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It is encouraging to those who are naturally timid to see how to Psalmist's trust and
confidence grow by experience:
"He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defence: I shall not be greatly
moved" (Psa. 62: 2).
"He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defence: I shall not be moved"
(Psa. 62: 6).
At the first venture of faith the Psalmist's expression is "I shall not be greatly moved".
After having experienced something of the Lord as his rock and defence, the Psalmist
omits the qualifying word and says "I shall not be moved".
We must now look at some N.T. illustrations. Let us turn first to Paul's words as his
first great ministry drew to a close. Facing the future, with its bonds and afflictions, he
says:
"But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I
might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord
Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20: 24).
Do we feel as we read these words, that such a condition is beyond us? Let us
remember that the unmoved state of the first sentence is largely the result of what is
represented by the rest of the verse. Paul was unmoved in the face of bonds and
afflictions because He did not count his soul dear to himself. He already knew that all he
had and all he was belonged to his Redeemer. He was not his own; he had been bought
with a price. A self-centred man is easily moved, but a man who holds self as but a
means of serving the Lord will not easily be disturbed at the thought of trials and
afflictions. Also the apostle had a goal in front of him. He desired to finish his course, to
fulfil his calling; and in its pursuit he endured and overcame odds that to a lesser soul
would have been overwhelming.
The words: "But none of these things move me" are a free rendering of the original
All' oudenos logon poioumai, which literally means that Paul did not "make account of
even one thing". The Vatican Manusrcipt reads: "Of no account make I life precious to
myself", which crystallizes the thought already expressed above.
Another suggestive passage is I Thess. 3: 3 where Timothy is sent to the
Thessalonians: "That no man should be moved by these afflictions." It is very probable
that the preposition en translated in this verse "by" should carry its primitive meaning
"in". The verb "move" here means "to fawn upon", "to flatter", "to deceived through
flattery"; and the idea seems to be that when one is enduring affliction, one is open to
"fawning" and "flattering" suggestions from seeming well-wishers, and that such must be
resisted by faith.
We come in conclusion to the great and triumphant exhortation of the apostle in
I Cor. 15: 58. With resurrection as a glorious fact, with Christ as the mighty Victor over
death and the grave, with a glorious hope before the believer, this chapter ends with the
words: