Why would God repay you?

As we’ve walked with David and Jeduthun through Psalm 62, they have instructed us to seek God when life gets rough.  When we are attacked, lied to, or in need of a refuge – they have pointed us to God each time.

The words of the psalm have been both challenging and eye-opening.  However, the first time I read through the psalm, the last line threw me a little bit.  It honestly seemed out of place. 

Psalm 62:11-12
God has spoken once; I have heard this twice:
strength belongs to God,
and faithful love belongs to You, Lord.
For You repay each according to his works.

While justice is a natural conclusion from His qualities of strength and love, why does the psalm end with:

For You repay each according to his works.

The general concept that “God is a God of justice”, I understand.  But why say it like this? 

As a church-age believer, I know that at the Bema seat judgment, all I have done – both good and bad – will be evaluated by God and I will be justly rewarded (or not) for my thoughts/choices/actions as a Christian (2 Corinthians 5:10).  HOWEVER, this psalm was written 1000 years before Christ’s birth, which means that David doesn’t know about the future Bema seat judgment.

The whole psalm has been about trusting God right now, for the relationship and the relational benefits in this life.  Does God reward us in this life?  Yes, He does…but we also know that monetary blessing or reward isn’t necessarily an indication of how good or bad my walk with God is at the moment. 

So how can we reconcile David’s last statement with the context of the previous verses?

Here’s what I discovered:

The Hebrew word for repay also means to make peace, or to be at peace. 

Now that we know the definition, this ending phrase makes sense in light of the entirety of the psalm…David and Jeduthun have been challenging us about where we find rest, where we find our security, and, ultimately, where we find our peace.

To the degree that we do the things that David has pointed out as our responsibility:

trusting in God alone
pouring out our heart to Him
not setting our heart on riches

Then all of David’s descriptions of God being our shelter/refuge/strength will become a reality.

And our soul will find rest because God will repay us…not necessarily with riches or material comfort…but with His peace as our refuge from everything the world throws at us.

Keep Pressing,
Ken