TITLE. To the Chief Musician, to
Jeduthun. This is the second Psalm which is dedicated to
Jeduthun, or Ethan, the former one being the thirty-ninth, a
Psalm which is almost a twin with this in many respects,
containing in the original the word translated only four
times as this does six. We shall meet with two other Psalms
similarly appointed for Jeduthun: namely, Psalms 77, and 89. The
sons of Jeduthun were porters or doorkeepers, according to 1Ch
16:42. Those who serve well make the best of singers, and those
who occupy the highest posts in the choir must not be ashamed to
wait at the posts of the doors of the Lord's house. A PSALM
OF DAVID. Even had not the signature of the royal poet been
here placed, we should have been sure from internal evidence
that he alone penned these stanzas; they are truly Davidic. From
the sixfold use of the word ac or only, we have
been wont to call it THE ONLY PSALM.
DIVISION. The Psalmist has marked his
own pauses, by inserting SELAH at the end of Ps 62:4,8.
His true and sole confidence in God laughs to scorn all its
enemies. When this Psalm was composed it was not necessary for
us to know, since true faith is always in season, and is usually
under trial. Moreover, the sentiments here uttered are suitable
to occasions which are very frequent in a believer's life, and
therefore no one historic incident is needful for their
explanation.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. Truly, or verily, or only. The last is
probably the most prominent sense here. That faith alone is true
which rests on God alone, that confidence which relies but
partly on the Lord is vain confidence. If we Anglicized the word
by our word verily, as some do, we should have here a
striking reminder of our blessed Lord's frequent use of that
adverb. My soul waiteth upon God. My inmost self draws near in
reverent obedience to God. I am no hypocrite or mere posture
maker. To wait upon God, and for God, is the habitual position
of faith; to wait on him truly is sincerity; to wait on him only
is spiritual chastity. The original is, "only to God is my
soul silence." The presence of God alone could awe his
heart into quietude, submission, rest, and acquiescence; but
when that was felt, not a rebellious word or thought broke the
peaceful silence. The proverb that speech is silver but silence
is gold, is more than true in this case. No eloquence in the
world is half so full of meaning as the patient silence of a
child of God. It is an eminent work of grace to bring down the
will and subdue the affections to such a degree, that the whole
mind lies before the Lord like the sea beneath the wind, ready
to be moved by every breath of his mouth, but free from all
inward and self caused emotion, as also from all power to be
moved by anything other than the divine will. We should be wax
to the Lord, but adamant to every other force. From him cometh
my salvation. The good man will, therefore, in patience possess
his soul till deliverance comes: faith can hear the footsteps of
coming salvation, because she has learned to be silent. Our
salvation in no measure or degree comes to us from any inferior
source; let us, therefore, look alone to the true fountain, and
avoid the detestable crime of ascribing to the creature what
belongs alone to the Creator. If to wait on God be worship, to
wait on the creature is idolatry; if to wait on God alone be
true faith, to associate an arm of the flesh with him is
audacious unbelief.
Verse 2. He only is my rock and my salvation.
Sometimes a metaphor may be more full of meaning and more
suggestive than literal speech: hence the use of the figure of a
rock, the very mention of which would awaken grateful memories
in the psalmists's mind. David had often lain concealed in rocky
caverns, and here he compares his God to such a secure refuge;
and, indeed, declares him to be his only real protection,
all-sufficient in himself and never failing. At the same time,
as if to show us that what he wrote was not mere poetic
sentiment but blessed reality, the literal word salvation
follows the figurative expression: that our God is our refuge is
no fiction, nothing in the world is more a matter of fact. He is
my defence, my height, my lofty rampart, my high fort. Here we
have another and bolder image; the tried believer not only
abides in God as in a cavernous rock; but dwells in him as a
warrior in some bravely defiant tower or lordly castle. I shall
not be greatly moved. His personal weakness might cause him to
be somewhat moved; but his faith would come in to prevent any
very great disturbance; not much would he be tossed about. Moved,
as one says, "but not removed." Moved like a ship at
anchor which swings with the tide, but is not swept away by the
tempest. When a man knows assuredly that the Lord is his
salvation, he cannot be very much cast down: it would need more
than all the devils in hell greatly to alarm a heart which knows
God to be its salvation.
Verse 3. How long will ye imagine mischief against
a man? It is always best to begin with God, and then we may
confront our enemies. Make all sure with heaven, then may you
grapple with earth and hell. David expostulates with his
insensate foes; he marvels at their dogged perseverance in
malice, after so many failures and with certain defeat before
them. He tells them that their design was an imaginary one,
which they never could accomplish however deeply they might
plot. It is a marvel that men will readily enough continue in
vain and sinful courses, and yet to persevere in grace is so
great a difficulty as to be an impossibility, were it not for
divine assistance. The persistency of those who oppose the
people of God is so strange that we may well expostulate with
them and say, "How long will ye thus display your
malice?" A hint is given in the text as to the cowardliness
of so many pressing upon one man; but none are less likely to
act a fair and manly part than those who are opposed to God's
people for righteousness' sake. Satan could not enter into
combat with Job in fair duel, but must needs call in the Sabeans
and Chaldeans, and even then must borrow the lightning and the
wind before his first attack was complete. If there were any
shame in him, or in his children, they would be ashamed of the
dastardly manner in which they have waged war against the seed
of the woman. Ten thousand to one has not seemed to them too
mean an advantage; there is not a drop of chivalrous blood in
all their veins. Ye shall be slain all of you. Your edged tools
will cut your own fingers. Those who take the sword shall perish
with the sword. However many or fierce the bands of the wicked
may be, they shall not escape the just retribution of heaven;
rigorously shall the great Lawgiver exact blood from men of
blood, and award death to those who seek the death of others.
As a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence.
Boastful persecutors bulge and swell with pride, but they are
only as a bulging wall ready to fall in a heap; they lean
forward to seize their prey, but it is only as a tottering fence
inclines to the earth upon which it will soon lie at length.
