Psalms · Chapter 62

Verse 1. Truly my soul waiteth upon God] I do not think that the original will warrant this translation, נפשי hymwd אלהים la Ëa ak el Elohim dumiyah naphshi, “Surely to God only is my soul dumb.” I am subject to God Almighty. He has a right to lay on me what he pleases; and what he lays on me is much less than I deserve: therefore am I dumb before God. The Vulgate, and almost all the Versions, have understood it in this sense: Nonne Deo subjecta erit anima mea? Shall not my soul be subject to God? In other words, God alone has a right to dispose of my life as he pleases.

Verse 1. Truly my soul waiteth upon God — Or, Nevertheless, as some render the Hebrew particle Ëa, ach, or, however it be, whatever difficulties or dangers I may meet with; though God frown upon me, and I meet with discouragements in my attendance on him, yet still my soul waiteth upon God, hymwd, dumijah, is silent toward him, does not object to what he doth, and expects what he will do, silently, quietly, and patiently looking up to him for deliverance, and that in his own time and way, without murmuring or despair, or using indirect or sinful practices. Observe, reader, we are in the way both of duty and comfort, when our souls are waiting upon God; that is, when we cheerfully refer ourselves, and the disposal of all our affairs, to his wisdom; when we acquiesce in, and accommodate ourselves to, all the dispensations of his providence, and patiently expect a doubtful event, with an entire satisfaction in his righteousness and goodness, however it be. The LXX. render this clause, ouci tw Qew upotaghsetai h yuch mou; shall not my soul be subject to God? Certainly it ought so to be; for, from him cometh my salvation — I have no hope of deliverance or safety but from and by him.

1. Truly—The word occurs six times in this psalm, and is translated truly, verse 1; only, verses 2, 4, 5, 6; and surely, verse 9. In every instance truly, or verily, would give the sense, and it is better to adhere to a uniform rendering. In this verse, and in verses 2, 5, 6, it has a kindred significance to amen, verily, in the New Testament, and is the language of faith and solemn asseveration. The psalm must be supposed to have been written immediately before the battle described 2 Samuel 18, and is a specimen throughout of sage counsel and calm faith. Waiteth—Is still—trusts calmly. It is a description of perfect submission, or soul-rest in God. So verse 5, and Psalm 4:4; 37:7. In Psalm 131:2, it is rendered quieted myself.

Verse 2. I shall not be greatly moved.] Having God for my rock-strong fortified place, for my salvation-continual safety, and my defence-my elevated tower, which places me out of the reach of my enemies; I shall not be greatly moved-I may be shaken, but cannot be cast down.

Verse 2. He only is my rock — He hath been so often; in him I have found shelter, and strength, and succour; he hath, by his grace, supported me under, and delivered me out of my troubles, and by his providence he has defended me from my enemies, and therefore I trust he will still support, deliver, and defend me. I shall not be greatly moved — Though I may be shaken, I shall not be overthrown.

Verse 2, 6. He only is my rock. Princes trusted in armies and fortresses, David only in the Lord. Therefore his confidence was like the rock on which he reposed.

2. My rock—See on Psalm 61:1. My defence—My high place, an allusion to the high, rocky fortress, as 2 Samuel 5:6-9, the strongest defence known to ancient military life. Greatly moved—The insurrection will disturb, and for the time disarrange, many surface elements, but will not overthrow or unsettle my kingdom. Thus far he had received answer to prayer.

V. 3. Ye-Mine enemies; to whom now he turns his speech. Against-Against me, a man like yourselves, whom common humanity obliges you to pity.

Verse 3. How long will ye imagine mischief] The original word, wttwht tehothethu, has been translated variously; rush upon, rage against, stir yourselves up, thrust against: the root is tth hathath or hth hathah, to rush violently upon, to assault. It points out the disorderly riotous manner in which this rebellion was conducted.

As a bowing wall-a tottering fence.] Ye are just ready to fall upon others, and destroy them; and in that fall yourselves shall be destroyed: “Ye shall be slain the whole of you.”

