Why read Psalm 62?
Psalm 62 is well suited to morning prayer and the desire to draw closer to God. The soul's thirst and its search at daybreak express longing for His presence and gratitude for His help.
You can read this psalm when its themes speak to your circumstances, or as part of your regular reading of the Psalter. This explanation draws on the text itself; the psalm is not reserved for one particular need.
The full text of Psalm 62 (10 verses), from the 8th Kathisma of the Psalter. The opening words — “God, my God, You...” — are also the psalm’s traditional “name”: our grandmothers did not say “psalm 62”, but called it by name, using its first words.
The text of Psalm 62
1. God, my God, I seek You early in the morning.
2. My soul thirsted for You, my body sighed for You,
3. In a desert, untrodden and waterless land. Thus in the holy place I appeared before You, to see Your power and Your glory.
4. For Your mercy is better than life; my lips will praise You.
5. Thus I shall bless You in my life and lift my hands in Your name.
6. Let my soul be satisfied as with tallow and fat, and with joyful lips my mouth will praise You.
7. When I remembered You upon my bed, in the mornings I pondered You, for You have been my help
8. And beneath the shelter of Your wings I shall rejoice. My soul clung to You, and Your right hand supported me.
9. But they sought my soul in vain; they will enter the lowest places of the earth; they will be given into the hands of the sword, they will be portions for foxes.
10. But the king will rejoice in God; everyone who swears by Him will glory, for the mouths of those who speak injustice have been stopped.
When Psalm 62 is read
- It belongs to the 8th Kathisma — the psalms are read in full within the cycle of kathismata, at Matins and Vespers.
- At the end of each psalm, tradition adds: «Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.».
Adjacent psalms
The numbering follows the Orthodox Psalter (Septuagint). The same psalm may have a different number in other Bible editions.