They expect men to bow to them, and quake for fear in their
presence; but men made bold by faith see nothing in them to
honour, and very, very much to despise. It is never well on our
part to think highly of ungodly persons; whatever their
position, they are near their destruction, they totter to their
fall; it will be our wisdom to keep our distance, for no one is
advantaged by being near a falling wall; if it does not crush
with its weight, it may stifle with its dust. The passage is
thought to be more correctly rendered as follows:—"How
long will ye press on one man, that ye may crush him in a body,
like a toppling wall, a sinking fence?" (So Dr. Kay, of
Calcutta, translates it.) We have, however, kept to our own
version as yielding a good and profitable meaning. Both senses
may blend in our meditations; for if David's enemies battered
him as though they could throw him down like a bulging wall, he,
on the other hand, foresaw that they themselves would by
retributive justice be overthrown like an old crumbling,
leaning, yielding fence.
Verse 4. They only consult to cast him down from
his excellency. The excellencies of the righteous are
obnoxious to the wicked, and the main object of their fury. The
elevation which God gives to the godly in Providence, or in
dispute, is also the envy of the baser sort, and they labour to
pull them down to their own level. Observe the concentration of
malice upon our point only, as here set in contrast with
the sole reliance of the gracious one upon his Lord. If the
wicked could but ruin the work of grace in us, they would be
content; to crush our character, to overturn our influence, is
the object of their consultation. They delight in lies; hence
they hate the truth and the truthful, and by falsehood endeavour
to compass their overthrow. To lie is base enough, but to
delight in it is one of the blackest marks of infamy. They bless
with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Flattery has ever
been a favourite weapon with the enemies of good men; they can
curse bitterly enough when it serves their turn; meanwhile,
since it answers their purpose, they mask their wrath, and with
smooth words pretend to bless those whom they would willingly
tear in pieces. It was fortunate for David that he was well
practised in silence, for to cozening deceivers there is no
other safe reply. Selah. Here pause, and consider with
astonishment the futile rancour of unholy men, and the perfect
security of such as rest themselves upon the Lord.
Verse 5. My soul, wait thou only upon God. When
we have already practised a virtue, it is yet needful that we
bind ourselves to a continuance in it. The soul is apt to be
dragged away from its anchorage, or is readily tempted to add a
second confidence to the one sole and sure ground of reliance;
we must, therefore, stir ourselves up to maintain the holy
position which we were at first able to assume. Be still silent,
O my soul! submit thyself completely, trust immovably, wait
patiently. Let none of thy enemies' imaginings, consultings,
flatteries, or maledictions cause thee to break the King's
peace. Be like the sheep before her shearers, and like thy Lord,
conquer by the passive resistance of victorious patience: thou
canst only achieve this as thou shalt be inwardly persuaded of
God's presence, and as you wait solely and alone on him.
Unmingled faith is undismayed. Faith with a single eye sees
herself secure, but if her eye be darkened by two confidences,
she is blind and useless. For my expectation is from him. We
expect from God because we believe in him. Expectation is the
child of prayer and faith, and is owned of the Lord as an
acceptable grace. We should desire nothing but what would be
right for God to give, then our expectation would be all from
God; and concerning truly good things we should not look to
second causes, but to the Lord alone, and so again our
expectation would be all from him. The vain expectations of
worldly men come not; they promise but there is no performance;
our expectations are on the way, and in due season will arrive
to satisfy our hopes. Happy is the man who feels that all he
has, all he wants, and all he expects are to be found in his
God.
Verse 6. He only is my rock and my salvation.
Alone, and without other help, God is the foundation and
completion of my safety. We cannot too often hear the toll of
that great bell only; let it ring the death knell of all
carnal reliances, and lead us to cast ourselves on the bare arm
of God. He is my defence. Not my defender only, but my actual
protection. I am secure, because he is faithful. I shall not be
moved—not even in the least degree. See how his confidence
grows. In the second verse an adverb qualified his quiet; here,
however, it is absolute; he altogether defies the rage of his
adversaries, he will not stir an inch, nor be made to fear even
in the smallest degree. A living faith grows; experience
develops the spiritual muscles of the saint, and gives a manly
force which our religious childhood has not yet reached.
Verse 7. In God is my salvation and my glory.
Wherein should we glory but in him who saves us? Our honour may
well be left with him who secures our souls. To find all in God,
and to glory that it is so, is one of the sure marks of an
enlightened soul. The rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in
God. He multiplies titles, for he would render much honour to
the Lord, whom he had tried, and proved to be a faithful God
under so many aspects. Ignorance needs but few words, but when
experience brings a wealth of knowledge, we need varied
expressions to serve as coffers for our treasure. God who is our
rock when we flee for shelter, is also our strong rock
when we stand firm and defy the foe; he is to be praised under
both characters. Observe how the psalmist brands his own
initials upon every name which he rejoicingly gives to his
God—my expectation, my rock, my
salvation, my glory, my strength, my
refuge; he is not content to know that the Lord is all these
things; he acts faith towards him, and lays claim to him under
every character. What are the mines of Peru or Golconda to me if
I have no inheritance in them? It is the word my which
puts the honey into the comb. If our experience has not yet
enabled us to realise the Lord under any of these consoling
titles, we must seek grace that we may yet be partakers of their
sweetness. The bees in some way or other penetrate the flowers
and collect their juices; it must be hard for them to enter the
closed cups and mouthless bags of some of the favourites of the
garden, yet the honey gatherers find or make a passage; and in
this they are our instructors, for into each delightful name,
character, and office of our covenant God our persevering faith
must find an entrance, and from each it must draw delight.
Verse 8. Trust in him at all times. Faith is an
abiding duty, a perpetual privilege. We should trust when we can
see, as well as when we are utterly in the dark. Adversity is a
fit season for faith; but prosperity is not less so. God at all
times deserves our confidence. We at all times need to place our
confidence in him. A day without trust in God is a day of wrath,
even if it be a day of mirth. Lean ever, ye saints, on him, on
whom the world leans. Ye people, pour out your heart before him.
Ye to whom his love is revealed, reveal yourselves to him. His
heart is set on you, lay bare your hearts to him. Turn the
vessel of your soul upside down in his secret presence, and let
your inmost thoughts, desires, sorrows, and sins be poured out
like water. Hide nothing from him, for you can hide
nothing. To the Lord unburden your soul; let him be your only
father confessor, for he only can absolve you when he has heard
your confession. To keep our griefs to ourselves is to hoard up
wretchedness. The stream will swell and rage if you dam it up:
give it a clear course, and it leaps along and creates no alarm.
