Help! My World's Been Rocked

Garrick, thank you for reading God's word.

I'm not sure if you all noticed this, but when Garrick was reading,

there was a particular word that got repeated in verse 2 and verse 6.

It was the word shaken.

Shaken.

And I'm guessing this week you had your world shaken.

And I don't know what on the Richter scale of shaking with which you were shook,

but I'm guessing you got your world shaken.

Maybe this is what it looked like.

Something happens and you got really angry.

You vented.

You felt out of control.

You felt disrespected.

You lost your patience and you blew up.

You were shaken.

Or maybe you binged this week sometime.

Eight hour straight of Netflix binge watching.

$800 spent on your credit card.

Binge buying.

8,000 calories of a comfort food.

Binge eating.

And the question becomes, what started it all?

Why the binging?

Chances are you got your world shaken.

Or maybe you were lying in bed sometime this week, unable to sleep,

and you were lying at 2 a.m. in that isolating silence of the wee hours of the morning.

And you were lying in bed because you were anxious about something.

You were replaying something in your head.

You were trying to figure something out.

You were afraid of some unknown or something that has happened to you.

You got shook.

And it's showing up in the middle of the night.

We all experience varying degrees of the seismic activity of being shaken.

And we need help.

We need help when our lives get shaken, don't we?

And Psalm 62 is good news for those souls who are being shaken.

And so if you've come into the sanctuary this morning and you're like, I know what it means to be shaken,

Psalm 62 is God's kindness to you.

Here, let me sum it up by saying this.

This is the summary of Psalm 62.

When you, when your life is being shaken and you're feeling all alone and all out of control,

you must learn to trust in God alone.

When you're feeling all alone because you're getting your world rocked,

you must learn to trust in God alone.

And so in Psalm 62, there is this process.

It's going to look like this.

I'm going to draw it out a little bit later.

It's, you're going to be shaken and then you're going to need to surrender

and then you're going to find God as your shelter

and then you're going to experience shalom.

You're going to move from being shaken to having to surrender,

finding God as your shelter and then experiencing shalom.

But before we get to that, I just want to give you a brief overview of Psalm 62

and then we'll get into that process and bring it to bear on our lives.

When your life is being shaken and you're feeling alone and out of control,

you must learn how to trust in God alone.

So let me give you a quick overview of Psalm 62.

We learn in Psalm 62 in the very heading that this is a psalm of David, the king,

which is a high position among God's people in Israel.

And then this was written to the choir master.

It's according to Jaduthin.

Most likely it was some kind of melody.

And so David's writing this psalm and he's saying,

Hey, choir master, put this to that music.

It'd be like putting Psalm 62, me saying to Kevin,

Hey, Kevin, let's put Psalm 62 to the tune of Amazing Grace.

For God alone my soul silently waits.

We can do it.

And the reason why it's to be put to music is because it's to be internalized

and called out in singing to give our emotions an opportunity to call out to God.

So this is a psalm by David meant to be sung.

And there are two sections.

Verses 1 through 7, we see David personally responding to something that has shaken his world.

And you see what that is in verses 3 and 4.

How long will all of you attack a man to batter him like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?

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.

And what's going on here is there's a group of people that are seeking to verbally attack King David

and undermine him and unseat him.

Was it Absalom?

Well, we're not told here.

We're just guessing.

But he's definitely having his world rocked.

He's definitely being shaken.

But what's interesting is what happens before and after.

In verses 1 and 2, you see David say,

For God alone my soul waits in silence.

From him comes my salvation.

And look at verse 5.

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence.

For my hope, my salvation is from him.

And then in verse 2,

He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress.

I shall not be greatly shaken.

And then verse 6,

He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress.

I shall not be shaken, period.

And so what we see David doing, when there is his life being shaken,

He surrenders himself to the Lord.

For God alone my soul waits in silence.

We see that both in verse 1 and verse 5.

