Bible Commentaries

Psalms 62:1 « To the chief Musician, to Jeduthun, A Psalm of David. » Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him [cometh] my salvation.

A Psalm of David] Who being well assured that his prayers in the former psalm were heard, and should be answered, breaketh forth into his triumphant profession of his faith. Lo, here the happy fruit of faithful and fervent prayer.

Ver. 1. Truly my soul waiteth upon God] Waiting is nothing else but hope and trust lengthened; and hereof David giveth us an excellent example in his own person, Idque tanta tamque vegeta cum magnitudine animi, cui ipsae quoque sententiae et voces respondent, and with so good a courage set forth in suitable expressions, that he who hath this psalm by heart, and hath laid it to his heart, cannot but be transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord, 2 Corinthians 3:18.

From him cometh my salvation] Take it in the full extent, not only as it signifieth the privative part of man’s happiness, but the positive part also, and preservation therein.

Psalms 62:2 He only [is] my rock and my salvation; [he is] my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.

Ver. 2. He only is my rock, &c.] See Psalms 18:2-3.

I shall not be greatly moved] Non labascam multo lapsu (Vatabl.), for the Lord putteth under his hand. I shall not be moved greatly, or into the great abyss, Tehom Rabi bah (as Aben Ezra hath it), into hell (as other Rabbis sense it); I shall not be tempted above that I am able, as 1 Corinthians 10:13; persecuted I may be, but not relinquished; cast down, but not cast off, 2 Corinthians 4:9 : shaken, but for my better settlement at last.

Psalms 62:3 How 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.

Ver. 3. How long will ye imagine mischief against a man?] What though I am but a man, and in your eyes a mean despicable creature; yet know ye, that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself, Psalms 4:3, where David bespeaketh his enemies with like sharpness as here for their malice and madness against him. The Hebrew word rendered imagine is found only here: the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin render it, How long will ye rush against a man? επιτιθεσθε, Irruitis. Austin, Quosque apponitis super hominem? sc. onera et opprobria, How long lay you load of injuries and indignities upon me?

Ye shall be slain all of you] Or, will ye be murdered? Will ye run upon the pikes? Are you ambitious of your own ruin?

As a bowing wall shall ye be] Borne down by the weight of your own wickedness. As a bulging wall standeth not long, and as a rotten hedge, if but trod on, breaketh under a man; so shall ye be suddenly destroyed, and with little ado. Thus he threatened his enemies, the proudest of them, being himself gotten upon the rock that was higher than he, Psalms 61:2.

Psalms 62:4 They only consult to cast [him] down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.

Ver. 4. They only consult to cast him down from his excellency] Or, yet they consult; q.d. Notwithstanding all that I can say or that God will do to them, they will on in their evil devices and endeavours against me; there is no reclaiming of them. Deus quos destruit dementat.

They delight in lies] Not only he that maketh a lie, but he that loveth and delighteth in it when made by another, shall be shut out of heaven, Revelation 22:15, Romans 1:32.

They bless with their mouths] Heb. with his mouth, that is, every one doth so; neither is there ever a better of these glavering companions, dissembling scrubs.

Psalms 62:5 My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation [is] from him.

Ver. 5. My soul, wait thou only upon God] They trust not God at all, that is, not alone. He that stands with one foot on a rock and another foot upon a quicksand, will sink and perish as certainly as he that standeth with both feet on a quicksand. David knew this, and therefore calleth earn and earnestly upon his soul (for his business lay most within doors) to trust only upon God. See Psalms 62:1.

For my expectation is from him] If he will not help me, none else shall; but it is he that saith, Look unto me and be saved, for I am God, and there is none else, Isaiah 45:22.

Psalms 62:6 He only [is] my rock and my salvation: [he is] my defence; I shall not be moved.

Ver. 6. He only is, &c.] Versus amoibaeus. See Psalms 62:2.

I shall not be moved] Before it was, I shall not be greatly moved; now upon further exercise of his trust, it is, I shall not be moved. Ita in lucta crescit lux fidei, et tides firmior; faith is made stronger by trials.

Psalms 62:7 In God [is] my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, [and] my refuge, [is] in God.

Ver. 7. In God is my salvation and my glory, &c.] By these many adjuncts and attributions David helpeth his faith, and quelleth the commotions of his headstrong affections. See Psalms 18:2.