Sympathy we need, and if we unload our hearts at Jesus' feet, we
shall obtain a sympathy as practical as it is sincere, as
consolatory as it is ennobling. The writer in the Westminster
Assembly's Annotations well observes that it is the tendency
of our wicked nature to bite on the bridle, and hide our grief
in sullenness; but the gracious soul will overcome this
propensity, and utter its sorrow before the Lord. God is a
refuge for us. Whatever he may be to others, his own people have
a peculiar heritage in him; for us he is undoubtedly a
refuge: here then is the best of reasons for resorting to him
whenever sorrows weigh upon our bosoms. Prayer is peculiarly the
duty of those to whom the Lord has specially revealed himself as
their defence. SELAH. Precious pause! Timely silence! Sheep may
well lie down when such pasture is before them.
Verse 9. Surely men of low degree are vanity.
Here the word is only again; men of low degree are only
vanity, nothing more. They are many and enthusiastic, but they
are not to be depended on; they are mobile as the waves of the
sea, ready to be driven to and fro by any and every wind; they
cry "Hosanna" today, and "Crucify him"
tomorrow. The instability of popular applause is a proverb; as
well build a house with smoke as find comfort in the adulation
of the multitude. As the first son of Adam was called Abel or
vanity, so here we are taught that all the sons of Adam are
Abels: it were well if they were all so in character as well as
in name; but alas! in this respect, too many of them are Cains.
And men of high degree are a lie. That is worse. We gain little
by putting our trust in the aristocracy, they are not one whit
better than the democracy: nay, they are even worse, for we
expect something from them, but get nothing. May we not trust
the elite? Surely reliance may be placed in the educated,
the chivalrous, the intelligent? For this reason are they a lie;
because they promise so much, and in the end, when relied upon,
yield nothing but disappointment. How wretched is that poor man
who puts his trust in princes. The more we rely upon God, the
more shall we perceive the utter hollowness of every other
confidence. To be laid in the balance, they are altogether
lighter than vanity. Take a true estimate of them; judge them
neither by quantity nor by appearance, but by weight, and they
will no longer deceive you. Calmly deliberate, quietly ponder,
and your verdict will be that which inspiration here records.
Vainer than vanity itself are all human confidences: the great
and the mean, alike, are unworthy of our trust. A feather has
some weight in the scale, vanity has none, and creature
confidence has less than that: yet such is the universal
infatuation, that mankind prefer an arm of flesh to the power of
the invisible but almighty Creator; and even God's own children
are too apt to be bitten with this madness.
Verse 10. Trust not in oppression, and become not
vain in robbery. Wealth ill gotten is the trust only of
fools, for the deadly pest lies in it; it is full of canker, it
reeks with God's curse. To tread down the poor and silence their
cries for justice, is the delight of many a braggart bully, who
in his arrogance imagines that he may defy both God and man; but
he is warned in these words, and it will be well for him if he
takes the warning, for the Judge of all the earth will surely
visit upon men the oppression of the innocent, and the robbery
of the poor: both of these may be effected legally in the courts
of man, but no twistings of the law, no tricks and evasions will
avail with the Court of Heaven. If riches increase, set not your
heart upon them. If they grow in an honest, providential manner,
as the result of industry or commercial success, do not make
much account of the circumstance; be not unduly elated, do not
fix your love upon your money bags. To bow an immortal spirit to
the constant contemplation of fading possessions is extreme
folly. Shall those who call the Lord their glory, glory in
yellow earth? Shall the image and superscription of Caesar
deprive them of communion with him who is the image of the
invisible God? As we must not rest in men, so neither must we
repose in money. Gain and fame are only so much foam of the sea.
All the wealth and honour the whole world can afford would be
too slender a thread to bear up the happiness of an immortal
soul.
Verse 11. God hath spoken once. So immutable is
God that he need not speak twice, as though he had changed; so
infallible, that one utterance suffices, for he cannot err; so
omnipotent, that his solitary word achieves all his designs. We
speak often and say nothing; God speaks once and utters eternal
verities. All our speaking may yet end in sound; but he speaks,
and it is done; he commands, and it stands fast. Twice have I
heard this. Our meditative soul should hear the echo of God's
voice again and again. What he speaks once in revelation, we
should be always hearing. Creation and providence are evermore
echoing the voice of God; "He that hath ears to hear, let
him hear." 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. That power belongeth unto God. He is the
source of it, and in him it actually abides. This one voice of
God we ought always to hear, so as to be preserved from putting
our trust in creatures in whom there can be no power, since all
power is in God. What reason for faith is here! It can never be
unwise to rest upon the almighty arm. Out of all troubles he can
release us, under all burdens sustain us, while men must fail us
at the last, and may deceive us even now. May our souls hear the
thunder of Jehovah's voice as he claims all power, and
henceforth may we wait only upon God!
Verse 12. Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy.
This tender attribute sweetens the grand thought of his power:
the divine strength will not crush us, but will be used for our
good. God is so full of mercy that it belongs to him, as if all
the mercy in the universe came from God, and still was claimed
by him as his possession. His mercy, like his power, endureth
for ever, and is ever present in him, ready to be revealed, For
thou renderest to every man according to his work. 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. In either meaning we have power and mercy
blended, and have a double reason for waiting only upon God. Man
neither helps us nor rewards us; God will do both. In him power
and grace are eternally resident; our faith should therefore
patiently hope and quietly wait, for we shall surely see the
salvation of God. Deo soli gloria. All glory be to God
only.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Psalms 62, and 63 compared. ONLY AND EARLY. There is a sweet
and profitable lesson taught us in Psalms 62 and 63. The heart
is ever prone to divide its confidence between God and the
creature. This will never do. We must "wait only
upon God." "He only"must be our
"rock, "our "salvation, "and our "defence."
Then we are frequently tempted to look to an arm of flesh first,
and when that fails us, we look to God. This will never do
either. He must be our first as well as our only
resource. "O God, thou art my God, early will I seek
thee." This is the way in which the heart should ever treat
the blessed God. This is the lesson of Psalm 63. When we have
learnt the blessedness of seeking God "only, "we
shall be sure to seek him "early." Charles
Mackintosh, in "Things New and Old, "1858.
