Heart Cries: Conflicted

Psalm 62

Conflicted. That’s a term I’ve heard a lot over the many months of our nation’s presidential campaign here in 2016. With the approval ratings of both major candidates being at historic lows since we’ve been measuring such things, I’m sure many of you have come to church today feeling conflicted about the election – maybe even about how you should vote on Election Day this Tuesday.

I’m not going to tell you how to vote today (though I’ll say a few things about the importance of voting at the end of the service). But, I have wondered what God would have us consider together from Scripture at such a time as this – and the main word that has come to me as I’ve prayed about this is the word “conflicted”. There are a number of Psalms written by people of God when they felt conflicted – not about a presidential election but about all sorts of other things in their lives. I’ve chosen one of them today, Psalm 62. That Psalm, written by David, may not teach you specifically how to vote. But, it does describe the steps that one man of God took when he felt conflicted and didn’t know what to do.

I’m sure you know what it means to feel conflicted. The opposite of being conflicted is having a singleness of mind, i.e., when you know that there is one thing and one thing alone that is the right thing to do. On the other hand, being conflicted feels like two different things are pulling you in different directions. When you have conflicts within, decision-making becomes tough. Sometimes, no decision seems like the right decision.

You may have come to this worship service today having some kind of inner conflict – whether about the election or about something else. The Bible tells you where you must begin in your quest to end being conflicted. This won’t surprise you when I say it: You must begin by worshipping God.

As I read Psalm 62, that is exactly what King David did one day when he was feeling conflicted. In the midst of inner conflict, he went to worship. When he left worship, he was no longer conflicted. I’m praying that our time in God’s Word might do the same for some of you today.

A Brief Overview of the Psalm

Notice that David wrote this Psalm and gave it to his Director of Worship and Arts, a musician named Jeduthun. As you may know, David himself was a fine musician. And the poem he wrote has all the characteristics of a song. You don’t see it in the English translations -- but six of the lines start with the Hebrew word “‘ak”, meaning “only, only” ... It’s emphatic. The point being made is that only, only God is worthy of being the Lord of your life. Only God is a rock and fortress in this life. Only God is worthy of your faith and worship. David confesses that, when he lets anything else direct his life, he is inevitably conflicted.

So here we are right now in what we call a “worship service”. By worship we mean that we are here to get our eyes fixed on God just as David did that day. What he remembered was that only one Person’s view of us really matters, i.e., God’s.

So, what happened to David that day? Pray that it might happen to you as well. David wrote three stanzas in his song, each divided by the word “Selah”, a word calling us to pause and think. Let’s see what happened:

Stanza 1: What It’s Like -- The “Conflicted” State (62:1-4) I will not be greatly shaken (62:2).

Vv.1-4 is one stanza so, to understand it correctly, you should read it all together. When you do, you recognize David’s conflict immediately because vv.1-2 are very different from vv. 3-4. Vv. 1-2 read like a worship chorus. They express powerfully what all believers believe about God. David says, “Only God can bring my divided soul together. God is great. God is a fortress, a rock in this world that is otherwise turbulent and messed up.”

But David says something in v.2 that you cannot see in the NIV translation. He says, “Yes, God is a fortress”. But, David admits, “I’m still a bit torn.” The last line of v. 2 literally says, “I will not be greatly shaken. I won’t be shaken much.” So, even while David worships, something troubles him in his heart.

And vv. 3-4 tell us what’s bothering the king: There are huge challenges in his life that even the worship cannot get out of his mind. When you read all four verses of this 1^st stanza as a whole, it is brutally real to what life is like in this fallen world for a person of faith. The first two verses affirm the truth about God that all Christians who attend a worship service believe. But, even while we believe what we sing, at the same time we are often concerned about things like our nation, circumstances in our family, or countless other things. The result of this is that, even as we might sing a song of praise to God, we can experience conflicts inside like David did. We too might sing, “You are a refuge God so I won’t be shaken – well, I won’t be shaken much.”

When the difficulties in David’s world entered into his mind as he was singing, they seemed to grow and grow. By v.3, instead of being confident in the Lord, David confesses, “I’ll tell you how strong I feel right now. I feel as strong as a leaning wall or a tottering fence.” It won’t take much to knock down this man who, in the eyes of all around him in the worship service, surely looked like he was strong and trusting in God.

