聖書

Expositor's Bible Commentary Psalm 62:1 To the chief Musician, to Jeduthun, A Psalm of David. Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation. Psalm 62:1-12 THERE are several points of affinity between this psalm and the thirty-ninth-such as the frequent use of the particle of asseveration or restriction ("surely" or "only"); the rare and beautiful word for "silence," as expressing restful, still resignation; and the characterisation of men as "vanity." These resemblances are not proofs of identity of authorship, though establishing a presumption in its favour. Delitzsch accepts the psalm as Davidic, and refers it to the time of Absalom’s revolt. The singer is evidently in a position of dignity ("elevation," Psalm 62:4 ), and one whose exhortations come with force to the "people" ( Psalm 62:8 ), whether that word is understood as designating the nation or his immediate followers. Cheyne, who relegates the psalm to the Persian period, feels that the recognition of the singer as "a personage who is the Church’s bulwark" is the natural impression on reading the psalm (" Orig. of Psalt. ," 227 and 242). If so, David’s position is precisely that which is required. Whoever sang this immortal psalm, rose to the heights of conquering faith, and gave voice to the deepest and most permanent emotions of devout souls. The psalm is in three strophes of four verses each, the divisions being marked by Selah. The two former have a long refrain at the beginning, instead of, as usually, at the end. In the first the psalmist sets his quiet trust in contrast with the furious assaults of his foes; while, in the second, he stirs himself to renewed exercise of it, and exhorts others to share with him in the security of God as a place of refuge. In the third strophe the nothingness of man is set in strong contrast to the power and lovingkindness of God and the dehortation from trust in material wealth urged as the negative side of the previous exhortation to trust in God. The noble saying of Psalm 62:1 a is hard to translate without weakening. The initial word may have the meanings of "Only" or "Surely." The former seems more appropriate in this psalm, where it occurs six times, in one only of which ( Psalm 62:4 ) does the latter seem the more natural rendering, though even there the other is possible. It is, however, to be noticed that its restrictive power is not always directed to the adjacent word; and here it may either present God as the exclusive object of the psalmist’s waiting trust, or his whole soul as being nothing else but silent resignation. The reference to God is favoured by Psalm 62:2 , but the other is possible. The psalmist’s whole being is, as it were, but one stillness of submission. The noises of contending desires, the whispers of earthly hopes, the mutterings of short-sighted fears, the self-asserting accents of an insisting will, are hushed, and all his nature waits mutely for God’s voice. No wonder that a psalm which begins thus should end with "God hath spoken once, twice have I heard this"; for such waiting is never in vain. The soul that cleaves to God is still; and, being still, is capable of hearing the Divine whispers which deepen the silence which they bless. "There is no joy but calm"; and the secret of calm is to turn the current of the being to God. Then it is like a sea at rest. The psalmist’s silence finds voice, which does not break it, in saying over to himself what God is to him. His accumulation of epithets reminds us of Psalm 18:1-2 . Not only does his salvation come from God, but God Himself is the salvation which He sends forth like an angel. The recognition of God as his defence is the ground of "silence"; for if He is "my rock and my salvation," what can be wiser than to keep close to Him, and let Him do as He will? The assurance of personal safety is inseparable from such a thought of God. Nothing which does not shake the rock can shake the frail tent pitched on it. As long as the tower stands, its inhabitant can look down from his inaccessible fastness with equanimity, though assailed by crowds. Thus the psalmist turns swiftly, in the latter pair of verses making up the first strophe, to address remonstrances to his enemies, as engaged in a useless effort, and then drops direct address and speaks of their hostility and treachery. The precise meaning of parts of Psalm 62:3 has been misapprehended, by reason of the peculiarities of some of the words and the condensed character of the imagery in b, c. The rendering above is substantially that generally accepted now. It sets in striking contrast the single figure of the psalmist and the multitude of his assailants. "All of you" rush upon a man like a pack of hounds on one defenceless creature, and try to break him down, as men put their shoulders to a wall in order to overthrow it. The partial success of the assault is hinted in the epithets applied to wall and fence, which are painted as beginning to give under pressure. Language of confidence sounds strangely in such circumstances. But the toppling wall, with all these strong men pushing at it, will "not be greatly moved." The assailants might answer the psalmist’s "How long?" with defiant confidence that a short time only was needed to complete the begun ruin; but he, firm in his faith, though tottering in his fortunes, knows better, and in effect, tells them by his question that, however long they may press against his feebleness, they will never overthrow him. The bulging wall outlasts its would be destroyers. But appeal to them is vain; for they have one settled purpose absorbing them-namely, to cast him down from his height. He is then, probably in some position of distinction, threatened by false friends, who are plotting his deposition, while their words are fair. All these circumstances agree well with the Davidic authorship. The second strophe reiterates the refrain, with slight but significant variations, and substitutes for the address to and contemplation of the plotters a meditation on the psalmist’s own security, and an invitation to others to share it. In Psalm 62:5 the refrain is changed from a declaration of the psalmist’s silent waiting to self-exhortation thereto. Cheyne would