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The River ChurchSermons

John Carter · 7 Jun 2026

John Carter · Sunday, 7 June 2026 · 50:18 · 7,134 words

There is no public page for this message yet — the transcript below is the whole of it.

Psalm 62 shows that a quiet space does not bring a quiet soul; only God can be a refuge. Pastor John urges listeners to examine what they are leaning on—comforts, relationships, money—and warns that anything else will buckle under the soul’s weight. He points to the cross as God’s power and love, where Christ’s broken body and poured‑out blood carry the burden no other source can. Communion the pastor asks person to confess what they have substituted for God and go back to Him as their rock, salvation, and refuge.

What this sermon is about

Ranked by keyness against every other sermon in the corpus. Each one is a word this sermon actually said — nothing here was written by a model.

soul 51 lean 33 david 62 fortress 20 refuge 26 quiet 20 pressure 19 silence 20 rock 21 maybe 39 space 10 reputation 8

Topics

Salvation 6 Atonement & Sacrifice 3 Hope 2

Scripture referenced 12

Verified against the transcript. A reference the recording does not support is never listed here.

Psalms 62 1:56 Psalms 62 4:03 Psalms 62 5:18 Psalms 62 5:26 Psalms 62 5:43 Psalms 62 6:33 Psalms 62:1 6:33 Psalms 62:11-12 41:24 Matthew 26 45:16 Matthew 26:26 45:34 Psalms 62 46:47 1 Corinthians 11 48:11

Transcript

Every word, as spoken, with the second it was said. Each word links to its own entry in the index.

Pre-service announcement — 7 lines, 0:35. Excluded from every count and search on this site, kept here so nothing is hidden.

Hey, everyone. My name is Keaton. Thanks for checking out one of our sermons today.

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Thanks again for joining us. We hope you're blessed by today's message.

Good morning, everyone. How is everybody doing this morning?

Mm-hmm. I hear it. I love, I just love our worship team. Do you not?

I mean, just such a great appreciation for their hearts and leading us and just focusing our hearts on who the Lord is and what he does for us.

Not just once in our life, but continually over and over, right?

I'm going to do something a little bit different.

Before you open your Bibles to today's text, I'm going to do something that is generally not done.

In any kind of a gathering, we're going to sit in silence for a few moments.

Don't get distracted. No movement. Just let's sit in silence for a minute.

30, by the way.

Okay. Now, how many of you felt really awkward in that silence?

You can raise your hand. It's okay. This is intentional, right?

Listen, I want you to open your Bibles to Psalms 62.

That silence was very intentional. I want you to understand that.

And I don't know if I was able to create.

What I was hoping it would create.

Some of you were probably sitting there thinking, oh, oh, did Pastor John forget his sermon?

Maybe. Maybe that was a thought that crossed your mind.

I don't know.

Maybe you were thinking, is this one of those just really awkward moments where Pastor John's going to try to get his thoughts together and eventually we'll get to the sermon.

No, that wasn't it.

Maybe you were sitting here and you were looking around.

Are we praying? Are other people praying?

Am I supposed to be praying?

Is this meditation?

What's happening here?

Maybe you thought those things in your head, right?

Some of you might have been thinking, oh, sweet.

Finally, a sermon illustration.

I can get behind.

Pastor John, give me another 30 minutes.

I'll be out.

Maybe that's what you were thinking.

What I was trying to create, what I'm hoping you will understand from that is that we can live in a quiet room.

We can have a quiet space.

I don't know if this was something that goes on in your mind, but our soul can be very loud.

We can sit in a quiet room.

And when we are forced to sit in silence, sometimes what happens is our mind and our soul starts to make a lot of noise.

And we hear that maybe in that few moments.

I mean, I think it was less than 30 seconds that we sat in silence.

You started thinking about all kinds of things.

What's for dinner after church?

Some work you have to do after the gathering.

Maybe these are things that cross your mind, right?

