Psalms 62 Study Notes: Quiet Trust in God Alone
David declares that his rest and salvation come from God alone, even while two-faced enemies try to bring him down. He urges the people to trust God and open their hearts to Him, warns against trusting wealth or force, and affirms that power and love belong to God, who repays all.
General
How does David describe his enemies in 62:3-4?
Answer: They speak kindly to his face while cursing him in secret
David asks how long his enemies will keep threatening one man, and he pictures them trying to push him over like a wall that is already leaning or a fence about to fall (62:3). Their aim is to topple him from his high position, and they love lies: outwardly they speak blessings, but inside they curse (62:4). Their speech is two-faced, friendly on the surface and hostile underneath. David describes the same kind of people elsewhere, who talk peacefully with others while holding malice inside (Psalm 28:3), and a man whose words were smooth while his heart was set on war (Psalm 55:21).
- Psalm 62:3-4 (BSB)“How long will you threaten a man? Will all of you throw him down like a leaning wall or a tottering fence? They fully intend to cast him down from his lofty perch; they delight in lies; with their mouths they bless, but inwardly they curse. Selah”David's enemies try to topple him and speak blessings while cursing him inwardly.
- Psalm 28:3 (BSB)“Do not drag me away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, who speak peace to their neighbors while malice is in their hearts.”The wicked speak peace to their neighbors while malice fills their hearts.
- Psalm 55:21 (BSB)“His speech is smooth as butter, but war is in his heart. His words are softer than oil, yet they are swords unsheathed.”A false friend's speech is smooth while his heart intends war.
Theological
What does 62:3-4 reveal about the character of David's opponents?
Answer: They speak kindly to his face while cursing him in secret
David protests the sustained assault of many against one, likening their efforts to toppling an already leaning wall or unsteady fence (62:3). Their goal is to thrust him from his exalted position, and their method is deceit: blessing with the mouth while cursing inwardly (62:4). The hypocrisy of hostile speech masked as goodwill recurs in Psalm 28:3 and Psalm 55:21.
- Psalm 62:3-4 (BSB)“How long will you threaten a man? Will all of you throw him down like a leaning wall or a tottering fence? They fully intend to cast him down from his lofty perch; they delight in lies; with their mouths they bless, but inwardly they curse. Selah”David's enemies try to topple him and speak blessings while cursing him inwardly.
- Psalm 28:3 (BSB)“Do not drag me away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, who speak peace to their neighbors while malice is in their hearts.”The wicked speak peace to their neighbors while malice fills their hearts.
- Psalm 55:21 (BSB)“His speech is smooth as butter, but war is in his heart. His words are softer than oil, yet they are swords unsheathed.”A false friend's speech is smooth while his heart intends war.
General
In 62:8, whom does David address, and what does he urge them to do?
Answer: The people, telling them to trust God always and bare their hearts to Him
After calling on his own soul to rest in God (62:5-7), David turns outward and speaks to the people. He urges them to trust God at every moment and to pour out everything in their hearts in His presence, because God is a refuge for all of them, not only for David (62:8). His personal confidence becomes an invitation. Lamentations 2:19 likewise calls grieving Jerusalem to pour out its heart before the Lord, and the New Testament tells believers to bring every request to God in prayer (Philippians 4:6) and to hand over every worry to Him since He cares for them (1 Peter 5:7).
- Psalm 62:8 (BSB)“Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts before Him. God is our refuge. Selah”David urges the people to trust God at all times and pour out their hearts to Him.
- Lamentations 2:19 (BSB)“Arise, cry out in the night from the first watch of the night. Pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to Him for the lives of your children who are fainting from hunger on the corner of every street.”Grieving Jerusalem is called to pour out its heart before the Lord.
- Philippians 4:6 (BSB)“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”Believers are told to bring every request to God in prayer.
- 1 Peter 5:7 (BSB)“Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”Believers may cast their anxieties on God because He cares for them.
Theological
Whom does David exhort in 62:8, and to what?
Answer: The people, telling them to trust God always and bare their hearts to Him
Having exhorted his own soul (62:5-7), David turns to the congregation, summoning them to trust God at all times and to pour out their hearts before Him, since God is a refuge for the whole people (62:8). Private confidence becomes corporate exhortation. Lamentations 2:19 uses the same language of pouring out the heart before the Lord, and Philippians 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:7 extend the invitation to bring every request and anxiety to God, who cares for His people.