assimilate the two verses by making both verbs imperatives; but that change destroys the beautiful play of feeling, so true to experience, which passes from consciousness of one’s attitude towards God to effort at preserving it. No emotions, however blessed, deep, and real, will last, unless perpetually renewed. Like carbon points in electric lights, they burn away as they burn, and the light dies, unless there is some impulse which presses a fresh surface forward to receive the fiery kiss that changes its blackness into radiance. The "expectation" in Psalm 62:5 b is substantially equivalent to the "salvation" in Psalm 62:1 b. It means not the emotion (which could not be said to be "from Him"), but the thing expected, just as "hope" is used for the res sperata . The change in expression from "salvation" to "expectation" makes prominent the psalmist’s attitude. In his silence his wistful eyes look up, watching for the first far-off brightening which tells him that help is on its road from the throne. Salvation will not come unexpected, and expectation will not look for succours in vain. There may be deep meaning in the slight omission of "greatly" in the second refrain. Confidence has grown. The first hope was that the waiting heart should not be much shaken, that the tottering fence should not be quite thrown down; the second is that it shall not be shaken at all. An access of faith has poured into the singer’s soul with his song; and now he has no thought of the crowd of assailants, who have faded from his sight because he is gazing on God. Hence the second pair of verses in this strophe ( Psalm 62:7-8 ) substitutes for the description of their fierce rush the triumphant reiteration of what God is to the psalmist, and an invitation to others to come with him into that strong refuge. The transition to addressing the "people" is natural, if the psalm is David’s. The phrase would then apply to his immediate followers, who were one with him in peril, and whom he would fain have one with him in trust. But the LXX has another reading, which involves only the insertion of a letter, that may easily have dropped out, in the word rendered "time," and which makes the verse run more smoothly. It reads "all the congregation of the people," in which it is followed by Baethgen, Cheyne, and others. Whoever the psalmist was, he felt the impulse which follows all deep experience of the security that comes from hiding in God-namely, the longing to beckon in others out of the storm into peace. Every man who has learned that God is a refuge for him is thereby assured that He is the same for all men, and thereby moved to beseech them to make the like blessed discovery. The way into that hiding place is trust. "Pour out before Him your heart," says the psalmist. "In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God," says Paul. They both mean the same thing. We take refuge in our refuge when we set our faith on God, and tell Him all that threatens or troubles us. When we do, we are no longer in the open, defenceless before the rush of enemies, but housed in God, or, as Paul puts it, guarded in Christ Jesus, as in a fortress. No wonder that the psalm pauses for a moment on that thought, and lets the notes of harp and horn impress it on the listeners! The third strophe sets the emptiness of men in strong contrast to the sufficiency of God. "Vanity" is literally "a breath," and would better be so rendered in Psalm 62:9 , but for the recurrence of the verb from the same root in Psalm 62:10 , which requires the rendering "be not vain." It is desirable to preserve identity of translation, so as to retain the play of words. But by doing so Psalm 62:9 is somewhat weakened. The eyes that have been looking on God are cleared to see the shadowy nothingness of men of all degrees. The differences of high and low dwindle when seen from that "high tower," as lower lands appear flat when viewed from a mountain top. They are but "breath," so fleeting, unsubstantial are they. They are a "lie" in so far as hopes directed to them are deceived and trust misplaced. The singer is not cynically proclaiming man’s worthlessness, but asserting his insufficiency as the object of man’s trust. His point of view is different from that of Psalm 39:1-13 , though his words are the same. The "Only" which begins Psalm 62:9 carries us back to the similar beginning of the preceding strophes, and brings out the true force of the following words, by suggesting the contrast between men and the God on whom the psalmist’s soul waits in silence. That contrast may be further continued in Psalm 62:9 b. The lowly and the lofty are in one scale. What is in the other, the solid weight of which sends them aloft as lighter? Is it pressing the metaphor too far to suppose that the psalmist is weighing the whole mass of men against God only? Heap them all together and balance them against Him, and the gathered mass does not weigh as much as an imponderable breath. Who could trust in that emptiness when he has God to trust in? Who would grasp shadows when he may cling to that eternal Substance? The natural conclusion from Psalm 62:9 follows in the exhortation of Psalm 62:10 , which completes the positive presentation of the true object of trust ( Psalm 62:8 ) by the warning against false refuges. The introduction of "oppression" and "robbery" is singular, for it can scarcely be supposed that the assailants of the psalmist are here addressed, and still less that his followers needed to be warned against these crimes. Cheyne, therefore, follows Graetz and others in reading "perverseness" for "oppression," and "crookedness" for "robbery"; but the alteration throws the clause out of harmony with the next clause. It may be that in Psalm 62:10 a the psalmist has in view unjust gain and in b justly acquired wealth, and that thus his two dehortations cover the whole ground of material riches, as if he had said, "Whether rightly or wrongly won, they are wrongly used if they are trusted in." The folly and misery of such trust are vigorously set forth by that word "become vain." The curse of misplaced confidence is that it brings down a man to the level of what he trusts in, as the blessing of wisely placed trust is that