Psalms 63:3

3 (62-4) For thy mercy is better than lives: thee my lips will praise.

Psalms 63:3 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 63:3

Because thy lovingkindness [is] better than life
For life without the love of God is nothing else than death: a man that has no share in the love of God is dead while he lives; all the enjoyments of life, health, riches, honour, friends are nothing without the love of God; the meanest temporal blessings with it are preferable to the greatest without it, ( Proverbs 15:17 ) ; it lasts longer than life, and therefore must be better than that; death cannot separate from it; it continues to all eternity. And that the saints prefer it to this natural life appears by their readiness to lay it down for the sake of Christ and his Gospel, in which the lovingkindness of God is so richly manifested unto them; to which may be added, that it is the love of God which gives to his people spiritual life, and which issues in eternal life, and therefore must be better than a temporal one. The Targum is,

``for better is thy kindness, which thou wilt do for the righteous in the world to come, than the life which thou givest the wicked in this world;''

my lips shall praise thee;
that is, for thy lovingkindness, and because it is better than life, and any enjoyment of it.

Psalms 63:3 In-Context

1 (62-1) <A psalm of David while he was in the desert of Edom.> (62-2) O God, my God, to thee do I watch at break of day. For thee my soul hath thirsted; for thee my flesh, O how many ways!

2 (62-3) In a desert land, and where there is no way, and no water: so in the sanctuary have I come before thee, to see thy power and thy glory.

3 (62-4) For thy mercy is better than lives: thee my lips will praise.

4 (62-5) Thus will I bless thee all my life long: and in thy name I will lift up my hands.

5 (62-6) Let my soul be filled as with marrow and fatness: and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.