That silence I'll come back to in a little bit.

But in both verse 2 and verse 6,

He's talking about God as my rock and my salvation, my fortress.

What we see happening here is David surrendering himself to God

in order to surround this thing that is shaking his life.

And then in verse 7, there is this summary declaration.

On God rests my salvation and my glory, my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

My, my, my, my, my, my.

My God.

God.

He's gotten to a point here while he's now settled on the unshakable God he knows.

And out of that comes this refrain,

I shall not be shaken.

That's a picture of shalom, peace.

So in verses 1 through 7,

David, being shaken,

surrenders himself in order to purposely surround his enemies

with the unshakable truths of who God is,

his shelter.

And as a result,

he experiences shalom.

But it doesn't end there

because we got verses 8 through 12 in Psalm 62.

So David turns from calling on God his refuge

now to calling the people of God

to God their refuge.

He says in verse 8,

Trust in him at all times, O people.

Pour out your heart before him.

God is a refuge for us.

You see that in verse 7?

My refuge is God.

First end of verse 8,

God is a refuge for us.

He wants all of God's people

to experience God as his refuge.

God wants all of us to experience him as our refuge.

But what's interesting then is where he goes.

In verse 9,

David says to God's people,

Hey, don't find shelter in status.

Whether you're of low estate or high estate,

it's not going to matter.

Shelter's not there.

You can't find peace there.

And then in verse 10,

he says,

Hey, don't look for shelter in extortion,

manipulating people.

Don't look for shelter in robbing people,

gaining ill means.

And don't find shelter in increased riches.

Money's not going to give you safety and shelter.

Money's not the source of shalom.

Don't find shelter there.

And then he lands it in 11 and 12.

Once God has spoken,

twice I've heard this.

And he points to three things.

Power belongs to God.

God,

that to you,

O Lord,

belongs steadfast love.

For you will render to a man according to his work.

He reminds us of God's unlimited power,

his unrelenting love,

and his unrivaled sovereignty.

So there's a thumbnail sketch of Psalm 62.

And the whole purpose of it is to help us understand that when we're shaken,

when we're feeling all alone in the shake,

feeling out of control,

we must learn to trust in God alone.

For the rest of the time now,

I want to help you learn the process of waiting on the Lord

when your world is being shaken.

Four steps.

You must recognize when you're being shaken.

Second,

Second,

you must surrender control to God.

Third,

you must rest in God as your shelter.

And then fourth,

delight in the shalom.

When your world is being shaken,

you're feeling all alone and all out of control,

you must learn to trust in God alone.

So let's spend the rest of our time bringing this home.

The first step in this process of learning to wait on the Lord

is recognizing when you're being shaken.

For David to say in verse 2,

I will not be greatly shaken.

And then in verse 6,

I shall not be shaken, period.

You know what that means?

He was being shaken.

He was getting his world rocked.

And like I just said minutes ago,

we know what it was.

There was a group of people

who were seeking to verbally assault David

and undermine him

and unseat him from his high position.

And so,

what we're recognizing there

is David being shaken.

But that's not the only way

that God's people get shaken, is it?

Verbal assaults,

seeking to undermine,

that's not the only way people

will experience being shaken.

I find it interesting that in verse 8,

David's call to all the peoples

is to trust in God at all times.

Because

being shaken

shaken comes at any time.

My sister lives in L.A.

Recently,

there was a couple earthquakes out there.

And so,

what you need to realize,

if you're living in L.A.,

it's not a matter of if

when you're going to get shaken,

it's a matter of when

you're going to get shaken,

because you're living so close

to the San Andreas Fault.

If you're living close

to a fault line,

it's just a matter of time

before you get shaken.

We're all living close

to fault lines.

Fault line of relationships.

Unpredictable shaking can occur,

whether that's in your marriage,

or in your parenting,

or caring for your older parents,

in a working relationship

with your neighbors.

