Rev Gav

Monday 8th September 2025

Psalm 62.1–7

On God alone my soul in stillness waits;
from him comes my salvation.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my stronghold, so that I shall never be shaken.
How long will all of you assail me to destroy me,
as you would a tottering wall or a leaning fence?
They plot only to thrust me down from my place of honour;
lies are their chief delight;
they bless with their mouth, but in their heart they curse.
Wait on God alone in stillness, O my soul;
for in him is my hope.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my stronghold, so that I shall not be shaken.
In God is my strength and my glory;
God is my strong rock; in him is my refuge.

Reflect

I once produced an album of Christian music for two twin girls. They both wrote the songs, and one sang and the other played guitar. One of my favourite songs on the album contained the lyric, “The battle is not ours, it’s yours.”

Psalm 62 is a reminder that sometimes the best course of action, when a situation threatens to overwhelm us — one about which we can do nothing — is not to take matters into our own hands, but to lean into God. In the same way that to stay safe, a free climber hugs the rock, we too need to hug The Rock.

To lean into God feels like a counter-intuitive move when we are under attack. We want to raise our fists and defend ourselves, but when we do so, we take them off the true source of our security and salvation. When the storms come, and they will come, it is through leaning into God that we find our strength and refuge, and to achieve this we need make yet another counter-intuitive move, and that is to wait in stillness.

Yes, waiting in stillness can sometimes be the very best thing we can do. We find a place where we will not be distracted, we get as comfortable as we can, and then we wait. This waiting is not a passive waiting, but an active opening of our souls (our hearts and minds) to the infilling of God’s Holy Spirit. When we do this we invite God into our situation.

Pray

Holy God
You alone are my rock and my salvation,
my stronghold, so that I shall never be shaken.
Yes, I will wait on you alone in stillness,
for in you is my hope.
You alone are my rock and my salvation,
my stronghold, so that I shall never be shaken.