Psalms 61:0 ¶ To the chief Musician upon Neginah, A Psalm of David.
This is another psalm of David that he sent to the chief Musician to use in worship and praise at the tabernacle that housed the ark of the covenant. Easton’s Dictionary states that Neginah “denotes the music of stringed instruments.” It also points out that the word is singular in form which makes me think it was likely sung to the accompaniment of a single stringed instrument and possibly even sung as a solo—maybe in connection with the king’s early days as a shepherd boy playing on his harp and singing praise to God.
I liked this observation from the New Bible Commentary: “Like many psalms, Psalm 61 opens with prayer and ends with praise. This is a biblical sequence, for prayer begets a confidence in God that expresses itself in praise and is answered by acts of God to which praise is the right response.”
Psalms 61:1 ¶ Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer.
Psalms 61:2 From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
Once again, David opens his song calling out to God in prayer and urging Him to answer his cry for help. “From the end of the earth” could make reference to being far away from home or could just be an expression of emphasis to the truth that no matter where he might be, he knew he could always turn to God when his heart was overwhelmed or heavily oppressed—as he was at this time. He pleads for God to lead him to a place that lifts his spirits high above his circumstances. I think that was actually a cry for God to make His presence felt, since David knew God as “the rock” of salvation and deliverance.
Deuteronomy 32:15 “But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.”
1 Samuel 2:2 “There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.”
2 Samuel 22:32 “For who is God, save the Lord? and who is a rock, save our God?”
Psalms 42:9 “I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
Beautiful thought from Spurgeon: “Our heavenly Father is not hardened against the cries of his own children. What a consoling thought it is that the Lord at all times hears his people's cries, and is never forgetful of their prayers; whatever else fails to move him, praying breath is never spent in vain!... No spot is too dreary, no condition too deplorable; whether it be the world's end or life's end, prayer is equally available.”
I loved this comment from Chuck Smith that made application, using one of my favorite hymns of the past: “It is so comforting to know that at my extremity I can turn to God. There is a verse of the song, ‘He Giveth More Grace,’ that beautifully describes it. ‘When we have exhausted our store of endurance, when our strength is gone, ere the day is half through, when we have reached the end of our hoarded resources, our Father’s full giving has only begun. His grace has no limits, His love has no measure, His power has no boundary known unto man. For out of His infinite riches in Jesus, He giveth and giveth and giveth again.’ And when I’ve come to the end, when I am overwhelmed, and I cry unto Him, that Rock that is higher than I. At that point of my extremity, God has just begun His glorious work within my life.”
Psalms 61:3 For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.
Psalms 61:4 I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.
David goes on to testify how God has been his shelter and strong tower in the face of his enemy. He was determined to continue taking his refuge in God in complete trust that He would continue to provide the provision and protection he needed.
Notice how David once again pictures God as a mother or father bird protecting their young by covering them with their wings.
Selah – a pause, an opportunity for meditation
Psalms 61:5 ¶ For thou, O God, hast heard my vows: thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name.
As with all prayer, David is not telling God anything He does not already know. He is emphasizing that he knows God has heard his vows (to follow Him in faith and obedience seem to be implied). He has blessed David with a heritage of those that honor and revere God’s name.
I, too, feel blessed to have had a heritage on my mom’s side at least of those that honored God with their lives, especially through the ministry of music. My children are also blessed with a heritage from their father of those that honored God, including a grandfather that was a pastor and head of the seminary at a Christian college.
Psalms 61:6 Thou wilt prolong the king’s life: and his years as many generations.
Psalms 61:7 He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him.
Psalms 61:8 So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows.
Most translations express verses 6-7 as a request, asking God to give David a long life and a future in God’s presence and to protect him in mercy and truth. I think the reading of the KJV as David’s commitment to God with a prayer for God’s mercy and truth to cover him makes just as much sense.
David closes the psalm vowing to sing the praise of God forever and fulfill his vows to him every day.
Another Spurgeon gem: “David had given vocal utterance to his prayer by a cry; he will now give expression to his praise by a song: there should be a parallel between our supplications and our thanksgivings. We ought not to leap in prayer, and limp in praise.”
Psalms 62:0 ¶ To the chief Musician, to Jeduthun, A Psalm of David.
David directs this psalm to Jeduthun, one of the three lead worship leaders appointed to serve at the tabernacle.
1 Chronicles 25:6 “All these were under the hands of their father for song in the house of the LORD, with cymbals, psalteries, and harps, for the service of the house of God, according to the king’s order to Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman.”
