Bible Commentaries
Psalms 62

Introduction

1. Intro: Rest in God Alone
   1. Here David gives us 3 assurances in these 3 metered stanzas that help us to wait, or find rest in God. God is our Salvation. God is our Expectation. God is our Vindication.
   2. We all face difficulties with people, or things, or circumstances, wait on the Lord.
      1. Which, as a side note, Book of Philippians is about, 4 things that will steal your joy: Circumstances (ch.1) People (ch.2) Possessions (ch.3) Worry (ch.4).
   3. This is an affirmation of faith...faith in God not man, not money, not position.
      1. God Elohim, is used 7 x’s. El in its plural form, Elohim, maybe speaking to Father, Son, Holy Spirit in their united action of power. [1,5,7,7,8,11,11]
   4. Title: Jeduthun - praising, a Levite of the family of Merari, and 1 of the 3 masters of music appointed by David. 1 Chr.16:41
   5. Vs.1,2 & 5,6 are almost identical & state the theme of the Psalm.
2. GOD IS OUR SALVATION (1-4)
   1. ​​​​​​​Salvation not from sin but from danger. Or, from Him comes my delivery.
      1. What do you need to be delivered from today? someone, a fear/phobia, a situation, bills, a disease, a tragedy in your past, an old sin you can’t seem to shake, an old sin you’ve confessed a million times...but still haunts you, a bondage, anxiety, What do you need to be delivered from today?
   2. Literal translations: only toward God my soul waits in silence; only for God waits my soul all hushed. [Alexander Maclaren, “That one word only is the record of conflict & the trophy of (the psalmist’s) victory.”]
      1. The noises of contending desires, whispers earthly hopes, are hushed, and the soul listens, finds rest(NIV). I’m not going to run around & lose control of myself. I’m going to wait on the Lord.
      2. The words have all been said or perhaps no words will come...& the issue rests with Him alone.
         1. This is summed up well in Ps.123:2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, So our eyes look to the Lord our God, Until He has mercy on us.
      3. This is the test of true waiting. Wait before God till the voices, suggestions, and energies of nature become silent.
      4. This is why God keeps you waiting. All the ideas of self and nature must be silenced. One voice after another cease to boast. One light after another be put out, until the soul is shut up to God alone.
   3. (2) I shall not be moved greatly - greatly is last. When this is repeated in the refrain in vs.6 it is unqualified. He wont even be a little bit moved.
   4. (3,4) [NIV] How long will you assault me? Would all of you throw me down - this leaning wall, this tottering fence?
      1. ​​​​​​​David accuses his enemies of continuing to hit him while he’s tottering.
         1. Evil is attracted to weakness & loves to give that last push to whatever is leaning or tottering. It is also attracted to strength, the target of its envy to topple it from its high position.
3. GOD IS OUR EXPECTATION (5-8)
   1. ​​​​​​​Someone said,“Blessed is the man who expects nothing; he shall never be disappointed.” What a gloomy beatitude. [expectation = hope]
      1. “Prayer is not conquering God’s reluctance, but laying hold of His willingness.”
   2. Same refrain here, but with a few subtle nuances:
      1. David urges on himself the silence which he simply stated before.
      2. Next, he substitutes hope/expectation for salvation/deliverance.
      3. (unqualified, greatly is omitted) I shall not be moved/shaken [stagger/quake/shake].
         1. I use an inflatable exercise balance disk at the gym. It is unstable, thus making even the smallest muscles react/work to maintain balance. Everything quivers at first.
         2. But David isn’t going to stagger, quake or shake why? because of his foundation, he is standing on God as his rock, his salvation, his defense.
   3. (7) Now he decides not to brood on the traitors & their plots. He fills his thoughts w/God.
      1. Poem: One ship drives east & another drives west, With the selfsame winds that blow. Tis the set of the sails, And not the gales, Which tells us the way to go. [Ella Wheeler Wilcox]
      2. Out of deep deep struggles the psalmist has reached his present confidence.
      3. He now waits upon God quietly, for God alone is his true security.
   4. Where do we normally look for our expectation? to ourselves, to our wallets, to our friends? Where do we look when our future is dark & bleak? David looked to God.
      1. The rock of my strength, And my refuge, is in God - God is a refuge to us in our times of temptation, in our days of adversity, in our nights of affliction, & in our somber times of death.
   5. (8) Now David calls us, all God followers, to trust God under all circumstances, at all times. Both in prosperity & adversity. For better or worse, for richer for poorer, in joy & in sorrow, in sickness & in health.
   6. Pour out your heart before Him - this is the opposite pole of silent prayer.
      1. If silently waiting is the north pole, than pouring out your heart is the south pole
      2. So together we have...the disciplined expectancy (waiting) on one hand & the spontaneous unburdening (pouring out) on the other.
4. GOD IS OUR VINDICATION (9-12)
   1. ​​​​​​​(9) We put no confidence in man, not in common people nor powerful people. We put no confidence in robbing others nor in personal riches.
      1. We have nothing to fear from man & nothing to hope from him. So, do not set your heart on them/him. (9b) [note: alone in vs.5]
   2. (12) We do not have to vindicate ourselves, for our vindication comes from God, who will render to each one according to our deeds.
   3. Mercy/hesed - is linked to covenant keeping, steadfast love, true love.