it lifts him to that level. Trust in vanity is vain, and makes the truster "vanity." Wind is not a nourishing diet. It may inflate, or, as Paul says about knowledge, may "puff up," but not "build up." Men are assimilated to the objects of their trust; and if these are empty, "so is everyone that trusteth in them." So far the psalmist has spoken. But his silent waiting has been rewarded with a clear voice from heaven, confirming that of his faith. It is most natural to regard the double revelation received by the psalmist as repeated in the following proclamation of the two great aspects of the Divine nature- Power and Lovingkindness. The psalmist has learned that these two are not opposed nor separate, but blend harmoniously in God’s nature, and are confluent in all His works. Power is softened and directed by Lovingkindness. Lovingkindness has as its instrument Omnipotence. The synthesis of these two is in the God whom men are invited to trust; and such trust can never be disappointed; for His Power and His Lovingkindness will cooperate to "render to a man according to his work." The last word of the psalm adds the conception of Righteousness to those of Power and Lovingkindness. But the psalmist seems to have in view mainly one direction in which that rendering "to a man according to his work" is active-namely, in answering the trust which turns away from human power which is weakness, and from human love which may change and must die, to anchor itself on the might and tenderness of God. Such "work of faith" will not be in vain; for these twin attributes of Power and Love are pledged to requite it with security and peace. The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Truly my soul waiteth upon God : from Him cometh my salvation. Psalm 62 A testimony and an exhortation Homilist. I. A RELIGIOUS TESTIMONY. 1. Concerning self (vers. 1, 2, 6, 7). His confidence in God was — (1) Supreme. "He only is my Rock." (2) Steadfast. "I shall not be greatly moved." (3) Pacific. "Truly," or, "is silent my soul." 2. Concerning contemporaries. (1) Malignant (ver. 3). (2) False (ver. 4).David's testimony concerning his contemporaries is applicable to the men of our age. Read the malignity of our times in the bloody wars, etc. Read the falsehood of our times in the schemings of politicians, the tricks of tradesmen, and the hollow shams in all departments of life. 3. Concerning God (vers. 11, 12). (1) His power. All kinds of power belong to Him — physical power, intellectual power, moral power. (2) His mercy. God's kindness is even greater than His power, inasmuch as it inspires, directs, and controls. It is kindness that nerves and moves the Omnipotent Arm. (3) His justice. This testimony of God is sublime and meets our highest ideal. II. A RELIGIOUS EXHORTATION. 1. To self (ver. 5). Man is a duality; in him there are two personalities in one. These often battle with each other, sometimes blame, and sometimes commend each other. Man is constantly exhorting himself, sometimes to be more industrious in business, more accurate in studies, more temperate in habits. Here is a man exhorting himself to wait only on God. This religious exhortation is — (1) Most available. Every man has a preacher within. (2) Most efficient. All outward preachers are only available so far as they can rouse the inner preacher, and make him thunder in the great temple of conscience. 2. To others.(1) Concerning a right object of trust. "Trust in Him at all times," etc. Trust Him, not only when the weather of life is calm and sunny, but trust Him amidst the rush of tempest, the roar of thunder, and the convulsions of volcanoes. Trust Him fully; pour out your heart. As all the roots of the tree strike into the soil, so let all the sympathies of your nature strike into God.(2) Concerning a wrong object of trust. "Trust not in oppression," etc.Men do trust in oppression, not only tyrants, warriors, slaveholders, but unjust masters and mistresses that expect more service from employes than is just: hence the exhortation, "Trust not in oppression;" "If riches increase."(1) Here is a circumstance which most desire. Some for wrong reasons, some for right reasons.(2) Here is a possibility which some may possess. "If riches increase." In some it is impossible; the poor men often get rich in one or two ways, either with or without their efforts.(3) Here is a duty which all should discharge. "Set not your heart upon them." Why? Because to love them is unworthy of your nature. Because to love them is to injure your nature. Because to love them is to exclude God from your nature. Because to love them is to bring ruin on your nature. ( Homilist. ) Faith triumphant J. Stalker, D. D. The psalm falls naturally into three parts of four verses each; and in the original each of these begins with the same particle, which unfortunately is either not translated in our versions, or rendered by different words. It means Yes, Surely or Verily, and expresses a conviction freshly acquired. This is the character of the entire psalm: it is a series of maxims hewn straight from life. I. THE SILENCE OF FAITH (ver. 1-4). "Truly my soul waiteth upon God," literally, "is silent unto God." Silence is sometimes very eloquent. When one has suffered a great wrong or is accused of some outrageous baseness, there may be an impressiveness in dignified silence, which the loudest protestations could not equal. In the trial of Jesus there are three or four moments of silence which perhaps bring home to us the height of His moral grandeur as powerfully as anything in His life. So faith has its silence. It is not always silent. On the contrary, it sometimes cries aloud; it groans and complains; it argues and beseeches. Perhaps the faith of the psalmist had passed through these stages before reaching the silent stage, for he tells us (vers. 3, 4) that he had enemies, who bad pushed their attacks to the verge of murder. In such circumstances, faith may well have cried or groaned or argued; but these stages are past; and now it is silent before God. It lies before Him in perfect peace, confident that His will must overrule all. For (ver. 2) He is a rock and a defence; and therefore, says the child of faith, "I shall not be greatly moved." II. THY INSTRUCTION OF FAITH (vers. 5-8). Having attained to such a height, he is seized with the spirit of a teacher. 