Ps. 62.9-11 (breath-people)

Yes / ordinary people / are only a breath
an illusion / are people of rank
rising / on the balance!
Altogether / they weigh / less than a breath.
Trust not / in extortion
and in plunder / take no empty pride
when wealth / bears fruit
do not / set your heart on it. 

We have already alluded to this verse many times in the previous reflections. What we have noticed is that these “ordinary people” and “those of high rank” are marked by an incredible insubstantiality. Indeed, they are so light that, on scales, they actually rise; they have no ‘weight’ to them. This stands in stark contrast to the statement by the psalmist that, in God, he is “rock-strong” and “secure”. That “in him” he, and the people, have ‘refuge’. At first glance, it would seem that the only real contrast would be between his ‘weightiness’ as a ‘rock’ and their total lack of weight. However, that would miss the fact that many of the following words of “security” and “refuge” are related. In psalm 1, the wicked are “blown away like chaff”. A mere breeze causes them to be removed, whereas the righteous remain. This sense is present in other psalms as well: that the weightlessness of the wicked is precarious precisely because when judgment comes they will not be able to weather the storm. This is why the contrast is so important in this psalm—the psalmist and God’s people are ‘heavy’ with God’s power by being found ‘secure’ in him and a ‘refuge’ in him. The point, I believe, is that the psalmist is here talking about “ordinary” and “high” people as they exist apart from God’s power; he is not talking about himself and those who ‘our out their hearts’ before him (vs. 8). We see confirmation of this by looking back at verse 3 where the psalmist sarcastically asks how long the wicked will attack “a person” and plan to push down a “person of high status”—somewhat parallel to the “ordinary” person and the one of “high rank” in our verse. Except—there, the wicked’s attempts at destruction would be thwarted precisely because those they attack “wait for God”, find in him a “refuge and stronghold” and “pour out their hearts before him”. Here, the ‘refuge’ of God is against, not so much the wicked, but the vanity of the world, the weakness of it separated from God. This ‘vanity’ of the world is marked by: extortion, plunder and wealth. One must not “trust” in these things (vs. 10) but rather “trust in him at all times” (vs. 8). It is only by placing trust in God that one enters into his forever and becomes ‘rock-strong’ (vs. 6). Man, as breath, tends to latch onto those things which provide an element of permanence, as found in extortion, plunder and wealth. The first two represent a form of taking, and therefore an appropriation of power and prestige; the third is natural emblem of strength. To a person of mere breath, anything ‘weighty’ would be trusted for those things can be measured and weighed. And yet, they are all “empty pride” (vs. 10). The psalmist, on the other hand, is urging himself (and his ‘people’) to turn to that which gives an even greater weight (I am ‘rock-strong’) and power (“my welfare and my power depend on God”). This is not anti-creational; it is not mystical; it is not ‘detachment’. It is historical—the psalmist is urging patience. In other words, the time will come when the ‘weight of the world’ will be given to those who trust in God. There is no sacrifice of the future in favor of a present spiritual detachment that achieves harmony—the present is marked by this “self-speak” of urging continued patience and trust. All of these ‘counter-voices’ (that of the wicked, that of vanity and that of trusting in extortion/plunder/wealth) all represent competing voices of the psalmist. He sees and hears himself in each. And, it is precisely in his insistence that God will redeem (his forward looking) that counters this tendency to surrender to the present, and make peace with it. The psalmist will not do so. This is why the ‘first’ conclusion of the psalm ends the way it does: God has spoken once – twice I heard this – that strength belongs to God. He must continuously (God spoke it once…I’ve heard it twice…) live in the certainty of God’s deliverance. It is there that the vanity of the world, and the wicked, will be silenced, and the psalmist will be whole and of a single voice. Until then, though, the self-speak must continue.