Like maybe you have a weight or a burden or something that you're carrying that starts coming to the top of your mind.

And so we can sit in a quiet room and still be confronted with a very loud, if you will, soul.

And this is where Psalms 62 is going to give us some direction and give us some help in walking through.

Recognizing that a quiet space and a quiet soul are not the same thing.

See, a quiet space is like we experience is when the noise around us stops for a moment.

But a quiet soul.

Is when that noise within us, that loud space in our mind, so to speak, has a place to go to a place of peace and a place to set those burdens down.

A quiet space can remove distraction momentarily, but a quiet soul has a permanent source of refuge.

Quiet space, maybe even in that short 30 second or less of time, a quiet space may expose something that's happening inside of you.

But a quiet soul knows the very source of salvation and where it comes from.

And this is what David is going to direct us to help us see.

And one of the first lines in Psalms 62, David says these words.

He doesn't say, my soul waits in silence.

The very first verse of Psalms 62, David says these words.

For God alone, my soul waits.

My soul waits in silence.

From him comes peace.

So as we read Psalm 62, you're going to see the word silence in the text.

That's going to be there.

But I don't want you to identify with just having a quiet space.

David isn't writing this as a mom with a bunch of kids saying, man, I just need to have some quiet time for myself.

No, David's writing this as a king ruling over nations or a nation.

And he's recognizing where his soul actually can rest and reside.

Despite the chaos and troubles around him.

So I want you to focus on what alone David finds this confidence, this rest in.

Let's start by reading the whole text and then we'll pray and then we'll apply it to our life.

Beginning in verse 1 of Psalm 62, David says these words.

For God alone, my soul waits in silence.

From him comes my salvation.

He alone is my rock and my salvation.

My fortress and I shall not be greatly shaken.

How long will all of you attack a man to batter him like a leaning wall or a tottering fence?

They only plan to thrust him down from his high position.

They take pleasure in falsehood.

They bless with their mouth, but inwardly they curse.

For God alone, oh, my soul, wait in silence.

For my hope.

My hope is from him.

He alone is my rock and my salvation.

My fortress, I shall not be shaken.

On God rests my salvation and my glory.

My mighty rock, my refuge is God.

Trust in him at all times, oh people.

Pour your heart, pour out your heart before him.

God is a refuge, not just for David.

But God is a refuge.

Refuge for us.

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.

Put no trust in extortion.

Set no vain hopes on robbery.

If riches increase, set not your heart on them.

Once God has spoken.

Twice have I heard this.

That power belongs to God.

That power belongs to God.

And that to you, oh Lord, belong steadfast love.

For you will render to a man according to his work.

Let's pray and ask the Lord to give us direction and his spirit to lead us as we walk through this text

and what David is trying to help us see.

The difference between living in a quiet space and what it is to actually have a quiet, confident soul.

Lord, thank you so much for this time we get to gather as believers, Lord.

And Lord, if there's anybody in this room, if there's anybody in this room, if there's anybody in this room,

or anybody watching online that doesn't have the confidence in knowing who you are,

I pray, Lord, that your spirit would move, would convict, would help encourage, would comfort,

would draw them to you, Lord.

I ask this in Jesus' holy name.

This song is divided into three stanzas, right?

So you kind of see three stanzas broken up.

I didn't read it, but there is a word called Selah in there,

and that kind of breaks one stanza of the song.

This was something that they would have sang.

I love that David is writing this.

He's writing from his own personal experience.

You see this as the psalm goes in, and he's talking,

there's a lot of individual personal reflection that David is putting into the song.

But in verse 8, you see that this is also something that is directed to the congregation.

That it isn't just something that David wants for himself to recognize and understand,

but it's something that he, as a king, wants God's people to hear and understand for their own life.

And as I look at this, the first phrases of both,

the first two stanzas, verses 1 and verse 5,

David, it clearly expresses the contrast between having a quiet space

and having a confidence for a quiet soul.

David says in that very first verse,

for God alone, my soul waits in silence.

Verse 5, for God alone.

Again, oh my soul, wait in silence.

Notice what David doesn't.

As you see these two introductory stanzas in the verses,

notice he doesn't say, I am hoping in the silence.

That's not what he's saying.

He's not saying, I am hoping for or in better circumstances.

He doesn't say, I am hoping that people are going to change.

He doesn't say that.

He doesn't say, man, I am hoping in my ability to regain control.

David doesn't say that.

He doesn't say, man, I am hoping in my,

my reputation, that my reputation will be protected.

He doesn't say that.

He doesn't say, man, I am hoping in money.

I am hoping in my status as a king.

I am hoping in the power that I have as a ruler of a nation.

Notice he doesn't say any of those things.

David focuses on what he rests in.

The next verses that come after those first five,

you will see this repeated.

David says what his soul is.

What he is resting in very clearly, very succinctly.

He says, God is my salvation.

So he is resting in God's salvation.

He is resting in God's hope for my hope is in him.

He is resting in God's stability.

He alone is my rock.

He's resting in God's protection.

He is my fortress.

He's resting in God's refuge.

God is not just a refuge for David, but a refuge for us all.

I think as Christians, many of us don't wrestle necessarily with the concept of God is our salvation.

I think we're really confident in saying, yeah, of course, God is my salvation.

We don't necessarily wrestle with this struggle as believers.

But I think as I was working through this and wrestling with this honestly in my own life and in my own heart,

I had to ask myself, is there something that I am adding to God that I am leaning on?

Meaning, yeah, I can.

I can sit here and say, yeah, I trust in God, but I also trust in my ability to control this situation or that situation.

Yeah, I can trust God, but maybe, maybe I'm also reliant heavily on my bank account and relying what's in the bank account.

Maybe, maybe I can sit here and say, I trust God.

I trust God, but I'm trying to have people like me.

I want influence.

I want to be likable.

There are a lot of different things.

There are a lot of different things that maybe you can attach after that.

I trust God, but there is this other thing.

The title of my message is really, what are you leaning on?

And this doesn't just go for unbelievers, so to speak, because ultimately we're going to look at this.

Whatever you substitute the weight of your soul on other than God, you're going to find it's going to crush it.

And so as believers, we also have to be confronted this question, what am I actually leaning on?

Is it God alone?

Or are we adding something next to God and saying it's God plus this other thing that I have?

And what we're going to find, David's going to show us very clearly is this, that when the weight of our soul is leaning on something other than God, whatever it is, it will be crushed.

Whatever it is, it will be destroyed.

It won't measure up.

It won't hold up.

David is pointing out to us is really the contrast between a divided trust.

A divided trust and an undivided trust.

I want you to grasp that.

What David's really showing us as we walk through this psalm is he's trying to get us to understand and grasp the difference between an undivided trust and a divided trust.

See, David doesn't list all these other things that we've already talked about as his source of hope and confidence.

He says there is only one thing.

There is only one thing that he is confident in and what he trusts to carry.

And that is to carry the very weight of his soul.

And if you're here today and you do not know the Lord, maybe you would sit here and very clearly say, I don't know that I've ever claimed Christ or Jesus or even choose to define myself as a follower of God.

You may not know the why part of why your soul maybe in the silence feels restless, but you know it's there.

You may be surrounded.

You may have success.

You may have a great family.

You have solid morals.

You have all these things and you can be surrounded by all these wonderful things, but you still have something in your heart that just isn't settled.

Your soul isn't settled.

David is trying to show us really clearly here where you can find the rest for your soul.

And maybe as an unbeliever or maybe even just as a person, you have tried to settle that unrest.

Maybe you have tried to substitute something in place.

God as a source or as a mechanism to help settle the soul, so to speak.

Maybe it's with relationships.

You have relied heavily for your soul to feel content and peace based on relationships.

Maybe it's money.

Maybe there have been distractions in your life that you heavily rely on to help ease that soul's restlessness.

