If you read the Psalms through regularly, you will have come across a verse in Psalm 62:11 written by David, the second king of Israel.
God has spoken once; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God.
He’s a larger-than-life character, revered as a poet, warrior, and a man deeply devoted to God. Many of his Psalms reflect his personal experiences, struggles, and relationship with God, covering a wide range of emotions and circumstances, from praise and thanksgiving to lament and cries for help.
Psalm 62, simply titled ‘a psalm of David’, is one I have been musing over. It’s gutsy, determined, emotional, and conveys a powerful sense of resolve. It doesn’t take much for you to be able to relate. There are enough problems in the world to easily distract us, but with a TV remote and the flick of a switch, technology springs to life, and a newsreader quickly breaks the news that all is not well in the world before force feeding advertisements. (It won’t be long before we have advertisements sponsored by other advertisers!)
Psalm 62:11 “God has spoken once; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God.”
Confidence in God
King David would have had much to think about as he looked at what God was doing with Israel amidst the constant troubles with the nations that surrounded them, but this song of the heart was a deliberate meditation on the sufficiency and authority of God’s word and the absolute nature of God’s power. David is not singing a lullaby; most of his songs are birthed in struggle, uncertainty, and in a place where he has to work out his faith with action, and certainly, many are sung with a recollection of the horrors of war and conflict whilst reflecting on the outcomes that God was with him, showing favour, deliverance, and protection.
In this respect, knowing that things were not always a bed of roses, David’s confidence in God’s word and power can be understood as a model for us, today, of faith and trust in God, recognizing His ultimate control and authority in all things.
When the fierce noise of battle is done, when the joyous singing of celebration has ended and dawn breaks, it’s there. That voice…
There is an edge to this psalm that will stir the heart of the prophetic person: ‘God has spoken once; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God.’ It stirs my own heart. David says that he has heard this message once and then a second time. God is insisting that this is an established matter. When the fierce noise of battle is done, when the joyous singing of celebration has ended and dawn breaks, it’s there. That voice… God has spoken once, and then again. The relentless persistence of God. And the message is enough to comfort the heart of the weary, broken, and distraught: power belongs to God.
In the face of adversity, this Hills-of-Israel song expresses trust in God amid adversity in the face of times of struggle, conflict, or uncertainty.
Giving you hope…
As you read this Psalm aloud (as we did in Sheffield this last Sunday morning led by my friend Pete), you are affirming your own trust in God’s power and faithfulness in the midst of such challenges. Like David, you (and your Church) may be facing times of war, exile, oppression, and moments of personal crisis, and this Psalm, poem, song may very well be the rope you hold onto as you cling to the Lord.
That Gospel invites, beckons, and pleads with people to put their trust in Jesus Christ
That Gospel invites, beckons, and pleads with people to put their trust in Jesus Christ, acknowledging Him as the ultimate and only source of salvation and strength. It’s a relentless call. Just as the Psalmist relies on the power and word of God, the Gospel calls for faith in Christ alone as the one through whom God’s power and salvation are fully realized.
The gospel
In the book of Romans, for the apostle Paul, the revelation is that ‘the gospel is the power of God unto salvation…’ and behind that emphatic declaration, the mood music is stirred by the echoing words of the prophet king, ‘God has spoken once; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God.’
The wonderful thing about Psalm 62:11 is not only that there is a voice that can be heard or discerned for us living in the West in 2024, but that we are not left to our own devices in the world we think we are creating, but that God, in Christ, has taken the initiative and is speaking, calling, revealing Himself and His ways.
May you find your strength, identity, and hope in Jesus, relying on His power and promises by eagerly responding to His voice – the first time He calls!
God has the power to change and transform your life. Power belongs to God.
