“Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.”
The exhortation not to put confidence in oppression or put vain hope in robbery establishes a critique of those who accumulate wealth and power through violence and injustice. The warning against gaining honor this way establishes that honor acquired through wrong means is illusory. The emphasis on the illegitimacy and futility of this path suggests that the psalmist understands the enemies as those who have pursued security through oppression. This verse articulates the moral dimension of the theology: reliance on unjust acquisition is destined to fail.
Church Fathers on Psalms 62:10
1. The title of it is, “Unto the end, in behalf of Idithun, a Psalm to David himself.” I recollect that already to you has been explained what Idithun is....Let us see how far he has leaped over, and whom he has “leaped over,” and in what place, though he has leaped over certain men, he is situate, whence as from a kind of spiritual and secure position he may behold what is below....He being set, I say, in a certain fortified place, does say, “Shall not my soul be subject to…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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