I Rest in God and My Salvation Comes From Him

I am at rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I will never be shaken.
How long will you threaten a man?
Will all of you attack as if he were a leaning wall or a tottering stone fence?
They only plan to bring him down from his high position.
They take pleasure in lying; they bless with their mouths, but they curse inwardly.
Selah

Rest in God alone, my soul, for my hope comes from Him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I will not be shaken.
My salvation and glory depend on God, my strong rock.
My refuge is in God.
Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts before Him.
God is our refuge.
Selah

Men are only a vapor; exalted men, an illusion.
Weighed in the scales, they go up; together they are less than a vapor.
Place no trust in oppression, or false hope in robbery.
If wealth increases, pay no attention to it.
God has spoken once; I have heard this twice: strength belongs to God, and faithful love belongs to You, Lord.
For You repay each according to his works.
-Psalm 62

Photo: pixabay
I am living in and with the idea that God loves me and God is giving me His good gifts.  I know that this is something we see throughout the Bible.  Statements like, "Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord", "He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it", and "He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it" (Ex. 14:13 & 2 Chron. 20:17, Phil. 1:6, 1 Thess. 5:24), convey this idea.

Psalm 62 also captures this beautifully.  Verse one is my verse, but I think it is good to see the whole chapter, for context.  I rest in God and my salvation comes from Him.

We don't strive for salvation.  We can't earn it or buy it.  But we just have to receive it.

We need to be connected to God.  We need to be receptive and take hold of what God gives.  We need to catch it.

Salvation is an event and a process.  Salvation is going to heaven when you die.  We say, "Are you saved?", or we say of a deceased person, "She was saved"; and we are talking about God's salvation.  

The way of seeing it as a process, is that it is like when we get into the vehicle of salvation and that vehicle is taking us to heaven for the rest of our lives.  Event and process.  Along the way, we get transformed and ask for heaven to come to earth, before we get to heaven ("thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven...").

I rest in God and my salvation comes from Him.

Salvation also means rescue, deliverance, safety, victory, or saving health (1).  Salvation is something we need, like David in Psalm 62, when we are in a crisis.  We, like David, pour our hearts out to God, saying, "God,  save me!"

When we cry out, for salvation, we are asking for deliverance or for God's intervention.  We can say, with David, "I am at rest in God and my salvation comes from Him".  That is faith, the faith I want to walk in.

That faith is an action, but it is not the action of faith that is going to make it happen.  Faith will not pay God or earn salvation.  Faith receives salvation by resting in God.

Faith is action first in the heart, that moves our body, and our whole self to put our everything on God; no holds barred.  For I rest in God and my salvation comes from Him.

Our faith for God's working in our lives is expressed or acted upon by resting in God.  No striving, no earning, no paying for it.  As God's children, we rest in God and God saves us, delivers us, gives us safety, and saving health.

This is what some of us are learning.

What does it mean to rest in God?  
  • Resting in God means to wait in the silence.  
  • Resting in God means to let your spirit be resigned to God alone.  
  • Resting in God means to commit yourself silently to Him.
  • Resting in God means your soul looks in stillness to God.
  • Resting in God means that your soul is quieted by looking to Him.
  • Resting in God means you leave all your problems to God, quietly.



_________________________________________________________
1. Deliverance: Moffat, ISV, NET; Safety: Jerusalem Bible; Victory: NLT; Saving Health: Jubilee Bible 2000.

Comments