Psalms

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Psalm 62

1 For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of David. For God alone I patiently wait; he is the one who delivers me. 2 He alone is my protector and deliverer. He is my refuge; I will not be upended. 3 How long will you threaten a man like me? All of you are murderers, as dangerous as a leaning wall or an unstable fence. 4 They spend all their time planning how to bring their victim down. They love to use deceit; they pronounce blessings with their mouths, but inwardly they utter curses. (Selah) 5 Patiently wait for God alone, my soul! For he is the one who gives me hope. 6 He alone is my protector and deliverer. He is my refuge; I will not be shaken. 7 God delivers me and exalts me; God is my strong protector and my shelter. 8 Trust in him at all times, you people! Pour out your hearts before him. God is our shelter. (Selah) 9 Men are nothing but a mere breath; human beings are unreliable. When they are weighed in the scales, all of them together are lighter than air. 10 Do not trust in what you can gain by oppression. Do not put false confidence in what you can gain by robbery. If wealth increases, do not become attached to it. 11 God has declared one principle; two principles I have heard: God is strong, 12 and you, O Lord, demonstrate loyal love. For you repay men for what they do.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Psalm 62:10 and 1 Corinthians 3:8

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

Summary

In 1 Corinthians, Paul echoes Psalm 62, where God is a just ruler who repays each person for their deeds. The psalm contrasts trust in divine justice with human vanity and greed, and Paul reshapes it to describe how God fairly rewards labor.

Passages

Psalm 62:10

Hebrew Bible

8 Trust in him at all times, you people! Pour out your hearts before him. God is our shelter. (Selah) 9 Men are nothing but a mere breath; human beings are unreliable. When they are weighed in the scales, all of them together are lighter than air. 10 Do not trust in what you can gain by oppression. Do not put false confidence in what you can gain by robbery. If wealth increases, do not become attached to it. 11 God has declared one principle; two principles I have heard: God is strong, 12 and you, O Lord, demonstrate loyal love. For you repay men for what they do.

600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

1 Corinthians 3:8

New Testament

6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused it to grow. 7 So neither the one who plants counts for anything, nor the one who waters, but God who causes the growth. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters work as one, but each will receive his reward according to his work. 9 We are coworkers belonging to God. You are God’s field, God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master-builder I laid a foundation, but someone else builds on it. And each one must be careful how he builds.

55–57 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Corinthians

References

"... Paul makes it clear that judgment is according to what someone has done ... Was Paul simply borrowing an expression, or was he allowing the Psalm to frame his thinking. The theme that judgment is according to works was commonly accepted in Jewish circles. Paul could also have referenced a number of other Psalms, but deliberately focused on Psalm 62. When the opposition has intensified, he acknowledges twice over that God is his rock (62:2, 6), and his need for refuge. He speaks of the cowardliness and falsehood of men (62:3-4), and of the vanity and greed of men (62:9, 10). David remains confident of the power and of the steadfast love of God (62:11, 12), and it is in that context that he speaks of God rendering to a man according to his work. The contrast in Psalm 62 is between those whose rock and refuge is God, and those who do evil. “The psalm, which ends with the phrase quoted here, sees God’s just judgment according to works as an expression of God’s power and mercy. This deep-rooted Jewish tradition is not denied by Paul, but rather celebrated. If one of the purposes of the letter is to show that God’s justice upstages that of Caesar and Rome, we could expect nothing less ..."

Iain Gibb, “Paul and the Psalms: Paul's Hermeneutic and Worldview” (MTh(R) diss., University of Glasgow, 2017), 109–110.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Psalms150 psalms

Compare Psalm 62:10 and 1 Corinthians 3:8

Summary

Passages

Psalm 62:10

1 Corinthians 3:8

References

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