Psalms 63:1-8

1 The psalm of David, when he was in the desert of Judah. God, my God, I wake to thee full early. My soul thirsted to thee; my flesh thirsted to thee full manyfold. In a land forsaken without way, and without water, (The song of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. God, my God, I wake up early, and I seek thee. My soul thirsteth for thee; my flesh greatly thirsteth for thee. Here in a desert/ed land, without a way, and without water.)

2 so I appeared to thee in holy; that I should see thy virtue, and thy glory. (So I came to thee in the holy place; so that I could see thy strength, and thy glory.)

3 For thy mercy is better than lives (For thy love is better than living/is better than life itself); my lips shall praise thee.

4 So I shall bless thee in my life; and in thy name I shall raise mine hands. (So I shall bless thee all my life; and in thy name I shall raise up my hands.)

5 My soul be [ful]filled as with inner fatness and uttermore fatness; and my mouth shall praise with lips of full out joying (and my mouth shall praise thee with lips of rejoicing).

6 So I had mind on thee on my bed, in the morrowtides I shall think of thee; (And I remember thee as I lie on my bed, and in the morning, I think of thee;)

7 for thou hast been mine helper. And in the covering of thy wings I shall make full out joy, (for thou hast been my helper. And under the covering of thy wings I shall make great joy,)

8 my soul cleaved after thee; thy right hand took me up. (for my soul cleaveth to thee/for my soul followeth after thee; thy right hand lifteth me up.)

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.