He is my mighty rock, my refuge
Psalms 62:5-8 - God is our rock, and it is only right that we find comfort and strength in Him.
“Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.”
Psalms 62:5-8 NIV
This is an interesting psalm of David. Why? Well, he is not only trying to teach others, but also remind himself of the hope that only comes from God.
This is apparent in the first verse, where David says “Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him.” He’s speaking to his own soul, doing what is called self-exhortation. For believers, this is the practice of reminding themselves of God’s promises and faithfulness, and is especially useful during times of distress or doubt.
The words in verse 6, “Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken”, are repeated twice in Psalm 62. This emphasizes David’s solid faith in the Lord; he is showing his confidence that God is the source of all of his hope. He refers to God as “my mighty rock” in the verse 7. This would have resonated with those hearing this psalm; the Hebrew word for rock — צוּר (tsur) — has the meaning of a very massive and unmovable stone. The Israelites lived in rocky terrain and understood the security that these tsur could provide from attack.
There’s also a link to Jesus in verse 6 (not really surprising to longtime Bible readers). The term “salvation” in Hebrew is יְשׁוּעָה or yeshu'ah, meaning rescue or deliverance. It’s also very much like the name Yeshua (Jesus)! Here, David is referring to God’s ability to save His people from danger, both spiritual and physical.
Spurgeon had these words to say about verse 7, in which David repeatedly exclaims his unfailing faith in God:
“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 in faith towards him, and lays claim to him under every character.”1
The verses conclude with solid counsel from the King of Israel to his people — “Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.” David felt that what was good for him would be good for his subjects as well. David Guzik, cited in Enduring Word, says this of verse 8:
God’s strength and stability made David rightly think of Him as a rock. Yet God was not insensitive or unfeeling like a rock. God invites His people to pour out their heart — their sorrows, their joys, their trust, and their doubt, all of it — before Him.
i. “Pour it out as water. Not as milk, whose colour remains. Not as wine, whose savour remains. Not as honey, whose taste remains. But as water, of which, when it is poured out, nothing remains.” (Le Blanc, cited in Spurgeon)
c. God is a refuge for us: He welcomes the poured-out heart as the cities of refuge welcomed the hunted man in ancient Israel.
We can still put our trust in God, both when we’re feeling strong and in those times where life seems helpless! God is our rock, and it is only right that we find comfort and strength in Him.
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Today’s prayer comes from PrayersAndPetitions.org:
Dear Father in heaven, we thank you for this day and for all the loving kindness you pour out on us. May we continue to receive your help and your protection. Bless us in whatever we are allowed to do in your service, that it may always be done in love to all people. Watch over us this night and be with us. May your will be done throughout the world, so that at last all confusion may come to an end, Satan’s work may be destroyed, and your children may shout for joy that your will is being done on earth as in heaven. Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica US, Inc.®. Used by permission.
Commentary quotations from Enduring Word are used with the written permission of the author.
Spurgeon, Charles Haddon "The Treasury of David: Volume 2" (Psalms 58-110) (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson, 1988)