1. He begins with instructing himself. "My soul, wait thou upon God." When we get up to heights of experience, we ought to mark in the rock how high we have climbed, for we know — "How difficult it is to keep Heights which the soul is competent to gain."When we are high up, there are outlooks which we are unable to see at ordinary times; and it is well to record them as is done here. The truths about God which we thus learn in moments of great experience are the most precious portion of all knowledge: they are better than we can learn from books or doctors or sages. Blessed is he who possesses convictions which he has not been taught by men, however wise, but has wrung out of his own experience. 2. He also instructs others (ver. 8). It is the natural way of experience to overflow into testimony; and when the soul has attained rest itself, it naturally seeks to assist the struggling. Thereby it not only proves that it has attained, but extends and strengthens its attainments; because we are never safer or healthier than when we have left off thinking of ourselves and are able to care for others. III. THE ALTERNATIVES TO FAITH (vers. 9-12). In this last section the psalmist contrasts faith in God with the other refuges in which he was tempted to put his trust. These were men (ver. 9) and money (ver. 10). To one in David's position, it would naturally seem a great thing to have men's alliance; but he had tried them and found them wanting. This is a word for all times: by any one who has a great cause — who is fighting for Christ's cause — democracy and aristocracy are alike to be distrusted; God alone is the watchword. The other substitute for God which David was tempted to trust was money, whether obtained by foul means or fair; and here he touches a still more universal chord. In thinking of the future and of the changes and chances of life, we are all tempted to look in this direction. How many are devoting themselves to the pursuit of money, caring little for scruples, but only feeling that, if they had enough of it, all would be well. Others, seeking wealth by honest means, have the same confidence. But the poorest man who has faith in God is safer. This is the testimony of Scripture, and it is the testimony of experience as well. So we come back to the wisdom of the man of God. Once, he says, he has heard, yea, twice — that is, it has been borne in on him again and again as a Divine truth — that "power belongeth unto God." This is the end of the whole matter; this is the resource that will avail in every difficulty, which will last through time and through eternity. ( J. Stalker, D. D. ) Silence to God A. Maclaren, D. D. (with ver. 5): — "My soul is silence unto God." That forcible form of expression describes the completeness of the psalmist's unmurmuring submission and quiet faith. His whole being is one of great stillness, broken by no clamorous passions; by no loud-voiced desires; by no remonstrating reluctance. That silence is first a silence of the will. Bridle impatience till God speaks. Take care of running before you are sent. Keep your will in equipoise till God's hand gives the impulse and direction. We must keep our hearts silent too. The sweet voices of pleading affections, the loud cry of desires and instincts that roar for their food like beasts of prey, the querulous complaints of disappointed hopes, the groans and sobs of black-robed sorrows, the loud hubbub and Babel, like the noise of a great city, that every man carries within, must be stifled and coerced into silence. We have to take the animal in us by the throat, and sternly say, Lie down there and be quiet. We have to silence tastes and inclinations. There must be the silence of the mind, as well as of the heart and will. We must not have our thoughts ever occupied with other things, but must cultivate the habit of detaching them from earth, and keeping our minds still before God, that He may pour His light into them. Alas! how far from this is our daily life! Who among us dares to take these words as the expression of our own experience? Is not the troubled sea which cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt, a truer emblem of our restless, labouring souls than the calm lake? Put your own selves by the side of this psalmist, and honestly measure the contrast. It is like the difference between some crowded market-place all full of noisy traffickers, ringing with shouts, blazing in sunshine, and the interior of the quiet cathedral that looks down on it all, where are coolness and subdued light, and silence and solitude. This man's profession of utter resignation is perhaps too high for us; but we can make his self-exhortation our own. "My soul! wait thou only upon God." Perfect as he ventures to declare his silence towards God, he yet feels that he has to stir himself up to the effort which is needed to preserve it in its purity. Just because he can say, "My soul waits," therefore he bids his soul wait. That vigorous effort is expressed here by the very form of the phrase. The same word which began tim first clause begins the second also. As in the former it represented for us, with an emphatic "Truly," the struggle through which the psalmist had reached the height of his blessed experience, so here it represents in like manner the earnestness of the self-exhortation which he addresses to himself. He calls forth all his powers to the conflict, which is needed even by the man who has attained to that height of communion, if he would remain where he has climbed. And for us who shrink from taking these former words upon our lips, how much greater the need to use our most strenuous efforts to quiet our souls. If the summit reached can only be held by earnest endeavour, how much more is needed to struggle up from the valleys below. ( A. Maclaren, D. D. ) Waiting upon God is the soul casting its anchor Bridge. It was the speech of Taulerus , one that Luther prized above all. Says he — Though the mariners may make use of their oars in the time of calm, yet when a storm comes down the mariners leave all and fly to their