In a rough and tumble world, the Psalmist surveys human conceits and deceits and the material successes of the evil and repeats, “Only through God is stillness of my spirit” (62:6).

The study of Psalms offers the possibility of more than one understanding of any word or phrase. This is true for all of Torah. This idea is conveyed in a phrase of this Psalm (62:12): “One- God speaks, two of these- I heard.” Jeremiah (23:29) will say of God’s word that it is “like an anvil smashing a rock,” an image of many sparks emerging with each blow: many possible interpretations of each word. The Talmud (Sanhedrin 34a) will comment that each verse of sacred text can be broken down into many lessons and interpretations.