Psalms 62King James Version

A psalm of silence before God. Twice the refrain: 'Truly my soul waiteth upon God; from him cometh my salvation.' Men consult together to cast David down from his excellency, blessing with the mouth while cursing inwardly. The response is not counter-scheming but a deeper settling: my soul, wait thou only upon God. Men of both low and high degree are lighter than vanity. Power belongs to God; mercy belongs to God. The psalm is strikingly still.

In the face of political conspiracy and the treacherous weight of other people's calculations, the only anchor is radical silence before the one in whom salvation actually resides.

verse: "My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him." The reflexive address to his own soul is the psalm's turning point: he commands his own interior.

Superscription: 'To the chief Musician, to Jeduthun, A Psalm of David.' Jeduthun was one of David's chief musicians (1 Chr 16:41-42). Three psalms are attributed to Jeduthun (39, 62, 77). The Absalom conspiracy is the likely context. The double refrain structure gives the psalm its meditative quality.

David addressing his own soul; enemies who bless with the mouth and curse inwardly; God as rock, salvation, glory, and refuge; men of all social ranks named as collectively vanity.

Psalm 62 is a psalm of contemplative trust, unusual in its stillness. The word translated 'waiteth' (damah) means literally 'is silent toward God.' The weighing of human beings as vanity (v9) anticipates Ecclesiastes. The psalm was foundational for Christian contemplative tradition, particularly the desert fathers' tradition of apophatic prayer.

For when the machinations of other people's politics are pressing on you and you need to find somewhere that does not move. This psalm is an invitation to that interior stillness.