides us in meditating on who God is, our confidence is building and that moves from the notion of offense to the notion of defense about something that is interpersonal now to something that is personal.

Because yes, we have to deal with the outside world, but sometimes we have to deal with ourselves. And in light of that, verse five and six repeats. It repeats that we need to have, even in our own personal private lives, not when we're facing the outside world, but we're just facing ourselves in the private moments of our existence.

We need to turn to God with the same kind of conviction, with the same kind of exclusivity, with the same kind of determination. Surely wait in silence. We command ourselves. We command our own souls to be in silence because our hope is from him. We look to him alone.

He is our rock. He is our salvation. He is our stronghold. And notice this, because we are meditating and thinking about God, it says, I shall not be shaken. Now, notice this. In verse two earlier, it said something similar, but it said, I will not be greatly shaken here, it says, I will not be shaken.

Why? Because before I won't be greatly shaken, I won't be shaken a lot. But somebody, a skeptic could step in and say, but would you be shaken a little? But by verse six, because we have meditated on God, we have lived it out. We understand our confidences in him.

We have thought about him a lot and alone. Now, the psalmist says, and we should say with him, I won't be shaken implied at all, at all. That is our confidence in God, that kind of confidence, because he is our salvation. Our glory rests in him. He is the rock of my strength.

My refuge is in God. These realities, they drive us to perspective. Perspective. Notice verses nine. And ten, we have perspective, we begin to understand and see through the wicked, they may appear to be evil and they are. But they may appear to be intimidating in that evil. They may appear to be scary in that evil.

But we can see through them. And here's what they are. And notice what the text says. They're just vanity. That's what they are. And notice they are together lighter than what vanity. Do you notice the repetition of vanity? Here is what the psalmist is reminding us. See through them.

If your confidence is in God, you can see through them. They may look formidable, but they're nothing. They're vanity. Their work may seem powerful and effective. No, it's just a breath of vanity. It amounts to nothing. That's what they really are. And when we know God and think about him, all the concerns out there, they grow dim.

They're no longer scary. They're no longer fearful because we have such a big and faithful and powerful God. And for that very reason, verse 10, don't trust in oppression. And notice the next phrase. Do not put vain hope in robbery. We don't act like the wicked. We don't follow the wicked.

Why? Because what did we hear in verse nine? They are vanity and what they do amounts to vanity. Everything they are, everything they have, everything that they will be is vanity. So if you do what they do, all you have is a vain hope because they're just vanity. They're nothing.

And so we don't follow them. Why? Because they're vanity. Why? Because our hope and our confidence and our rest and our silence and our solace is in who? It's in God. That's what the psalmist has been emphasizing. He has said it over and over again. Surely, surely, surely this is what we should be about.

We should be determined about this and it should be the exclusive cry of our heart. It is all about God and it's for that very reason that our verses 11 and 12 sum it up. They provide the conclusion. Once God has spoken twice, I have heard this, that strength belongs to who?

To God. Everything belongs to him. Therefore we turn to no one else but him. Surely my soul rests in him. That's why all loving kindness belongs to him. We go to him and him alone. These are such important lessons. If you're facing something on the outside world and it intimidates you, we need to go to God.

If we are facing our own personal fears and doubts, we go to God. If we need boldness and courage, we go to God. If we need perspective in this life, we go to God. If something is disturbing us, we go to God. Surely we go to him. That's what this psalm is pressing us on.

As verse eight exhorts us so eloquently, trust in him at all times. So people pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us. Surely we need to go to God. This is so powerful. This is so good. And the applications are so vast and so practical.

We need this. And I pray that by looking at some things in the text, we not only understand our God better, we understand what we need to do in trusting him all the more and finding peace in him. God's word is so beautiful. It's so wonderful. And my prayer is that we continue to strive to see great and wonderful things in his word.

And in light of that, I hope that we can have more opportunities where we can go and see great insights and beautiful things in the word of God together. Look forward to the next time.