By Joe O’Neal
Psalm 62:1-2
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.
When I was a kid discovered skateboarding. A simple wooden toy with wheels and yet, also incredibly complex, artistic, challenging and beautiful. It’s a pretty good cardio workout too if you’re into that sort of thing. So I still thoroughly enjoy skateboarding whenever I find few minutes of time.
Skateboarding is everywhere these days; in advertising, in the olympics, in popular culture. So you’ve probably seen a picture or video clip of a skateboard ramp, commonly referred to as a halfpipe. (see illustration above)
Now if you’ve ever watched anyone skate on any of these ramps, what you should know is that the first thing that skater had to learn in order to ride the ramp was how to ‘drop in’; this entails standing atop the ramp and then ‘dropping in’ to the curvature of the ramp, plunging down towards the bottom of the ramp on your way to the other side. But here’s the thing about dropping in; it feels completely counterintuitive to what is your natural inclination.
“But here’s the thing about dropping in; it feels completely counterintuitive to what is your natural inclination. ”
You see, you have to lean much further forward than feels safe to do in order to keep the board from shooting out from under your feet, causing you to take a very hard and painful fall. Fear will cause you to hesitate and be tentative instead of leaning all the way in; but that’s a huge mistake. Don’t believe me? Youtube it.
The only way to be stable is to believe that the curvature of the ramp will carry you forward despite leaning, what feels like, too far ahead. If you are half in and half out, you will be rewarded with a very painful fall. Its full commitment or nothing.
Now that’s a silly illustration. But Psalm 62 has a similar warning for those who put their trust and hope in anything but God alone.
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.
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.
10 Put no trust in extortion;
set no vain hopes on robbery;
if riches increase, set not your heart on them.
David is quietly, confidently locating his hope in God alone. Not in himself, great warrior though he was, not in power, in people, or wealth or anything else…No, the Psalmist is instructing us to lean all the way in to God; to put our hope and trust in him alone.
“No, the Psalmist is instructing us to lean all the way in to God; to put our hope and trust in him alone. ”
That’s because David knows our natural, sinful inclination is to put our hope in ourselves, in our financial portfolios, in the right political leaders…but this is like being half in, half out. And that’s only setting us up for a painful fall.
Instead, let’s put all of our trust and hope in God alone. Lean all the way in. He’s fully trustworthy. And in His power and love, there’s a thrilling ride ahead.