Could be a hobby.

It could be just staying busy.

I tend to have to watch this in my own life.

And man, if I have to sit in silence, I'm going to go crazy.

But part of sitting in silence is to help our own selves recognize and reflect, man, what is it that my heart and my soul is screaming?

We can often use busyness as a distraction to not actually have to focus on what our soul and what our heart is trying to tell us.

And so we go to one thing and the next thing and the next thing and carry all these things.

And then next thing you know, we don't ever focus on what we actually should be focusing on.

What is my soul?

Maybe there is substance involved in what you're trying to do to settle your soul.

Maybe it's a form of entertainment.

You're sitting there and instead of focusing on what your soul is trying to tell you, you get distracted by scrolling or watching TV or movies.

None of these things.

And I just want you to hear this.

None of these things are evil or wrong in and of themselves.

I'm not saying if you like to watch television, that's a bad thing.

I'm not saying if you have meaningful and careful relationships.

That those things are wrong.

I'm not saying that work in and of itself is bad.

God made us to do work.

What I'm saying is this.

If what we are resting our soul on.

What we are resting our confidence, our peace, our hope on.

Is any one of these things.

That is when the danger starts to come in.

That is the danger that David is trying to help us recognize.

See, as David is pointing these things out.

To us and helping us confront these things.

He tells us very clearly for God alone, my soul waits in silence.

And he says these words because he knows our soul is tempted often to lean on other things.

Our soul is often tempted to find a substitute.

What if God's not going to show up?

I better have a backup plan.

What if God doesn't do what he says he's going to do?

Care for me.

Provide for me.

Keep me on solid ground.

What if he doesn't do that?

I better have a backup plan.

That's often the way our minds think.

I'm sure.

I can't be the only one.

And that is the danger that David is trying to confront and bring forth as a warning.

Both to the believer and to the unbeliever.

David is confident in who his source of refuge is.

And there's no substitute.

It's not God and this or God and that.

It is God and God alone.

That his soul is waiting for in silence.

That means his soul is quieted because he knows who God is.

That question, what are you leaning on?

I want you to think about that.

What is it that you yourself are leaning on?

What is it that your confidence, your hope, your rock, your fortress, your refuge is?

As we look at this text, David actually points out several things.

And one of the things we have to recognize, I think, as just people in general, is our soul always,

is looking for something to lean on.

We all have something that we are leaning on.

But what is it that you are leaning on?

As we continue in the text, David says this as he himself describes some of the substitutes

that he may be experiencing.

As you look at this in the verses 3 through 4 and 9 through 10,

David lists several of the things that he finds as a temptation for him to lean on.

How long will all of you attack a man to batter him?

Meaning wall or a tottering fence.

They only plan to thrust him down from his high position.

David's speaking of the thing that he may have a tendency to lean on is, in fact, the people that surround him.

Or his position.

Sometimes it might even be the riches.

You see this in verse 10.

If riches increase, set not your heart on them.

Maybe it's the status of a person.

Those of low estate are but a breath.

Those of high estate are a delusion.

One of the things we have to recognize as we walk through this text is David is not talking about an imaginary pressure that he is dealing with.

David says, I am like a fence.

Now, I have built a few fences in my life.

Some good, some not so good.

I put effort in some of the clients that I built fence for.

But for my chickens, they did not get the top grade fence making ability that I had.

I'm just trying to keep birds out of here or in here.

And so the amount of effort that I put into that fence.

Versus a, as I was doing contracting work, the work that I would do for a client, totally different effort.

And let me tell you, I can make a fence that the wind could knock over, real easily.

Not very stable, not very strong.

And that's kind of the imagery that David is presenting here.

He's showing himself and he's saying, man, listen, this is pressure that I'm feeling.

This is a vulnerability that I'm walking in.

Sometimes it feels like just one more push, one more blow, and I am going to grow.

I'm going to crumble, feels the pressure.

He feels the unstable nature of where he's at.

