PSALM 62

God Alone a Refuge from Treachery and Oppression.

For the choir director; according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.

1My soul waits in silence for God only;

From Him is my salvation.

2He only is my rock and my salvation,

My stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken.

3How long will you assail a man,

That you may murder him, all of you,

Like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence?

4They have counseled only to thrust him down from his high position;

They delight in falsehood;

They bless with their mouth,

But inwardly they curse. Selah.

5My soul, wait in silence for God only,

For my hope is from Him.

6He only is my rock and my salvation,

My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.

7On God my salvation and my glory rest;

The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.

8Trust in Him at all times, O people;

Pour out your heart before Him;

God is a refuge for us. Selah.

9Men of low degree are only vanity and men of rank are a lie;

In the balances they go up;

They are together lighter than breath.

10Do not trust in oppression

And do not vainly hope in robbery;

If riches increase, do not set your heart upon them.

11Once God has spoken;

Twice I have heard this:

That power belongs to God;

12And lovingkindness is Yours, O Lord,

For You recompense a man according to his work.

All the World Guilty

1Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? 2Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God. 3What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? 4May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written,

“That You may be justified in Your words,

And prevail when You are judged.”

5But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (I am speaking in human terms.) 6May it never be! For otherwise, how will God judge the world? 7But if through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner? 8And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “Let us do evil that good may come”? Their condemnation is just.

9What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; 10as it is written,

“There is none righteous, not even one;

11There is none who understands,

There is none who seeks for God;

12All have turned aside, together they have become useless;

There is none who does good,

There is not even one.”

13“Their throat is an open grave,

With their tongues they keep deceiving,”

“The poison of asps is under their lips”;

14“Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”;

15“Their feet are swift to shed blood,

16Destruction and misery are in their paths,

17And the path of peace they have not known.”

18“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

19Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God;

1) How do Psalm 62 and Deuteronomy 32 together portray יהוה as the unshakable Rock amidst human corruption?

2) What does Paul’s declaration that “none are righteous” reveal of Israel’s failure and humanity’s need for mercy?

3) How does recognizing יהוה’s unchanging nature shape your response to the world’s instability?

4O Lord God of hosts,

How long will You be angry with the prayer of Your people?

5You have fed them with the bread of tears,

And You have made them to drink tears in large measure.

6You make us an object of contention to our neighbors,

And our enemies laugh among themselves.

7O God of hosts, restore us

And cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.

8You removed a vine from Egypt;

You drove out the nations and planted it.

9You cleared the ground before it,

And it took deep root and filled the land.

10The mountains were covered with its shadow,

And the cedars of God with its boughs.

11It was sending out its branches to the sea

And its shoots to the River.

12Why have You broken down its hedges,

So that all who pass that way pick its fruit?

13A boar from the forest eats it away

And whatever moves in the field feeds on it.

14O God of hosts, turn again now, we beseech You;

Look down from heaven and see, and take care of this vine,

15Even the shoot which Your right hand has planted,

And on the son whom You have strengthened for Yourself.

16It is burned with fire, it is cut down;

They perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.

17Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand,

Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself.

18Then we shall not turn back from You;

Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.

19O Lord God of hosts, restore us;

Cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.

Judgment on Neighbor Nations

1The words of Amos, who was among the sheepherders from Tekoa, which he envisioned in visions concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

2He said,

“The Lord roars from Zion

And from Jerusalem He utters His voice;

And the shepherds’ pasture grounds mourn,

And the summit of Carmel dries up.”

3Thus says the Lord,

“For three transgressions of Damascus and for four

I will not revoke its punishment,

Because they threshed Gilead with implements of sharp iron.

4So I will send fire upon the house of Hazael

And it will consume the citadels of Ben-hadad.

5I will also break the gate bar of Damascus,

And cut off the inhabitant from the valley of Aven,

And him who holds the scepter, from Beth-eden;

So the people of Aram will go exiled to Kir,”

Says the Lord.

6Thus says the Lord,

“For three transgressions of Gaza and for four

I will not revoke its punishment,

Because they deported an entire population

To deliver it up to Edom.

7So I will send fire upon the wall of Gaza

And it will consume her citadels.

8I will also cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod,

And him who holds the scepter, from Ashkelon;

I will even unleash My power upon Ekron,

And the remnant of the Philistines will perish,”

Says the Lord God.

9Thus says the Lord,

“For three transgressions of Tyre and for four

I will not revoke its punishment,

Because they delivered up an entire population to Edom

And did not remember the covenant of brotherhood.

10So I will send fire upon the wall of Tyre

And it will consume her citadels.”

11Thus says the Lord,

“For three transgressions of Edom and for four

I will not revoke its punishment,

Because he pursued his brother with the sword,

While he stifled his compassion;

His anger also tore continually,

And he maintained his fury forever.

12So I will send fire upon Teman

And it will consume the citadels of Bozrah.”

13Thus says the Lord,

“For three transgressions of the sons of Ammon and for four

I will not revoke its punishment,

Because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead

In order to enlarge their borders.

14So I will kindle a fire on the wall of Rabbah

And it will consume her citadels

Amid war cries on the day of battle,

And a storm on the day of tempest.

15Their king will go into exile,

He and his princes together,” says the Lord.