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The River ChurchSermons

Jayson Combs · 7 Jun 2026

Jayson Combs · Sunday, 7 June 2026 · 38:10 · 4,913 words

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

Psalm 62 is the focus, and the pastor encourages listeners to stop rushing through the Psalms, pause at selah, and let God's word sink in. He argues that we are constantly bombarded with bad advice, so we must repeatedly hear the truth that God alone is our rock, salvation, and fortress. The message warns against putting trust in people, wealth, or status, reminding us that all of those are fleeting. It calls believers to follow Jesus' example of entrusting themselves to God, finding peace and stability in Him alone.

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.

advice 19 rock 16 find 23 trust 24 song 18 musician 6 david 19 bad 16 alone 14 position 9 fortress 7 celebration 5

Topics

Salvation 4 Hope 1 Prayer 1 Atonement & Sacrifice 1 Faith 1

Scripture referenced 8

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

Psalms 62 0:45 Psalms 62 1:27 Psalms 62 1:30 Psalms 62 3:34 Psalms 62:1-2 3:38 Psalms 62:5-6 3:43 1 Chronicles 16 10:23 1 Peter 2 36:25

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, 0:34. Excluded from every count and search on this site, kept here so nothing is hidden.

Hey, everyone. My name is Lorena, and thanks for checking out one of our sermons today.

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Thanks again for joining us, and we hope that you are blessed by today's message.

Good morning, everybody. Welcome to the River Church.

So glad that you are here on this beautiful, sunshiny day.

We don't get many of these in Michigan, so thankful for them.

If you have your Bible, it will be in Psalm chapter 62.

If you're new, my name is Jason Combs.

I have the privilege to be one of the pastors here, the location pastor here in Waterford, and love gathering with you.

And I love my view because I get to see your faces and just seeing you here.

And just so thankful that you would join us this morning.

We are studying the book.

We are studying the book of Psalms this summer, and walking through some 25 Psalms as we look to the Old Testament,

look to these poetic literature from the Lord, and understanding what it means for our lives.

So let's have a little fun this morning.

Let's stand together, and we're going to read together, right?

The Bible says this.

To the choir master, according to Jeduthun, the Psalm of David.

For God alone my soul waits in silence.

From him comes my salvation.

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

I shall not be greatly shaking.

It would be good if I read it correctly.

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

Like a leaning wall, a tottering fence, they only plan to thrust him down from his high position.

They take pleasure in falsehoods.

They bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse.

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

For my hope is from him.

He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress.

And I shall not be shaken.

Oh God, on God rests my salvation and my glory.

My mighty rock, my refuge is God.

Trust in him at all times, oh people.

Pour out your hearts before him.

For God is refuge for us.

Let's pray.

Lord, thanks for your word.

We pray for your help this morning.

May we hear it.

May it be something that we just don't pass over quickly.

But we hear the truth of your word.

Pray you help me, Lord.

May you lead my words.

We thank you and praise you in Jesus' name.

You may be seated.

Do you ever find it difficult to read a chapter of Psalms?

Do you ever find it difficult that you just read through it and sometimes trying to understand it?

Do you ever find it difficult to read a chapter of Psalms?

Do you ever find it difficult to read a chapter of Psalms?

Do you ever find it difficult that you just read through it and sometimes trying to understand it?

Do you ever find it difficult that you just read through it and sometimes trying to understand it?

I will tell you, sometimes for me, I struggle to slow down and to read God's word.

I know it's going to be crazy.

I struggle to read with patience.

Like I'll read a Psalm, like Psalm 62, and it says,

The Lord is my rock and my shelter and my salvation in verse 1 and 2.

And then I get to verse 5 and 6, and it says the same thing again.

And sometimes I go, yeah, I already read that.

I know.

Let's move on to the next point.

And sometimes we can read.

We can read so quickly, we miss what's going on.

I also find it interesting in my life that I can listen to a song on the radio that says the same line over and over and over,

and I'll sing it over and over, and I'm okay with it.

Or I'll watch that video clip 72 times in a row, and I'm okay to watch the video clip 72 times.

But when it comes to Scripture, it's like I get such in a hurry that I miss what the Lord has.

Even in this chapter, you'll find in verse 4,

in verse number 5, you'll see the word selah.

You'll see this word.

What does this mean?

Just stop a second.

What you're reading, hear what it says.

Think about it a moment.

What does God's word mean?

