Psalms 63:1-8

1 O God, you are my God; ¹earnestly I seek you; ²my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in ³a dry and weary land where there is no water.

2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding ⁴your power and glory.

3 Because your ⁵steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.

4 So I will bless you ⁶as long as I live; in your ⁷name I will ⁸lift up my hands.

5 My soul will be ⁹satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,

6 when I remember you ¹⁰upon my bed, and meditate on you in ¹¹the watches of the night;

7 for you have been my help, and in ¹²the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.

8 My soul ¹³clings to you; your right hand ¹⁴upholds me.

Psalms 63:1-8 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 63

\\<>\\. This psalm was composed by David, either when he was persecuted by Saul, and obliged to hide himself in desert places, as in the forest of Hareth, the wildernesses of Ziph, Maon, and Engedi, \1Sa 22:5 23:14,24,25 24:1\; all which were in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:55,62; or when his son Absalom rebelled against him, which obliged him to flee from Jerusalem, and go the way of the wilderness, where Ziba and Barzillai sent him food, lest his young men that were with him should faint there, \2Sa 15:23 16:2 17:29\. The Septuagint version, and those that follow that, call it the wilderness of Idumea, or Edom, as the Arabic version; and so the Chaldee paraphrase, ``in the wilderness which was on the border of the tribe of Judah;'' as Edom was, Jos 15:21; so the Messiah, David's son, was in a wilderness, where he was tempted by the devil, and where he was hungry and thirsty in a literal sense, as David was here in a spiritual sense, as the psalm shows, Mt 4:1,2; and the church of God, whom David sometimes represents, is said to be in a wilderness, where she is fed for a time, and times, and half a time, even during the whole reign of the antichristian beast, Re 12:14; and, indeed, all the saints are, at one time or another, in a desert condition, and while they are here are in the wilderness of the people, Ho 2:14, Eze 20:35.

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 78:34; Isaiah 26:9
• 2. See Psalms 84:2
• 3. Psalms 143:6; Isaiah 32:2
• 4. Psalms 78:61; [Psalms 27:4]
• 5. [Psalms 69:16]
• 6. Psalms 104:33; Psalms 146:2
• 7. Psalms 20:1, 5
• 8. See Psalms 28:2
• 9. See Psalms 36:8
• 10. See Psalms 42:8
• 11. See Psalms 42:8
• 12. See Psalms 17:8
• 13. [Numbers 14:24]
• 14. See Psalms 41:12