Psalms

Introduction
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150

PSALM 62^*

Trust in God Alone

1For the leader; ‘al Jeduthun.^* A psalm of David.

I

2My soul rests in God alone,^a

from whom comes my salvation.

3God alone is my rock and salvation,

my fortress; I shall never fall.

4How long will you set yourself against a man?

You shall all be destroyed,

Like a sagging wall

or a tumbled down fence!

5Even highly placed people

plot to overthrow him.

They delight in lies;

they bless with their mouths,

but inwardly they curse.^b

Selah

II

6My soul, be at rest in God alone,

from whom comes my hope.

7God alone is my rock and my salvation,

my fortress; I shall not fall.

8My deliverance and honor are with God,^c

my strong rock;

my refuge is with God.

9Trust God at all times, my people!

Pour out your hearts to God our refuge!

Selah

III

10Mortals are a mere breath,

the sons of man but an illusion;^d

On a balance they rise;^*

together they weigh nothing.

11Do not trust in extortion;

in plunder put no empty hope.

On wealth that increases,

do not set your heart.^e

12^*One thing God has said;

two things I have heard:^f

Strength belongs to God;

13so too, my Lord, does mercy,

For you repay each man

according to his deeds.^g

* [Psalm 62] A song of trust displaying serenity from experiencing God’s power (the refrains of Ps 62:2–3 and Ps 62:6–7) and anger toward unjust enemies (Ps 62:4–5). From the experience of being rescued, the psalmist can teach others to trust in God (Ps 62:9–12).

* [62:1] ‘Al Jeduthun: apparently the Hebrew name for the melody.

* [62:10] On a balance they rise: precious objects were weighed by balancing two pans suspended from a beam. The lighter pan rises.

* [62:12] One thingâ€¦two things: parallelism of numbers for the sake of variation, a common device in Semitic poetry. One should not literally add up the numbers, cf. Am 1:3; Prv 6:16–19; 30:15, 18, 21.

a. [62:2–3, 6–7] Ps 18:3; 31:3–4; 42:10; 118:8; 146:3.

b. [62:5] Ps 12:3; 28:3; 55:22; Prv 26:24–25.

c. [62:8] Ps 3:3; Is 26:4; 60:19.

d. [62:10] Ps 39:6–7; 144:4; Jb 7:16; Wis 2:5.

e. [62:11] Jb 31:25; Eccl 5:9; Jer 17:11; Mt 6:19–21, 24.

f. [62:12] Jb 40:5.

g. [62:13] Ps 28:4; 31:24; 2 Sm 3:39; Jb 34:11; Jer 17:10; Mt 16:27; Rom 2:6; 2 Tm 4:14.