When he has looked at maybe people as his source of confidence or people as his source of hope.

He is showing that he feels exposed.

He's genuinely being attacked.

His position as king is being threatened.

I mean, I think this is very interesting what he says here.

People are speaking one way with their mouths while something totally different is happening in their hearts.

Have you ever experienced that before?

I think in our day, we call it being two-faced, right?

Someone's really nice to me on the front, but in their heart, they have something totally different, steaming and scheming.

Anybody ever feel that?

Might be in the workplace, could be your neighbor, could be a family member, I don't know.

David feels it as a king who he's surrounded with.

So here's the question, and David, I think this is part of what David is trying to bring to the forefront as we sing the song, when the pressures of life

hit you, this is what happens, what you are leaning on will be exposed.

David recognizes this, and so he writes the song to remind himself, man, there's only one thing that I can be confident and rest on.

There's only one thing that is my rock.

There is only one thing that is my fortress that protects me, that provides for me.

There's only one thing that I can go to, one place that I could go to, to find refuge.

You know, I think this is such a real element in our own lives.

And I think as we are walking through life, we see this.

When life gets difficult, when pressures come, that can come from many different places.

That can come from family, that can come from spouses, that can come from work, that can

come from situations in your neighborhood, that can come from places like church, believe

it or not.

When the pressures hit you, what is it that you tend to lean on?

What is it that you are hoping in?

Criticism shakes you.

What it might be showing you is that you are actually leaning on approval.

No one likes to be criticized, I get it.

But does it shake you at the core when someone criticizes you?

Maybe you're leaning on approval.

Listen, if financial pressures shake you, maybe it's revealing to you that you are leaning

on money more than you thought.

When uncertainty rattles you to the core, maybe it's revealing to you you're leaning

more on control than the person and the word of God.

When everything shakes you, maybe it's revealing that you were leaning more heavily on your

reputation than the reputation and character of God.

When people disappoint, and I don't know if you've ever experienced this, but in life

people will disappoint you.

When people disappoint you, maybe what it's revealing on, or what it's revealing is that

you are leaning on someone or something that only God can carry.

None of these things are bad things.

I want you to understand it.

People matter, right?

Relationships are important.

I say this often.

Relationships matter.

These are not in and of themselves bad.

Work is important.

God made us to work.

Being able to provide for your family is important.

Reputation is important.

Listen, no one wants to walk around with a poor reputation.

That's not what I'm saying.

I'm saying none of these things matter.

We can do and be careless about how we engage with these things.

These things all matter, but none of these things were meant to carry the weight of the

And that's what David is confronting and bringing to the light in this psalm.

People are a gift a lot of times.

Money is a fantastic tool that we can use for the purpose of God's kingdom.

It's wise to plan.

I am a planner.

I love to plan.

I don't know if you've ever experienced this.

You have a hard day at work, man.

You're exhausted, but at the end of the day you're like, "Man, I feel good."

The danger is when they themselves, these things.

People, work, provision, reputation, when these things start to become our refuge.

Good thing becomes a dangerous thing when you ask it to do what only God can do.

If we go through the text in verses two and verses six and seven, David gives us an incredible

clarity on where our soul should rest and where our confidence should come from.

Verse two, he says, "He alone is my rock and my salvation.

My fortress shall not be greatly shaken."

Going on into verse six, he says, "He alone," again, the same phrase repeated over and over,

"He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress.

I shall not be shaken."

The next line, the next verse, "Oh God, on God rests my salvation and my glory.

My mighty rock, my refuge is God."

I love that David is giving us this clarity.

He's not just saying, "Hey.

Here's a problem.

Watch out for this."

He's pointing us to understand where to direct our soul, where to direct our weight, the

heaviness of our soul, if you will, because there's only one person that can actually

hold that weight.

I want you to see this.

When he says, "God is my rock," what David is saying is this, "God is the stability

beneath my feet.

God is my rock."

That means everything else can be shaken.

Can be moved, can look like it's quicksand, but man, when I am standing on God, I am secure

and I am planted.

The waves may be crashing all around.

I watched a YouTube video of a Japanese fisherman that's just ... He's literally in the midst

of the ocean.

Well, just outside, and there's these rock formations, and he thought it'd be a great

idea to fish on this rock, and then the tide started coming up, and here he is in the midst

of the ocean.

The captain set him out there, left him there.

He says, "I'll be back in an hour or so.

I'll be back in an hour or so."

This guy and his buddy are out there trying to fish in the middle of the ocean on this

Waves start crashing over.

He loses some of his fishing gear because it goes out into the ocean.

What kept him secure was he had a rock to stand on even when the waves were crashing

all around him.

What a beautiful picture.

When your life feels like it's crashing around you, the ground beneath you is shifting and

it feels like quicksand, there's only one place you can stand and be comfortable.

You can be confident.

That's what David is saying when he says, "Listen, God is my rock.

He is my salvation."

That means David understands, "I can't save me."

That means David understands, "It doesn't matter how much control I have, how much strength

I have, how much reputation I have, what my position is, what financial status I have,

none of that is going to be able to save me.

I don't have the ability to fix anything without the power and presence of God."

David says, "I don't have the ability to fix anything without the power and presence of God."

David says, "I don't have the ability to fix anything without the power and presence of God."

David says, "I don't have the ability to fix anything without the power and presence of God."

David says, "I don't have the ability to fix anything without the power and presence of God."

power and presence of God. He is confident. My salvation is from God. God is the one who rescues

me. My rescuing doesn't come from these other things. God, he is my fortress. I love this. Not

only is God the solid, firm foundation, his rock, but God is what protects him. He lists very clearly

his enemies. There are people around him who say one thing and act another way. He says, God,

God is not just my rock, but my fortress. I want you to think about this. A fortress is such a

protective structure. God being described as a fortress, that means I can walk into this sanctuary

when things are attacking me. Arrows are flying. We might use terms like bullets and missiles and

whatnot. This fortress is what protects us. We might think of like a bunker. Man, if I go to a

secure. Some of these modern bunkers are incredible. They have pools in them apparently.

Food to last forever. Provision. In my mind, I started thinking that's how God is. God is my

fortress. He protects me. He provides for me. He cares for me. He is my fortress. And that's what

David is referencing. Man, he surrounds me not just as a rock, but he is completely encompassed

and encompassed all around me. How wonderful of an encouragement it is to see and know that the

Lord is. How wonderful of an encouragement it is to see and know that that's who God is. Then David

says, and he uses this phrase many times in this psalm, he is my refuge. A refugee is someone that

has to escape because of trauma or turmoil or terror that comes about in their home, where they

live, in their country. We often see them come into our country. I'm not trying to make this

political, but they run to our country because they see this country as a safe haven or a

neighboring country, as a safe haven. A place that they can go where they will be received. That is a

refugee. I know this because I have a friend that is in a war-torn country called Burma, and those

who can't leave their country, they're called IDPs, internally displaced people. You don't give them

the title of refugee because they can't leave. No one will receive them, so they have to figure out

how to save themselves, their family, within their own borders.

A refugee is someone who is able to leave their borders and be received by another country.

I love that David uses this word repeatedly over and over again. He says, God is my refuge,

which means this. God is going to receive me from where I come from, no matter where I come from,

no matter what my background is, no matter what my social status is, no matter how much control I do

or don't have. God is going to receive me from where I come from, no matter what my background is, no matter what my social status is, no matter how much control I do or don't have.

God is going to receive me from where I come from, no matter what my background is, no matter what my social status is, no matter how much control I do or don't have.

God is going to receive me. He is my refuge, my safe place, a place that I can run to in desperate

times, in hard times, when I'm being attacked, and He, He will receive me. How incredibly wonderful

it is to know that is the character and the behavior of God. He receives us. He is our refuge.

