Psalms 62:1-12

Psalms 42:72

Gordon Churchyard

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Words marked with a *star are described in the word list at the end.

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Only God!

Psalms 62

Jesus said, "Do not be afraid. Only believe". (Mark 5:36)

Psalms 62

(This is) for the music leader of Jeduthun’s (singers).
(It is) a psalm of David.

v1 Only on God is my *soul *resting.
From him comes my *safety.

v2 Only he is my rock. He will keep me safe!
He is my *fortress, so nothing will move me much.

v3 How long will you shout at a man?
You all attack (as if he was):
• a wall that is breaking
• a *fence that is falling down.

v4 They only want to push him off his high place.
They love to tell a *lie.
They say good things with their mouths
but (think) bad things in their *hearts. *SELAH

v5 Only on God is my *soul *resting,
because from him comes my hope.

v6 Only he is my rock. He will keep me safe!
He is my *fortress so nothing will move me (at all).

v7 (It is) God that made me safe and (put me somewhere) important.
God is a strong rock and a *shelter.

v8 Everybody (should) always *trust in him!
Tell him everything that is in your *heart.
God is our *shelter! *SELAH

v9 All men are only as a *breath! Everyone is as nothing!
They all weigh less than nothing!
Everybody together is *like a *breath (of air).

v10 Do not *trust in things that you:
• make people give to you (or that you)
• *steal (from people).
If you become rich do not think in your *heart
that (money) will give you help.

v11 God has said one thing (and) I have heard two things.
God is strong,

v12 and you, *Lord, have kind love.
I am sure that you will give to everyone what they should get.

The Story of Psalms 62

David often became "strong in God". 1 Samuel 23:16 says, "Jonathan made David strong in God". 1 Samuel 30:6 says, "David made himself strong in the *LORD his God". What does this mean? It means that when David was weak or ill or afraid he asked God to give him help. Because he thought that God would do this, David felt strong again! In this psalm David makes himself "strong in God" by thinking of God as his:

• rock and strong rock

• *fortress and *shelter

• *safety and hope.

Maybe he did this when his son Absalom wanted to be king. David ran away and did not return until Absalom was dead. He says that it is silly to think that men and money can give you help. Also he says that it is stupid to try to do what God does not want.

What Psalms 62 means

Jeduthun was one of David’s singers and a music leader.

When he died, we think that they still called his group of singers "Jeduthun". They were part of his family.

Before we look at some of the verses, look at some interesting things in this psalm:

• The word only comes 6 times in important places. The Hebrew word only gives us a lot of help in understanding the psalm. It is the first word in verses 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 and 9. This is not easy to do in English, so in verses 4 and 9 it comes later! The psalm says only God can give us help, men can only hurt us. These are the men that were David’s enemies.

• There are many words that soldiers use: *fortress, *shelter, wall and *fence. In the psalm they are the walls and *fences round the soldiers to make them safe.

• In verse 7 there is something that we often find in Hebrew poetry. Poetry is using words in a special way, so that they sound good. In the Hebrew psalm, God is the first and last word in the verse. This makes God special in the verse.

Verses 1, 2, 5 and 6. The word "*resting" here means more than not doing any work. It means not making any noise, and waiting for God to do something. In verse 2 "move me" means "stop me *resting on God". In other words, it means "stop me waiting for God to give me help". Now in verse 2 David says "move me much" but in verse 6 there is no "much". Nothing will move him at all! This often happens with Christians. They *trust God a little bit, and, when he sends help, they *trust him more! "Trust" means that you love, serve and obey God, and that he gives you hope that he will help you.

In verse 3 Bible students are not sure whether the breaking wall means David or his enemies. If it is David, the wall will not fall; if it is his enemies then they will soon fall over! Our translation makes David into the wall.

In verse 4 the "high place" may be the *fortress of verses 2 and 6. But it may be a "high place" in the government. As David was king, he had a very high place! At the end of the verse are words *like those that James said. James was Jesus’ brother. He wrote, "Out of the same mouth come good and bad words. My brothers, this should not happen" (James 3:10). In both Hebrew (the psalm) and Greek (James) "good words" are "*blessings" and "bad words" are "cursings".

In verse 8 David tells all the people... and that includes us!... to tell God everything that is "in our hearts". This means everything that we think about. God is our *shelter as well, if we ask him for help.

Air does not weigh very much. In verse 9 David says that people do not weigh very much either! He means that they are not important. He is writing about the people that do not *trust in God. When we *trust God, we become the people that accept his kind love, verse 12. Some Bible students think that "all men" in this verse means those who were not rulers. "Everybody" means the rulers, or the government. But nobody is important until they accept God’s kind love. God wants everybody to accept his kind love!

Something to do

Tell God that you accept his kind love and that you want to love and serve him *like David did. *Trust him, and then wait only for God to help you! He will do it through many people and ways.

This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level A (1200 words)

July 2001

soul/spirit ~ the part of us that lives on after our bodies die.
resting ~ not being afraid of anything and at peace.
peace ~ when we are friends with God and with other people; no war.
safety ~ in a place where there is no danger.
fortress ~ a safe place built of stones and rocks.
fence ~ a wall made of wood, not stones.
lies ~ words that are not true.
heart ~ part of our body; the Jews thought that you used your heart to think; so to know it "in your heart" or "by heart" means that you remember it.
shelter ~ a cover from wind, rain or danger.
trust ~ (noun, or being something) believing that someone will help.
trust ~ (verb, or doing something) believe that someone will help.
breath ~ air that goes in and out of our mouths.
like ~ another word for ‘as’.
steal ~ rob.
LORD ~ a special name for God; only his people use it (look after Psalm 25 in Psalms 1-41).
lord ~ someone with authority (with a capital L a name for God, look after Psalm 25 in Psalms 1-41).
LORD ~ a special name for God; only his people use it (look after Psalm 25 in Psalms 1-41).
lord ~ someone with authority (with a capital L a name for God, look after Psalm 25 in Psalms 1-41).
trust ~ (noun, or being something) believing that someone will help.
trust ~ (verb, or doing something) believe that someone will help.'