Psalms 62:8 Trust in him at all times; [ye] people, pour out your heart before him: God [is] a refuge for us. Selah.

Ver. 8. Trust in him at all times] As well in the fail of outward comforts as in the abundance of them, trust him without a pawn; trust in a killing God, as Job did.

Pour out your hearts before him] sc. In prayer, 1 Samuel 1:11, first, rend your hearts, ut effundafur peccatum, saith Kimchi, and then pour them out as water, Lamentations 2:19, not as oil, which sticks to the side of the vessel that held it, but as water, that will out every drop; make a plain and full confession of all your sins in prayer, lest God say to you of your sins, as Samuel did to Jesse of his sons, Are these all? See the practice hereof in those penitent Israelites, 1 Samuel 7:6, and give not over the practice of mortification, till you feel your hearts fall asunder in your bosoms like drops of water. If iniquity be harboured there, prayer is obstructed; and if it do break out, it will have the scent and savour of that iniquity upon it.

God is a refuge for us] A safe and sure refuge; not as men who are a lie, Psalms 62:9, and were never true to those that trusted them.

Psalms 62:9 Surely 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.

Ver. 9. Surely men of low degree are vanity] Man is a depending creature, and, like the vine, must have somewhat to lean upon; apt he is to leave God, and cleave to the creature, to make either men or means his refuge; David therefore dehorteth from both, in this and the next verse showing that men of what degree soever are in nowise to be confided in. The word rendered vanity denoteth a vain light thing, such as is the breath of one’s mouth or a bubble on the water

Men of high degree are a lie] There is no more truth nor assurance in them than in a false tale; also they frustrate men’s hopes, as a barren fruit tree, Hebrews 3:17.

They are altogether, lighter,. &c.] Put all mankind into one bundle, into one balance, and vanity into the ether, and it will weigh them down, Ut ascendant ipsi prae vanitate simul.

Psalms 62:10 Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart [upon them].

Ver. 10. Trust not in oppression, &c.] In the fail of persons. Some may think that things may be trusted to, as wealth, wit, power, &c., but especially wealth, 1 Timothy 6:17. Trust not to that, saith the Psalmist, whether it will be ill or well gotten, unless you covet to be deceived; for, first, he who getteth riches and not by right shall leave them in the midst of his days, and in his end be a fool, a poor fool God will make of him, Jeremiah 17:11, Male parta male dilabentur.

If riches increase] Though by means lawful and laudable, though they come in at the street door, and not at a postern, Non minimum felieitatis argumentum Metello fuit bona malta bona mode invenisse (Policrat. lib. 8, c. 4), yet

Set not your heart upon them] Place not your felicity in them, think not yourselves simply the better or the safer for them. Be not puffed up with outward things, as a bubble with a child s blast in a walnut shell, when he hath in it a little scope. Wilt thou cause thine eyes to fly upon that which is not? Proverbs 23:5. An eagle will not catch flies (that is no game for her), much less will she make a flight at nothing, when there is no game sprung at all. He is the true rich man, who loveth his riches poorly, saith one.

Psalms 62:11 God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power [belongeth] unto God.

Ver. 11. God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this] The Septuagint have it thus, Once spoke God, these two things have I heard; that is, say some, in the second commandment, where mention is made of God’s jealousy and mercy, Exodus 20:5-6. Others, Once and again spoke God, and I have heard it. Or, God spoke once, I heard him twice, viz. by an after deliberate meditation upon what I had heard; I preached over the sermon as it were again to myself, and so heard it a second time.

That power belongeth unto God] He is well able to punish the wicked, Ezra 8:22. {See Trapp on "Ezra 8:22"}

Psalms 62:12 Also unto thee, O Lord, [belongeth] mercy: for thou renderest to every man according to his work.

Ver. 12. Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy] viz. To set thy power a-work for the good of thy people. And as these two, God’s power and God’s mercy, are the two pillars, the Boaz and the Jachin of every believer, (hence Job Job 42:2, having spoken his power, he speaketh of his thoughts of peace towards his people) so they are sufficient proofs of the doctrines before delivered, and do evince the truth of that which followeth.

For thou renderest to every man according to his work] viz. Judgment to the wicked and mercy to the righteous; where the Syriac interpreter giveth this good note, Est gratis Dei ut reddit homini secundum opera bona, quia metres bonorum operum est ex gratis. It is mercy in God to set his love on them that keep his commandmeats, Exodus 20:6.