Psalm 62:10

Psalm 62:10, in plain English

Don't be tempted to trust in shortcuts to security—money gotten through oppression or theft, or wealth in general. Even if your bank account grows, don't let it become your source of confidence.

Why it's here

The psalmist is naming a real temptation: when you're under threat, it's natural to want to secure yourself through money or power or alliances. But he's warning that this path corrupts your soul and ultimately offers no real safety anyway. It's worldly wisdom dressed up as protection.

Who's speaking

David, warning against the spiritual trap that catches even people trying to protect themselves legitimately.

Where it sits in the story

Jesus will teach this more directly—you cannot serve God and money, and no amount of wealth protects you from what matters. This verse prepares the ground for His radical teaching about letting go.

The scholarly reading

The psalmist offers practical ethical exhortation against two forms of false hope: wealth obtained through violence and wealth accumulated as security. Neither stolen goods nor legitimate riches should capture the human heart's ultimate loyalty.

Language and setting

The term 'extortion' (tsedeq, more precisely 'plunder' or 'gained by violence') points to the psalmist's actual social world—where the powerful accumulate through coercion. His warning against false hope in stolen goods is not merely moral disapprobation but practical wisdom: such ill-gotten wealth brings divine judgment and offers no real security. The second clause addresses even legitimately gained riches, arguing that abundance itself becomes spiritually corrosive when it displaces faith.

Voice

The psalmist as wisdom instructor, drawing on Israel's sapiential tradition (echoing Proverbs' warnings against ill-gotten gain).

Significance

This critique of wealth as spiritually perilous reappears throughout Scripture, from Samuel's condemnation of royal greed to Jesus's teaching that the wealthy face particular spiritual danger, forming a consistent biblical counter-narrative to materialistic security.

8Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts before Him. God is our refuge.

9Lowborn men are but a vapor; the exalted are but a lie. Weighed on the scale, they go up; together they are but a vapor.

10Place no trust in extortion or false hope in stolen goods. If your riches increase, do not set your heart upon them.

11God has spoken once; I have heard this twice: that power belongs to God,

12and loving devotion to You, O Lord. For You will repay each man according to his deeds.

Read all of Psalm 62 — For God alone my soul waits in silence. Twice David says it. Power belongs to God, and steadfast love. That's enough.