Psalms 62
Big idea: The word alone runs through this psalm six times, and it is doing the arguing. My soul rests in God alone. He alone is my rock. Wait in silence for God alone. Everything else is weighed and found to have no mass: men of low degree are just a breath, men of high degree are a lie; put them on a scale and they go up. Oppression, robbery, increasing riches — all named and all set aside. And the psalm's conclusion is a piece of overheard arithmetic: God has spoken once; twice I have heard this, that power belongs to God — and, in the same breath, so does loving kindness.
Psalm 62 waits in silence in a settled place. Psalm 63 does the same thing in a desert.
62:1–7 — My soul rests in God alone
The word 'alone' carries this psalm, and it appears four times in seven verses. Its opening is not a request but a report — my soul rests in God alone — and then, having said it, the psalm turns to the attackers and describes itself from their side: a leaning wall, a tottering fence, something already half down. The refrain then repeats with one word dropped, and the drop is the movement.
1 For the Chief Musician. To Jeduthun. A Psalm by David. My soul rests in God alone. My salvation is from him. 2 He alone is my rock, my salvation, and my fortress. I will never be greatly shaken. 3 How long will you assault a man? Would all of you throw him down, like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence? 4 They fully intend to throw him down from his lofty place. They delight in lies. They bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah. 5 My soul, wait in silence for God alone, for my expectation is from him. 6 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress. I will not be shaken. 7 My salvation and my honor is with God. The rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.
62:8–12 — Power belongs to God
The psalm turns outward and hands over the instruction: trust at all times, and pour out your heart. Then it weighs everyone. Low and high both go UP in the scales — they are too light, not too heavy — which is a joke about importance. And it closes on something heard twice: power belongs to God, and so, in the same breath, does loving kindness.
8 Trust in him at all times, you people. Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us. Selah. 9 Surely men of low degree are just a breath, and men of high degree are a lie. In the balances they will go up. They are together lighter than a breath. 10 Don’t trust in oppression. Don’t become vain in robbery. If riches increase, don’t set your heart on them. 11 God has spoken once; twice I have heard this, that power belongs to God. 12 Also to you, Lord, belongs loving kindness, for you reward every man according to his work.
Scripture text: World English Bible (public domain).