It's a fault line that can shake us,

isn't it?

Your health.

It's like a fault line.

You get an unwelcome diagnosis.

That'll shake your world.

Employment changes suddenly.

That's a shake-up.

Sudden loss of finances.

That shows up on the Richter scale.

Questions about your future.

Unknowns.

What's going to happen?

That can shake you.

These areas represent

different fault lines

that range with different degrees

of seismic activity

because of its unpredictability.

So let me ask you, my friends,

what do you do

when your world gets shaken?

Where do you go?

What do you look to?

Do you get angry

because you feel out of control

and you want to attack?

Do you withdraw?

You want to hide,

and so you binge.

You don't lean on

God's understanding.

You're leaning on your own.

brothers and sisters,

where are you being shaken today?

Where is it?

And how are you responding?

The first step

in learning to wait on the Lord

in the midst of seismic activity

is to recognize

that you're actually being shaken.

The second step

is surrender.

To surrender control

of your life to God

when your world

is being shaken.

This is not as easy

as it sounds

because what's at stake

is your well-being.

What's at stake

is who controls your life.

So in order for you

to surrender to God,

you've got to die to yourself.

Kyle quoted Jeremiah 17, 7 and 8.

17, 7 says,

Blessed is the man

whose trust is the Lord,

whose trust is the Lord.

17, 5 says,

Cursed is the man

who trusts the man

who makes flesh his strength.

When we get shook,

it exposes our hearts.

It exposes

what we trust in.

And if you're anything like me,

when I get shaken,

my first instinct

is to trust in myself.

I want to figure it out.

I want to fix it.

I want to control it.

I want to define it.

I want to plan it.

And if it's not working out,

I'm going to blame others.

I'm going to want to hide.

I'm going to want to throw

a pity party.

All of this

is a way of exposing,

trusting in yourself.

But that's not how David

responds in this song.

He's getting verbally assaulted,

undermined,

people seeking to unseat him,

and he doesn't turn to himself.

He trusts God.

He surrenders himself

to the Lord.

Look at verse 1.

For God alone,

my soul waits in silence.

He's trusting God.

Verse 5.

For God alone,

oh my soul,

wait in silence.

There's a difference

between verse 1 and verse 5.

Verse 1 is descriptive.

For God alone,

my soul waits in silence.

And then in verse 5,

for God alone,

speaking to his soul,

for God alone,

oh my soul,

command,

wait in silence.

Wait on him.

When David is shaken,

here,

he does not turn to himself.

He waits on God.

And that means he must

surrender himself to God.

And it's not as easy

as it sounds

because you've got to die

to yourself

and you controlling

your own life.

Did you notice

there's this waiting

in silence?

What does that mean?

For God alone,

my soul waits in silence.

What does that mean

to surrender this way?

To wait in silence?

Is there,

does this mean that David

is not saying anything to God?

I don't think

that's what it means

because in verse 8,

he's going to tell

the peoples

to pour their hearts

out to God.

In fact,

what we see,

what we read in 1 and 2

and 5 and 6

is David pouring out

his heart to God.

So I don't think

this means

he is saying nothing

as he waits.

I think this silence

is more about

what he is feeling.

He's feeling isolated

in the waiting.

He's feeling alone

as his world

gets shaken.

In the midst

of the seismic activity

of relational conflict,

of unwanted health diagnosis,

of unanticipated job change,

of a sudden financial loss,

you can all of a sudden

feel the isolating silence

of being all alone.

It's amazing

how silent

my house gets

at 2 a.m.

in the morning.

I can feel all alone.

We all experience this.

Many of us

don't want to deal

with the silence

and so we turn up

the noise

to try to distract

ourselves.

But brothers and sisters,

God's in the silence.

He's there.

He's using the whole thing

to draw our hearts

to him.

David commands his soul

to wait on the Lord

in silence.

Turn to the Lord,

my soul.

Why so downcast within me?

Hope in God.

Now,

despite the silence,

God's there.

Essentially,

what this is

is a surrender

of one's control,

of one's life

in the midst

of being shaken.

Oftentimes,

it's the last thing

you want to do,

but it's the greatest

thing to do.

To pour out your God

in the midst

of being shaken,

surrendering yourself

this way.

Verse 8,

I already alluded to it.

There's another way

that we wait

on the Lord.

Verse 8,

David says,

to the peoples,

trust in God

at all times.

Pour out your hearts

to him.

To pour out your heart

is a picture of laying

open your soul

to God.

And again,

it is really uncomfortable.

It is really difficult

to pour out

all that you're feeling

to God

before him.

Oftentimes,

what makes this

so difficult

is that when you're

being shaken,

it stirs up

such intense emotions,

it's difficult

to unburden

your emotions

to God.

You feel out

of control.

It's not easy.

A lot of us

are emotionally

unaware.

A lot of us

are emotionally

constipated.

A lot of us

are just

emotionally afraid.

Maybe no one

has ever taught you

or modeled to you

how to deal

with your emotions

or your fears

or your anxieties,

your intense feelings

in a way

that is good

and right

and wise.

And here we are

being told

how to do it.

Pour out your heart

before him.

That's how we trust him.

So this is what

that looks like.

When something

is going sideways

in your life

and you're getting shaken,

a way to surrender

yourself to God

is to say,

God, I am so scared

right now.

God, I am so scared.

God, I am so angry.

God, I am so confused.

God, I feel out of control.

These are the stuff

of laments.

You see it all

throughout the Psalms.

This is how we surrender

to God

to lay control

over to him.

We do so

honestly.

The first step

of waiting on the Lord

when you're in the midst

of seismic activity

is to first recognize

you're in seismic activity.

Your world's getting shaken.

And the second step

is a hard one

because you've got to

die to yourself.

It means

surrendering yourself

to the Lord

through prayer,

pouring your heart out,

waiting on him

in silence.

The third way,

the third step,

after you've surrendered

yourself

to God

is to rest

in God,

to trust

in him,

to

come

under

him.

when you get shaken

and you're all alone

and you feel out of control,

you must learn

how to trust

in God

alone.

Not just to recognize it,

not just to surrender

yourself,

but to actively

trust

to rest

in God.

Did you notice

all the descriptions

of God

in this Psalm?

I love it.

He says my salvation

four times.

He's basically saying,

God,

you are my 911.

rescue me.

Come to my aid.

You're my hope.

He says twice

in verse 2 and 6,

my rock,

verse 7,

my mighty rock.

If you look over

to 61,

2,

you see another reference.

Lead me to the rock

that is higher than I,

for you've been my refuge,

a strong tower

against the enemy.

It's a picture

of safety,

of shelter.

If you've been

down to the marina

on a windy day

and you're standing

at a point

where you can look

at the lake

and look at the marina,

the boats

and the slips

at the same time,

on a windy day,

the water in the lake

is just a mess.

Splashing.

It's all shaken up.

Simultaneously,

you look over

into the harbor

and the water

where the boats sit

is like a bathtub.

Do you know the difference?

Those mighty rocks

piled up.

It's a break.

It's a jetty.

It's a shelter.

It's safety.

So it's possible

during a shake-up

when everything else

is going crazy,

you can find

shelter in God

and your waters

be still.

My rock,

my mighty rock,

my fortress.

I don't know

what the Lord of the Rings,

what that giant

white city is

up on those

huge cliff face,

but that's

the fortress image.

Safety,

protection.

God is my fortress.

Verse 2 and verse 6.

And then in verse 7,

David says,

God is my refuge,

my shelter,

and ever-present help

in time of trouble,

46.1.

All these descriptions

point to God

as an unshakable

shelter.

Rocks,

fortresses,

refuge,

unshakable

shelter.

But let's ask

a question.