Can you relate to this? Do you think David the only one who ever felt this way? What can lead to this kind of inner conflict? I see at least 3 things that can enter our minds and take us away from our confidence in God:

Focusing on people instead of God – David was being challenged in his role as king. Many, including some in his family, seemed to have turned against him. He wondered whom he could trust. I imagine that most of us too are shaken when people let us down. It might be the boss who seemed to promise a raise but then laid you off. It might be the girl who seemed to like you but then went to the prom with someone else. What happens is that our source of peace and joy is not God but what others say or do.
Focusing on circumstances instead of God – Like what? Like a political election perhaps? Like the stock market rising or falling – or the bills that are coming due? Or grades? Or making the sports team that we’re trying out for? Do you see it? It’s possible to sing in church that we find our sufficiency in Christ but, too often, if things don’t go well, we become very conflicted in side.
Focusing on self instead of God – You feel conflicted when you worship especially when there is sin in your life. When you can say that you find your confidence in your relationship to God but, deep inside know there is unconfessed sin, you begin to feel like a hypocrite as you sing, “God is salvation” when you know you have been walking away from him. Then, you will be truly conflicted unless you get things right with God.

Listen carefully: When I point out those three things that can become the focus of your life and rip you apart inside, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t care about other people or about your circumstances or about ourselves. What I’m talking about is putting anyone or anything in this world into God’s place will leave you conflicted. I’m saying that you cannot have two or three Lords of your life. One of them has to be the main thing – the one you will seek to please above all else. Only God is worthy of your worship and ultimate allegiance. To end your conflict, you must put nothing in the place of God.

It’s like Alec Hill said in his book Just Business. “Trying to live out God’s principles in today’s business world sometimes feels like jumping on two horses which then ride off in different directions.” Selah!

So, if you experience being conflicted as David did, what should you do?

Stanza 2: What We Should Do -- The Conscious Step of Faith (62:5-8) “Soul, find rest in God alone.”

Vv. 5-6 are marvelous verses, verses very much like vv. 1-2 – but there is a difference. In vv.1-2, David spoke of what he believed. But, in vv.5-6, he consciously and intentionally applies what he believed to his situation – to his heart. This is something that I find to be of enormous importance in my walk with God: i.e., that I must regularly take an active, intentional, conscious step of faith telling God that I will trust Him and obey him – even when things are happening that are ripping me apart.

This past week, I met with Elliott and Alyssa Brown a wonderful couple in our church, just after their little son Timothy had passed away in infancy. As they spoke with me about their experience, I remembered vividly when Chris and I had the same experience when our 2nd child died. Elliott and Alyssa have a biblically directed, Christ-centered way of making decisions in their lives. That became very clear to me as we spoke. They valued their son’s life even when there were problems identified in the pregnancy. They consistently made decisions that, in my opinion, honored God. But, still, when their little son was born, he soon died.

In my office, I saw two people who would empathize with David as he wrote this Psalm. I began to remember, through tears, when Chris and I had been at a similar place in our lives and how, one night, as I was asking the Lord why on earth or in heaven he would let a child die, I read John 13-14. In that passage, Jesus, after he had upset his disciples by telling them he would soon die, then said to them, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God. Trust me. I know what I’m doing and I’m doing it for you. I know where I’m going and I’m going there to prepare a place for you eternally. Trust me.”

I remember slamming my Bible shut and praying, “Is that it? Is that all you have to say, Lord? Just trust me? Lord, I am a pastor. I have a PhD in Theology! The only thing you have to say to me is that, like a little child must trust its parents, I have to trust you?’ And that’s what Jesus said. “You believe in God. Trust me.”

I knew that I had a decision to make: Whether to place my trust in God or not to trust God. For many years of my life, I had thought about Christian faith as a one-time step of confessing my sins and placing my faith in Jesus as Savior. And, indeed, that’s how it starts. That’s how we are born again – how eternal life begins in our hearts. But let me tell you this: That first act of faith leads to a life of faith! While we still are this side of heaven and must live in an imperfect world by faith and not yet by sight, our lives are filled with times in which we must consciously and intentionally placing our faith in God. I remember, on that evening in the Ronald MacDonald House, getting down on my knees and praying something like this, “Lord, I don’t understand what you are doing. I can’t make sense out of my daughter dying in infancy, but I will trust you. I believe I you.”

