Psalms of David

Psalms are songs. They are written as worship, for when man encounters God and God encounters man; they work both ways. But they are not only songs, but also stories. Stories of people’s delight in God and also of their struggles in a world where there seems to be no justice. The stories in these Psalms of David in the second book of Psalms are mostly easy to find. Psalm 62 is different, its story looks hard to find. What is the story of Psalm 62?

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Psalms in Book 2 are like Book 1 in that they are mostly lament and distress although they now include a communal voice in addition to the singular voice of the first book.

The books of Psalms are roughly themed like this:

Book 1: Psalms 1 – 41: God is beside us.
Book 2: Psalms 42 – 72: God goes before us
Book 3: Psalms 73 – 89: God is all around us.
Book 4: Psalms 90 – 106: God is above us.
Book 5: Psalms 107 – 150: God is among us.

To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.

62 For God alone my soul waits in silence;
    from him comes my salvation.
² He only is my rock and my salvation,
    my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.

³ How long will all of you attack a man
     to batter him,
     like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
⁴ They only plan to thrust him down from his high position.
     They take pleasure in falsehood.
They bless with their mouths,
     but inwardly they curse. Selah

⁵ For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
    for my hope is from him.
⁶ He only is my rock and my salvation,
    my fortress; I shall not be shaken.

⁷ On God rests my salvation and my glory;
    my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

⁸ Trust in him at all times, O people;
     pour out your heart before him;
     God is a refuge for us. Selah

⁹ Those of low estate are but a breath;
     those of high estate are a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
     they are together lighter than a breath.

¹⁰ Put no trust in extortion;
     set no vain hopes on robbery;
     if riches increase, set not your heart on them.

¹¹ Once God has spoken;
    twice have I heard this:
that power belongs to God,
¹²     and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.
For you will render to a man
    according to his work.

Psalm 62 ESVUK

Understanding Psalm 62 is, to borrow Winston Churchill’s memorable phrase, a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. There are several different versions of what it means but it is written in two-parts, both in different styles.

Both parts, verses 1 to 6 and 7 to 12 are each in the most common poetic form in the Psalms, a chiasm. Chiasm, meaning crossing over, is a form used in nearly all of the Psalms and is a repetition of similar ideas in the reverse sequence. The first part contains the Hebrew word for only 5 times, in verses 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6. The stress on only God, in only God I trust and only he is my rock, fortress and salvation, in a section that serves to bookend the first section, contrasts with the central section that they only seek to knock him down. It looks like social wisdom literature, but Psalm 62 is not fully part of the Hebrew Wisdom tradition in books such as Job and Proverbs. Another part of the enigma that is Psalm 62.

There is a link between the two parts of the psalm, which comes in the centre of each part. The first part speaks, in verses 3 and 4, of people who try to bring people down, probably to build themselves up. In the second it says in verse 9 that anything a person aspires to, from the poorest to the highest, is a delusion, nothing. It is flanked by verses about trust. Trust in God, do not trust in extortion and robbery.

The thing this section is about though is power. “God is my mighty rock,” says David in verse 7. “Power belongs to God,” he says in verse 11. The Hebrew word oz translated as both mighty and power.

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Our power comes from God, 
trust him. 
All people are alike 
their power is nothing, 
do not trust them. 
All power belongs to God.

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Two short songs in different styles, one on waiting only for God and the other about God’s power. There is no single meaning in Psalm 62. Do these two songs belong together? I think they do.

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