Psalms 62:1

Psalm 62 ¹ 

For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of David.

62:1 For God alone I patiently wait; ² 

he is the one who delivers me. ³ 

Psalms 77:1

Psalm 77 ⁴ 

For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of Asaph.

77:1 I will cry out to God ⁵  and call for help!

I will cry out to God and he will pay attention ⁶  to me.

[62:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 62. The psalmist expresses his unwavering confidence in God’s justice and in his ability to protect his people.

[62:1]  ² tn Heb “only for God [is] there silence [to] my soul.”

[62:1]  ³ tn Heb “from him [is] my deliverance.”

[77:1]  ⁴ sn Psalm 77. The psalmist recalls how he suffered through a time of doubt, but tells how he found encouragement and hope as he recalled the way in which God delivered Israel at the Red Sea.

[77:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “my voice to God.” The Hebrew verb קָרָא (qara’, “to call out; to cry out”) should probably be understood by ellipsis (see Ps 3:4) both here and in the following (parallel) line.

[77:1]  ⁶ tn The perfect with vav (ו) consecutive is best taken as future here (although some translations render this as a past tense; cf. NEB, NIV). The psalmist expresses his confidence that God will respond to his prayer. This mood of confidence seems premature (see vv. 3-4), but v. 1 probably reflects the psalmist’s attitude at the end of the prayer (see vv. 13-20). Having opened with an affirmation of confidence, he then retraces how he gained confidence during his trial (see vv. 2-12).