For You alone my soul waits in silence; from the Beloved comes my salvation.
Enfolding me with strength and steadfast love, my faith shall remain firm.
Psalm 62 Nan C. Merrill
Reflection:
Psalm 62 is a cry for help and a declaration of trust in God. The Psalmist knows that giving fears and anxieties to God is the only way to get out of shame-spiraling and imposter syndrome because she’s been there before. Handing over the insecurities, doubts, and all the other icky feelings in prayer allows the psalmist to rest, to find a quietness deep within her being, and be still. It is hard to let go of these feelings, but the psalmist knows and trusts that God can handle all of her; when she feels she is too much or not enough. Even in the midst of fear, the psalmist knows that God can be trusted.
I like Nan C. Merrill’s rendering of this psalm because she names fear and what it does.
For You alone my soul waits in silence; from the Beloved comes my salvation.
Enfolding me with strength and steadfast love, my faith shall remain firm.
Yet, How long will fear rule my life, a trebling child, a dark and lonely grave?
Fear keeps me from living full, from sharing my gifts;
it takes pleasure in imprisoning my soul.
Fear pretends to comfort, so long has it dwelled within me; truly, it is my enemy.
For You alone my soul waits in silence; my hope is from the Beloved.
Enfolding me with strength and steadfast love, my faith shall remain firm.
In the Silence rests my freedom and my guidance;
for You are the Heart of my heart, You speak to me in the Silence.
Psalm 62:1-7 Nan C. Merrill
The Psalmist’s witness reminds all of us that God can be trusted with all that feels weighty in our lives. In reality, we are not heavy burdens for God; we are lighter than breath and dissipate as fast as vapor. Also, fear only brings more fear; greed leads to greed. But, hope brings hope; and love begets love.
This is Merrill’s second half of psalm 62:
Trust in Love at all time, O people pour out your heart to the Beloved;
Let Silence be a refuge for you.
Being of low estate is but a sigh, being of high estate is misleading;
In the balance, either high or low, it is of little consequence–
they are gone in one breath.
Riches, whether obtained by right or through extortion,
rarely lead to nought but greed– set not your heart on them.
Once You have spoken, twice I have heard:
Our potential gifts belong to You; to You, O Beloved, belongs our faithful love.
For You render to us all that we offer to You–
fear begets fear, love begets love.
For You alone my soul waits in silence;
from the Beloved comes Life, Love and Light.
Psalm 62:8-12 Nan C. Merrill
My hope and my prayer is that we all have space to tell God the truth and that we choose to live in God’s love.
I began writing Psalm reflections during Lent of 2020 shortly after we decided to close the church building, work from home, and worship via zoom. It is a practice I have continued since. Many churches use the Revised Common Lectionary (RLC) that rotates scripture on a three-year cycle (A, B, and C). Starting in Advent 2019, Third Church decided to worship with the texts from Year D, which is still not circulated as are years A, B, and C. Year D was created with the goal of including scriptures that were left out or not used as frequently as others. While we were using Psalms in year D, most other lectionary followers were using Year A. In Advent of 2020 we rejoined those who use the lectionary in year B. Advent of 2021 year C. Advent of 2022 year A. Advent of 2023 year B.
I use the Vanderbilt Divinity Library’s resource for lectionary readings to make text selections.