What makes God

so unshakable?

What is the stuff

about God

that makes Him

unshakable?

Why

should I trust

in God?

Not because of

how He's described.

described.

Why is He

described that way?

And in verses 11

and 12,

we're told why.

Once God

has spoken,

twice have I

heard this.

It's a Hebrew

way of saying,

listen up.

That power

belongs to God.

Unlimited

power

belongs to God.

Think about it.

Genesis 1,

creation.

God speaks

and things

come into existence

that never existed.

That's power.

Think of Jesus.

John 11

walks up

to Lazarus'

tomb.

It's been days.

His corpse

stinks.

Jesus says,

Lazarus,

come forth.

And Lazarus

comes forth.

Power!

Unlimited

power.

Jesus on

the seas.

It's raging.

He says,

be quiet!

Bathwater.

Power.

Jesus'

own resurrection

from the dead

in which He has

victory over

sin, death,

and the devil.

Power!

When Jesus

comes back

and He makes

all things new

and unshakable

shalom in the

new heavens

and the new earth.

Power!

That's your God.

love.

That's your shelter.

That's God

and why you can

trust Him.

But that's not

the only thing.

And that to you,

O Lord,

belongs

steadfast love.

Not only

is our God,

our shelter,

a God of

unlimited power,

He's a God

of unrelenting

love.

Unrelenting.

It's steadfast love.

It's the Hebrew

chesed,

His covenant

loyalty.

He binds

Himself to a

people and

says,

I'm going to

be faithful

to you no

matter what.

I'm going to

be committed.

I'm going to

love you

forever and

ever and

ever.

The greatest

example,

of course,

of God's

unrelenting,

steadfast love

is the cross

of Jesus Christ.

But God

demonstrates His

own love

towards us

in that while

we were yet

sinners,

Christ died

for us.

It's a

demonstration of

His love.

And at the

cross,

God in

Christ dealt

with the

greatest

spiritual

earthquake and

threat we

could ever

experience,

God's hostility

towards us for

our sin.

And Jesus

bore it all

and brought

peace for

us because

He loves us.

I just want

to remind you

something.

God doesn't

love you,

Christian,

because of

your obedience.

God loves

you,

Christian,

because He's

God.

It flows

out of Him.

It's not

dependent on

your obedience

to Him.

When you

realize this

kind of love,

you just want

to obey Him

though.

So don't

think like you

become a

Christian,

okay,

God loved

me to save

me and then

God turns

off the

spigot of

His love.

love.

No,

He saves

you by

His love

and then

He's faithful

all the way

through,

all the way

to the end

because He

loves you.

Unrelenting,

unstoppable.

And His love

governs His power.

His commitment

to you

governs all

of the power

that He has

for your

good.

That's our

shelter.

But there's

one more

thing I want

you to see.

For you

will render

to a man

according to

his work

sovereignty.

God's

unrivaled

sovereignty.

God is

in control

of all

things.

Remember

in our study

of the book

of Revelation,

Revelation 1,

Jesus has

got the keys.

He's got

all the keys.

He's got

all authority.

Jesus sits

on the throne.

Jesus breaks

all the seals

to that

great scroll

of God's

plan for

the fullness

of time.

He's over

it all.

All things

under His feet.

He's in control

of it all.

Which means

this.

He's even

in control

of what

shakes you.

He allows

it or

causes it

and the

reason why

He does

is because

He loves

you and

He wants

you to

trust Him.

Wants you

to learn

to come

under His

care,

to pour out

your heart

to Him,

to learn

of Him.

In God's

economy of

things,

your heart

being satisfied

in Him

alone is

far more

valuable to Him

than your

comfort.

So He

uses

shake-ups

to cause

you to

come to

Him,

to surrender

and find

shelter

in the

God of

unlimited

power,

unrelenting

love,

and unrivaled

sovereignty.

Did you notice

the word

my?

