Every Time I Waver

Introduction

We often assume that a person of strong faith is a person who never wavers. But David in Psalm 62 was anything but that.

He was not merely passing through a difficult season. His enemies were plotting to bring him down from his place of honor. Not with swords and spears, but with lies, slander, betrayal, and conspiracy. They blessed him with their mouths while cursing him in their hearts.

In the midst of it all, David describes his own condition:

"...as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence." (v. 3, KJV)

כְּקִיר נָטוּי גָּדֵר הַדְּחוּיָה

(kəqîr nāṭûy, gāḏēr haddəḥûyāh)

A wall already tilting — a fence on the verge of collapse

David did not pretend to be strong. He was wavering, and he felt as though he could fall at any moment.

And yet — remarkably — Psalm 62 is not the story of a man who never wavers. It is the story of a man who returns to God every time he does.

I. When You Waver — Confess Your Weakness Before God (vv. 1–4)

"He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved." (v. 2, KJV)

The attack against David was specific. His enemies were not simply hostile — they were strategic.

מִשְּׂאֵתוֹ יָעֲצוּ לְהַדִּיחַ

They conspired to topple him from his place of honor

And they did it while blessing him with their lips (v. 4). It was not open opposition but concealed treachery — and that made it far more dangerous.

David did not hide his condition. He felt like a leaning wall, a tottering fence. He admitted that one more push might bring him down. He laid his weakness bare before God without pretense.

And yet, over that confession stands this word:

לֹא אֶמּוֹט רַבָּה

I shall not be greatly moved

Not "I shall not be moved" — but "I shall not be greatly moved." David does not claim to be unshakeable. He confesses that he is wavering, but will not be swept away — because though his footing trembles, his Rock does not.

Faith does not begin by pretending we are not shaken. It begins when we honestly confess our wavering before God — and anchor ourselves to the One who cannot be shaken.

II. When You Waver — Command Your Soul to Look to God (v. 5)

"My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him." (v. 5, KJV)

Nothing around David had changed. His enemies were still there. The circumstances were the same. But something shifted in David himself.

In verse 1, David describes his state: "My soul waiteth upon God." In verse 5, he turns and speaks to his own soul:

דּוֹמִּי נַפְשִׁי

(dōmmî nap̄šî) — Soul, be still

The Hebrew root is the same as verse 1. But verse 1 is a description of his state; verse 5 is a command to his soul. The same word has moved from passive condition to active, deliberate choice.

"Soul — be still. Do not be carried away by anxiety. Do not look to people. Look to God alone."

David did not wait until he felt calm before turning to God. In the midst of fear, in the depths of discouragement, he proclaimed the truth of God to his own restless soul.

A person of faith is not someone who is never governed by emotion — it is someone who, even in the grip of fear, commands their own soul to look to God.

III. The More You Return to God, the Deeper the Assurance Grows (vv. 6–12)

The circumstances had not changed. His enemies were still there. But what had changed was David's soul — and that made all the difference.

Compare verses 2 and 6 side by side:

v. 2: לֹא אֶמּוֹט רַבָּה (I shall not be greatly moved)

v. 6: לֹא אֶמּוֹט (I shall not be moved)

The word "greatly" (רַבָּה) has disappeared. The situation is unchanged — but the faith has deepened. Why? Because every time David returned to God, God grew larger in his sight — and everything else grew smaller by comparison.

First: People are but a breath (v. 9)

"Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie" (KJV). People are הֶבֶל (hebel) — breath, vapor, a passing wisp. David had been shaken by those who amount to vapor. Returning to God helped him see them as they truly are.

Second: Riches cannot be your rock (v. 10)

"If riches increase, set not your heart upon them" (KJV). The issue is not wealth itself, but where the heart rests. Every return to God repositions the heart's anchor where it belongs.

Third: Power and lovingkindness belong to God (vv. 11–12)

"That power belongeth unto God. Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy" (KJV). God is sovereign in might, and overflowing in covenant love (חֶסֶד, ḥesed). David comes to see that God is greater than his enemies, greater than his circumstances, greater than everything threatening him.

The mark of maturing faith is not that our problems disappear. It is that every time we return to God in our wavering, He becomes larger — and the problems, smaller.

Conclusion

David did not begin by declaring, "I shall not be moved."

He began by saying, "I shall not be greatly moved" — an honest confession that acknowledged his own weakness before God.

Then he issued a command to his own soul: "Soul — do not be swept along by anxiety. Look to God alone." Not because he felt calm, but because in the midst of fear he made a deliberate, active choice.

And as he kept returning to God, רַבָּה fell away. In the place where "greatly" once stood, a deeper assurance took root. The situation had not changed — but David had.

Faith is not the power to remain unshaken —

it is the power to return to God every time we waver.

Our wavering is not the failure of faith. It is an invitation — to return, once more, to God.