Psalm 62:1-12 Truly my soul waits on God: from him comes my salvation.… The psalm falls naturally into three parts of four verses each; and in the original each of these begins with the same particle, which unfortunately is either not translated in our versions, or rendered by different words. It means Yes, Surely or Verily, and expresses a conviction freshly acquired. This is the character of the entire psalm: it is a series of maxims hewn straight from life. I. THE SILENCE OF FAITH (ver. 1-4). "Truly my soul waiteth upon God," literally, "is silent unto God." Silence is sometimes very eloquent. When one has suffered a great wrong or is accused of some outrageous baseness, there may be an impressiveness in dignified silence, which the loudest protestations could not equal. In the trial of Jesus there are three or four moments of silence which perhaps bring home to us the height of His moral grandeur as powerfully as anything in His life. So faith has its silence. It is not always silent. On the contrary, it sometimes cries aloud; it groans and complains; it argues and beseeches. Perhaps the faith of the psalmist had passed through these stages before reaching the silent stage, for he tells us (vers. 3, 4) that he had enemies, who bad pushed their attacks to the verge of murder. In such circumstances, faith may well have cried or groaned or argued; but these stages are past; and now it is silent before God. It lies before Him in perfect peace, confident that His will must overrule all. For (ver. 2) He is a rock and a defence; and therefore, says the child of faith, "I shall not be greatly moved." II. THY INSTRUCTION OF FAITH (vers. 5-8). Having attained to such a height, he is seized with the spirit of a teacher. 1. He begins with instructing himself. "My soul, wait thou upon God." When we get up to heights of experience, we ought to mark in the rock how high we have climbed, for we know — "How difficult it is to keep Heights which the soul is competent to gain."When we are high up, there are outlooks which we are unable to see at ordinary times; and it is well to record them as is done here. The truths about God which we thus learn in moments of great experience are the most precious portion of all knowledge: they are better than we can learn from books or doctors or sages. Blessed is he who possesses convictions which he has not been taught by men, however wise, but has wrung out of his own experience. 2. He also instructs others (ver. 8). It is the natural way of experience to overflow into testimony; and when the soul has attained rest itself, it naturally seeks to assist the struggling. Thereby it not only proves that it has attained, but extends and strengthens its attainments; because we are never safer or healthier than when we have left off thinking of ourselves and are able to care for others. III. THE ALTERNATIVES TO FAITH (vers. 9-12). In this last section the psalmist contrasts faith in God with the other refuges in which he was tempted to put his trust. These were men (ver. 9) and money (ver. 10). To one in David's position, it would naturally seem a great thing to have men's alliance; but he had tried them and found them wanting. This is a word for all times: by any one who has a great cause — who is fighting for Christ's cause — democracy and aristocracy are alike to be distrusted; God alone is the watchword. The other substitute for God which David was tempted to trust was money, whether obtained by foul means or fair; and here he touches a still more universal chord. In thinking of the future and of the changes and chances of life, we are all tempted to look in this direction. How many are devoting themselves to the pursuit of money, caring little for scruples, but only feeling that, if they had enough of it, all would be well. Others, seeking wealth by honest means, have the same confidence. But the poorest man who has faith in God is safer. This is the testimony of Scripture, and it is the testimony of experience as well. So we come back to the wisdom of the man of God. Once, he says, he has heard, yea, twice — that is, it has been borne in on him again and again as a Divine truth — that "power belongeth unto God." This is the end of the whole matter; this is the resource that will avail in every difficulty, which will last through time and through eternity. (J. Stalker, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: {To the chief Musician, to Jeduthun, A Psalm of David.} Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation. |
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