From Chris Stroup
Psalm 62: “For God alone my soul waits in silence…” (62:1, 5) With this repeated line, the psalmist brings the worries and struggles of the day to a standstill: God brings salvation, and God brings hope. Both the weak and the powerful are nothing compared with God; they are “lighter than a breath” (62:9). The psalmist contrasts the weakness of humanity with the power of God. Power belongs to God. But he doesn’t leave it there: love also belongs to God (62:12). Salvation and hope comes from the God who brings together power and love.
Sam Abbott provided some great thoughts on the first few verses of Psalm 62 in his September sermon.
Psalm 63: This psalm offers a cry of dependence on God. Thirsty souls and fainting flesh are satisfied in God as with fat and rich food (63:5). Usually when I think of being satisfied, I think about getting something, but it is striking that the psalmist’s satisfaction comes from praising God and remembering God while in bed and through the night (63:6).
John 15:1-11: The words of Jesus in John provide another picture of satisfaction in God: remaining in Jesus and abiding in him. Like Psalm 62, there is an aspect of waiting (branches take time to grow) and as in Psalm 63, there is an aspect of dependence (those branches separated from the vine are worthless and are thrown away). This patience and dependence results in obedience and fruitfulness through the life-giving power of the true vine and under the watchful care of the vinedresser.