Whole Psalm. There is in it throughout not one single
word (and this is a rare occurrence), in which the prophet
expresses fear or dejection; and there is also no
prayer in it, although, on other occasions, when in danger, he
never omits to pray... The prophet found himself remarkably well
furnished in reference to that part of piety which consists in pleroforia,
the full assurance and perfection of faith; and therefore he
designed to rear a monument of this his state of mind, for the
purpose of stimulating the reader to the same attainment. Moses
Amyraut, 1596-1664.
Whole Psalm. Athanasius says of this Psalm:
"Against all attempts upon thy body, thy state, thy soul,
thy fame, temptations, tribulations, machinations,
defamations", say this Psalm. John Donne.
Verse 1. Only. The particle may be rendered only,
as restrictive; or, surely, as affirmative. Our
translators have rendered it differently in different verses of
this Psalm; Ps 62:1, truly; in Ps 62:2,4-6, only;
in Ps 62:9, surely. If we render only, the meaning
will be here that God exclusively is the object of trust; if surely,
that this truth, that God is his salvation, has come home to him
with a more lively conviction, with a more blessed certainty
than ever. The first line of the verse rendered literally is, "Only
unto God my soul is silence." J. J. Stewart Perowne.
Verse 1. Truly my soul waiteth upon God, etc.
In the use of means, for answers of prayer, for performance of
promises, and for deliverance from enemies, and out of every
trouble: or, is silent, as the Targum; not as to prayer,
but as to murmuring; patiently and quietly waiting for salvation
until the Lord's time come to give it; being subject to
him, as the Septuagint, Vulgate, Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic
versions; resigned to his will, and patient under his afflicting
hand: it denotes a quiet, patient waiting on the Lord, and not
merely bodily exercise in outward ordinances; but an inward
frame of spirit, a soul waiting on the Lord, and that in truth
and reality, in opposition to mere form and show. John Gill.
Verse 1. Truly my soul waiteth upon God; or, as
the Hebrew, My soul is silent. Indeed, waiting on God for
deliverance, in an afflicted state, consists much in a holy
silence. It is a great mercy, in an affliction, to have our
bodily senses, so as not to lie raving, but still and quiet,
much more to have the heart silent and patient; and we find the
heart is as soon heated into a distemper as the head. Now what
the sponge is to the cannon, when hot with often shooting, hope
is to the soul in multiplied afflictions; it cools the spirit
and makes it meeker it, so that it doth not break out into
distempered thoughts or words against God. (See also Ps 62:5.) William
Gurnall.
Verse 1. Waiteth. Waiting is nothing else but hope
and trust lengthened. John Trapp.
Verse 1. My soul is silent before God. As if he
had said: to me as a man God has put in subjection all his
creatures; to me as a king he has subjected the whole of Judaea,
the Philistines, the Moabites, Syrians, Idumeans, Ammonites, and
other tribes; having taken me from the sheep cotes he has
adorned me with a crown and sceptre now these thirty years, and
extended my kingdom to the sea, and to the great river
Euphrates; it is not without reason, then, that I subject myself
to God alone in this affliction, wherein Absalom thirsts to
crush me, especially since he reveals the deliverance prepared
for me, and from him alone can I expect it. Thomas Le
Blanc—1669, in Psalmorum Davidicorum Analysis.
Verse 1. Is silent. The Hebrew word used is
hymwd dumijah, that is, silent, resting, expecting,
reflecting, solicitous, and observing. For, first, we ought to
be subject to God as silent disciples before a master...Whatever
God has allowed to happen to me, yet I will be silent before
him, and from my heart admire, both enduring his strokes and
receiving his teaching... Secondly, we ought to be subject to
God as creatures keeping quiet before their Creator... "Woe
unto him that striveth with his Maker." Isa 45:9. Thirdly,
we ought to be subject to God as clay in the hands of the
potter, ready for the form into which he wishes to fashion
us... "As clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine
hand, O house of Israel." Jer 18:6. Fourthly, we ought
to be subject to God, as a maid servant to her master, observing
his wish, even in the most menial affairs... Fifthly, we ought
to be subject to God, as a wife to her husband (sponsa sponso),
who in her love is solicitous and careful to do whatever may be
pleasing to him. "My beloved is mine, and I am
his." Canticles 2:16. And, "I am my
beloved's." Canticles 6:3. Thomas Le Blanc.
Verse 1. After almost every quiet prayer and holy
meditation in the divine presence, we have the consciousness
that there was an ear which heard us, and a heart that received
our sighs. The effect of a silent colloquy with God is so
soothing! There was a time when I used greatly to wonder at
these words of Luther:—
"Bear and forbear, and silent be,
Tell no man thy misery;
Yield not in trouble to dismay,
God can deliver any day."
I wondered because we feel the outpouring of grief into the
heart of a friend to be so sweet. At the same time, he who talks
much of his troubles to men is apt to fall into a way of
saying too little of them to God; while, on the other
hand, he who has often experienced the blessed alleviation which
flows from silent converse with the Eternal, loses much of his
desire for the sympathy of his fellows. It appears to me now as
if spreading out our distress too largely before men
served only to make it broader, and to take away its zest;
and hence the proverb, "Talking of trouble makes it
double." On the contrary, if when in distress we can
contrive to maintain calm composure of mind, and to bear it
always as in the sight of God, submissively waiting for succour
from him, according to the words of the psalmist, Truly my
soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation; in that
case, the distress neither extends in breadth nor sinks in
depth. It lies upon the surface of the heart like the morning
mist, which the sun as it ascends dissipates into light clouds. Agustus
F. Tholuck, in "Hours of Christian Devotion,"
1870.
Verse 1. The natural mind is ever prone to reason,
when we ought to believe; to be at work, when we
ought to be quiet; to go our own way, when we ought
steadily to walk on in God's ways, however trying to nature...
And how does it work, when we thus anticipate God, by going our
own way? We bring, in many instances, guilt on our conscience;
but if not, we certainly weaken faith, instead of increasing it;
and each time we work thus a deliverance of our own, we find it
more and more difficult to trust in God, till at last we give
way entirely to our natural fallen reason, and unbelief
prevails. How different if one is enabled to wait God's own
time, and to look alone to him for help and deliverance! When at
last help comes, after many seasons of prayer it may be, and
after much exercise of faith and patience it may be, how sweet
it is, and what a present recompense does the soul at once
receive for trusting in God, and waiting patiently for his
deliverance! Dear Christian reader, if you have never walked in
this path of obedience before, do so now, and you will then know
experimentally the sweetness of the joy which results from it. George
Müller, in "A Narrative of some of the Lord's
Dealings," 1856.