Year B Psalms
Advent – Transfiguration: 1st Sunday in Advent Psalm 80, 2nd Sunday in Advent Psalm 85, 3rdSunday in Advent Psalm 126, 4th Sunday in Advent Psalm 89, Christmas Eve or Christmas Day Psalm 96, Psalm 97, Psalm 98, 1st Sunday after Christmas, Psalm 148, New Year’s Day Psalm 8, Epiphany Psalm 72, 1st Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 29, 2nd Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 139, 3rd Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 62, 4th Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 111, 5th Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 147, Transfiguration Sunday (Sunday before Lent) Psalm 50
Lent: Ash Wednesday Psalm 51, 1st Sunday in Lent Psalm 25, 2nd Sunday in Lent Psalm 22, 3rdSunday in Lent Psalm 19, 4th Sunday in Lent Psalm 107, 5th Sunday in Lent Psalm 51 or Psalm 119:9-16, 6th Sunday in Lent (Palm or Passion Sunday) Psalm 118 or 31
Holy Week: Monday Psalm 36, Tuesday Psalm 71, Wednesday Psalm 70, Maundy Thursday Psalm 116, Good Friday Psalm 22, Holy Saturday Psalm 31
Easter: Easter Psalm 118 or 114, 2nd Sunday of Easter Psalm 133, 3rd Sunday of Easter Psalm 4, 4th Sunday of Easter Psalm 23, 5th Sunday of Easter Psalm 22, 6th Sunday of Easter Psalm 98, Ascension Psalm 47 or Psalm 93, 7th Sunday of Easter Psalm 1, Day of Pentecost Psalm 104
Season After Pentecost (Ordinary Time): 1st Sunday after Pentecost (Trinity Sunday) Psalm 29, 2nd Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 139 or Psalm 81, 3rd Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 138 or Psalm 130, 4th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 20 or Psalm 92, 5th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 9or Psalm 133 or Psalm 107, 6th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 130 or Psalm 30, 7th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 48 or Psalm 123, 8th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 24 or Psalm 85, 9th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 89 or Psalm 23, 10th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 14 or Psalm 145, 11thSunday after Pentecost Psalm 51 or Psalm 78, 12th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 130 or Psalm 34, 13th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 111 or Psalm 34, 14th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 84 or Psalm 34, 15th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 45 or Psalm 15, 16th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 125 or Psalm 146, 17th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 19 or Psalm 116, 18th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 1 or Psalm 54, 19th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 124 or Psalm 19, 20th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 26 or Psalm 8, 21st Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 22 or Psalm 90, 22ndSunday after Pentecost Psalm 104 or Psalm 91, 23rd Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 34 or Psalm 126, 24th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 146 or 119, 25th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 127 or Psalm 146, 26th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 16, 27th Sunday after Pentecost (Christ the King) Psalm 132 or Psalm 93.
Sources and notes:
I wrote this short reflection in 2020: Desperate times call for desperate prayers. Pour out your heart and soul. Pound on the ground. The stones take their beating in silence. And when the noisy prayer subsides, God is in the silence. My soul waits in silence. My hope is in God.
“Psalm 62 is a sustained declaration of trust in God. Its rhetoric and arrangement are designed to serve its purpose. Six fo its poetic lines begin with a Hebrew word that introduces an emphatic assertion (vv. 1,2,4,5,6,9; Hb. ‘ak: NRSV, “alone”; NJPS, better “truly”). The reiteration of this introductory emphatic sustains the declaratory character of the whole.” Mays p. 215
“The first measures of verses 1 and 5 are difficult to put in English. The Hebrew does not mean verbal silence, as some translations suggest; verse 8 commends pouring out one’s heart in prayer as an act of trust. Nor is waiting implied; the state of soul described is already consummated. The measures speak rather of a quietness of soul, an inner stillness that comes with yielding all fears and anxieties and insecurities to God in an act of trust. In Hebrew, verse 1 is a declaration, while verse 5 is a self-exhortation (see NJPS). Something like “Truly, O my soul, rest in God, for from him is my hope.” The variation speaks of a trust that is present now in the gift of salvation but must be maintained in life as the practice of hope.” Mays pp. 215-216