Just stop and listen and think.

Don't get to the next verse.

Don't try to finish your chapter for the day.

Don't try to get two or three.

Just stop.

Matt Mason, in his commentary of Psalms, says these are not just songs.

Psalms is a book filled with the kind of singing that prepares us for living in a real world with an unshakable hope in God.

As we read this, this is amazing advice for your life.

And I can't just say advice because it's so much more than that.

It's God's truth.

It's God's word.

To slow down and to listen to it over and over, it is vital for us to hear it.

Not just once.

Why?

Because the Lord's word is perfect advice.

And we are constantly bombarded with bad advice.

Think about this week.

How often are you bombarded with bad advice?

You went to that song on the radio.

It was bad advice.

You watched your show and how they lived.

It was bad advice.

And some of you are going, Pastor, I don't listen to those songs or watch those shows.

Yeah, you just watch the commercials.

They're about as bad.

And then we watch videos of people responding the wrong way and thinking, man, I'd sure love to do that.

I'd like to drive like that guy drove.

I'd like to respond to my coworker like that guy responded to his coworker.

It was funny.

But inside of me, I really like that.

And then maybe you have people in your lives.

They say things like, you know, the ends, it justifies the means.

Or that person that hurt you.

You don't really need to show them compassion.

Because forgiveness, it's a sign of weakness.

Or, you know what?

You need to figure out the situation.

You got to figure out what's in it for you.

Or if you get back at that person, it's going to satisfy you.

Or, you know what?

In this relationship, you need to test drive before you buy.

And I tell you these things because bad advice, people telling us things that are not according to God's word, not according to God's way.

And some of you are sitting there again.

I see it.

I don't have those friends, Pastor.

I don't have people that tell me bad advice.

Right.

Right.

I got you.

Because there's one you can't get away from.

It's that voice inside your head.

The Bible calls it your flesh.

Flesh that brings up doubt and unbelief and anger.

And that thought of how you should respond to your spouse or how you can make that co-worker look so bad.

We are bombarded with bad advice.

And when we come to the Bible, God knows it.

It's not a new thing.

Bad advice didn't start this century.

It's been going on forever.

And so the Bible brings us to God's word that we need to hear and think about and repeat and sing and pray and know and come back to.

Because if we don't, we'll fall for the bad advice.

We'll fall for the lie.

We'll fall for the flesh.

We need these songs.

We need this truth.

We need God's word slowly poured over our lives to hear it again and again.

Why?

Because these are not just songs in a book.

It is truth.

It is God's word that leads to life.

And we need to hear it because there are many times as we read in Psalms, we see David.

He's struggling.

He needs to hear it.

He needs to say it.

He needs to quote it.

And seeing how important these words are.

May we slow down and not go, I already heard that one.

We need it again.

Again, as Matt Mason said, these are not just songs.

This is what prepares us for living in a real world with an unshakable hope in God.

So the song starts out, for God alone, my soul waits in silence.

From him comes my salvation.

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

I shall not be greatly shaken.

Here we have the song.

And what's interesting, you'll see to the choir master, Jeduthun.

See, there were sanctuary museums.

There were musicians.

You can go back to 1 Chronicles.

I'll show a verse up here.

1 Chronicles chapter 16.

I will tell you, maybe you have some favorite musicians in your life.

All right?

Mine, my first one is my wife.

And my second favorite musician is here.

With them were He-Man.

He's my second favorite musician.

And if you know me, you can go to my office.

I have a lot of He-Man action figures.

Anyway, the Bible says, I think it's the only reason I'm showing this verse so you can see that He-Man's in the Bible.

All right?

But you see, Jeduthun.

And the rest of those chosen and expressly named to give thanks to the Lord.

And just seeing the connection that David placed these musicians there.

They were to give praise to the Lord for His steadfast love endures forever.

And then verse 42.

That they had trumpets and cymbals for the music and instruments for sacred song.

You see that Jeduthun, his sons were appointed at the gate.

You see what's happening.

These musicians, they would sing.

They would sing these songs.

And here, David says, God alone, my soul waits in silence.

The word alone is mentioned in this song over and over again.

The word alone translates as the Hebrew word.

It's AK.

And what's interesting is it's found six times in this song.

It's translated alone or only or truly or surely.

And in the Hebrew, what is interesting is it's the first word in verse one, two,

four, five, six, and nine.

Charles Spurgeon calls this the only song, not because it's the only song,

because it points to there is one only.

