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Kendra Graham notes from Psalm 62:3-5a
“They have counseled only to thrust him down from his high position; how long will you assail a man, that you may murder him, all of you, like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence? They delight in falsehood; they bless with their mouth, but inwardly, they curse. Selah. My Soul waits in silence for God only.”
THE FACTS:
How long will you assail a man, murder him, like a leaning wall, tottering fence? They counsel: thrust him down, they delight in falsehood, they bless with their mouth, inwardly curse. Selah. Wait in silence for God only.
THE LESSONS:
There is the saying, “Good guys finish last”. That is the saying that brushed through my mind when I first read these verses. It’s the crooked business men/women that seem to get ahead. It’s the people who have no boundaries and no conscience that get whatever they want. Just turn on cable news for a solid 60 seconds and you can hear multiple political smears between candidates calling each other liars and thieves. It’s hard to make it nowadays if you are determined to live a life with integrity. It’s impossible to make it in politics.
David is asking these men, “How much longer will you try to press me down? How much longer will you try and try and try again to destroy me?” Lies are being said about David in public. Flattery is being given liberally in the presence of David. Envy, jealousy, and hatred is the root cause of why these men are trying to bring him down. David sees through it all with discernment. What does he do to deal with these people? Does David take it to the papers in an op-ed? Does David do a sit down personal interview on Fox News Sunday to set the record straight? No. David pauses. David pauses? Who has time for a pause at a time like this?!
SELAH, is a musical term for pause. Our immediate reaction is to try to set the record straight. David’s first reaction is to pause. Pausing is so important. It’s the hardest thing to do in the world. Pausing makes us look guilty, right? Pausing will make people think we are involved in all those things we are being accused of.
Pausing helps us gain focus back on where we need it to be. Pausing gives us a moment to reflect. Pausing will enable us to make clear decisions. Pausing, most importantly, gives us that crucial moment to recalibrate our heart and soul back to God, His Word and His promises. This is not easy peasy for David either. You hear his complaints, you hear what is against him, and David is not just ignoring it, and saying it doesn’t matter, he’s not saying “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”. It matters to him what is being said and done against him. It truly matters, and it hurts, deeply.
Can you relate? I can. I want to fight, and scream and yell on David’s behalf (and my own) and make it right, and make those people see their error, so that they will be silenced. David’s reaction is not to silence all the rumors, not to silence all the lies, not to silence the rotten flattery in his face, but David’s response is to be silent himself, determined to wait for God to move and to do.
David makes the physical decision here… his heart, telling his brain to tell his mouth and body to be silent. ugh. Sorry… that is hard stuff. I’m thankful we get to read and see here, that even David struggled with this. There is no way to actually do this without the power of God. We have to get in His Word, know His promises, and then believe them.
God never seems to work in the time frame or in the way we would like or demand. His ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts higher than ours (Isaiah 55:9).
APPLY IT:
Will we put our trust in the fact that God has got a firm grip on our circumstances, and the beat on the street? Will we set our heart to tell our brain to tell our body to *pause* and mouth to be silent and wait for God? ugh. *sigh* Sorry… that is just my natural reaction. This is hard stuff.
SELAH.
LIVE IT OUT:
LORD, help me to pause today, and trust that You understand and know, and as things according to me are falling apart… perhaps truly they are just falling into place. Give me the strength to pause and believe You over everything else.
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What Scripture are you studying now? What have you learned? How has the Lord spoke to you? Share with us in the comments section.
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