Psalm 62:2














It includes two things.

I. AN EXPRESSION OF PERSONAL CONFIDENCE IN GOD. Some trust in themselves; others in their fellow men; others, in the laws of nature. All this is so far good. It is well to be self-reliant. It is well to take advantage of the wisdom and help of others. It is well to act in the line of law, and in dependence upon the settled order of things with which we are connected. But there is something higher and better. The true way is to trust in God. Trust in God puts things in their right places; inspires courage and fortitude; ennobles and satisfies our whole being (vers. 5-7).

II. AN EARNEST EXHORTATION TO ALL MEN TO PUT THEIR TRUST IN GOD. (Vers. 8-12.) All men have their trials. There will come times when they are troubled and perplexed, when they must look out of themselves anxiously for help. They are tempted. They are in danger of putting their trust in objects that are vain and worthless. If disappointed, they are apt to get soured and hardened in sin. The remedy counselled is twofold.

1. Trust. God is the true and only Being worthy of supreme trust. There is everything in him to inspire confidence and hope. "At all times." In the darkness and in the light, in adversity as won as prosperity; when he hides his face as when he makes his countenance to shine upon us.

2. Prayer. We are always free to come to God. We may tell him all that is in our hearts. What a joy in this trust! What a comfort in this unbosoming of ourselves! God will not only hear, but have pity. He will not only answer, but magnify his "power" and his "mercy" in our deliverance. Who so fit to give this counsel - as to trust and prayer - as the man who is speaking from the depths of his own experience, and from the abiding convictions of his own heart (2 Corinthians 4:13; 1 John 1:1-3)! - W.F.

He only is my rock and my salvation.
"My rock!" What a history the rock might give you of the storms to which it has been exposed; of the tempests which have raged in the ocean at its base, and of the thunders which have disturbed the skies above its head; while it, itself, has stood unscathed by tempests, and unmoved by the bufetings of storms. So with our God. The rock is immutable; nought hath been worn from it. Yon old granite peak hath gleamed in the sun, or worn the white veil of winter snow — it hath sometimes worshipped God with bare, uncovered head, and at other times the clouds furnished it with veiling wings, that, like a cherub, it might adore its Maker; but yet itself hath stood unchanged. The frosts of winter have not destroyed it, nor have the heats of summer melted it. It is the same with God. The ten thousand uses of the rock, moreover, are full of ideas as to what God is. You see the fortress standing on a high rock, up which the clouds themselves can scarcely climb, and up whose precipices the assault cannot be carried, and the armed cannot travel, for the besieged laugh at them from their eminence. So is our God a sure defence; and we shall not be moved if He hath "set our feet upon a rock, and established our goings." Many a giant rock is a source of admiration from its elevation; for on its summit we can see the world outspread below, like some small map; we mark the river or broadly spreading stream, as if it were a vein of silver inlaid in emerald. We discover the nations beneath our feet, "like drops in a bucket," and the islands are "very little things " in the distance, while the sea itself seems but a basin of water, held in the hand of a mighty giant. The mighty God is such a rock; we stand on Him, and look down on the world, counting it to be a mean thing. We shall notice —

I. THE GREAT DOCTRINE, that God only is our salvation.

II. THE GREAT EXPERIENCE, to know and to learn that "He only is my rock and my salvation"; and —

III. THE GREAT DUTY, which you may guess at, which is, to give all the glory and all the honour, and place all our faith on Him who "only is our rock and our salvation." I must tell you a singular story, which was related at our Church meeting, because there may be some very poor people here, who may understand the way of salvation by it. One of the friends had been to see a person who was about to join the Church; and he said to him, "Can you tell me what you would say to a poor sinner who came to ask you the way of salvation?" "Well," said he, "I do not know — I think I can hardly tell you; but it so happened that a case of this sort did occur yesterday. A poor woman came into my shop, and I told her the way; but it was in such a homely manner that I don't like to tell you." "Oh, yes, tell me; I should like to hear it." "Well, she is a poor woman, who is always pawning her things, and by and by she redeems them again. I did not know how to tell her better than this. I said to her, 'Look here; your soul is in pawn to the devil; Christ has paid the redemption money; you take faith for your ticket, and so you will get your soul out of pawn.'" Now, that was the most simple, but the most excellent way of imparting a knowledge of salvation to this woman.

( C. H. Spurgeon.)