anchor. So, though at other times we may make use of resolutions and vows, and the like, yet when the storm of temptation comes down, nothing then but fly to the anchor of faith, nothing then like to casting of anchor into the vail. ( Bridge. ) He only is my rock and my salvation. Psalm 62:2 God alone the salvation of His people "My rock!" What a history the rock might give you of the storms to which it has been exposed; of the tempests which have raged in the ocean at its base, and of the thunders which have disturbed the skies above its head; while it, itself, has stood unscathed by tempests, and unmoved by the bufetings of storms. So with our God. The rock is immutable; nought hath been worn from it. Yon old granite peak hath gleamed in the sun, or worn the white veil of winter snow — it hath sometimes worshipped God with bare, uncovered head, and at other times the clouds furnished it with veiling wings, that, like a cherub, it might adore its Maker; but yet itself hath stood unchanged. The frosts of winter have not destroyed it, nor have the heats of summer melted it. It is the same with God. The ten thousand uses of the rock, moreover, are full of ideas as to what God is. You see the fortress standing on a high rock, up which the clouds themselves can scarcely climb, and up whose precipices the assault cannot be carried, and the armed cannot travel, for the besieged laugh at them from their eminence. So is our God a sure defence; and we shall not be moved if He hath "set our feet upon a rock, and established our goings." Many a giant rock is a source of admiration from its elevation; for on its summit we can see the world outspread below, like some small map; we mark the river or broadly spreading stream, as if it were a vein of silver inlaid in emerald. We discover the nations beneath our feet, "like drops in a bucket," and the islands are "very little things " in the distance, while the sea itself seems but a basin of water, held in the hand of a mighty giant. The mighty God is such a rock; we stand on Him, and look down on the world, counting it to be a mean thing. We shall notice — I. THE GREAT DOCTRINE, that God only is our salvation. II. THE GREAT EXPERIENCE, to know and to learn that "He only is my rock and my salvation"; and — III. THE GREAT DUTY, which you may guess at, which is, to give all the glory and all the honour, and place all our faith on Him who "only is our rock and our salvation." I must tell you a singular story, which was related at our Church meeting, because there may be some very poor people here, who may understand the way of salvation by it. One of the friends had been to see a person who was about to join the Church; and he said to him, "Can you tell me what you would say to a poor sinner who came to ask you the way of salvation?" "Well," said he, "I do not know — I think I can hardly tell you; but it so happened that a case of this sort did occur yesterday. A poor woman came into my shop, and I told her the way; but it was in such a homely manner that I don't like to tell you." "Oh, yes, tell me; I should like to hear it." "Well, she is a poor woman, who is always pawning her things, and by and by she redeems them again. I did not know how to tell her better than this. I said to her, 'Look here; your soul is in pawn to the devil; Christ has paid the redemption money; you take faith for your ticket, and so you will get your soul out of pawn.'" Now, that was the most simple, but the most excellent way of imparting a knowledge of salvation to this woman. ( C. H. Spurgeon . ) The Rock confers immovability to the believer J. Robertson. In the old classic story Hercules the giant challenged the whole world to produce a man who could wrestle with him and come off victor. There stepped forward a man of feeble build and almost dwarfish stature. Hercules disdainfully advanced and, lightly closing with this weak-looking fellow, put forth just a little of his strength, but the little man held his feet. Hercules, wondering at this, grappled with the unpromising wrestler, and put forth every atom of his strength to fling him. But, instead of being hurled to the ground, the stranger's feet are immovable, and he still stands. At last, strength gone, amid the laughter and jeers of the crowd over their broken idol, Hercules slunk away, completely beaten, utterly humiliated. That night a traitor friend of the dwarf's visited the tent of the discomfited giant and whispered, "Gold! Gold, and I will tell you why you could not win to-day, but why you can to-morrow. The man you are wrestling with to-day is Antaeus, the son of Earth. While his feet touch the ground all the strength of his mother earth passes into him, and he cannot be thrown. But only sever his connection with the ground by a hair's breadth and you have him." Next day the crowds .gathered vaster than ever to witness Hercules' defeat again. Antaeus is there, too little suspecting that his secret is betrayed. The giant advances to his opponent, and, before the dwarf is aware, with a sudden spring lifts him off the ground, and in a moment has his knee on his breast. Oh, take hold of the strength of God. Keep your feet on the Rock of ages. While you do so you are invincible. ( J. Robertson. ) Truly my soul waiteth upon God... My soul, wait thou only upon God. Psalm 62:5, 6 Silence to God A. Maclaren, D. D. These clauses correspond: the "truly" of the first is the same word as the "only" of the second, and in each it stands at the beginning. Literally the words are, "My soul is silence unto God." His whole being was one great stillness before God. This silence is — 1. Of the will. Resignation is its characteristic; is a silent will. Such will strong: it is no feeble passiveness. 2. Of the heart. 3. Of the mind. How we need to be still and let God speak. The second clause is an exhortation to the psalmist's own soul, and such self-exhortation, if not the affirmation of the first clause, we can make our own. There must be conscious effort and self-encouragement would we preserve the highest religious emotion. As the constant wash of the sea undermines the cliffs and wastes the coasts, so do the wear and tear of daily occupation act upon and wear away the higher emotions of our religious life. Therefore stir up your soul to wait only upon God. ( A. Maclaren, D. D. ) I shall not be greatly moved The upgrade of faith Thomas Spurgeon. (with ver. 6): — I. THE PSALMIST HAS ALREADY ATTAINED TO A GOOD DEGREE IN THE SCHOOL OF FAITH. "I shall not be greatly moved." And how did he attain to this degree? 