Jeduthun and his sons were noted for their skill with the harp.
1 Chronicles 25:3 “Of Jeduthun: the sons of Jeduthun; Gedaliah, and Zeri, and Jeshaiah, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the hands of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with a harp, to give thanks and to praise the LORD.”
Psalms 62:1 ¶ Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation.
Psalms 62:2 He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.
David opens this psalm with a personal testimony about his trust in God for his salvation. It is only in God that he knows he can find strength and deliverance. On that truth he stands firm, determined that he will never change.
The Hebrew for “waiteth” is another term expressing David’s trust in God. The Hebrew for “salvation” acknowledges God as the source of David’s safety, health and prosperity. The Hebrew for “rock” is a reference to God as the source of David’s strength and his refuge and protection. It is in God that he finds such great provision that he can state with confidence that he will not be easily moved.
Psalms 62:3 How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence.
Psalms 62:4 They only consult to cast him down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.
I think the NLT states it a bit more clearly: “So many enemies against one man—all of them trying to kill me. To them I’m just a broken-down wall or a tottering fence. They plan to topple me from my high position. They delight in telling lies about me. They are friendly to my face, but they curse me in their hearts.”
The wording seems to indicate that David is an older man and that ambitious men that claim to honor him are actually plotting to overthrow him as king—probably Absalom and his supporters.
Selah – a pause, an opportunity for reflection
Psalms 62:5 My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.
Psalms 62:6 He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved.
Psalms 62:7 In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.
These verses are basically an exclamation point on the previous verses. David declares that his trust in God is rooted in the truth that He is the source of ALL that David needs and desires.
Spurgeon: “Notice how David’s faith grows. In verse 2, he says, ‘I shall not be greatly moved;’ but now he says, ‘I shall not be moved at all.’ What strength faith gives to a man, and what strength prayer gives to a man! We may begin our supplication tremblingly, but as we draw near to God we become confident in him, and filled with holy boldness.”
Wiersbe: “Times of waiting can be difficult if we don’t depend wholly on the Lord. God’s delays are not God’s denials, but our impatience can be used by the devil to lead us on dangerous and destructive detours.”
Psalms 62:8 ¶ Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.
The king then urges his people to follow him in trusting God at all times—both good and bad times. He urges them to yield their lives in service to Him because it is so worth it. It is God who is their only sure refuge.
Selah – a pause, an opportunity for reflection
Psalms 62:9 Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.
Psalms 62:10 Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.
I liked the NLT for these verses: “From the greatest to the lowliest—all are nothing in his sight. If you weigh them on the scales, they are lighter than a puff of air. Don’t try to get rich by extortion or robbery. And if your wealth increases, don’t make it the center of your life.”
David addresses our propensity to value some people more than others. Because they perceive riches to be a sign of one’s worth, they are tempted to do wrong to accumulate them. He warns them not to make that mistake. It certainly doesn’t increase your value before God who values all lives. If, perchance, you are a person of wealth, he warns not to make that wealth the focus of one’s life. Scripture is clear in declaring that the love of money is the root of all evil.
1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
It’s the truth behind the saying, “Follow the money,” when searching for the source of evil doing.
Courson: “God is not only powerful, He’s merciful. Men of low degree might be merciful, but they lack power. Men of high degree have power, but they lack mercy. Only God has the winning combination.”
Psalms 62:11 God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God.
Psalms 62:12 Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy: for thou renderest to every man according to his work.
“once” = first…altogether (without exception, wholly)
I think the point David is making is that God is the ultimate power source. He is also the ultimate source of mercy. God gives to every man according to his work.
I think again that because David lived under the Old Testament covenant of the law, the truth of receiving from God according to one’s work was impressed upon them continually through the sacrificial system. We are so blessed today to live under the New Covenant, to know that our reward rests in the finished work of the LORD Jesus on the cross. This is the truth Jesus declared in His last words from the cross.
John 19:30 “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
God’s mercy is the ultimate gift of grace that comes with our salvation.
Another Spurgeon gem: “We have two ears, that we may hear attentively, and the spiritual have inner ears with which they hear indeed. He hears twice in the best sense who hears with his heart as well as his ears.”
And this thought-provoking comment regarding the last part of verse 12: “This looks rather like justice than mercy; but if we understand it to mean that God graciously rewards the poor, imperfect works of his people, we see in it a clear display of mercy. May it not also mean that according to the work he allots us is the strength which he renders to us? he is not a hard master; he does not bid us make bricks without straw, but he metes out to us strength equal to our day.”