In the old classic story Hercules the giant challenged the whole world to produce a man who could wrestle with him and come off victor. There stepped forward a man of feeble build and almost dwarfish stature. Hercules disdainfully advanced and, lightly closing with this weak-looking fellow, put forth just a little of his strength, but the little man held his feet. Hercules, wondering at this, grappled with the unpromising wrestler, and put forth every atom of his strength to fling him. But, instead of being hurled to the ground, the stranger's feet are immovable, and he still stands. At last, strength gone, amid the laughter and jeers of the crowd over their broken idol, Hercules slunk away, completely beaten, utterly humiliated. That night a traitor friend of the dwarf's visited the tent of the discomfited giant and whispered, "Gold! Gold, and I will tell you why you could not win to-day, but why you can to-morrow. The man you are wrestling with to-day is Antaeus, the son of Earth. While his feet touch the ground all the strength of his mother earth passes into him, and he cannot be thrown. But only sever his connection with the ground by a hair's breadth and you have him." Next day the crowds .gathered vaster than ever to witness Hercules' defeat again. Antaeus is there, too little suspecting that his secret is betrayed. The giant advances to his opponent, and, before the dwarf is aware, with a sudden spring lifts him off the ground, and in a moment has his knee on his breast. Oh, take hold of the strength of God. Keep your feet on the Rock of ages. While you do so you are invincible.

(J. Robertson.)

People
David, Jeduthun, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Alone, Defence, Defense, Fortress, Greatly, Moved, Rock, Salvation, Shaken, Stronghold, Tower
Outline
1. David, professing his confidence in God, discourages his enemies
5. In the same confidence he encourages the godly
9. No trust is to be put in worldly things
11. Power and mercy belong to God

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 62:2

     1205   God, titles of
     1240   God, the Rock
     4354   rock
     5409   metaphor
     5490   refuge
     5953   stability

Psalm 62:1-2

     5058   rest, spiritual

Library
April 3. "My Expectation is from Him" (Ps. Lxii. 5).
"My expectation is from Him" (Ps. lxii. 5). When we believe for a blessing, we must take the attitude of faith, and begin to act and pray as if we had our blessing. We must treat God as if He had given us our request. We must lean our weight over upon Him for the thing that we have claimed, and just take it for granted that He gives it, and is going to continue to give it. This is the attitude of trust. When the wife is married, she at once falls into a new attitude, and acts in accordance with the
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Waiting Only Upon God
"He everywhere hath sway, And all things serve his might; His every act pure blessing is, His path unsullied light." Oh! that we had grace to carry out the text in that sense of it! It is a hard matter to be calm in the day of trouble; but it is a high exercise of divine grace when we can stand unmoved in the day of adversity, and feel that "Should the earth's old pillars shake, And all the wheels of nature break, Our stedfast souls should hear no more Than solid rocks when billows roar." That is
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 3: 1857

Justice.
Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy; for thou renderest to every man according to his work.--Psalm lxii. 12. Some of the translators make it kindness and goodness; but I presume there is no real difference among them as to the character of the word which here, in the English Bible, is translated mercy. The religious mind, however, educated upon the theories yet prevailing in the so-called religious world, must here recognize a departure from the presentation to which they have been accustomed:
George MacDonald—Unspoken Sermons

Forgiveness and Retribution.
"Thou renderest to every man according to his work."--Psalms lxii: 12. "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."--II Cor. v: 10. Forgiveness and Retribution. I can imagine some one saying, "I attend church, and have heard that if we confess our sin, God will forgive us; now I hear that I must reap the same kind of seed that I have sown. How can I harmonize the
Dwight L. Moody—Sowing and Reaping

Waiting on God
Psalms 62:5.--My soul, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from Him. The solemn question comes to us, "Is the God I have, a God that is to me above all circumstances, nearer to me than any circumstance can be?" Brother, have you learned to live your life having God so really with you every moment, that in circumstances the most difficult He is always more present and nearer than anything around you? All our knowledge of God's Word will help us very little, unless that comes to be the question
Andrew Murray—The Master's Indwelling

My High Tower
"He only is my rock and my salvation: He is my defence, I shall not be moved."--Ps. lxii. 6. Paul Gerhardt, 1676. tr., Emma Frances Bevan, 1899 Is God for me? I fear not, though all against me rise; I call on Christ my Saviour, the host of evil flies. My friend the Lord Almighty, and He who loves me, God, What enemy shall harm me, though coming as a flood? I know it, I believe it, I say it fearlessly, That God, the Highest, Mightiest, for ever loveth me; At all times, in all places, He standeth
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen and Others (Second Series)

Remembrance and Resolution. --Ps. Lxii.
Remembrance and Resolution.--Ps. lxii. O God! Thou art my God alone; Early to Thee my soul shall cry, A pilgrim in a land unknown, A thirsty land whose Springs are dry. Oh! that it were as it hath been, When, praying in the holy place, Thy power and glory I have seen, And mark'd the footsteps of Thy grace! Yet through this rough and thorny maze, I follow hard on Thee, my God! Thine hand unseen upholds my ways, I safely tread where Thou hast trod. Thee, in the watches of the night, When I remember
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns

Thou Shalt not Steal.
This Commandment also has a work, which embraces very many good works, and is opposed to many vices, and is called in German Mildigkeit, "benevolence;" which is a work ready to help and serve every one with one's goods. And it fights not only against theft and robbery, but against all stinting in temporal goods which men may practise toward one another: such as greed, usury, overcharging and plating wares that sell as solid, counterfeit wares, short measures and weights, and who could tell all the
Dr. Martin Luther—A Treatise on Good Works