Look at verse one, God alone, he alone.

Verse five, God alone, he only is my rock.

Brings us, David is saying, who else are you going to trust in?

What else you got?

What's so amazing in the psalm is he's going to point to the things that people trusted in.

And David's going to go, no, you can't trust.

Nope, you can't trust in that either.

What's crazy is thousands of years later, people are still trying to trust in the same things.

You'll find the song comes.

It says only God, he is our rock.

He is our fortress where we run into, where we are safe.

He only is our salvation.

And then you're going to find that David's going to say, hey,

and then this thing over here, you're going to try to trust in.

It's not going to work.

It won't work.

Come and trust in the Lord.

Come and stand on the rock.

Come inside the fortress and be safe.

One said, if God is your rock, you need both feet standing on him.

If God is your fortress, you are either inside or outside his walls of protection.

Many people who are believers say, hey, you know, we put our faith in Christ,

but it's like we need like backup or so, but I'm also going to put my faith over here.

The Lord says you can't do that.

Do you trust in?

The Lord, James one, eight says a double-minded man speaks of a double-minded man is unstable

in all his ways.

David says, God only my rock and my salvation.

Then verse three, you'll see that he comes and speaks of things that we try to trust.

And he says, how long will all of you attack a man to batter him like a leaning wall,

a tottering fence, then, or excuse me, they only plan to thrust him down from his high position.

They take pleasure in falsehood.

They bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse.

Here we see the transition of the song, trust in the Lord.

And he says, but men, some people think they can trust in man.

They try to try to find people who they can trust in.

And that's where they think they'll find their solid rock.

David, I think gives us a little bit of a glimpse into what's going on.

Cause he says, how long will all of you attack a man to batter him?

How long there's like David?

Knows there's this weight.

It's over that people have come at him over and over again.

Men have come after him over and over.

How long?

He says like a leaning wall, a tottering fence.

And I think this is speaking to, isn't amazing how people can step right into your weakness.

They punch you right in that spot where you're, where it's sensitive, where you're struggling.

So the Bible talks about the spiritual warfare going on that those who know the Lord,

we are children of the Lord.

That we are to represent the Lord.

We are a light to this dark world.

We are bearers of Christ.

We have the Holy Spirit.

The Bible says, if that's who you are, you are not home.

You are in a world where there's a battle going on, where there is animosity between you and the evil one,

that there is conflict.

The Bible doesn't shy away from the conflict.

David, how long is this going to happen?

Verse four, it says,

I think the KJV uses the word excellencies.

Spurgeon said the excellencies of the righteous are obnoxious to the wicked.

Thought that was interesting.

The way of your life and how you live, how we're called to live differently, to represent Christ.

Spurgeon also said, and I thought this was very interesting.

He said, if the wicked could but ruin the work of grace in us,

they would be contented.

To crush our character, to overturn our influence is the object of their consultation.

But if the wicked could take you down as a believer, meaning take away your witness,

take away your influence, David says, me of a high position, this excellency.

And as believer, we have this place to be the light in this world.

If the evil one could knock you down, he would love to do that.

This high position.

To honor the Lord.

Dad, you got a high position as a Christian to honor the Lord.

Mom, you have a high position as a mom to honor the Lord, to see the battle,

to see what we're called to and understand the only place to run to is the Lord.

Many times we can forget what we're called to.

We can forget the priority that the Lord has in our life to love one another,

to care for one another, to serve one another.

Last Sunday night, I had the privilege going to a church in Flint.

One of my former students,

students who grew up here at the church and was in youth ministry and served here.

He was ordained as a pastor.

So it was a privilege that I got to be a part of that and got to share.

And so as a pastor, one of his pastors, it's just a delight in my soul.

It was a wonderful time.

And the church came and family came and people I haven't seen in a long time.

And it was just a celebration.

And they asked me to share.

And so it's a celebration.

But in the middle of that celebration, I had to look at that man.

And because it is a celebration, but I had to look at him and say,

hey, the Lord has placed you in a position to love people, to shepherd the flock.

And we celebrate it, but we do not take light the calling.

Why?

Because Satan wants nothing more than to knock you down on what God's called you to do.

In the middle of that celebration, I looked at him and told him,

you need to guard yourself.

It isn't a light battle.

And it isn't just a battle.

It isn't a battle for pastors.

It is a battle for believers of what God has called us to do.

It is of high priority.