Verse 2. I shall not be greatly moved. Grace
makes the heart move leisurely to all things except God. A
mortified man is as a sea that hath no winds, that ebbs not and
flows not. The mortified man sings and is not light, and weeps
and is not sad, is zealous but he can quit it for God. Ah! few
can act but they over act. Alexander Carmichael, in "The
Believer's Mortification of Sin," 1677.
Verse 3.
"How long will ye assault a man?
How long will ye crush him,
As though he were a leaning wall—
|A fence nearly thrust down?" French and Skinner.
Verse 3. Against a man. That sure is but a
poetical expression for against me, i.e., David, the
speaker, against whom the neighbouring nations raised war, and
his own subjects rebellions. Thus doth Christ oft speak of
himself under the title of the Son of Man, in the third
person; and Paul (2Co 12:2), Oisa anyrwpon, "I knew a
man, "i.e., undoubtedly himself. Henry Hammond.
Verse 3. As a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a
tottering fence. Christ gave no blow, but merely asked his
murderers whom they sought for; and yet they fell flat and
prostrate to the ground (John 18), so that the wicked
persecutors of the godly are aptly and properly likened and
compared to a tottering and trembling wall. For as soon as ever
the blasts of God's wrath and judgment are moved and kindled
against them, they are so quivering and comfortless, that they
would take them to be most their friends who would soonest
despatch them out of the world; as Christ said aptly of them,
they would pray the mountains to fall upon them. Luke 23. John
Hooper.
Verse 3. As a bowing wall shall ye be. In
consequence of heavy rains and floods, and unsound foundations,
it is very common to see walls much out of perpendicular; and
some of them so much so, that it might be thought scarcely
possible for them to stand. "Poor old Raman is very ill, I
hear." "Yes, the wall is bowing." "Begone,
thou low caste! thou art a kuttle chiover, "that is,
"a ruined wall." "By the oppression of the head
man, the people of that village are like a ruined wall." J.
Robert's "Oriental Illustrations."
Verse 3. A bowing wall. A wall, when ill built,
bulges out in the centre, presenting the appearance of nearly
twice its actual breadth; but, as it is hollow within, it soon
falls to ruins. The wicked, in like manner, are dilated with
pride, and assume, in their consultations, a most formidable
appearance; but David predicts that they would be brought to
unexpected and utter destruction, like a wall badly constructed,
and hollow in the interior, which falls with a sudden crash, and
is broken by its own weight into a thousand pieces. John
Calvin.
Verse 4. They only consult, etc. Truly I
am he whom if they shall consult to cast down from his
excellency, they shall delight in a lie, they shall bless with
their mouth and curse inwardly. That is: what I have said of
worldly men, boasting themselves upon a man, falling into ruin,
I desire that you should know that the same fate shall never
befall me who trust in God; for otherwise does the matter stand.
Hermann Venema.
Verse 4. Excellency. Rather, elevation;
the figure of the preceding verse being followed out. Religious
Tract Society's Notes.
Verse 5. My soul, wait thou only upon God. They
trust not God at all who trust him not alone. He
that stands with one foot on a rock, and another foot upon a
quicksand, will sink and perish, as certainly as he that
standeth with both feet upon a quicksand. David knew this, and
therefore calleth earnestly upon his soul (for his business lay
most within doors) to trust only upon God. See Ps 62:1. John
Trapp.
Verse 5. My expectation is from him. As if he
had said, never will he frustrate the patient waiting of his
saints; doubtless my silence shall meet with its reward; I shall
restrain myself, and not make that false haste which will only
retard my deliverance. John Calvin.
Verse 5. My expectation is from him. In an
account of the voyage of some of the early missionaries who left
Hermannsburg for South Africa, is the following
incident:—After a long calm, a brother prayed thus to the Lord
for favouring wind: "Lord, thou givest them that fear thee
the desires of their heart, and dost help them; help us now,
that we may no longer be becalmed upon the sea; help us on our
journey, you who ride on the wings of the wind." He was so
joyful over this word of the Lord, that he rose up and said in
his heart: "Now I have already that for which I
prayed." After the prayer, one of the crew stepped over to
the helmsman, and said, half mocking, half in earnest, "So
we shall have wind: did you hear the prayer? It does not look
very like it!" So he said, and half an hour after there
came so strong a blast that the waves broke over the ship. William
Fleming Stevenson, in "Praying and Working," 1862.
Verse 5. He shifts much needless labour, and provideth
great contentment, who closes himself with God alone. To deal
with man alone, apart from God, is both an endless and fruitless
labour. If we have counsel to ask, help or benefit to obtain, or
approbation to seek, there is none end with man: for every man
we must have sundry reasons and motives; and what pleaseth one
will offend twenty: as many heads, as many wits and fancies. No
man can give contentment to all, or change himself into so many
fashions, as he shall encounter humours; and yet it is more easy
to take sundry fashions than to be acceptable in them. William
Struther.
Verses 6-7. Twice in this Psalm hath he repeated this,
in the second and in the sixth verses, He is my rock and my
salvation, and my defence, and (as it is enlarged in the
seventh verse) my refuge and my glory. If my defence,
what temptation shall wound me? If my rock, what storm
shall shake me? If my salvation, what melancholy shall
defeat me? If my glory, what calumny shall defame me? John
Dunne.
Verses 6-7. How quickly the soul of the faithful
returns again to the God of its confidence. He spared a moment
to admonish the ungodly, but like the dove of Noah he returns to
the ark. Observe how the expressions of this holy confidence are
repeated, with every pleasing variety of expression, to denote
the comfort of his heart. Reader, ask yourself—are such views
of Christ your views of him? Do you know him in those covenant
characters? Is Jesus your rock, your salvation, your defence? Robert
Hawker, D.D.
Verse 7. (first clause). On the shields of the
Greeks, Neptune was depicted; on the shields of the Trojans,
Minerva; because in them they put their confidence, and in their
protection deemed themselves secure... Now, Christ is the
insignia of our shields. Often does David say, God is his
protector. The Hebrew is magen; that is, shield, buckler,
as Ps 18:2,30. Thomas Le Blanc.
