Psalm 63:3

3 My lips praise you because your faithful love is better than life itself!

Psalm 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.

Psalm 63:3 In-Context

1 God! My God! It's you— I search for you! My whole being thirsts for you! My body desires you in a dry and tired land, no water anywhere.

2 Yes, I've seen you in the sanctuary; I've seen your power and glory.

3 My lips praise you because your faithful love is better than life itself!

4 So I will bless you as long as I'm alive; I will lift up my hands in your name.

5 I'm fully satisfied— as with a rich dinner. My mouth speaks praise with joy on my lips—