62:5 For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from
him.
62:6 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not
be shaken.
62:7 On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my
refuge is in God.
62:8 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before
him; God is a refuge for us. Selah
62:9 Those of low estate are but a breath, those of high estate are
a delusion; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter
than a breath.
62:10 Put no confidence in extortion, and set no vain hopes on
robbery; if riches increase, do not set your heart on them.
62:11 Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power
belongs to God,
62:12 and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord. For you repay to
all according to their work.
Verse 11 is strange. Any clue as to how to interpret it?
Michelle
Dear Michelle, I once heard a bible teacher (on the radio I believe)
talk about the echo of God's voice. God speaks and it makes its
immediate impression. But in many different ways it comes back to
us. It can happen as we meditate and pray. The echo may come to us
as we interact with people. It might be something to ponder. Mike in
NC.
Michelle, God speaks to us once through his Word, however, his word
always contains both Law and Gospel, that is, it convicts us of our
sin, and then points us to our Savior. In this sense his one Word
speaks to us twice!
Michelle, the rabbis say that this sort of text refers to the "bat
qol" ("daughter of the voice") which is the echo of God's voice that
we hear when there is no other theophany accompanying it. (The Law
and Gospel thing is cute ... but it reads back into the psalms
something their original authors would never have had in mind.)
Blessings, Eric in KS
Re: verse 11. Best explanation I have found is at classic
commentaries. This is from Gill. This is excellent resource.
Verse 11. God hath spoken once,.... One word of his is more to be
confided in, and depended on, than all the men and things in the
world. The meaning is not that God hath only spoke once; he has
spoke often; he spoke all things out of nothing in creation; he
spoke all the words of the law at Mount Sinai; he spoke by the
prophets under the Old Testament dispensation, and by his Son in the
last days, and still by the ministers of the Gospel: but the sense
is, that what God has once spoken stands; it is irreversible and
immutable; it is firm, sure, and unalterable; he does not repent, he
cannot lie, nor will he alter the thing that is gone out of his
lips; and therefore his word is to be trusted to, when men of high
degree are a lie;
twice have I heard this; that is, many times, as Kimchi explains it:
the Targum refers this, and the preceding clause, to the delivery of
the law: "one law God spake, and twice we heard it from the mouth of
Moses the great scribe;" but the meaning is, that the psalmist had
heard of two things, and was well assured of the truth of them, and
which were the foundation of his trust and confidence; one is
mentioned in this verse and the other in Psalm 62:12; the first is,
that power [belongeth] unto God; great power, even almighty power,
as appears from the creation of all things out of nothing, the
preservation of them in their beings, the government of the world,
the redemption of his people by Christ, the work of grace upon their
hearts by his Spirit, the perseverance of the saints, their
deliverance from their enemies, and the destruction of them. The
ancient Cabalists {n} among the Jews have endeavoured, from this
passage, to establish a Trinity in unity, they speak of "three
superior "Sephirot," or numbers; and of them it is said, "God hath
spoken once, twice have I heard this": once and twice, lo, the three
superior numbers, of whom it is said, one, one, one, three ones; and
this is the meaning of "God hath spoken once, twice have I heard
this; this" in it makes them one."
{n} Tikkune Zohar, Correct. 38. fol. 82. 1. michael
Thank you all for responding to my query. It is amazing how much we
can learn when we ask, and when we share.
Thank you, Michelle
Selah I have understood that this is a word that meant a chorus was
sung. It that true? Nancy-Wi
Nancy: The NIB says this about "selah" -- "The liturgical
instructions in the superscriptions clearly suggest that many of the
psalms were meant to be sung, but we know very little about actual
performance. Consequently, little attention will be devoted to the
liturgical instructions in the following commentary [i.e., in the
NIB]. The same applies to the term _selah_, which occurs in the body
of several psalms. While it almost certainly represents a liturgical
instruction of some kind -- perhaps a signal to the musical director
or levitical choir -- its precise meaning and significance are
unknown." (Psalms - Introduction, NIB, Volume IV, p. 657)
Blessings, Eric in KS