Verse 3. How long will ye — Mine enemies, (to whom he now turns his speech,) imagine mischief against a man — Against me, a man like yourselves, whom common humanity obliges you to pity; a single man, who is no fit match for you? Ye shall be slain all of you — The mischief which ye design for me shall fall upon your own heads. And accordingly Saul, and the generality of these men, were slain, 1 Samuel 31. As a bowing wall shall ye be — As suddenly and easily overthrown; as a tottering fence — The word fence, or hedge, does not fully express the sense of the original word, rdg, gadeer, “which means such a sort of partition, or wall, as, when it is decayed, is liable to fall and crush a man to death. In this view the similitude is, not that they should be in a ruinous condition, like a decayed wall, but that they should threaten destruction to all who came near them, as a falling wall does to all those who come within the reach of it; and as Isaiah expresses it, Like a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly in an instant, Isaiah 30:13.” — See Green.

Verse 2, 6. He only is my rock. Princes trusted in armies and fortresses, David only in the Lord. Therefore his confidence was like the rock on which he reposed.

3. How long will ye imagine mischief—He addresses the leaders of the rebellion. The Hebrew word translated “imagine mischief” occurs nowhere else, and its derivation has been variously understood. The sense most in accordance with the imagery of the context, and sustained by modern oriental usage and the ancient Versions, is, to storm against, to break in upon, and hence to persecute, assail. “How long will ye storm against, or break in upon, a man?” Ye shall be slain—Ye will crush, all of you. The verb is to be taken in Piel, not passive, as describing what they would do, not what should be done to them; and the metaphor requires the radical sense as above, not the secondary sense as in the common Version. As a bowing wall… and… tottering fence—As a leaning wall, a wall thrust at, or thrust down. The idea of the latter, which is in the form of climax, is that of a wall which, from a violent shock, is thrown out of line and is ready to fall, or is already falling. Such was the contemptuous idea which the conspirators held of David. Perowne translates the passage:— How long will ye rush against a man.

Will ye all of you break [him] down,

As [though he were] a bowing wall, a tottering fence?

Verse 4. To cast him down from his excellency] They are consulting to dethrone me, and use treachery and falsehood in order to bring it about: “They delight in lies.”

They bless with their mouth] Probably alluding to Absalom’s blandishments of the people. He flattered them in order to get the sovereign rule. Or it may refer to the people of Jerusalem, whose perfidy he saw, while they were full of professions of loyalty, &c.; but he could not trust them, and therefore retired from Jerusalem.

Verse 4. They only consult to cast him down — Namely, the man mentioned verse 3. He means himself, of whom he continues to speak in the third person. From his excellency — From the hopes and attainment of that royal dignity to which God hath designed and anointed me. They delight in lies, &c. — In secret slanders and execrations, covered with flatteries and fair speeches, as it here follows.

Verse 2, 6. He only is my rock. Princes trusted in armies and fortresses, David only in the Lord. Therefore his confidence was like the rock on which he reposed.

4. They only consult to cast him down—On only, truly, see verse 1. The object of the conspiracy was to cast David down from the height of his kingly power and honour, to which God had exalted him; and he here submits the issue between them and God. They delight in lies—As their object is unjust and dishonourable, so they do not scruple to adopt the basest hypocrisy and falsehood in order to accomplish it. They bless with their mouth—Literally, they bless each one with his mouth. They profess openly to the people that they are doing all for the public good.

Verse 5. Wait thou only upon God] There is none but him in whom thou canst safely trust; and to get his help, resign thyself into his hands; be subject to him, and be silent before him; thou hast what thou hast deserved. See on Psalm 62:1.

Verse 2, 6. He only is my rock. Princes trusted in armies and fortresses, David only in the Lord. Therefore his confidence was like the rock on which he reposed.

5. Wait thou only upon God—David renews and reaffirms his trust as in verse 1, exhorting his soul to quiet submission and hope in God.

