Psalm 62

“For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.” (Psalm 62:1)

Psalm 62 is an individual psalm of trust.1 (See sidebar “Psalms of Trust” in the unit on Ps. 16.) The crisis that has called forth this marvelous expression of faith is not clear. However, we can be confident of this much: David has been assaulted by the unscrupulous attacks of his enemies, who flattered him with their words but cursed him in their hearts (62:3–4). Their erroneous assessment of his character is that he is a “leaning wall” and “tottering fence” just waiting to be brought down by their devious schemes. There are both verbal and conceptual correspondences between Psalms 61 and 62. The verbal are “rock” (tsur, 61:2; 62:2); “love” (hesed, 61:7; 62:12); to “fulfill” vows (61:8; 62:12 [NIV: “You reward”]). The conceptual is God as the psalmist’s “strong tower” / “fortress” (61:3; 62:2).2 In terms of language, Psalm 62 has striking similarities with Psalm 39, with almost identical titles.

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