And I love what verse 8 says here. David says so clearly,

not just after he is talking about who God is for him, but he says this to the congregation.

Trust in Him at all times. If you like to highlight in your scripture, I would circle that word

all. Trust in Him at all time. Not only when life makes sense, but when life doesn't make sense.

Not only when life's pressures are lifted, but when life feels like the pressure is on max.

Trust in Him, not only when life's pressures are lifted, but when life feels like the pressure is on max.

Trust in Him, not only when life's pressures are lifted, but when life feels like the pressure is on max.

Trust in Him, not only when life's pressures are lifted, but when life feels like the pressure is on max.

Trust in Him, not only when life's pressures are lifted, but when life feels like the pressure is on max.

Trust in Him, not only when financial security is there, but when it feels like there is no next paycheck.

Trust in Him in all times is what David is saying. Trust in Him when, not just when people understand

you, but when you are being misunderstood. Not just when you feel strong, but when you feel weak.

Then David says something so profound, and I love this. This is part of the refuge element.

David says to the congregation,

Pour out your heart. Pour out your heart to God. God does not want you to pretend like everything

is okay. Life can be hard. In the silence, the soul can be loud. God isn't saying ignore it.

God isn't saying act like it doesn't exist. God's saying, come to me. I'm going to receive you. I'm

going to hear you. I'm going to walk through whatever it is that you're dealing with. That

could be fear. That could be anxiety. That can be stresses of life, work, the pressures of

relationships. I'm going to hear you. I'm going to walk through whatever it is that you're dealing with.

That could be any number of those things that you may be walking through. And God says,

you can pour out your heart to me. David then continues, and he says this very profoundly in

that passage. God is a refuge, not just for David. God is a refuge for us. That's you,

and that's me. Oftentimes, we forget this. And I feel like what David is trying to do here as he's

walking through this passage is for the believer. I think he's trying to help us to remember,

So often, we are confident. We know we've experienced God's love, his mercy, his grace.

We've experienced his fortress and his refuge. But sometimes, sometimes our soul forgets that

he alone should be that, and we try to find something else to substitute it with. David is

saying and using this text as a reminder to the congregation, listen, there's only one place you

can go that your soul finds rest. And if you're here today and you don't know Christ, I don't

care what it is that you are leaning on. I don't care what it is that you are leaning on. I don't

care what it is that you think is going to hold you. There's nothing that can hold the weight of

your soul other than God and Jesus Christ himself. Nothing. You can have financial security and just

like that. Listen, in 2008, there was a massive crash, and I saw it firsthand. People who were

confident in their wealth, their retirement, the crash hit. Next day, they're going to work.

What they thought they were going to have, what they thought was the confidence of their retirement,

gone in a heartbeat. That can still happen today. Whatever it is that you are putting

your soul's weight on, man, it can be a substance. It can be work. Eventually, listen, eventually,

all of that is going to crush and crumble under the weight of the pressure of your soul,

because only God can carry what God was meant to carry. David ends with a pretty profound

statement at the very end. Psalms 62 verses 11 and 12. David says this,

once God has spoken,

twice have I heard this, that power belongs to God and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast

love. This is such a profound statement, and I want you to understand this. These two characters

of God can only be attributed to God, his power and his steadfast love. He has both of them.

Why is that important? I was asking, why is it important that God has both power and steadfast

love? Because if he only has power, he has both of them. He has both of them. He has both of them.

While we may have the confidence that God can maybe thwart the enemy, he will be so powerful and

so mighty. Without his steadfast love, we would be afraid to approach him. And if he only had

steadfast love and not power, we could approach him. We would feel cared for. We would feel that

love. But man, in the back of our minds, we're going to have this doubt. Can he actually do it?

