Psa 62:9 | KingComments | STEP | After David points out that we are to trust in God at all times, he warns against trust in people and human resources. By the “men of low degree” ( ) – Hebrew bene adam , which is sons of men, children of men – are meant ordinary people. They are only “vanity” or a “sigh”, in Hebrew hebel . From that the name Abel is derived. When Adam and Eve name their son Abel, it is an act of faith. We find the same thing in Psalm 90, where it says that we finish our years “like a sigh” ( ). A sigh is something intangible and extremely volatile. That is how a person is: today he is there, tomorrow he is no longer there. It is the greatest folly to expect any support from something so uncertain. God, on the other hand, always remains the same, He has all power and with Him everything is certain. The “men of rank” are “a lie”. Here we are talking about dignified people – Hebrew bene-isch –, people, whom other people look up to expectantly. David, that is, God’s Spirit, wipes out that expectation with one word: they are a “lie”. It is not about their personal character, as if they were always false and traitorous, but about the idea that any expectation of their help instead of that of God is “a lie”. When all people are weighed together in a scale, they are even lighter than breath. The picture is that of the old-fashioned balance scale, the scale with two arms with a scale on each arm. If on one scale all the people are placed and on the other scale breath, the balance tips over to the side of the scale with breath. All the people together have no weight at all. How foolish, then, to expect from them, whether simple or considerable, any help. It is meaningless, without any weight. You must have the right scale, God’s scale, to come to that conclusion (cf. ). After the vanity of trust in people , David points out the vanity of trust in wrong means ( ). “Trust in oppression” means that we pressure people to help us, for example, by manipulating them. We then improperly and cunningly bend the resources to our will. Following on from this is the robbery of another person’s property. Then we appropriate resources in an illicit and brutal manner. Any trust in what has been robbed is “vain hope”. It is hope that perishes like a sigh. In addition, God will judge this. Trust in wealth is also wrong. If it increases – even without oppression and without robbery – the heart should not be set upon it. Between wealth and uncertainty, an ‘equal to’ sign should be placed: wealth = uncertainty ( ). It can simply vanish, it can simply dissolve into nothing ( ). People and resources can never save a man’s life for eternity, nor can they ever give true satisfaction to his existence. Only God can satisfy the deepest needs of a human being.

‏ Psalms 62:9

Unfounded Trust

After David points out that we are to trust in God at all times, he warns against trust in people and human resources. By the “men of low degree” (Psa 62:9) – Hebrew bene adam, which is sons of men, children of men – are meant ordinary people. They are only “vanity” or a “sigh”, in Hebrew hebel. From that the name Abel is derived. When Adam and Eve name their son Abel, it is an act of faith. We find the same thing in Psalm 90, where it says that we finish our years “like a sigh” (Psa 90:9).

A sigh is something intangible and extremely volatile. That is how a person is: today he is there, tomorrow he is no longer there. It is the greatest folly to expect any support from something so uncertain. God, on the other hand, always remains the same, He has all power and with Him everything is certain.

The “men of rank” are “a lie”. Here we are talking about dignified people – Hebrew bene-isch –, people, whom other people look up to expectantly. David, that is, God’s Spirit, wipes out that expectation with one word: they are a “lie”. It is not about their personal character, as if they were always false and traitorous, but about the idea that any expectation of their help instead of that of God is “a lie”.

When all people are weighed together in a scale, they are even lighter than breath. The picture is that of the old-fashioned balance scale, the scale with two arms with a scale on each arm. If on one scale all the people are placed and on the other scale breath, the balance tips over to the side of the scale with breath. All the people together have no weight at all. How foolish, then, to expect from them, whether simple or considerable, any help. It is meaningless, without any weight. You must have the right scale, God’s scale, to come to that conclusion (cf. Dan 5:27).

After the vanity of trust in people, David points out the vanity of trust in wrong means (Psa 62:10). “Trust in oppression” means that we pressure people to help us, for example, by manipulating them. We then improperly and cunningly bend the resources to our will. Following on from this is the robbery of another person’s property. Then we appropriate resources in an illicit and brutal manner. Any trust in what has been robbed is “vain hope”. It is hope that perishes like a sigh. In addition, God will judge this.

Trust in wealth is also wrong. If it increases – even without oppression and without robbery – the heart should not be set upon it. Between wealth and uncertainty, an ‘equal to’ sign should be placed: wealth = uncertainty (1Tim 6:17a). It can simply vanish, it can simply dissolve into nothing (Pro 11:28 ; Pro 23:5 ; Pro 27:24).

People and resources can never save a man’s life for eternity, nor can they ever give true satisfaction to his existence. Only God can satisfy the deepest needs of a human being.