1. He began by waiting upon God. "Only to God is my soul silenced" is the original, and it is expressive in that form, is it not? I have no one else in view, I am listening to God alone; my soul has ears, and they are open to hear what He will say unto me, for He will speak peace unto His people. This is the right attitude. 2. Having begun by waiting silently upon God, the psalmist soon enjoyed the realization of His power, His grace, His interest. "He only is my rock." That metaphor means more than we imagine. David knew what rocks were, the use and purpose and comfort of them. What the hills and the rocks were to the conies, that the caves and dens of the earth had been to the hunted king, and that God was to him in all his soul's perplexities. He further calls Him his salvation, adding this to the metaphor that he had already employed, as much as to say, "It is not mere metaphor. This is song, but it is not mere song; it is poetry, but it is practical for all that. God has been to me as this rock of my salvation, a Rock of Ages, a cleft rock, in which I have been secure." Further, he says, "He is my defence," a high tower, a lordly castle; something even better than the caves of the earth, though they served David's purpose well enough when occasion demanded. But God is to us the best of the best, the noblest of the noble; a tower, but a high tower as well as a strong tower, not merely a rock-hewn shelter, but a lordly castle, behind whose bulwarks we are not only safe but happy. 3. This produces firm confidence. "I shall not be greatly moved." The compass trembles and wavers and vacillates, but it trembles back to the pole; it is not greatly moved. I may fall, but I shall rise again. If I am perplexed I am not in despair. If I am cast down I am not, and shall not be, distressed. With such a rock — for who is a rock like unto our God? — may we not with confidence say, "I shall not be greatly moved." II. HE HAS MADE IMMENSE PROGRESS (ver. 6). "I shall not be moved." That is not so long a sentence as the other, but if it is not as long it is as strong, and stronger, and I prefer strength to length. The omission of that word greatly marks a growing faith, and makes a world of difference. "I shall not be moved." There is no qualifying adverb; it is absolute. "I shall not be moved in the least degree, not an inch, not a hair's breadth. I shall not be moved at any time, while I live, nor when I come to die, nor when I stand before the judgment seat. I shall not be moved." You see there is no qualification whatever. Do you wish you could get to this? Notice how swift the growth has been. I believe that the psalmist was just speaking his actual experience, and it could have taken only a minute or so to say the intervening words. Ah, but God's plants grow quickly. The lilies of the Lord spring up in an hour or so, when He shines upon the seed and waters it with His grace. But how can we account for this growth? First on the ground that real faith is vital. It is bound to grow. It has the life of God, it is the germ Divine, and just as in the hands of the mummy the wheat, and peas have lain three thousand years, but when brought forth to light and planted in the ground they spring to beauty, their life being in them all the time, so faith cannot be destroyed. It is God's own life; it is bound to live and conquer. Moreover, faith rises to occasion. It is like the stormy petrel that delights in the breeze, and is never so happy as when the storm is strongest. Moreover, it grows by exercise. The more faith is acted upon, the more active it is. Now let me say that nothing short of this should suffice any one of us. I know that half a loaf is better than no bread. I know that a feeble faith is infinitely to be preferred to none at all, but on that same line of argument you may well declare that such a faith as this we have been speaking of is greatly to be preferred to that we thought of at the first. Why should we be content with small measure when God will give it to us heaped up, pressed down, and running over? ( Thomas Spurgeon. ) My soul, wait thou only upon God . Psalm 62:5 The waiting soul George Fisk. The text applies to every believer. I. CONSIDER WHAT IT IS TO WAIT UPON GOD. It is the act of the soul. Here, the soul means the whole man. II. IT IS A WAITING LIKE THAT OF A SERVANT UPON HIS MASTER. III. IT EXCLUDES ALL OTHER WAITING: "wait thou only upon God." IV. IT IS AN ACT OF SPIRITUAL INTELLIGENCE. No man waits upon God until he knows God. V. OF CHILDLIKE TRUST. VI. THE MOTIVE OF ALL THIS — "my expectation is from Him." It is a great expectation: of guidance now, of eternal life with Christ hereafter. And it is from God,. derived from, warranted by, established in God. And all on account of the redemption which is in Christ. ( George Fisk. ) "Silent unto God J. H. Jowett, M. A. "My soul!" Here is a man communing with his own soul! He is deliberately addressing himself, and calling himself to attention. He is of set purpose breaking up his own drowsiness and indifference, and calling himself to a fruitful vigilance. There is nothing like the deliberate exercise of a power for making it spontaneously active. We must challenge our own souls, and rouse them to the contemplation of the things of God. "My soul! look upon this, and look long!" But let us see to it that when we do incite the attention of our spirits we give them something worthy to contemplate. Here the psalmist calls upon his soul to contemplate the manifold glory of God. Let us gaze at one or two aspects of the inspiring vision. "He only is my rock." Here is one of the figures in which the psalmist expresses his conception of the ministry of his God. "My rock!" The figure is literally suggestive of an enclosure of rock, a cave, a hiding-place. Perhaps there is no experience in human life which more perfectly develops the thought of the psalmist than the