“The substance of trust is set forth in confessional statements (vv. 2, 6-7). A series of predicates are acknowledged as the turn about God and are claimed by the psalmist with the possessive pronoun. “he is my rock, salvation, fortress, honor, refuge.” these predicates are the traditional attributes of God that Israel cam not know through its history with the LORD (e.g., Deut. 32:4; Exod. 15:2). they belong to the community’s confession of faith made in hymns and prayers (compare v.8, “god is our refuge,” with Ps. 46:1). The individual receives and enters into this confessional life as a member of the people of God and practices it in liturgy and faithfulness as one of the congregation. And the individual gives testimony to the confirmation of the confession in his life as a member of hte people of God and practices it in liturgy and faithfulness as one of hte congregation. And the individual gives testimony to the confirmation of the confession in his own life, as is happening in this psalm. The various predicates are all language that identifies the LORD as the source and foundation and future of life.” Mays p. 216
“Through most of its lines, Psalm 62 is composed in the style appropriate for a person’s own confession of faith and for a testimony of witness and instruction to others. But in its closing line (v.12) the style shifts to direct address to “my Lord,” showing that it is also composed to be said in the presence of God as a declaration of commitment. It is thus a psalm that guides our own confession, instructs the congregation in trust, and makes a commitment to our Lord.” Mays p. 217
“Psalm 62 is bracketed by two other psalms of trust that offer an assurance of God’s loyalty, dependability, and power in response to the preceding string of laments. …. God showed covenant loyalty to Israel from the beginning of God’s relationship to Israel (Exod 15:13) and the psalmist counts on it now.” W p. 147
“The superscription ties Psalm 62 to Jeduthun (see also Pss 39; 72), which probably refers to one of David’s chief musicians and singers (along with Asaph and Human; see 1 Car 9:16; 16:38; 42; 25:6).” W p. 148
“1. on jeduthun. This is either an opaque musical term, or it might refer, as some have conjectured, to a particular group of levitical choristers. When the term appears in 39:1, the preposition attached to it is “for,” and it is translated as a proper noun. Here the preposition is “on”. Alter p. 213
Wisdom commentary links this psalm to Hannah’s story in 1 Samuel 1:15. Hannah pours her heart and soul out before God.
“2. Only in God is my being quiet. The Hebrew says literally “toward” God. The emphatic “only” (‘akh) begins six different lines in this poem–four of them referring to God; one, antithetically, to the relentless malevolent intentions of the speaker’s enemies; and one to the ephemerality and insubstantiality of human existence. The references in the poem to enemies connects it generically with the supplication, but its leading edge is an affirmation of trust in God. This feeling is expressed with the most affecting simplicity, beginning here with the idea that in or through God the speaker’s inner being (nefesh) finds quiet, is at peace.” Alter p. 213
“6. Only in God be quiet, my being. The poem returns in a kind of refrain to its beginning, but now it turn the quietness of the speaker’s inner self into an imperative and substitutes “hope” for “rescue”. Alter p. 214
“10. Only breath-humankind. The psalmist now, after the segment-marking selah, adds a new element to this meditation on the meaning of trust in God-an Ecclesiastian reflection on the flimsy, fleeting nature of human life. The term level (“breath” or “vapor,” what the King James Version abstracts into “vanity”) is one that Ecclesiastes uses repeatedly.” Alter p. 215
“13. For You requite a man by his deeds. This line lacks any parallelism (rhythmic, syntactic, or semantic) in the Hebrew. It may be set here as a kind of prose coda to the poem. But it is a fitting conclusion to the quiet eloquence of the psalm, summing up the speaker’s sense that he can trust in God because God will mete out to each man according to his deserts.” Alter p. 215
The NIB says that Psalm 62 is a “…call to decision as: Where do we set our heart? Where is our ultimate loyalty? In whom or in what do we trust? In whom or in what do we seek security? …. What is real and enduring? Are those who get ahead unjustly really deluding themselves? What kind of life is truly “abundant” life (see John 10:10-11)? The psalmist takes a stand on God’s power and love, seeking peace in God, and thus suggesting again a way to put the call to design: What is true power, and who are the truly powerful? What is peace, and where do we seek it and find it?” NIB p. 475
Alter Alter, Robert. 2007. The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary New York: W. W. Norton & Company
WBC Allen, Leslie C. 1983. Word Biblical Commentary: Psalms 101-150. Vol. 21. Waco, TX: Word Books, Publisher.