The Heart of Man and the Heart of God
"Lord, teach us to pray."--Luke xi. 1. "Trust in Him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before Him: God is a refuge for us."--Ps. lxii. 8. EVER since the days of St. Augustine, it has been a proverb that God has made the heart of man for Himself, and that the heart of man finds no true rest till it finds its rest in God. But long before the days of St. Augustine, the Psalmist had said the same thing in the text. The heart of man, the Psalmist had said, is such that it can pour itself out
Alexander Whyte—Lord Teach Us To Pray

The Songs of the Fugitive.
The psalms which probably belong to the period of Absalom's rebellion correspond well with the impression of his spirit gathered from the historical books. Confidence in God, submission to His will, are strongly expressed in them, and we may almost discern a progress in the former respect as the rebellion grows. They flame brighter and brighter in the deepening darkness. From the lowest abyss the stars are seen most clearly. He is far more buoyant when he is an exile once more in the wilderness,
Alexander Maclaren—The Life of David

Nineteenth Day for the Holy Spirit on Christendom
WHAT TO PRAY.--For the Holy Spirit on Christendom "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof."--2 TIM. iii. 5. "Thou hast a name that thou livest, and thou art dead."--REV. iii. 1. There are five hundred millions of nominal Christians. The state of the majority is unspeakably awful. Formality, worldliness, ungodliness, rejection of Christ's service, ignorance, and indifference--to what an extent does all this prevail. We pray for the heathen--oh! do let us pray for those bearing
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession

The Love of the Holy Spirit in Us.
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not."--Matt. xxvii. 37. The Scripture teaches not only that the Holy Spirit dwells in us, and with Him Love, but also that He sheds abroad that Love in our hearts. This shedding abroad does not refer to the coming of the Holy Spirit's Person, for a person can not be shed abroad. He comes, takes possession, and dwells in us; but that which is shed abroad
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

The Daily Walk with Others (ii. ).
If Jesus Christ thou serve, take heed, Whate'er the hour may be; His brethren are obliged indeed By their nobility. In the present chapter I follow the general principles of the last into some further details. And I place before me as a sort of motto those twice-repeated words of the Apostle, TAKE HEED UNTO THYSELF. These words, it will be remembered, are addressed in both places to the Christian Minister. [Acts xx. 28; 1 Tim. iv. 6.] At Miletus St Paul gathers round him the Presbyters of Ephesus,
Handley C. G. Moule—To My Younger Brethren

The Chorus of Angels
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour and glory, and blessing! I t was a good report which the queen of Sheba heard, in her own land, of the wisdom and glory of Solomon. It lessened her attachment to home, and prompted her to undertake a long journey to visit this greater King, of whom she had heard so much. She went, and she was not disappointed. Great as the expectations were, which she had formed from the relation made her by others,
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

The Unchangeableness of God
The next attribute is God's unchangeableness. I am Jehovah, I change not.' Mal 3:3. I. God is unchangeable in his nature. II. In his decree. I. Unchangeable in his nature. 1. There is no eclipse of his brightness. 2. No period put to his being. [1] No eclipse of his brightness. His essence shines with a fixed lustre. With whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.' James 1:17. Thou art the same.' Psa 102:27. All created things are full of vicissitudes. Princes and emperors are subject to
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

But Concerning True Patience, Worthy of the Name of this virtue...
12. But concerning true patience, worthy of the name of this virtue, whence it is to be had, must now be inquired. For there are some [2650] who attribute it to the strength of the human will, not which it hath by Divine assistance, but which it hath of free-will. Now this error is a proud one: for it is the error of them which abound, of whom it is said in the Psalm, "A scornful reproof to them which abound, and a despising to the proud." [2651] It is not therefore that "patience of the poor" which
St. Augustine—On Patience

Letter xix (A. D. 1127) to Suger, Abbot of S. Denis
To Suger, Abbot of S. Denis He praises Suger, who had unexpectedly renounced the pride and luxury of the world to give himself to the modest habits of the religious life. He blames severely the clerk who devotes himself rather to the service of princes than that of God. 1. A piece of good news has reached our district; it cannot fail to do great good to whomsoever it shall have come. For who that fear God, hearing what great things He has done for your soul, do not rejoice and wonder at the great
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

In Death and after Death
A sadder picture could scarcely be drawn than that of the dying Rabbi Jochanan ben Saccai, that "light of Israel" immediately before and after the destruction of the Temple, and for two years the president of the Sanhedrim. We read in the Talmud (Ber. 28 b) that, when his disciples came to see him on his death-bed, he burst into tears. To their astonished inquiry why he, "the light of Israel, the right pillar of the Temple, and its mighty hammer," betrayed such signs of fear, he replied: "If I were
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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