guardianship offered by a mother to her baby-child when the little one is just learning to walk. The mother literally encircles the child with protection, spreading out her arms into almost a complete ring, so that in whatever way the child may happen to stumble she falls into the waiting ministry of love. Such is the idea of "besetment" which lies in this familiar word "rock." It is a strong enclosure, an invincible ring, a grand besetment within which we move in restful security. "He is my salvation." Then He not only shields me, but strengthens me! Salvation implies more than convalescence, it denotes health. It is vastly more than redemption from sin; it is redemption from infirmity. It offers no mediocrity; its goal is spiritual prosperity and abundance. This promise of health we have in God too. He accepts us in our disease; He pledges His name to absolute health. "Having loved His own, He loved them unto the end." "He is my defence." The psalmist is multiplying his figures that he may the better bring out the riches of his conception. "Defence is suggestive of loftiness, of inaccessibility. It denotes the summit of some stupendous, outjutting, precipitous crag! It signifies such a place as where the eagle makes its nest, far beyond the prowlings of the marauders, away in the dizzy heights which mischief cannot scale. God is my defence! He lifts me away into the security of inaccessible heights. My safety is in my salvation. Purity is found in the altitudes. In these three words the psalmist expresses something of his thought of the all-enveloping anal protecting presence of God. He is "my rock," "my salvation," "my defence." What then shall be the attitude of the soul towards this God? "My soul, wait — be thou silent unto God." The spirit of patience is to be hushed and subdued. Our own clamorous wills are to be checked. The perilous heat is to be cooled. We are to linger before God in composure, in tranquillity. We are to be unruffled. "One evening," says Frances Ridley Havergal, "after a relapse, I longed so much to be able to pray, but found I was too weak for the least effort of thought, and I only looked up and said, 'Lord Jesus, I am so tired,' and then He brought to my mind 'Rest in the Lord,' and its lovely marginal rendering, 'Be silent to the Lord,' and so I was just silent to Him, and He seemed to overflow me with perfect peace in the sense of His own perfect love." "My expectation is from Him." The word translated "expectation" might also be translated "line" or "cord." "The line of scarlet thread." The line of all my hope stretches away to Him, and from Him back to me! The psalmist declares that however circumstances may vary, the cord of his hope binds him to the Lord. Ever and every. where there is the outstretched line! "My line is from Him." Whether he was in trouble or in joy, in prosperity or adversity, on whatever part of the varying shoreline he stood, there was the golden track between him and his God. "Thine expectation shall not be cut off;" the line shall never be broken. "I shall not be moved." Of course not! A man whose conception of God is that of "Rock," "Salvation," and "Defence," and who is "silent unto Him," and is bound to Him by the golden "cord" of hope, cannot be moved. But mark how the psalmist's confidence has grown by the exercise of contemplation. In the outset of the psalm his spirit was a little tremulous and uncertain. "I shall not be greatly moved." But now the qualifying adverb is gone, the tremulousness has vanished, and he speaks in unshaken confidence and trust, "I shall not be moved." ( J. H. Jowett, M. A. ) The inexhaustible fount J. Dickerson Davies, M. A. This is faith with its eyes open, seeing how great and how good our God is. If only we know God, and know Him as "our God," we at once pass into the possession of a great inheritance. This includes safety, rest, transfiguration of soul, victory, eternal joy. I. THE SOUL IS OUR CHIEF CONCERNMENT. The body of man has a value peculiarly its own, yet the soul is incomparably more precious. The body looks down and searches the ground for its delights; the soul looks up and culls treasures from the realms beyond the stars. Its home is on high; it is destined to soar. 1. The soul has kinship with God. 2. The soul has large capacities. 3. The soul has the possibility of endless life. II. THE SOUL IS FULL OF NEED. 1. This is a patent fact. Can the tree flourish without its root? Can a house stand without a foundation? Can a babe prosper without its mother? Nor can man without God. 2. We need Divine instruction. The first cry of the soul is for light. 3. We need God's life within. Penitence is budding life; prayer is life; pardon is life; righteousness is life; sonship in God's household is life; hope of heaven is life. "He that hath the Son hath life." III. THE SOURCE OF REAL GOOD — GOD. This is a vital discovery; for there is a sad tendency to trust in anything rather than in God. But here we have — 1. Great resources. He who created out of nothing this vast universe can as easily create more. Can we hold the Atlantic in the palm of our hand? Neither can we measure the resources of God. 2. Great promises, God's promises are the forthputtings of Himself. They are God's character transposed into words. What magnificent pledges have we from God! "I will be to them a God, and they shall be to Me a people; My covenant with them will I not break; With that man will I dwell, who is of an humble and a contrite heart;... Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it." 3. Great provisions. Everything is laid under tribute to serve redeemed men, viz. nature, providence, human history, angels, suffering, death, the cross of Jesus Christ. IV. THE CHANNEL OF BLESSING, viz. waiting upon God. 1. This implies faith. In every transaction of daily life we exercise faith. We put our faith in men, though they have often deceived us. We put our faith in the processes of nature — in the revolutions of the seasons, in the stability of this very unstable globe. Shall we not much more put our faith in the everlasting God? 2. Waiting implies submission. "To wait" means that I defer to the good pleasure of God. Though He tarry, I will wait for Him. My range of vision is very narrow. His eye sweeps the universe. My idea of what is best is very imperfect; His idea is perfect. God is my King — my gracious Master; therefore I will "wait." 3. Waiting means prayer. It is not essential that there should be words, though words are helpful to ourselves. The mightiest prayer is silent, — the outgoing of unconquerable desire. ( J. Dickerson Davies, M. A. ) Waiting upon God Pulpit Treasury. I. EXHORTATION — "wait." It is easier for some to fret and fume. Waiting is a lesson taught in the school of experience. But we are often like children scratching in their gardens to see if the seeds sown yesterday are coming up. II. DEFINITION — "upon God." To some, waiting is sitting with folded hands. This is not waiting upon God. In this, courage, resolution and other manly qualities are demanded — patient, prayerful use of moans. III. LIMITATION — "only." Only? yes, only! This is a limitation indeed. .Is it not written, "It is better to trust in the Lord than put confidence in princes"? Also, "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no salvation," and again, "Thus saith the Lord, Cursed be the man that trusteth in man," etc. IV. ILLUMINATION — "Expectation." If the picture has been grey or dark hero is illumination. This may appear mercenary. Mercenary? Listen, was Moses mercenary? "He had respect unto the recompense of reward — he esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt." Remember Him also, who for "the joy that was set before Him endured the cross," V. APPLICATION — "my soul," "thou," "my": this application is personal. This is the only fitting application, "My soul, wait thou only upon God," etc. ( Pulpit Treasury. ) My expectation is from Him Expectation W. M. Statham. There is nothing that fills life with such joy and rest as expectation! It is the "beyond" of human history, and no landscape is beautiful without perspective. David's light was dim, but there was a "beyond" in his life. So with Isaiah. But it was Christ that most of all kindled this expectation. Now, concerning it, note — I. IT WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED. II. IT WILL NOT BE ALTOGETHER DEFINED. III. IT WILL NOT INJURE DUTY. Secularists say it will and does. But what would the present life become were there no expectation of a future? IV. IT WILL NOT DIE OUT. Man cannot else live. We have in Christ the earnest of it. ( W. M. Statham. ) Trust in Him at all times. Psalm 62:8 The duty of trusting in God Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons. I. AS INTERESTING FACT ASSERTED. "God is a refuge for us." This is a fact in which all mankind are deeply interested. If God be not our refuge, we are undone, and must finally perish in our sins. But, thank the Lord, He has not left us without help. He "hath remembered us in our low estate, for His mercy endureth for ever." II. AN IMPORTANT DUTY ENJOINED. "Trust in Him at all times." This is both the imperious duty, and the highest interest of every human being. There is no season in the whole compass of human existence when it is not needful to trust in the Lord. III. AN ENCOURAGING DIRECTION URGED. "Ye people, pour out your hearts before Him." "Thou, God,.seest me," is a s

62:1-7 We are in the way both of duty and comfort, when our souls wait upon God; when we cheerfully give up ourselves, and all our affairs, to his will and wisdom; when we leave ourselves to all the ways of his providence, and patiently expect the event, with full satisfaction in his goodness. See the ground and reason of this dependence. By his grace he has supported me, and by his providence delivered me. He only can be my Rock and my salvation; creatures are nothing without him, therefore I will look above them to him. Trusting in God, the heart is fixed. If God be for us, we need not fear what man can do against us. David having put his confidence in God, foresees the overthrow of his enemies. We have found it good to wait upon the Lord, and should charge our souls to have such constant dependence upon him, as may make us always easy. If God will save my soul, I may well leave every thing else to his disposal, knowing all shall turn to my salvation. And as David's faith in God advances to an unshaken stedfastness, so his joy in God improves into a holy triumph. Meditation and prayer are blessed means of strengthening faith and hope. 62:8-12 Those who have found the comfort of the ways of God themselves, will invite others into those ways; we shall never have the less for others sharing with us. the good counsel given is, to trust wholly in God. We must so trust in him at all times, as not at any time to put that trust in ourselves, or in any creature, which is to be put in him only. Trust in him to guide us when in doubt, to protect us when in danger, to supply us when in want, to strengthen us for every good word and work. We must lay out wants and our wishes before him, and then patiently submit our wills to his: this is pouring out our hearts. God is a refuge for all, even for as many as will take shelter in him. The psalmist warns against trusting in men. The multitude, those of low degree, are changeable as the wind. The rich and noble seem to have much in their power, and lavish promises; but those that depend on them, are disappointed. Weighed in the balance of Scripture, all that man can do to make us happy is lighter than vanity itself. It is hard to have riches, and not to trust in them if they increase, though by lawful and honest means; but we must take heed, lest we set our affections unduly upon them. A smiling world is the most likely to draw the heart from God, on whom alone it should be set. The consistent believer receives all from God as a trust; and he seeks to use it to his glory, as a steward who must render an account. God hath spoken as it were once for all, that power belongs to him alone. He can punish and destroy. Mercy also belongs to him; and his recompensing the imperfect services of those that believe in him, blotting out their transgressions for the Redeemer's sake, is a proof of abundant mercy, and encourages us to trust in him. Let us trust in his mercy and grace, and abound in his work, expecting mercies from him alone.