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. 1974. Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible. 8th ed. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Press.
Bourgeault, C. (2006). Chanting the psalms: A practical guide Audio Book. New Seeds.
Brueggemann, Walter. 2007. Praying the Psalms: Engaging Scripture and the Life of the Spirit. 2nd ed. Eugene, OR: Cascade.
Brueggemann Brueggemann, Walter. 2014. From Whom No Secrets Are Hid: Introducing the Psalms. Edited by Brent A. Strawn. 1st ed. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.
Brueggemann, Walter. Davis Hanskins, Editor. 2022. Our Hearts Wait: Worshiping Through Praise and Lament in the Psalms Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville KY.
Brueggemann, Walter. (2002). Spirituality of the psalms. Augsburg Pub. House.
Brueggemann, Walter. (1984). The Message of the Psalms: A Theological Commentary. Minneapolis: Augsburg.
Chilson, Richard, ed. You Shall Not Want: A Spiritual Journey Based on the Psalms. Ave Maria Press, 2009.
Chittister Chittister, Joan. (2011). Songs of the heart: reflections on the psalms. John Garratt Publishing.
Cudjoe-Wilkes, G., Wilkes, A. J., & Moss, O. (2022). Psalms for black lives: Reflections for the work of Liberation. Upper Room Books.
WBC Craigie, Peter C. 1983. Psalms 1-50–Word Biblical Commentary. Vol. 19. Waco, TX: Word Books.
Creach Creach, Jerome Frederick Davis. 1998. Psalms: Interpretation Bible Studies. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.
DAFLER, J. (2021). PSOBRIETY: A journey of recovery through the psalms. Louisville, KY: WESTMINSTER JOHN KNOX.
W de Claisse-Walford, Nancy L. WISDOM COMMENTARY: Psalms Bks. 4-5. Edited by Barbara E. Reid. Vol. 22. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 2020.
Green, Barbara. 1997. Like a Tree Planted: An Exploration of Psalms and Parables Through Metaphor. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press.
W Hopkins, Denise Dombkowski. WISDOM COMMENTARY: Psalms Bks. 2-3. Edited by Barbara E. Reid. Vol. 21. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 2016.
NIB Keck, Leander E. 2015. The New Interpreters Bible Commentary. Vol. 3. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
Lewis, C. S. (2017). Reflections on the Psalms. Harper One, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers.
Mays Mays, James Luther. 1994. Psalms. Louisville, KY: John Knox Press.
McCann McCann, J. C. (1993). A theological introduction to the book of Psalms: The Psalms as Torah. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
McCann, J. C., & Howell, J. C. 2001. Preaching the Psalms. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
Merrill, N. C. (2020). Psalms for praying an invitation to wholeness (10th Anniversary Edition ed.). London, England: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Miller Miller, Patrick D. 1986. Interpreting the Psalms. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress Press.
Morgan, Michael. 2010. The Psalter for Christian Worship Revised Edition. Westminster John Knox Press.
Schlimm Schlimm, Matthew Richard. 2018. 70 Hebrew Words Every Christian Should Know.Nashville, TN: Abington Press.
Spong Spong, M. (Ed.). (2020). The words of her mouth: Psalms for the struggle. Cleveland, OH: The Pilgrim Press.
WBC Tate, Marvin E. 1990. Word Biblical Commentary: Psalms 51-100. Edited by David Allan. Hubbard and Glenn W. Barker. Vol. 20. Waco, TX: Word.
Weems, Ann. 1995. Psalm of Lament. Westminster John Knox Pres
OTL Weiser, Artur. 1998. Old Testament Library: Psalms. Translated by Herbert Hartwell. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Manchester University Press.
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