A Place of Weakness
David often had moments in life when he came to a place of weakness. A point of panic. A time of terror. An area of anxiety. Goliath may be the most famous incarnation of one of those instances. But there were others. Many others.
In Ps. 62, David journals about one of those other places of weakness. We have no tradition suggesting when David wrote this psalm or to what situation it was addressed. Those are details we will never know. What we do know, however, is that the psalm describes David’s descent to a position of powerlessness.
“3How long will all of you attack a man to batter him, like a leaning wall, a tottering fence? 4They only plan to thrust him down from his high position. They take pleasure in falsehood. They bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse.” (Ps. 62:3-4 ESV).
David is being attacked. Not just by a man. But by a mob. David refers to “all” who are assaulting him. David describes this crowd battering him. He pictures himself as a leaning wall and a tottering fence. David is so frail that he is about to go down for the count. He is so fragile that he is about to topple over.
David writes of being in a “high position.” Perhaps he is already king. But these enemies seek to remove him from power. They seek his downfall. And while in public they bless him with their mouths, in private they curse him. They cannot wait until he is gone for good.
Some of you can identify with the specifics of David’s trial. Even this week, someone has been attacking you. Unfairly. Undeservedly. And unremittingly. You lie wounded and bruised. You feel like a leaning wall or a tottering fence.
Others of you can identify with the general nature of David’s hurts. No person has been attacking you. But you still feel like you’re in a war. The attack comes from a terrible temptation. Or a certain situation. Or a denied dream. You feel like you’re going down for the count.
A Place of Strength
But as is so often the case, David does not remain in this place of weakness. Ps. 62 is the testimony of how David moves from a place of weakness to a place of strength.
Twice in the psalm David sings of newfound strength:
“2 He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.” (Ps. 62:2 ESV)
“6 He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. 7On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. 8 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.” (Ps. 62:6-8 ESV).
If David was once sinking in the sand, he’s now resting on the rock. If David was once defenseless in the desert, he’s now fixed firm in a fortress. If David was once fearful on the firing line, he’s now recovering in a refuge. God has become his rock, his fortress and his refuge.
David has moved from a place of weakness to a place of strength.
It is possible for you to make a similar move. You too can transition from a place of weakness, hurt, shame, or pain to a position of strength, healing, confidence, and safety. You do not have to remain a leaning wall or a tottering fence. You do not have to go down for the count. You too can find a rock, a fortress and a refuge.
But the question is, “How?” How did David experience such a radical move in his life? How do we journey from the place of weakness to the place of strength?
A Quiet Pause
David answers that question twice in this psalm:
“1For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.” (Ps. 62:1 ESV)
“5For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.” (Ps. 62:5 ESV)
To move from weakness to strength David did not do something. He did nothing. Twice he recounts how he waited in silence. Twice he boasts about ceasing all activity and simply resting. Twice he records stopping his feet, shutting his mouth, and just standing still.
Some scholars have thought that David is referencing a visit to a holy place. We don’t know. What we do know is that it was only when David’s movement stopped that his healing started. It was only when David’s to-do list was lost that his spiritual vitality was found. It was only when David did nothing that God began to do everything.
The movement from weakness to strength comes in three simple words: “wait in silence.” The more we learn to wait in silence, the more we gain strength, courage, and life. It can come in many forms: spending a few minutes in quiet at the beginning or end of each day, reserving a half day each week for Sabbath with God, or planning a yearly retreat to a place of solitude and rest. But there is no escaping this fundamental fact. Strength comes only when we wait in silence.
Amelia Barr writes, “We hear voices in solitude, we never hear in the hurry and turmoil of life; we receive counsels and comforts, we get under no other condition. For to be alone with Silence, is to be alone with God.”[i]
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[i] Amelia Barr, All the Days of My Life, 294.