- Psalm 62:8 (BSB)“Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts before Him. God is our refuge. Selah”David urges the people to trust God at all times and pour out their hearts to Him.
- Lamentations 2:19 (BSB)“Arise, cry out in the night from the first watch of the night. Pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to Him for the lives of your children who are fainting from hunger on the corner of every street.”Grieving Jerusalem is called to pour out its heart before the Lord.
- Philippians 4:6 (BSB)“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”Believers are told to bring every request to God in prayer.
- 1 Peter 5:7 (BSB)“Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”Believers may cast their anxieties on God because He cares for them.
General
What two truths does David say God has spoken in 62:11-12?
Answer: That strength and loving devotion are both God's own
David closes by saying God has spoken one thing that he has heard twice, a poetic way of stressing certainty (62:11). The message has two parts: strength is God's, and so is loving devotion, His loyal covenant love (62:11-12). Because God is both mighty and loving, He will repay each person for what he has done (62:12). Scripture repeats this principle of judgment by deeds (Proverbs 24:12; Romans 2:6). For believers this does not make works the ground of salvation, which is by grace through faith; good works are the fruit God Himself prepared for those He saves (Ephesians 2:8-10).
- Psalm 62:11-12 (BSB)“God has spoken once; I have heard this twice: that power belongs to God, and loving devotion to You, O Lord. For You will repay each man according to his deeds.”David says power and loving devotion belong to God, who repays each person according to his deeds.
- Proverbs 24:12 (BSB)“If you say, “Behold, we did not know about this,” does not He who weighs hearts consider it? Does not the One who guards your life know? Will He not repay a man according to his deeds?”God, who weighs hearts, repays each person according to his deeds.
- Romans 2:6 (BSB)“God “will repay each one according to his deeds.””Paul states the same principle of God's repayment according to deeds.
- Ephesians 2:8-10 (BSB)“For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.”Salvation is by grace through faith, and good works are the fruit God prepared for His people.
Theological
What twofold truth does David say God has spoken in 62:11-12?
Answer: That strength and loving devotion are both God's own
The closing numerical saying (spoken once, heard twice) underscores certainty (62:11). The content pairs God's power with His loving devotion, His covenant loyalty (62:11-12), and grounds in them the principle of just recompense according to deeds (62:12), which Proverbs 24:12 and Romans 2:6 also affirm. Salvation itself remains by grace through faith, not works; the good works of the redeemed are the fruit God prepared for them (Ephesians 2:8-10), and they evidence the faith God has given.
- Psalm 62:11-12 (BSB)“God has spoken once; I have heard this twice: that power belongs to God, and loving devotion to You, O Lord. For You will repay each man according to his deeds.”David says power and loving devotion belong to God, who repays each person according to his deeds.
- Proverbs 24:12 (BSB)“If you say, “Behold, we did not know about this,” does not He who weighs hearts consider it? Does not the One who guards your life know? Will He not repay a man according to his deeds?”God, who weighs hearts, repays each person according to his deeds.
- Romans 2:6 (BSB)“God “will repay each one according to his deeds.””Paul states the same principle of God's repayment according to deeds.
- Ephesians 2:8-10 (BSB)“For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.”Salvation is by grace through faith, and good works are the fruit God prepared for His people.
General
In 62:1-2, what does David say is the source of his rest and salvation?
Answer: God alone, who is his rock and fortress
David opens with quiet confidence: his soul waits in rest for God alone, because his salvation comes from God (62:1). He then pictures God as a rock, as salvation, and as a fortress, so that nothing will topple him (62:2). The word alone is repeated through the psalm (62:1-2, 5-6), stressing that David leans on nothing besides God. The same confession runs through Scripture: rescue is the LORD's own work (Psalm 3:8; Jonah 2:9), and David calls God his rock, fortress, and deliverer (Psalm 18:2).
- Psalm 62:1-2 (BSB)“For the choirmaster. According to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. In God alone my soul finds rest; my salvation comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation. He is my fortress; I will never be shaken.”David says his soul rests in God alone, his rock, salvation, and fortress.