Verse 2, 6. He only is my rock. Princes trusted in armies and fortresses, David only in the Lord. Therefore his confidence was like the rock on which he reposed.

6. A repetition of verse 2. In this and verse 7 he expresses in various forms, and the strongest imagery, his sole trust and perfect security in God. This is characteristic of the psalms written on this occasion. See Psalm 4:3-5; 5:5-8; 62:3-7.

Verse 7. In God is my salvation] אלהים y[ al Elohim, “Upon God is my salvation;” he has taken it upon himself. And my glory-the preservation of my state, and the safety of my kingdom.

Verse 8. Trust in him-ye people] All ye who are faithful to your king, continue to trust in God. The usurper will soon be cast down, and your rightful sovereign restored to his government. Fear not the threatenings of my enemies, for God will be a refuge for us.

Verse 8. Trust in him at all times, ye people — By my example be encouraged, and learn to trust in God. Pour out your heart before him — Make known to him all the desires, cares, and griefs of your hearts freely and frequently, with confident expectation of obtaining what you want or desire from him. God is a refuge for us — Not only, my refuge, verse 7, but a refuge for us all, even as many as will flee to him, and take shelter in him.

8. Ye people—The address here is to his loyal subjects, who had been faint hearted. See Psalm 4:6. He exhorts them to trust only and fully in God. As a military order it was worthy this unequalled theocratic sovereign, and was more effective, morally, at this hour, than the loudest preaching. Pour out your heart before him—He had already done it on this same occasion, (see Psalm 42:4,) and at an earlier day when in distress, Psalm 142:2. The pouring out of the heart is an expression borrowed from an ancient custom of taking an oath by pouring water on the ground. The water was “poured out before the Lord,” to signify that their words and promises had gone forth and could not be recalled, being “as water spilt upon the ground which cannot be gathered up again.”—Roberts. See 1 Samuel 7:6; 2 Samuel 14:14; Lamentations 2:19.

V. 9. Vanity-Vain, and helpless creatures. A lie-They promise much, but generally deceive those who trust in them.

Verse 9. Men of low degree are vanity] אדם בני beney Adam, which we here translate men of low degree, literally, sons of Adam, are put in opposition to vya ynb beney ish, men of high degree, literally, the sons of substance, or children of substantial men. Adam was the name of the first man when formed out of the earth; Ish was his name when united to his wife, and they became one flesh. Before, he was the incomplete man; after, he was the complete man; for it seems, in the sight of God, it requires the male and female to make one complete human being. vwna enosh is another name given to man, but this concerns him in his low, fallen, wretched estate: it properly signifies weak, poor, addicted, wretched man. Common men can give no help. They are vanity, and it is folly to trust in them; for although they may be willing, yet they have no ability to help you: “Rich men are a lie.” They promise much, but perform nothing; they cause you to hope, but mock your expectation.

To be laid to the balance] לעלות במאזנים bemozenayim laaloth, In the balances they ascend: exactly answerable to our phrase, they kick the beam.

They are altogether lighter than vanity.] Literally, Both of them united are vanity, djy lbhm hmh hemmah mehebel yachad. Put both together in one scale, and truth in the opposite, and both will kick the beam. They weigh nothing, they avail nothing.

Verse 9. Surely men of low degree are vanity — Are most vain, impotent, and helpless creatures in themselves. This he delivers as a reason, or argument, to enforce his foregoing exhortation to trust in God, because there was no other person or thing to which they could safely trust. Men of high degree are a lie — That is, deceitful; because unable to perform what by their power and dignity they seem to promise. They raise men’s expectations, and afterward disappoint them, and so deceive those that trust in them. In which sense lying is ascribed to a fountain, Jeremiah 15:18; to wine, Hosea 9:2; and to the olive, Hebrews 3:17, (see the Hebrew,) when they do not give what they promise. Or, a lie may signify, a mere nothing; for a lie has no reality in it.

