1 For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
2 He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. – David feels secure with God as the source of his salvation, defence and stability!
3 How long will all of you attack a man
to batter him,
like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
4 They only plan to thrust him down from his high position.
They take pleasure in falsehood.
They bless with their mouths,
but inwardly they curse. Selah – The attack against him is where he feels weak; his attackers lie and have hypocritically deceptive behaviour!
5 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
6 He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
7 On God rests my salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God. – David fundamentally says here what he said at the beginning. It certainly is worth repeating again and again when we come under spiritual attack! He adds here the concept of hope, without which the future seems hardly worth facing!
8 Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah – Our faith in God is certainly worth sharing with others! If you aren’t doing that already, selah, think about doing it!
9 Those of low estate are but a breath;
those of high estate are a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
they are together lighter than a breath. – to those used to using modern scales this is a pretty meaningless example! David is picturing scales like those in the accompanying picture! His description of status and wealth is that they do nothing to make any difference in the sight of God’s judgement! They have no chance of moving the scales than a breath – it weighs nothing!! He continues in the next verses to declare that riches however gained are also nothing of lasting value!
10 Put no trust in extortion;
set no vain hopes on robbery;
if riches increase, set not your heart on them.
11 Once God has spoken;
twice have I heard this:
that power belongs to God,
12 and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.
For you will render to a man
according to his work. – I think that this is NOT talking about working to obtain salvation but about avoiding nasty judgement. Salvation is a gift given in God’s Grace entered into by faith, but goodness and evil are still important! Some works lead to condemnation others to crowns of righteousness, the Biblical sheep and goats stuff! (Matt 25:31-46 -……And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left……)
1 Cor 3: 10b)-15 -Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. – this isn’t a proverb but a very serious truth!
Prayer: Help me to be serious about my relationship to You, O God.
As I read it! 