BIBLE CHAPTER STUDY
Psalms 62 — Silent Trust in God Alone
David addresses hostile attackers, then turns to the congregation, declaring that salvation, glory, and refuge belong to God alone, and that power and lovingkindness belong to the Lord.
Scripture
1For the Chief Musician; after the manner of Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. My soul waiteth in silence for God only: From him cometh my salvation.
2He only is my rock and my salvation: He is my high tower; I shall not be greatly moved.
3How long will ye set upon a man, That ye may slay him, all of you, Like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence?
4They only consult to thrust him down from his dignity; They delight in lies; They bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. [[Selah
5My soul, wait thou in silence for God only; For my expectation is from him.
6He only is my rock and my salvation: He is my high tower; I shall not be moved.
7With God is my salvation and my glory: The rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.
8Trust in him at all times, ye people; Pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. [[Selah
9Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: In the balances they will go up; They are together lighter than vanity.
10Trust not in oppression, And become not vain in robbery: If riches increase, set not your heart thereon.
11God hath spoken once, Twice have I heard this, That power belongeth unto God.
12Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth lovingkindness; For thou renderest to every man according to his work.
What this passage means
Psalm 62 is built on three movements: a personal vow of silent trust (vv. 1–2), a confrontation with enemies who attack with lies (vv. 3–4), and a renewed exhortation to the congregation (vv. 5–12). The phrase 'in silence' or 'dûmiyyâh' marks the central act of the psalm — not passivity, but a deliberate settling of the soul before God while the assaults continue (cf. v. 3).
The enemies are portrayed as a leaning wall and a tottering fence (v. 3), exposing the futility of their campaign. Their tactics are twofold: they consult to thrust David from his dignity (v. 4) and they speak blessing with the mouth while cursing inwardly. Against this, David matches their duplicity with three stabilizing images: God as rock, as salvation, and as high tower (vv. 2, 6), producing the triple confession 'I shall not be greatly moved … I shall not be moved' (vv. 2, 6).
The second half broadens the audience to 'ye people' (v. 8). David grounds exhortation in two revealed truths: 'God hath spoken once, twice have I heard this, that power belongeth unto God' (v. 11), and 'unto thee, O Lord, belongeth lovingkindness' (v. 12). The judgment 'according to his work' pairs divine power with covenant mercy — God's might is never separated from His grace.
Context
The chapter is a contemplative psalm assigned 'to the Chief Musician, after the manner of Jeduthun,' a liturgical heading indicating temple music tradition. Jeduthun appears in 1 Chronicles 16:42 as a temple musician; the note here places Psalm 62 within that performance tradition, though the curated note for this chapter only marks it as backfill material and offers no editorial claims about David's circumstances. The chapter note states: 'Backfilled remaining chapters from Psalms outside P0/P1.'
Within the chapter itself, the surrounding context is internal: the attacks described in verses 3–4 are not named as belonging to any specific historical event in the supplied material. Therefore the reading is restricted to what the psalm itself portrays — hostile attackers using lies and curses — without importing reconstructions from other psalms or 2 Samuel narratives that are not present in the provided text.
Key words in the original
- H1747 The Hebrew dūmiyyāh (דּוּמִיָּה) names a stillness that is more than quietness; it is an active, trustful waiting. Psalm 62 makes this waiting the central discipline of the soul before God: 'My soul waiteth in silence for God only.'
- H6697 Hebrew ṣûr (צוּר), 'rock,' is used repeatedly in Psalm 62 as the foundational image for God's protection. The same root appears in the title and across vv. 2, 6, 7 — God's character as a 'rock' is what makes non-shaking possible.
- H3444 Hebrew yəšûʿāh (יְשׁוֹעָה), 'salvation' or 'deliverance,' is the term associated with Christos/Jesus in name etymology. In Psalm 62:2, 'my salvation' (yəšûʿātî) sits in parallel with 'my rock' and 'my high tower,' treating deliverance as belonging to God's very nature, not as a borrowed attribute.
Related verses
- Isaiah 26:4 Isaiah 26:4 echoes Psalm 62's bedrock claim: 'Trust ye in Jehovah for ever; for in Jehovah, even Jehovah, is an everlasting rock.' The repeated rock-image reinforces that human stability ultimately rests on an unchanging God rather than on shifting defenses.
- Philippians 4:6 Philippians 4:6 connects the practice of 'pouring out the heart before him' (Psalm 62:8) to the New Testament pattern: bring everything to God in prayer without anxiety, while doing so with thanksgiving. Both texts pair honest pouring-out of the heart with the confession that God is our refuge.
- Revelation 19:1 Revelation 19:1 celebrates 'Salvation, and glory, and power belong to our God,' picking up three key terms — salvation, glory, and power/strength — from Psalm 62:7 and 11. The psalm's triplet of divine attributes thus reappears in the heavenly praise of the New Testament.
Common questions
Why does Psalm 62 repeat 'He only is my rock' nearly word-for-word in verses 2 and 6?
The repetition functions as a refrain that brackets the description of the enemies' attack (vv. 3–4). The confession is deliberately restated after the threat has been named so that the reader hears David reaffirm his foundation precisely when a counter-confession would have been expected. The variant 'I shall not be greatly moved' (v. 2) versus 'I shall not be moved' (v. 6) intensifies the second time: what was first stated under pressure is stated plainly once the pressure has been answered.
What does the image 'leaning wall' or 'tottering fence' mean for how we read the attackers?
By calling them a leaning wall and a tottering fence, the psalm disqualifies their threat before describing it in detail. The figures imply that the attackers themselves are structurally unstable, on the verge of collapse; their assault on the psalmist is a symptom of their own frailty, not evidence of its permanence. Reading verse 3 first therefore sets up verses 4's specific lies — spoken blessing with inward curse — as the final shudders of a failing structure rather than as a rising force.
What does 'God hath spoken once, twice have I heard this' (v. 11) signify?
The numerical expression is a Hebrew idiom (cf. Job 33:14) for something settled and confirmed; 'once … twice' is not a count of two events but a way of emphasizing that the matter is fixed. David is therefore appealing to an established revelation: 'power belongeth unto God.' Verse 12 then pairs that fixed truth with another — 'lovingkindness belongeth unto thee, O Lord' — so that divine might and covenant kindness stand together as the twin foundation for the psalm's earlier 'Rock, salvation, high tower.'