Verse 7. There are several names of God given in this
verse, that so every soul may take with him that name which may
minister most comfort to him. Let him that is pursued by any
particular temptation, invest God, as God is a refuge, a
sanctuary; let him that is buffeted with Satan, battered
with his own concupiscence receive God, as God is his defence
and target; let him that is shaked with perplexities in
his understanding, or scruples in his conscience, lay hold on
God, as God is his rock and his anchor; let him
that hath any diffident jealousy and suspicion of the free and
full mercy of God, apprehend God, as God is his salvation;
and let him that walks in the ingloriousness and contempt of the
world, contemplate God, as God is glory. Any of these
notions is enough to any man; but God is all these, and all
else, that all souls can think, to every man. Abraham Wright.
Verse 9. Other doctrines, moral or civil instructions,
may be delivered to us possibly, and probably, and likely, and
credibly, and under the like terms and modifications, but this
in our text, is assuredly, undoubtedly, undeniably,
irrefragably, Surely men of low degree, etc. For
howsoever when they two are compared together with one another,
it may admit discourse and disputation, whether men of high
degree, or of low degree, do most violate the laws of God; that
is, whether prosperity or adversity make men most obnoxious to
sin; yet, when they come to be compared, not with one another,
but both with God, this asseveration, this surely reaches
to both: "Surely men of low degree are vanity, and,
as surely, men of high degree are a lie." And though
this may seem to leave room for men of middle ranks, and
fortunes, and places, that there is a mediocrity that might give
an assurance, and an establishment, yet there is no such thing
in this case; (as surely still) to be laid in the
balance, they are all (not of low, and all of high degree,
all rich, and all poor), but all, of all conditions, altogether
lighter than vanity. Now, all this doth destroy, not
extinguish, not annihilate, that affection in man, of hope and
trust, and confidence in anything; but it rectifies that hope,
and trust, and confidence, and directs it upon the right object.
Trust not in flesh, but in spiritual things, that we neither
bend our hope downward, to infernal spirits, to seek help in
witches; nor miscarry it upward, to seek it in saints or angels,
but fix it in him who is nearer to us than our own souls—our
blessed, and gracious, and powerful God, who in this one Psalm
is presented unto us by so many names of assurance and
confidence: "my expectation, my salvation, my rock, my
defence, my glory, my strength, my refuge, "and the
rest... Men of high degree are a lie. The Holy Ghost hath
been pleased to vary the phrase here, and to call men of high
degree not "vanity, " but a lie;
because the poor, men of low degree, in their condition promise
no assistance, feed not men with hope, and therefore cannot be
said to lie; but in the condition of men of high degree,
who are of power, there is a tacit promise, a natural and
inherent assurance of protection and assistance flowing from
them. For the magistrate cannot say that he never promised me
justice, never promised me protection; for in his assuming that
place, he made me that promise. I cannot say that I never
promised my parish my service; for in my induction I made them
that promise, and if I perform it not I am a lie: for so
this word chasab (which we translate a lie) is
frequently used in the Scriptures, for that which is defective
in the duty it should perform: "Thou shalt be a spring of
water" (says God in Isaiah), cujus aquae non mentiuntur,
"whose waters never lie; "that is, never dry, never
fail. So, then, when men of high degree do not perform the
duties of their places, then they are a lie of their own making;
and when I over magnify them in their place, flatter them,
humour them, ascribe more to them, expect more from them, rely
more upon them than I should, then they are a lie of my
making... To be laid in the balance, they are altogether
lighter than vanity. Vanity is nothing, but there is a
condition worse than nothing. Confidence in the things or
persons of this world, but most of all a confidence in
ourselves, will bring us at last to that state wherein we would
fain be nothing, and cannot. But yet we have a balance in
our text; and all these are but put together in one balance. In
the other scale there is something put too, in comparison
whereof all this world is so light. God does not leave our great
and noble faculty and affection of hope, and trust, and
confidence without something to direct itself upon, and rectify
itself in. He does not: for, for that he proposes himself. The
words immediately before the text are, God is a refuge;
and, in comparison of him, To be laid in the balance, they
are altogether lighter than vanity. John Donne.
Verse 9. Surely men of low degree are vanity.
"Who over the herd would wish to reign,
Fantastic, fickle, fierce, and vain!
Vain as the leaf upon the stream,
And fickle as a changeful dream;
Fantastic as a woman's mood,
And fierce as Frenzy's fevered blood,
Thou many headed monster thing,
O, who would wish to be thy king!"
—Walter Scott (1771-1832).
Verse 9. Surely men of low degree are vanity,
etc. Or, sons of Adam; of the earthly man; of fallen
Adam; one of his immediate sons was called Hebel, vanity;
and it is true of all his sons, but here it designs only one
sort of them; such as are poor and low in the world; mean men,
as the phrase is rendered in Isa 2:9; these are subject to
sinful vanity; their thoughts are vain, their affections vain,
their minds vain, their conversation vain, sinful, foolish,
fallacious, and inconstant. John Gill.
Verse 9. Men... are a lie. An active lie—they
deceive others; and a passive lie—they are deceived by others;
and they who are most actively a lie, are most usually and most
deservedly a passive lie, or fed with lies. Joseph Caryl.
Verse 9. Lighter than vanity. If there were any
one among men immortal, not liable to sin, or change, whom it
were impossible for any one to overcome, but who was strong as
an angel, such a one might be something; but inasmuch as every
one is a man, a sinner, mortal, weak, liable to sickness and
death, exposed to pain and terror, like Pharaoh, even from the
most insignificant animals, and liable to so many miseries that
it is impossible to count them, the conclusion must be a valid
one: "Man is nothing." Arndt.
Verse 10. Trust not in oppression, and become not
vain in robbery. Now this robbery and wrong is done two
manner of ways—to God and to man. He that putteth his trust
for salvation in any other, save in God, loses not only his
salvation, but also robs God of his glory, and does God manifest
wrong, as much as lieth in him; as the wicked people amongst the
Jews did, who said as long as they honoured and trusted unto the
queen of heaven, all things prospered with them; but when they
hearkened to the true preachers of God's word, all things came
into a worse state, and they were overwhelmed with scarcity and
trouble. Hosea 2; Jeremiah 44. He also that puts his trust and
confidence in any learning or doctrine beside God's word, not
only falls into error and loses the truth; but also, as much as
lies in him, he robs God's book of his sufficient truth and
verity, and ascribes it to the book of men's decrees; which is
as much wrong to God and his book as may be thought or done. In
which robbery, or rather sacrilege, no man should put his trust,
as the prophet saith. John Hooper.
