Bible · Psalms

Psalms 62

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1Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation.2He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.3How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence.4They only consult to cast him down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.5My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.6He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved.7In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.8Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.9Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.10Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.11God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God.12Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy: for thou renderest to every man according to his work.

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Notes for this chapter

Historical Background

Psalm 62 carries a superscription attributing it to David, written “to the chief Musician, after the manner of Jeduthun,” one of the appointed leaders of temple music. Jeduthun was a Levite whose name appears elsewhere connected with contemplative, meditative worship, and that spirit breathes through every line of this psalm. Most scholars connect the composition with the period of Absalom's rebellion, when David found himself not only betrayed by his own son but also surrounded by flattering counsellors and treacherous allies who smiled to his face while conspiring against him. The Hebrew word translated “waiteth” in the opening verse is a particularly striking one, “dûmiyyâh,” meaning a silent, still waiting, the kind of soul-quiet that is not passive resignation but active trust held steady under enormous pressure.

David does not merely say he is waiting upon God; he says his soul is silence toward God, a posture of complete interior surrender in the middle of political chaos and personal danger.

The psalm opens with a double declaration of confidence, and the repetition between verses one through two and verses five through seven is intentional and deeply instructive. Matthew Henry notes that David speaks first to his own soul before he speaks to others, and there is profound spiritual wisdom in this sequence. By verse five he returns to the same ground, but now the language has shifted slightly. In verse two he says he “shall not be greatly moved,” but by verse six, with faith strengthened through meditation, he says simply “I shall not be moved.”

The qualification has dropped away entirely. This is how prolonged waiting upon God works; it does not merely maintain faith, it deepens and clarifies it. Sandwiched between these two declarations of trust are verses three and four, which turn briefly to acknowledge the enemies themselves, a bowing wall, a tottering fence, men who bless with their lips while cursing in their hearts. Adam Clarke observes that these images of the leaning wall and the crumbling fence speak to the instability of wickedness itself; those who seem threatening are already structurally unsound, and their collapse is inevitable. David does not dwell long on the enemies, however. He names the danger honestly and then returns his gaze to God.

Core Teaching

Verse eight represents the pastoral turn of the psalm, where David moves from his own private meditation to a public invitation. Having stabilised his own soul in God, he now calls the whole congregation to the same refuge. “Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him.” The phrase “pour out your heart” echoes the language of Hannah in 1 Samuel and captures something essential about authentic prayer, not the formal presentation of requests but the unreserved opening of the inner life before God.

Barnes notes that this kind of prayer assumes God is entirely trustworthy with whatever the heart contains, its fears, its angers, its doubts, its griefs. The Selah placed at the end of this verse invites a pause, as though the worshippers are meant to let that invitation settle before moving forward. Ellen White, writing in Steps to Christ, captures this same spirit when she encourages believers to bring everything before God with the simplicity and openness of a child, trusting that He both hears and cares.

Commentary Insights

Verses nine and ten offer one of the most searching passages in the whole psalm, a realistic and even severe assessment of where human beings tend to misplace their confidence. David surveys both ordinary people and the powerful and finds both groups equally weightless when placed on the scale of eternity. The image drawn from commerce and trade, the balance or scales, would have been immediately understood in an ancient Near Eastern context where merchants literally weighed goods to determine value. Human status, whether it rises from birth and position or from wealth and force, amounts to nothing when measured against the eternal.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown draws attention to the triple synonyms of emptiness here, vanity, a lie, lighter than vanity, as if ordinary language can barely express how insubstantial human confidence turns out to be. The warning against setting the heart on increasing riches is not a condemnation of material blessing in itself but a caution about misplaced affection. Wealth is not a foundation; only God is.

Reflection & Application

The psalm closes in verses eleven and twelve with what commentators have long recognised as a compressed theological summary of extraordinary density. “God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God. Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy.” The phrase “spoken once, twice have I heard” is a Hebrew literary form indicating emphasis and certainty, the way wisdom literature often introduces something of supreme importance.

What David has heard is twofold: that all power belongs to God, and that this same God is characterised by mercy. These two truths belong together and must never be separated. Power without mercy would be terror. Mercy without power would be sentiment. But a God who holds all strength in His hands and whose very nature is steadfast love is precisely the God upon whom a soul can rest in absolute silence, just as David described at the very opening of the psalm.

From a Christ-centred perspective, these closing verses point forward to the One in whom divine power and mercy are most fully revealed, the One of whom John would write that He came full of grace and truth, and in whom all the promises of God find their yes and amen.

Go deeper — references Classic commentaries on this chapter

Matthew Henry's Commentary Matthew Henry (1662–1714) Adam Clarke's Commentary Adam Clarke (1760–1832) Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Jamieson, Fausset & Brown (1871) Barnes' Notes on the Bible Albert Barnes (1798–1870) EGW Writings Ellen G. White Blue Letter Bible Study tools and lexicon

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