The fact that God has both power and steadfast gives us the confidence not only that we can

approach him, that we can come to him, but also that we can come to him. And so, I want you to

because he cares for us, but he also has the power to deal with and to get us to that place of

refuge, to be that fortress. And I want you to see this. No better place is this expressed and

revealed to us than in the person of Jesus Christ at the cross, where God's steadfast love and his

power is on full display. His steadfast love for you and me, broken sinners who need a place of

refuge, who need a fortress. We have a person. His blood was shed. His body was broken so that we

would have a place to go. And the power of his resurrection, this is what it shows, that sin

and death are no more. He has the power. He's overcome it because he has both the love and the

power. There's nothing else in this world that even comes close to illustrating the wonderful

power and the steadfast love of God than what took place at the cross of Jesus.

Today, we're going to take communion. I'm going to ask those that have been asked to

distribute the communion to go ahead and start doing that. The band, if you want to come up.

Man, as we think about what David is laying out in the psalm, as we consider in our minds,

what is it that I am actually leaning on? As a Christian, maybe you have the confidence of God

being your savior and your salvation and your refuge and your fortress, but you've also found

that you are trying to substitute something that only God can do for you. And so, I want you to

carry with something else. Maybe you're here and you've never, never once called on the Lord to be

your savior. And you have found yourself over and over again trying to figure out this way to

rest your soul, something to carry the weight of your soul, and you've never,

ever called out on God. David is proclaiming, and what I would testify even in my own life,

there is only one source that can carry the weight of your soul. And that is, in fact, God himself.

In Matthew chapter 26, this is just before Jesus is going to the cross. Jesus says these words.

Thank you, Kathy. Jesus says these words as he is about to go to the cross, as he is gathered with

his disciples. He says this in verse 26. Now, as they were eating, Jesus took bread and after

blessing it, broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, take, eat. This is my body. Then he took

a cup and when he had given thanks, he gave it to the disciples. And when he had given thanks,

saying, drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant. I want you to pay attention

to these next words, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sin. What Jesus is saying,

in other words, is this. He's showing where salvation comes from. It does not come from

the disciples themselves. It does not come from their effort. It does not come from their ability

to stay strong enough. It only comes from,

the blood and the body of Jesus Christ. Jesus is telling them that salvation will come through

his body, which is given, his blood, which is poured out. Psalm 62, David says,

from him comes my salvation. As we partake in communion, it reminds us that salvation can only

come through Jesus Christ as our Lord and as our Savior. As we come to the table, so to speak,

I think this is a moment that I want you to ask yourself, what am I leaning on?

Am I leaning on myself? Am I leaning on my control? Am I leaning on the approval of people around me?

Am I leaning on money, comfort, distractions, my own righteousness? What am I leaning on?

See, communion calls us back to the one and only source that can carry the weight of our soul.

It calls us back to Christ. His body was given for us. His blood was poured out for you and for me.

He is our rock. He is our salvation. He is our salvation.

He is our fortress. He is our refuge. 1 Corinthians chapter 11, Paul says to the church

to examine yourself. So we're going to partake in communion a little bit different than maybe we've

done in the past. You have a cup. You should have a small bread or wafer that represents the body of

Christ, not literally, but figuratively, just kind of as a picture for us to see, and a cup of juice

that is a picture of the blood of Christ. Scripture says to examine yourself. Nates, the band, they're

singing. I'm just going to let you, at your own time, as you feel fit, to go before the Lord. Maybe

some of you need to go before the Lord and say, Lord, I'm sorry, I've been leaning on something

else other than you. Maybe some of you, for the very first time, you're going to say, man, Lord,

I need you because I've never leaned on you. So as you, maybe as a family, you need to get together

and pray together, and you just need to say, hey, man, listen, we need to prioritize the only source

in our family to keep us whole and solid is Christ. So as Nate is leading us in song, at your own time,

partake, then stand and worship. Close with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you so much.

Thank you for your word. Thank you for the reminder of Jesus. Thank you for the reminder

of the cross, his broken body, and his blood that was shed for my sins. Lord, you are my refuge.

You are my fortress. You are the rock in which I stand. To you belongs all the glory.