¹My soul waits in silence for God only; from Him is my salvation. ²He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken … ⁵My soul, wait in silence for God only …

God is! That’s a complete sentence. So what? Even the demons believe God exists (James 2:19). For believers, His existence carries enormous meaning because we trust in the creator God of the universe, the supreme being over all that exists, to be what we individually need, even in our most difficult life trials. We believe He does this even while He attends to the vastness of the universe and all the innumerable individuals of humanity. He is real, tangible, and responsive to me—to each of us.

Since God is spirit, how does He intervene in the earthly, physical things? If He were to appear to us, He would have to take on some human form (which He did in the person of Jesus Christ). Of course, we all would like to hear an audible, comprehendible voice out of heaven addressing us by name, an experience more than just a creative construct placed over ordinary life to convince us that God is working in our lives. But faith is much more than that. True, we use a spiritual narrative to understand the realities of the spirit, which we cannot see, touch or hear. But it is not a humanly manufactured paradigm. It’s a biblically-given way of understanding the unexplainable presence of God in our lives, which we know to be true.

Psalm 62 presents a microcosm of what the Bible gives us as a framework for seeing the reality of God, particularly in the painful experiences of this fallen world. And it does so by giving us the words of a godly man, King David. Our hearts resonate with his descriptions of the Lord in human, earthly terms. To put it another way, the Bible unfolds the character of God for us, and this psalm gives us words to express our confidence in Him.

Commentators suggest this psalm could reflect when David fled from the insurrection led by his son Absalom (2 Sam. 15-17). I can only imagine what a heart-wrenching experience that would be for a father. But while our situations may differ from David’s, our God is the same. These descriptions of Him make this poem, and therefore the Lord, readily accessible. He is …

My salvation – I will be rescued
My rock – I will not be shaken
My salvation – I am secured
My stronghold – I am defended
My glory – I am not ashamed
My strength – I am enabled
My refuge – I am protected

Yet, trials are largely difficult because they last longer than we want. Waiting for God to make Himself known in these ways is hard. David expresses his struggle over waiting when he writes with what we might call self-speak: “My soul waits in silence for God only … My soul, wait in silence for God only, for my hope is from Him.” (Ps. 62:1, 5). We too must speak to ourselves about being patient and not giving in to unbelief in God. Christians are familiar with this need for patience, and are encouraged, in light of eternity, to see the duration of trials and tribulations as “a little while.” The apostle Peter wrote:

In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ … (1 Peter 1:6–7)

James also wrote about endurance, which implies patiently waiting for God’s rescue, as a means of maturing our faith:

And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:4)

Both James and Peter knew of which they spoke, for history shows the troubles each faced. When we suffer difficulties, we enter into the company of them and all the believers through the years who have suffered. But it is not the specific troubles of these godly people of the Bible that we share in. Nor is it suffering, per se, that we share in (though we do share that when we suffer). Rather, we join them in experiencing a greater knowledge and deeper understanding of who God is. In other words, we see Him in greater glory than had we not gone through suffering. We discover the vastness of God’s character at work even when we are enduring long and difficult troubles—that is what we join in with the saints of all ages. How else will I know Him as my stronghold if I am not threatened and need defending? How would I know Him as my salvation if I didn’t need rescuing? How else can I praise Him for being my glory than when I stand in faith before Him and discover that I don’t need to hide my shame, for He covers me in His glory!

Lord God almighty, Creator of the cosmos, I am overwhelmed by what I see of You amid my trials. You are the answer to every question I have; You are actively present as the solution to every problem. Therefore, I will wait patiently for You as You show me more deeply Your glory in my life.