PSALM 62
– Notes from JAMES MONTGOMERY BOICE’S PSALMS, Volume 2
 
Posted on Jan 14, 2017
 
Title: Rest in God Alone (Let’s ponder this title.)
Read Psalm 62.
 
Psalm 62 is about David, who was surrounded by enemies who were treating him as if he were a leaning, tottering wall, and they were doing everything they could to push him over.  Yet in spite of their hostility, David is not worrying about them but rather is trusting God. (Can we do the same in our times of trouble… keep trusting the Lord?)
 
David is in great danger; however, in spite of that danger his trust in God is so strong that the psalm is wonderfully serene and confident.  This is probably the most important thing to be said about this psalm. Clearly this is a psalm for you if you feel threatened by someone or you are in danger (The persecuted church today faces this danger daily needing our prayer).
 
The psalm falls naturally into three stanzas of four verses each, the three parts separated by the selahs [pause to worship] (p. 509) [reread the psalm while pausing]. 
 
God and the Psalmist’s Enemies
The first stanza (vs. 1-4) introduces us to the three interacting agents in the psalm: God, the psalmist David, and the psalmist’s enemies.  His enemies are trying to throw him down, but David is trusting God, who is his ROCK, his SALVATION, and his FORTRESS (v. 2)  The crucial point is that David is trusting God only, in God alone (p. 509) [see notes on p. 510, 511, & 512 regarding Our Sufficiency in Christ by John MacArthur].
 
Still Will We Trust
David knew how variable and weak the faith of man in God can be.  This is what is emphasized in the second stanza.  David has trusted God, but now he also: (1) encourages himself to continue to trust God (vs. 5-7) and (2) urges the people to trust God too (vs. 8) (p. 512).
 
A New Look at Weak Man
Derek Kidner suggests that there are two important points here: (1) We have nothing to really fear from man, and (2) we have nothing to hope from man, either.  These are both true and both flow out of the lessons the psalm as a whole has been teaching (p. 513). (Man is weak but God is so, so strong and thus, deserving of our trust.) 
 
Two Lessons Learned from God
The last two verses of Psalm 62 are intended as a summary of what David has been learning, but they also go a step beyond it.  David says that he has learned two lessons: (1) that GOD IS STRONG, and (2) GOD IS LOVING (p. 513) [reread the last two verses].
 
According to Boyce, David probably means that he has learned two great things about God as a result of God’s continuing self-revelation of Himself.  First, God is strong; that is, he is sovereign in all the events of history, including the dangers that have threatened David.  Second, God is loving or merciful, even in these difficult and dangerous things.  The Hebrew word David uses is hesed, which refers to God’s lovingkindness/God’s faithful covenants with his people. It means that he is a covenant-keeping God (p. 514).
 
In conclusion, we can come to God for help, because he loves us and invites us to come to him.  Once there, we can rest in perfect contentment, because we know that God is strong and loving and also able to protect us.  Indeed, he is more than able (p. 514).  He is our ROCK, our SALVATION, and our FORTRESS.
 
Notes by Lisa Patton (from study by James Montgomery Boice)