Ver. 9. Men of low degree—and men of high degree. Hebrews Adam, a common man; and Ish, a prince. See on Psalm 1:1.

9. Men of low degree… high degree—Men of all degrees, as Psalm 49:2. The first designation denotes in the Hebrew the masses of our race as descendants of Adam; the second, those classes which have attained distinction on account of rank, wealth, or other circumstances. These all, apart from God, and of themselves considered as sources of help or objects of trust, are, the first class, vanity, the second, a lie. To be laid in the balance—Literally, going up, or ascending in the balance, as being the lighter scale. Altogether lighter than vanity—The meaning is: Put every one of them together in one scale of the balance, and vanity, or a breath, in the other, and they would mount up, as less than a breath. This estimate is not of man as God made him, but of man as sin and selfishness have corrupted him. It is man apart from God, and fighting against God, and fitly applies to Absalom with his accomplices, and the thoughtless multitude that follow them.

V. 10. Vain-Feeding yourselves with vain hopes of felicity, from those riches which you take from others by violence.

Verse 10. Trust not in oppression] Do not suppose that my unnatural son and his partisans can succeed.

Become not vain in robbery] If ye have laid your hands on the spoils of my house, do not imagine that these ill-gotten riches will prosper. God will soon scatter them to all the winds of heaven. All oppressors come to an untimely end; and all property acquired by injustice has God’s curse on it.

Verse 10. Trust not in oppression — That is, in riches gotten by fraud and violence; or in the arts of acquiring them. As you must not trust in any other men, so neither must you trust to yourselves, nor to your own wit, or industry, or courage, by which you may oppress others, and so think to secure and enrich yourselves. And become not vain in robbery — Lifting up and feeding yourselves with vain hopes of safety and felicity from those riches which you take from others by robbery and violence. If riches increase, set not your heart on them — So as to esteem and inordinately love them, to place your hope, and trust, and chief joy in them, or so as to grow proud and insolent because of them.

10. Oppression… robbery—The two words differ more in the manner of acquiring than in the thing acquired. The former denotes that which is acquired by deceit and guile, the latter that which is gotten by force or violence. In either case the psalmist admonishes his enemies not to be elated by sudden success, nor put confidence in wealth or power thus gained, for both they and their works are subject to the judgment of God.

V. 11. Spoken-Frequently, both immediately as at Sinai, and by his holy prophets, from time to time. That-That power is God’s prerogative; and consequently all creatures, either against or without him, are poor impotent things.

Verse 11. God hath spoken once] God has once addressed his people in giving the law on Mount Sinai. The Chaldee translates the whole passage thus: “God hath spoken one law, and twice have we heard this from the mouth of Moses the great scribe, that strength is before God: and it becomes thee, O God, to show mercy to the righteous; for thou renderest to man according to his works.”

Twice have I heard this] Except some of the ancient Versions, almost every version, translation, and commentary has missed the sense and meaning of this verse. I shall set down the text: שמעתי wz שתים אלהים דבר אחת achath dibber Elohim; shetayim zu shamati; of which the true version is this: Once hath God spoken; these two things have I heard. Now what are the two things he had heard? 1. לאלהים zw yk ki oz lelohim, “That strength is the Lord’s;” that is, He is the Origin of power. 2. dsj ynda Ëlw ulecha Adonai, chased; “and to thee, Lord, is mercy;” that is, He is the Fountain of mercy. These, then, are the two grand truths that the law, yea, the whole revelation of God, declares through every page. He is the Almighty; he is the most merciful; and hence the inference: The powerful, just, and holy God, the most merciful and compassionate Lord, will by and by judge the world, and will render to man according to his works. How this beautiful meaning should have been unseen by almost every interpreter, is hard to say: these verses contain one of the most instructive truths in the Bible.

