Psalms 62

Verse-by-verse explanation

1. Psalms 62:1"Truly" is the key word of this psalm, repeated several times: trust in God shares no room with any other source of security, neither wealth nor human power, themes that return later in the poem.
2. Psalms 62:2"Rock," "salvation," and "defence" form a trio of images of solidity, repeated almost identically in verse 6. Here the psalmist still admits "I shall not be greatly moved" — real security, but with a small reserve in the word "greatly."
3. Psalms 62:3Comparing the enemies to "a bowing wall" and "a tottering fence" is saying that, however threatening they look now, they are already about to collapse — all that's missing is the final push to bring them down for good.
4. Psalms 62:4It describes hypocrisy: praising to your face while wishing you harm inside, an image that appears in several psalms for false friends or flatterers.
5. Psalms 62:5It repeats almost the same line from verse 1, but now as an order directed at his own soul: the psalmist talks himself into it, a common device in Hebrew poetry when confidence needs to be reasserted by force.
6. Psalms 62:6It almost repeats verse 2, but without the word "greatly": the confidence that before admitted a small shaking now becomes absolute — "I shall not be moved," with no reservation.
7. Psalms 62:7It stacks up several images of protection already used earlier in the psalm — rock, stronghold, refuge — into a single line, as if the author were gathering everything already said into one final summary of trust.
8. Psalms 62:8"Pour out your heart" is a Hebrew image of sincere, unreserved prayer, like emptying a liquid to the last drop. The verse shifts in tone, from personal reflection to an invitation to the whole people, closed with the enigmatic Selah.
9. Psalms 62:9It uses the commercial image of a scale for weighing goods: even putting all the powerful together on one side, they would weigh less than nothing — an exaggerated way of saying that human power carries no real weight before God.
10. Psalms 62:10"Robbery" is quite literal: wealth taken by force or extortion. The verse warns that even honest gains, if they grow too large, should not become the heart's new object of trust — the real target of the whole psalm.
11. Psalms 62:11"Once... twice" is a numeric pattern common in Hebrew poetry, also used in Proverbs, meaning "this was said and it stuck" — not a literal count of how many times God spoke.
12. Psalms 62:12After stating in the previous verse that power belongs to God, this verse adds mercy as its counterpart: strength without kindness would be mere tyranny, and the psalm joins the two to describe God's character in full.