Verse 10. Become not vain in robbery. What?
would he have them serious in robbery? No; the meaning is this:
do not trust in a thing of nought; if you rob, oppress, deceive,
or wrong others, you trust in a vain thing—in a thing that is
not—in a thing that will never do you good: there will be no
tack, no hold in anything got in such a manner. When you think
to get riches by wrong dealing, or closely circumventing others,
you become vain in robbery. Joseph Caryl.
Verse 10. If riches increase, set not your heart
upon them. We naturally love riches, and therefore as
naturally spend many thoughts, both how to get and how to keep
them. If a man have riches, or an increase in riches, it is not
unlawful for him to think of them (yet we should be as sparing
of our thoughts that way as may be, our thoughts and the bent of
our souls should always be upon God), but that which the
psalmist forbids is the settling of our hearts; as if he had
said, Let not your thoughts stay or dwell here. Riches are
themselves transient things, therefore they should have but our
transient thoughts. Set not your hearts upon them, for
they may quickly be unsettled. Samuel bespoke Saul in the same
language about a worldly concernment, when he went out to seek
his father's asses: "Set not thy mind on them." 1Sa
9:20. It is like Saul was overburdened with this thought,
"What's become of, or what shall I do for, my father's
asses?" "Be not solicitous about them, "saith
Samuel, "greater things are towards thee." Joseph
Caryl.
Verse 10. If riches increase, set not your heart
upon them. Consider what is here meant by
"riches." Indeed, some may imagine that it is hardly
possible to mistake the meaning of this common word. Yet, in
truth, there are thousands in this mistake; and many of them
quite innocently. A person of note hearing a sermon preached
upon this subject several years since, between surprise and
indignation, broke out aloud, "Why does he talk about
riches here? There is no rich man at Whitehaven, but Sir James
L——-r." And it is true there was none but he that had
forty thousand pounds a year, and some millions in ready money.
But a man may be rich that has not a hundred a year—not even
one thousand pounds in cash. Whosoever has food to eat, and
raiment to put on, with something over, is rich. Whoever has the
necessaries and conveniences of life for himself and his family,
and a little to spare for them that have not, is properly a rich
man, unless he is a miser, a lover of money, one that hoards up
what he can and ought to give to the poor. For if so, he is a
poor man still, though he has millions in the bank; yea, he is
the poorest of men; for
"The beggars but a common lot deplore;
The rich poor man's emphatically poor."
...O! who can convince a rich man that he sets his heart upon
riches? For considerably above half a century I have spoken on
this head, with all the plainness that was in my power. But with
how little effect! I doubt whether I have in all that time
convinced fifty misers of covetousness. When the lover of money
was described ever so clearly, and painted in the strongest
colours, who applied it to himself? To whom did God and all that
knew him say, "Thou art the man?" If he speaks to any
of you that are present, O do not stop your ears! Rather say,
with Zacchaeus, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give
to the poor; and if I have done any wrong to any man, I restore
him fourfold." He did not mean that he had done this in
time past; but that he determined to do so for the time to come.
I charge thee before God, thou lover of money, to "go and
do likewise.!" I have a message from God unto thee, O rich
man! whether thou wilt hear or whether thou wilt forbear. Riches
have increased with thee; at the peril of thy soul, "set
not thine heart upon them!" Be thankful to him that gave
thee such a talent, so much power of doing good. Yet dare not
rejoice over them but with fear and trembling. Cave ne
inhaereas, says pious Kempis, ne capiaris et pereas;
"Beware thou cleave not unto them, lest thou be entangled
and perish." Do not make them thy end, thy chief delight,
thy happiness, thy god! See that thou expect not happiness in
money, nor anything that is purchasable thereby; in gratifying
either the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, or the
pride of life. John Wesley's Sermon "On the Danger of
Increasing Riches."
Verse 10. If riches increase, etc. "The
lust of riches, "says Valerian, "stirs with its
stimulus the hearts of men, as oxen perpetually plough the
soil." Hugo, on Isaiah, says: "The more deeply riches
are sown in the heart through love, the more deeply will they
pierce through grief." Thomas Le Blanc.
Verse 10. If riches increase bwg—literally,
"sprout up" of their own accord, as
distinguished from riches acquired by "oppression" and
"robbery." A. R. Faussett.
Verse 10. Riches have in them uncertainty and
deceitfulness. Riches have never been true to those that trusted
in them, but have ever proved "a lie in their right
hand." Isa 44:20. Hence they are called "lying
vanities, "Jon 2:8; and compared to a flock of birds
sitting upon a man's ground, which upon the least fright, take
wing and fly away. Riches have "wings, "saith Solomon;
and rather than want they will "Make to themselves
wings." Pr 23:5. Yea, though they have not the wings so
much as of a little sparrow, wherewith to fly to you; yet will
they make to themselves the large wings of a great eagle,
wherewith to fly from you. Oh, how many have riches served as
Absalom's mule served her master, whom she lurched, and left, in
his greatest need, hanging betwixt heaven and earth, as if
rejected of both! A spark of fire may set them on flying, a
thief may steal them, a wicked servant may embezzle and purloin
them, a pirate or shipwreck at sea, a robber or bad debtor at
land; yea, an hundred ways sets them packing. They are as the
apples of Sodom, that look fair yet crumble away with the least
touch—golden delusions, a mere mathematical scheme or fancy of
man's brain, 1Co 7:31; the semblances and empty show of good
without any reality or solid consistency; nec vera, nec
vestra: as they are slippery upon the account of verity, so
they are no less in respect of prosperity and possession, for
they are winged birds, especially in this, that they fly from
man to man (as the birds do from tree to tree), and always from
the owner of them. This is a sore deceit and cozenage, yet your
heart is more deceitful, inasmuch as it will deceive you with
these deceitful riches, a quo aliquid tale est, illus est
magis tale: they are so, because the heart is so. Christopher
Love (1618-1651), in "A Crystal Mirror, or Christian
Looking glass," 1679.