Verse 11. God hath spoken once; twice, &c. — That is, God hath spoken it, and I have heard it once, yea, twice; that is, frequently, as Job 33:14. He hath declared, and I have understood it, by the light of reason, which easily infers it from the nature of the infinitely perfect Jehovah, and from his works of creation and providence: he hath shown, and I have learned it by the events which have taken place concerning myself in particular: and the light of revelation, communicated in dreams and visions, and various other ways, hath manifested it, and especially at Sinai, and by his holy prophets from time to time; that power belongeth unto God — That power is his prerogative; and, consequently, that all creatures, either against him or without him, are poor, impotent things, in which no man can trust without certain disappointment; but that he is almighty, and can do every thing; and that with him nothing is impossible; and therefore that he, and he alone, is fit to be trusted.

11, 12. God hath spoken—Here is a formal affirmation of a direct revelation from God. Once, twice, have I heard—A Hebraism for many times; as if he would say, It is a familiar doctrine of the old dispensation that I am about to declare. See Job 33:14; 40:5. The Septuagint reads it “Once God hath spoken; I have heard these two things.” Power… mercy—This is the matter of the revelation, that God is a God both of power and love. Wherefore let offenders tremble at the power that will dash in pieces all their schemes of iniquity and punish all their sin, and let humble and contrite hearts take courage and trust in his love. For thou renderest—So that thou renderest. That is, the consequence of this power and love of God is, that he will render to every man according to his work. His attributes, his mercy, no less than his power and justice, compel to this juridical distinction and judgment. See Romans 2:6; Revelation 2:23.

V. 12. Therefore-God is almighty, therefore he can easily destroy all his enemies: he is also merciful, and therefore will pardon good mens failings. Renderest-And this as he is obliged to do by his holy nature, so is he able to do it, being omnipotent, and willing to do it to the godly (which was the only thing that might be doubted, because of their manifold miscarriages) because he is merciful and gracious.

Verse 12. Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy — Hebrew, dsj, chesed, benignity, beneficence, compassion. “Significat id boni, quod gratuito fit:” It signifies that good which is done gratuitously. — Buxtorf. He is no less willing than able to defend, preserve, and do good to those that trust in him. For he is as truly the best, as he is the greatest of beings, merciful and gracious, yea, the Father of mercies, and the God of all consolation and good hope. This is a further reason why we should trust in him, and answers the objections of our sinfulness and unworthiness; though we deserve nothing but his wrath, yet we may hope for all good from his mercy, which is over all his works. For, or therefore, thou renderest, &c. — For the following words seem to be added, either as a proof of, or an inference from, the two foregoing properties of God, power and mercy. God is almighty, therefore he can easily destroy all his enemies: he is merciful, and therefore will pardon good men’s failings, and graciously reward their integrity; according to his work — Which, as he is obliged to do, by his own holy nature, so he is able to do it, being omnipotent, and willing to do it to the godly, notwithstanding their manifold infirmities and miscarriages, because he is merciful and gracious. Though God doth not always do this visibly in this world, yet he will do it in the day of final recompense. No service done to him shall go unrewarded; nor any affront given him unpunished, unless repented of. Thus it appears that power and mercy belong to him. If he were not a God of power, there are sinners that would be too high to be punished; and if he were not a God of mercy, there are services too worthless to be rewarded.

11, 12. God hath spoken—Here is a formal affirmation of a direct revelation from God. Once, twice, have I heard—A Hebraism for many times; as if he would say, It is a familiar doctrine of the old dispensation that I am about to declare. See Job 33:14; 40:5. The Septuagint reads it “Once God hath spoken; I have heard these two things.” Power… mercy—This is the matter of the revelation, that God is a God both of power and love. Wherefore let offenders tremble at the power that will dash in pieces all their schemes of iniquity and punish all their sin, and let humble and contrite hearts take courage and trust in his love. For thou renderest—So that thou renderest. That is, the consequence of this power and love of God is, that he will render to every man according to his work. His attributes, his mercy, no less than his power and justice, compel to this juridical distinction and judgment. See Romans 2:6; Revelation 2:23.