David says, how long?

As you come after my weaknesses, this high position, men, they bless with their mouths,

but inwardly they curse.

Then the song goes back to, for God alone, my soul waits in silence.

For my hope is from him.

He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress.

I shall not be shaken.

I shall not be shaken.

I shall not be shaken.

My salvation and my glory, my mighty work, my refuge is God.

And one man said that verses five through seven are almost the same verses,

but with one key difference.

Here, David is not describing how he is.

He is telling his heart what to do.

I guess for me in studying the summer of the book of Psalms,

seeing David's heart, wanting to honor the Lord,

but knowing the battle.

And here, one guy described it like this.

He goes, David is just talking to himself now.

And the author goes, we need to learn to talk to ourself with God's words.

We have to come back where we bring ourself back to go, man, I see the anxiety.

I see how heavy things are.

Come back to the Lord's truth.

David going, man, I could so easily run to that worry and that struggle,

but God only, God only, he is my rock.

One said, we must.

Therefore, stir ourselves up to maintain the holy position,

which we were at first able to assume.

There is this important little truth that we so need to grasp.

We have to keep running back to God's word.

We have to keep putting it in our lives.

It's not a kind of sort of thing.

The God's word is powerful and sharper than any two edged sword.

And as a Christian, we got to keep running.

Running back to it, putting it in our lives, stirring ourselves up.

We gather this morning.

What are we doing?

The goal is to stir up one another into God's word.

It's to remember after you've spent a week getting beat up,

it's to come back together and gather and to be stirred up as a pastor.

My desire is to stir you up into the truth of who God is and what God says.

I hope to stir up.

I hope to stir up your heart so you'll see the importance.

And when that doubt of the flesh and the struggle,

you'll run back to God's word and God's truth.

But can I tell you, it's not just my job to stir you up as we gather, right?

I hope the greeters at the door stir you up as we sing worship together.

You're able to put down all the stuff that fills your head and just put it down

and to run to the worship of God.

You put down all the distractions.

I think that's why David had to say it.

So we stop being distracted.

Come back to the truth of God's word.

Stop worrying about everything else, right?

We don't gather together this morning and after the gathering,

sit in the lobby and talk about all our anxieties and how the world's a mess

and the country and politics and our sports and whatever.

We don't have to do that.

We get to stir each other up because we follow the only God who gives us salvation.

We have the love of God in our lives.

He doesn't leave.

He doesn't leave us nor forsake us.

The things can go off schedule, but we know who we trust.

We know, hey, God's got the schedule.

It may not be my schedule, but it's my God.

And we get to sit in a place of knowing the creator, God almighty loves us.

Send his son Jesus to die on the cross.

And we have his word and we have his truth.

And he only is our salvation.

Here again, we have.

The word Selah.

Let's just pause and think about that.

Think about his truth.

It says trust in him at all times.

Oh, people pour out your hearts before him.

God is our refuge.

God is a refuge for us.

One book I read said, man, in one verse, he put a five point sermon.

He gave the what, when, who, how, and why in one verse.

What?

Trust in him.

When?

At all times.

Who?

Why?

God is our refuge.

How?

Pour out your heart.

Let me walk through that again so we don't miss it.

What?

Trust in him.

When?

At all times.

Who?

Who?

Whoever will come.

Who?

This open invitation for anyone.

One said trusting God is not just for kings or leaders or pastors or super saints.

It's to lean your weight on God and you will find that he is reliable.

How do we do this?

We pour our hearts.

Why?

Because God is reliable.

He is our refuge.

I hope the church will be a place where people in different places and our walk with the

That's why the church is so important that you see people in different places, different

ages, but also seeing those who've walked through the fire, seeing those who are in

the fire, and then look at him and go, and wait a minute, you really do sit on the rock

of God.

You really do trust him for me to go see people in the hospital and look at them and go, man,

there is a faith here.

There is not.

They are not shaken.

They are not thrown off their rock.

They have not in great worry.

They know who their God is and they know he is faithful and they know in the storm they

can rest in him.

Verse nine and 10.

He goes back to what we will start to trust in.

Again, it's just so practical.

Hey, believer, trust in the Lord.

Don't look at men.

Yep, they're going to fail you.

It's okay.

Trust in the Lord.

And then he goes back.

He says, those of low estate are but a breath.

Those of highest state are a delusion.

In the balances, they go up.

They are altogether lighter than a breath.

