PSALM 62 TRULY-ONLY-SURELY GOD! The story behind this Psalm is that it was composed during the time of Absalom's rebellion. There is in the Psalm a contrast between God and man as objects of confidence. David was singing at a time when he had lost confidence in everyone. They were all saying, "There is no help for him in God." Even David's friends were saying, "He's had it now! It is the end!" His own son had rebelled. It wasn't as though David could still stay in Jerusalem and sit on the throne, he had to flee from Absalom. The opposition to him was so great that he had to run away, and there were those who mocked him as he ran. Now, if it had been one of the house of Saul in rebellion, that would have been different. But of course they were all dead. If however it HAD been them, he could have stood it better. He complains in another Psalm that his own familiar friend had let him down. Now, it was his own son who had rebelled against him. The Psalm has a very marked peculiarity. Six times one special word is used by David. Once it is translated--truly; once it is translated--surely; and four times it is translated--ONLY. The best translation is only. In verse 1, "truly my soul waiteth on God," substituting the better word it becomes "my soul waiteth only on God." In verse 9, "surely men of low degree are vanity", with the better word it becomes, "men of low degree are only vanity." In all five cases the word ought to be translated only. It becomes stronger by the use of the word that ought to be used. "My soul waiteth only upon God." Here then is the proposition of the Psalm which can be of great help to us. There comes a time in every persons life when you feel you can only trust God. You can get to the place where you cannot trust your own folk, and further down in despair you get to the place where you can't trust yourself. I met a dear man one day who said to me, "Pastor, I don't know where to turn. I have no one to trust. I can't even trust myself." I turned him to this Psalm and pointed out that even King David came to the place where his life was shattered. He loved Absalom and now everything had gone to pieces. Then he said, "My soul waiteth only upon God." MY SOUL TRUSTS ONLY GOD. The argument behind this Psalm is David saying, "My soul waiteth." My soul is silent before God. Now that everybody else has done all that they could do, I'm just waiting to see what God will do. God has the right to do what he pleases. God is the only one who can treat us as it pleases Him. Then David says, "From him cometh my salvation." IF HE CAN'T SAVE ME--NOBODY CAN. David goes further than this. He believes ONLY in God. "He is my defence and I shall not be greatly moved." "I SHALL BE MOVED NO MORE." In other words, "Nothing more can shake me now. I believe in God--He is my defence." If you have ever had the experience of feeling that the bottom had dropped out of your life, and you have nothing more to lose! then you will recognise David's situation. Personally, I have given up saying, "It can't get any worse;" for the moment I have said it, things get worse. Never tempt providence by saying, "It can't get worse." Our trust is not in our circumstances, but in our God. David then addresses those who are pursuing him, "How long will you imagine mischief." 'Imagine mischief' is only found here in all the Psalms, and there is no precise definition. He remonstrates against his enemies for pursuing him with evil desires, evil speeches, violence and rage. He was the one who had delivered the nation, under the hand of God, from the tyrant Goliath. He slew the giant when all feared to take a stand before him. He was the one who had led Israel into blessing, but when the rebellion had come, they were willing to say the worst against him. Isn't the crowd fickle? The best man who ever walked on earth, who now lives in heaven, is Christ Jesus. One day the crowd shouted "Hosanna," the next day they screamed, "Crucify Him!" We cannot depend on fickle humanity. "My soul waiteth only on God." David, because of promises God had given him, knew that one day he would return to the throne. This is why he was able to say to those who sought his life, "You are like a bowing wall and a tottering fence." In other words, you will all fall down. And he said this at the height of the persecution. Truth is of little use to us as a theory. There must always be a personal application. Note what David sang, "My soul, wait thou only upon God." It is a repetition of the first verse, but now David talks to his own soul, "Bow to the sovereign will of God" = "My soul wait thou only upon God." God is real to David, and his expectation of God taking a hand in his affairs increases. The Psalm becomes stronger. David not only believes the truth, he not only repeats the truth to himself, he proclaims the truth to all who will hear him. "Trust in Him at all times ye people." Only God can be trusted. Sons of men are nothing--the son of man is a lie (is he referring to Absalom?) Towards the end of the Psalm David has a prophetic word concerning his kingdom--twice--"God has spoken once, twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God. Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy; for thou renderest to every man according to his works." God is merciful and just in His awards. God is inflexibly, unchangeably just. We will trust. TRULY, ONLY, SURELY, IN GOD. Copyright (c) 1996, Hedley Palmer. All rights reserved. ---------------------------------------------------- file: /pub/resources/text/hpalmer/psalms: ps-062.txt .