Verse 10. Set not your heart upon them. The
word tyv properly is to place, to arrange in a fixed firm
order, is specially used of the foundation stones of a building
being placed fitly and firmly together... Therefore to set
the heart upon riches is, to fix the mind closely and firmly
upon them, to give it wholly up to them with all its powers; at
the same time to be puffed up with confidence and arrogance, as
Cl. Schultens observes. Hermann Venema.
Verses 10-12. Our estimate of man depends upon our
estimate of God. David knows that men of low and high degree, if
separated from the primal fount of every good, weigh nothing,
and are less than nothing. Riches are nothing, especially ill
gotten ones. Man is not to get proud when riches increase. But
such is the course of things, that in proportion as the gifts of
God are rich, men confide more in the gifts than in the rich
giver. But holy David is better instructed. Once and again he
has heard the divine voice in his soul, "that power
belongeth unto God only." Job 33:14. This powerful God is
merciful: can then any merit attach to our poor works? and yet
the Lord rendereth to every pious man according to his imperfect
pious work. Agustus F. Tholuck.
Verse 12. Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy.
Something more is necessary to invite us to a dependence on God
than his bare power and ability to help us. There must be
also a firm persuasion of the promptitude and readiness of his
will to do what he is able; and this we have in the other
attribute of his mercy.... "Unto thee, "unto
thee alone, and unto none else. The most tender mercy
amongst the creatures is none at all, being compared with the
divine mercy. It belongeth unto thee, as thy prerogative
and peculiar excellency. Mercy is a peculiar jewel of his crown.
Or, thine, O Lord, is mercy. Nothing amongst the creature
deserves the name of mercy but his own. Nothing is worthy to be
so called, but what is proper and peculiar to God. Or, with
thee is mercy, as it is expressed elsewhere. Ps 130:4,7. It
is with him; that is, it is inseparable from his nature.
He is merciful in a way peculiar to himself, "the Father of
mercies." 2Co 1:3. William Wisheart.
Verse 12. For thou rend rest to every man according
to his work; namely—judgment to the wicked, and mercy to
the righteous; where the Syriac interpreter giveth the good
note: Est gratia Dei ut reddat homini secunda opera bona,
quia merces bonorum operum est ex gratia: It is mercy in God
to set his love on them that keep his commandments. Ex 20:6. John
Trapp.
Verse 12. Thou renderest to every man according to
his work. Learn to admire the grace of God in rewarding your
works. It is much that he accepts them; and what is it, then,
that he rewards them? It is much that he doth not damn you for
them, seeing they are all defiled, and have something of sin
cleaving to them; and what is it, then, that he crowns them? You
would admire the bounty and munificence of a man that should
give you a kingdom for taking up a straw at his foot, or give
you a hundred thousand pounds for paying him a penny rent you
owed him: how, then, should you adore the rich grace and
transcendent bounty of God in so largely recompensing such mean
services, in setting a crown of glory upon your heads, as the
reward of those works which you can scarcely find in your hearts
to call good ones! You will even blush one day to see yourselves
so much honoured for what you are ashamed of, and are conscious
to yourselves that you have deserved nothing by. You will wonder
then to see God recompensing you for doing what was your duty to
do, and what was his work in you; giving you grace, and crowning
that grace; enabling you to do things acceptable to him, and
then rewarding you as having done them. Edward Veal (1708),
in "The Morning Exercises."
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1.
1. What he did? Waited upon God. Believed, was
patient, was silent in resignation, was obedient.
2. To whom he did it? To his God, who is true, a sovereign,
gracious, etc.
3. How he did it? With his soul, truly and only.
4. What came of it? Salvation present, personal, eternal,
etc.
Verse 2. God a rock. David speaks of him as
high and strong, and as a rock to stand upon, a rock of defence
and refuge, a rock of habitation (Ps 71:3, in Hebrew), and a
rock to be praised. Ps 95:1. See the Concordance for many hints.
"Christ the Rock:" a Sermon on 1Co 10:4. By RALPH
ROBINSON, in "Christ All and in All."
Verse 2. (first clause). See "SPURGEON'S Sermons",
No. 80, "God alone the Salvation of His People."
Verse 2, 6. I shall not be greatly moved. I shall not
be moved. Growth in faith. How it is produced, preserved, and
evidenced.
Verse 4. Wherein lies a believer's excellency? Who
would cast him down, and why, and how they seek to do it?
Verse 4. They delight in lies. Those who invent
them, or spread them, or laugh at them, or readily believe them.
Romanists, self righteous persons, the presumptuous,
persecutors, zealous errorists, etc.
Verse 5. (first clause). See "SPURGEON'S Sermons,
"No. 144, "Waiting only upon God."
Verse 5. (second clause). Great expectations
from a great God; because of great promises, great provisions,
and great foretastes.
Verse 5. (last clause). What we expect from
God, and why and when?
Verse 2, 6. I shall not be greatly moved. I shall not
be moved. Growth in faith. How it is produced, preserved, and
evidenced.
Verse 10. Evils usually connected with the love of
riches. Idolatry, covetousness, carking, care, meanness,
forgetfulness of God and spiritual truth, neglect of charity,
hardness of heart, tendency to injustice, etc. Means for
escaping this seductive sin.
Verse 11.
1. How God speaks. "Once, "plainly,
powerfully, immutably, etc.
2. How we should hear. Twice, continually, in heart as
well as ear, observantly in practice, in spirit as well as in
letter.
Verses 11-12. The constant union of power and mercy in
the language of Scripture.
WORKS UPON THE SIXTY-SECOND PSALM
An Exposition upon some Select Psalmes of
David. Containing great store of most excellent and
comfortable doctrine and instruction for all those that (under
the burden of sinne), thirst for comfort in Christ Jesus.
Written by that faithful servant of God, M. ROBERT ROLLOK,
sometime pastor in the Church of Edinburgh: and translated out
of Latin into English, by CHARLES LUMISDEN. Minister of the
Gospel of Christ at Dudingstoun... 1600. (Contains an Exposition
of Psalm 62.)
Certain Comfortable Expositions of the
constant Martyr of Christ, John Hooper, bishop of Gloucester
and Worcester... Written in the time of tribulation and
imprisonment, upon the Twenty-third, Sixty-second,
Seventy-third, and Seventy-seventh Psalms of the prophet David.