- Psalm 3:8 (BSB)“Salvation belongs to the LORD; may Your blessing be on Your people. Selah”Salvation belongs to the LORD, the same confession David makes here.
- Jonah 2:9 (BSB)“But I, with the voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to You. I will fulfill what I have vowed. Salvation is from the LORD!””Jonah confesses that salvation comes from the LORD.
- Psalm 18:2 (BSB)“The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”David calls the LORD his rock and fortress, the same images used in 62:2.
Theological
According to 62:1-2, on what do David's rest and salvation depend?
Answer: God alone, who is his rock and fortress
The psalm opens with an exclusive confession: David's soul rests in God alone, and his salvation derives from God (62:1). The triad of rock, salvation, and fortress grounds his assurance that he will not be toppled (62:2). The repeated word alone (62:1-2, 5-6) excludes every rival ground of confidence. Salvation as the LORD's prerogative is confessed in Psalm 3:8 and Jonah 2:9, and Psalm 18:2 gathers the same images of rock and fortress.
- Psalm 62:1-2 (BSB)“For the choirmaster. According to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. In God alone my soul finds rest; my salvation comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation. He is my fortress; I will never be shaken.”David says his soul rests in God alone, his rock, salvation, and fortress.
- Psalm 3:8 (BSB)“Salvation belongs to the LORD; may Your blessing be on Your people. Selah”Salvation belongs to the LORD, the same confession David makes here.
- Jonah 2:9 (BSB)“But I, with the voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to You. I will fulfill what I have vowed. Salvation is from the LORD!””Jonah confesses that salvation comes from the LORD.
- Psalm 18:2 (BSB)“The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”David calls the LORD his rock and fortress, the same images used in 62:2.
General
True or False: In 62:9-10, David says that if a person's wealth increases, he may rightly rest his heart on it as a secure hope.
Answer: False
This is false. David says that people of low and high rank alike are only a breath; placed on a scale, they rise, for all together they are only a breath (62:9). So he warns against relying on oppression or robbery, and he says that if riches grow, one must not set the heart on them (62:10). Wealth, however it is gained, is no place to rest one's hope, because only God is a sure refuge. Paul tells the rich to set their hope on God rather than on uncertain wealth (1 Timothy 6:17), and Jesus warns that a person's life is not measured by what he owns (Luke 12:15) and that the heart goes where its treasure is (Matthew 6:19-21).
- Psalm 62:9-10 (BSB)“Lowborn men are but a vapor; the exalted are but a lie. Weighed on the scale, they go up; together they are but a vapor. Place no trust in extortion or false hope in stolen goods. If your riches increase, do not set your heart upon them.”People are a breath, and one must not trust ill-gotten gain or set the heart on growing riches.
- 1 Timothy 6:17 (BSB)“Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us to enjoy.”The rich are told to hope in God, not in uncertain wealth.
- Luke 12:15 (BSB)“And He said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourselves against every form of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.””Jesus warns that life is not defined by one's possessions.
- Matthew 6:19-21 (BSB)“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”Jesus teaches that the heart follows its treasure.
Theological
True or False: Psalm 62:9-10 permits setting one's heart on increasing riches, provided they were gained honestly.
Answer: False
This is false. Both the lowly and the exalted are a mere breath, so light that they rise on the scales (62:9). David therefore forbids relying on extortion or robbery and, even where wealth increases legitimately, forbids setting the heart on it (62:10). Riches of any origin are an illegitimate ground of hope beside God. The same teaching appears in 1 Timothy 6:17, Luke 12:15, and Matthew 6:19-21.
- Psalm 62:9-10 (BSB)“Lowborn men are but a vapor; the exalted are but a lie. Weighed on the scale, they go up; together they are but a vapor. Place no trust in extortion or false hope in stolen goods. If your riches increase, do not set your heart upon them.”People are a breath, and one must not trust ill-gotten gain or set the heart on growing riches.
- 1 Timothy 6:17 (BSB)“Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us to enjoy.”The rich are told to hope in God, not in uncertain wealth.
- Luke 12:15 (BSB)“And He said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourselves against every form of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.””Jesus warns that life is not defined by one's possessions.
- Matthew 6:19-21 (BSB)“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”Jesus teaches that the heart follows its treasure.