Psalm 63:3

3 My lips will praise you because your mercy 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 O God, you are my God. At dawn I search for you. My soul thirsts for you. My body longs for you in a dry, parched land where there is no water.

2 So I look for you in the holy place to see your power and your glory.

3 My lips will praise you because your mercy is better than life [itself].

4 So I will thank you as long as I live. I will lift up my hands [to pray] in your name.

5 You satisfy my soul with the richest foods. My mouth will sing [your] praise with joyful lips.