That’s what David did that day in worship. He says to himself, “Soul, trust God.” Soul, you say that God is your refuge and rock. Trust him.” And this began to change things in David’s heart. And it did in mine too.

I want you to notice that David changes the uncertain phrase in v.2, “I shall not be greatly moved” to the more confident “I will not be moved at all” in v.6. It’s clear that when he chooses to fix his eyes on the Lord and to trust God no matter what happened in his world, he was able to have a singleness of heart. I love v. 6: Only the Lord is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress. I will not be shaken. His worship had settled his soul. May that happen to you today.

And then he did in v.8 what I’m doing right now. He told all who would listen to him, “Trust in the Lord at all times, all you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.” I will do the same right now.

What’s in your heart and mind at this moment? What doubts, questions or conflicts are within you? Take time – right now -- to consciously and intentionally entrust all the inner conflicts to him. This is what should happen when you come into this place of worship: You should turn your eyes from the people who irritate you, from the trouble that burden you and from the turmoil in our nation and fix your eyes on Jesus. Remember: God is greater than anything in our world. So, I join David in saying to you: “O people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your hearts to him for God is our refuge.” Selah!!

Stanza 3: What We Must Hold Onto -- The Convictions (62:9-12)

In the last stanza, David ties it all together. Let’s compare the first stanza with the third. In the first, David started by focusing on God as his rock and then got off track by turning his focus toward people and things in the world. Now, in this last stanza, David starts with people and things in this world and and then ends by directing our attention toward God. What does he say? He leaves us with two convictions:

Conviction #1: People and Things Are Not Worthy of Worship – They are but a breath – a delusion (62:9)

In v.9, David speaks about placing focus on people instead of God. V. 9a tells us that those who are low in reputation and influence are surely, in and of themselves not a rock or fortress but a breath. And V. 9b pops our bubble on faith in successful, “mighty” people. He says that successful people seem to have everything together in their lives, but that if they live without God, they will let you down. You see, we often want to be like that person who is successful thinking we will be at peace. But, that’s a deception! There is only one “Rock”. Only one “Fortress”.

And v.10 speaks directly about how inadequate money is as a source of security and peace: bank accounts, securities, 401ks, etc. He proclaims, Though your riches increase, Do not set your heart on them!

David uses the wonderful illustration of a scale. Picture two pans hung from the ends of a crossbar balanced on a pivot. Do you want to weigh a pound of corn? Put a one-pound weight in one pan and then keep adding corn in the other until there is balance.

Now, David says, “Put all those people you fear in one pan, and all the money you live for there too -- and then put the almighty and eternal God on the other pan. What happens? What happens? God made people simply by speaking a word in Genesis 1. In comparison to God, anyone and anything in this world is as insubstantial as a breath. Do you believe that? Then, today – place your trust in God.

That’s the first conviction we must come to. Surely, surely trusting in anything in this world will be futile.

Conviction #2: Only God is Worthy of Worship -- You are powerful and full of love (62:11).

Vv.11-12a are wonderful, worthy of memorizing:

One thing God has spoken,
two things I have heard:
That you, O Lord, are powerful,

And you, O God, are full of love.

This “one thing” and “two things” is a way of writing common in Hebrew poetry. What it means is that the two pieces are part of one larger truth. Both must be embraced if you will gain a whole picture of God. You see the two truths about God that David holds onto: God is powerful and loving. Power without love can be brutal and destructive; love without power can be impotent and helpless. But our God is both. He is strong so he is capable of dealing with any situation. He’s the God who is over nations and political processes.

God is loving and will do the best. That’s why he is worthy of trust. Therefore, whatever matter may be ripping apart your soul, whatever happens in our nation that seems to be so hopeless, God is on his throne. God is full of love and God is unlimited in power. Do you believe it? If you do, pour out your soul to him. Entrust everything in your life to him and find rest, singleness of mind, and peace: Only, only, only – in him.

We will now pause for prayer and ask God to apply his Word to your mind and heart…