My

salvation,

my rock,

my fortress,

my refuge.

this God

is David's

God.

He has

bound

Himself to

David,

coveted

Himself to

David,

and Jesus

has bound

Himself to

us.

He's made

a covenant

with us.

He'll never

leave us

nor forsake

us.

That's why

we can say

He is

my salvation

and my rock,

my fortress,

my refuge.

It's a

blood-bought

my.

I just

need to

say this

because it's

in the

text.

David warns

us,

in light of

your shelter,

who it

is,

unlimited

power,

unrelenting

love,

unrivaled

sovereignty,

don't trust,

verse 9,

in status,

trying to

get a

position.

You're not

going to

find shelter

for your

soul there.

Whether it's

low estate

or high

estate,

it's all

lighter than

a breath

in God's

economy

things.

He says

in verse

10,

put no

trust in

extortion,

set no

vain hopes

on robbery,

if riches

increase,

set not

your hope

on them.

Hey,

don't find

shelter in

you trying

to manipulate

something.

Find

shelter in

God,

unlimited

power,

unrelenting

love,

unrivaled

sovereignty.

Rest

in your

shelter.

Trust

in God's

character

and you

will find

shalom.

You recognize

when you're

being shaken,

you surrender

to God in

the midst

of it and

then you

rest in

God's

character and

as a result

there is

shalom.

Shalom is

the Hebrew

word that

means peace

and it's

just not

the absence

of hostility,

it's the

fullness of

goodness,

God's goodness,

God's blessing.

So when

David goes

from saying

in verse

two,

I shall

not be

greatly

shaken

to saying

in verse

six,

I shall

not be

shaken

period,

what that

shows us

is a

progress

in David's

experience

of God's

shalom

in his

life.

It should

give you

some

encouragement.

You can

experience

more of

God's

peace.

What I

want you

to see

here is

that

shalom

is the

result

of trusting

God.

It's the

result of

trusting God.

It's the

result of

finding

shelter

in your

unshakable

God.

So when

stuff goes

sideways

and you're

like,

oh Lord,

just give

me peace.

God is

saying,

I want

to give

you

me.

I want

you to

trust me

and shalom

will come.

Isaiah

26,

three,

you keep

him in

perfect

peace

whose

mind

is stayed

on you

because he

trusts in

you.

Kyle's

name and

blessed is

the man

who trusts

in the

Lord,

whose

trust

is the

Lord.

That's

what that's

talking about.

Shalom is

the result

of trusting

in God.

God.

When your

world is

being shaken

and you're

feeling all

alone and

out of

control,

you must

learn to

trust in

God alone.

He is your

unshakable

shelter.

shelter.

When you

do,

you will be

able to

say this,

because God

is my

refuge,

I shall

not be

shaken.

Though the

lake

waters

rage,

I'm in a

safe

marina.

My waters

are still.

we live

on the

fault

lines,

brothers and

sisters,

and the

best thing

that you

can do

when you

are being

shaken

is to

recognize

it,

to surrender

yourself,

to find

shelter in

God the

Most High,

and then

to give

thanks for

the shalom,

because it's

not going to

last,

because you

live on

fault lines.

this side

of Christ's

return.

This morning

we've looked

at four

steps of

what it

means to

wait on

the Lord

when there

is seismic

activity in

your life.

We live

on the

fault lines,

and when

our world

is shaken,

and you're

feeling all

alone,

trust in

God alone.

and we

help each

other that

way too.

Brother,

sister,

trust in

God at

all times.

Pour out

your heart

before him.

God is a

refuge for

us.

Let's

pray.

God in

heaven,

thank you

so much

for Psalm

62.

God,

would you

use these

words now,

and would

you attend

to the

hearts in

this room,

those hearts

that are

being shaken.

God,

would you

cause your

word now

to go

and bring

shalom,

a shalom

that is the

result of

trusting you,

our great

God and

shelter.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.