Two Words that Make All the Difference
“He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.” Ps. 62:2 “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.” Ps. 62:5 “He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved.” Ps. 62:6 “Trust in him at all times;” Ps.62:8 (underlining added)
Never in a million years when I wrote feverishly as a child and studied English, books, and words for years in school, reading far more than I was ever assigned, and was farther than imaginable from faith in God, could I have imagined I would fall in love with God and be called as an evangelist and devotionalist compelled to help people study and apply God’s Word to their lives – down to the very word. God has gifted and trained me to see words others might overlook, as I did for so long and still can. Take, for example, “ONLY” and “ALL” in Psalm 62. These are not random, insignificant words, but bear a critical meaning.
The psalmist David emphatically says God is his ONLY rock, salvation, and defence. He tells us to trust in God at ALL times. This message is for us! We need to look to God as our ONLY rock, salvation, and defence, and to trust in Him ALL the time. So what’s the big deal with ONLY and ALL? Why even bother with the words? Because as much as we may say we believe in God and look to Him to a degree, we tend to place a bunch of our trust in ourselves or others, and to look to others and other things to be our rock, salvation, and defence at least in part. But God wants to be our ONLY and ALL. This doesn’t mean He doesn’t love and provide for us through others in ways and at times, but it means our focus, trust, and thanksgiving must be in and for Him above all and anyone else.
Is this true for you?