Ps. 62.1-2 (the Temple speaks)

Yes / my soul waits calmly / for God
from him / is my salvation.
Yes / he is my rock / where I am secure
my stronghold / where I am safe / from ruin.

It has been somewhat of an assumption that the psalms, as prayers (petitions, complaints, laments, etc…) are addressed, primarily (if not exclusively) to God. It is therefore of central importance to note that in this psalm three different persons are addressed: the wicked, the soul, and God. And God is not directly addressed until the final verse (in something that feels almost tacked-on). The ‘soul’ and the ‘wicked’ are real dialogue partners in this psalm. Along these lines, we have noted in other psalms were the ‘soul’ is addressed that the division within the psalmist that would make him essentially double (the speaker and the one spoken to), often results from a perceived injustice, a cleavage between God’s act of seeing and his act of redemption (the hiatus). Within that cleavage, the psalmist is often cleaved (or, divided) such that he must speak to himself in order to hold himself together. It is in that act of self-speak that the psalmist is able to remain undivided in his loyalty (or, perception) of God while living in a divided present. The more important observation to make, however, is what the content of that speech consists of—what is holding him together, what does he tell himself when the present is so divided? Here, in the opening verse, the psalmist lays the foundation for the sense that will pervade the rest of the psalm: calm patience in God’s protection. It is the note that is struck even when he addresses the wicked (in an ironic detachment from them). And, we can say this: the psalmist’s security is nourished by God’s Temple-security. The first verse is largely abstract: ‘from him is my salvation’. The second verse, however, draws a particular image: my rock where I am secure, my stronghold where I am safe from ruin. Both of these images of rock and stronghold are Temple images (the ‘rock’ likely being the foundation rock, and the Temple is often referred to as a fortress or ‘stronghold’). So, whereas the first verse simply says salvation is ‘from him’, the second verse makes clear that this location is ‘from the Temple’. The reason this is important is that the psalmist is here, in a way, embodying the calm assurance of the Temple itself. It is as if he has/is participating within the same solidity and assurance that the Temple itself partakes in by and through the indwelling presence of God. We can hear the Temple speak through this psalmist. So what we find here is a psalmist who, through some tragic irruption, has become divided over-against himself. Yet, what comes to hold together the psalmist against the force of chaos that seeks to destroy him, is this Temple security. He comes to speak to himself, in a way, as the Temple—that force that chaos cannot overcome and what both comes first in creation and what survives above the flood. In other words, while he seems to be incapable of abiding in himself (he is divided) it is God’s abiding presence in the Temple that gives him not only strength but a calm security in God’s redemption. In this perhaps we find one reason why God is not addressed until the end—God dwells in the Temple and, hence, any address made is made always-already ‘in his presence’