What is he saying?

He comes back to man.

He goes, man, there, you know, you can look at man and some are prestigious and some have

value and look at some and they look so important.

How important are they?

Put their importance on a scale and weigh it.

How much does it weigh?

It's a vapor.

It doesn't weigh anything that we cannot put our hope in man.

I think when we were little in middle school and high school, like we would just try to

look and go, man, if I could only get in with that group of friends over there, then I would

have worth.

If I could only connect with them, then I would have worth.

But what's so interesting, we continue to do it throughout our life.

If I could just get with those people at work, then I would, if I could just those people

who have that stuff, if I could just get in with that group, then I would find worth.

And here the Bible is saying, you won't find worth in those things.

It's not where you're going to find life.

This life is but a vapor.

Verse 10, put no trust in extortion.

Set no vain hopes on robbery.

If riches increase, set not your heart on them.

Isn't it amazing the things that people would set their heart on, man, if I could just get

that thing, those riches, the Bible goes, this is not where you're going to find life.

One said, don't be.

Don't be tempted by dirty money.

If you think money will protect you, then you won't care where it comes from.

If your deepest hope is money, the pressure to steal will be almost too much to bear.

You will convince yourself that fraud and robbery and extortion are worth it.

What does the Bible say here?

If you think that's where you're going to find life, the truth is you'll do anything

to get it.

We see it today.

Every other commercial, watch a sports show.

Every other commercial is a gift.

Gambling, every other, every other one.

I mean, my mail is filled.

I get stuff all.

Here you go.

If you can just bet, if you can just, if you could just gamble, you will win this thing.

And if you win this thing, then, then what?

Feel the same draw.

People trying to find value in life.

And David is saying, you won't find it.

He goes, even if you find it, not being a thief, you, you find it and doing what's right.

And God blesses you and you work hard and you have a good job.

Don't live.

It's a blessing.

Use it.

Do you see yourself holding onto it more tightly or going, Lord, what do you want to do?

Verse 11 says, once God has spoken twice, have I heard this?

The power belongs to God.

Tell you, I, I struggled to understand this passage.

One helped me understand.

He says, as a parent, you feel like you speak 12 times and they don't hear it once.

Did you not hear me say that 10 times?

You didn't pick it up one time.

So I think here, what it's saying is God.

I spoke once and I kept hearing it over and over again.

God spoke once his truth and I heard it again and it was echoing in my mind and I heard it again

and I heard it again.

And I think what David is saying is keep running back to the word of God to hear it again and

again.

Keep hearing the good advice from the Lord.

We are bombarded with bad advice.

What are you going to do with it?

Will you seek the advice of the Lord?

It's a silly little illustration, but last night,

I was sitting in my house working on the sermon and a little mosquito started flying around me.

So I stuck my arm out there to lure it in.

It did.

I was like, here you go.

Are you there?

Why?

So I could just crush that thing and not worry about it anymore.

We have to move from the bad advice that we keep pouring into our mind and our heart.

We need to move away from those things that we allow to constantly bombard our mind with

anxiety and guilt and we got to move away from those things to crush those things.

How do we do that?

We move to the word of God.

We sit on it.

We're okay if like, man, I read that chapter over and I just didn't get it.

It's okay.

Let's come back to it.

Let's ask the holy, righteous, real God to reveal the truth of his word to our hearts.

To sit in a place where David began this whole thing.

He said, verse one, for God alone, my soul waits in silence to be at peace with the Lord.

Be at peace with what he has.

Be at peace with who he is.

Wish I had time to dive into Jesus as that perfect example.

Jesus being arrested, people yelling and spitting, questioning him.

And you see the great response of Jesus and peace trusting in him.

First Peter 2 21.

For to this you have been called because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example

so that you might follow in his steps.

He committed no sin.

Neither was there deceit found in his mouth.

When he was reviled, he did not revile in return.

When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges

Jesus, our great example, Jesus, our savior, not just our example, but the one who came

and died on the cross and rose again so that we may have a relationship with the almighty

That if we'll confess our sins and believe that Jesus died on the cross and rose again,

he'll save us.

This is the only way to salvation in the Lord.

Only way that we sit upon the rock.

So this morning, may we find peace in the word of God.

Let's stand together.

Lord, thanks for this morning.

Thanks for your word.

Thanks for the challenge, Lord.

May we realize how important your word is.

Thank you and praise you in Jesus name.