Psalms 63:4

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.)

Psalms 63:4 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 63:4

Thus will I bless thee while I live
With his whole heart and soul, as he had sought after him, and as under a sense of his lovingkindness; and as he now praised him with his lips, so he determined to do as long as he had life and being; by proclaiming his blessedness, by ascribing blessing and honour to him, and by giving him the glory of all mercies temporal and spiritual;

I will lift up my hands in thy name;
not against his enemies, against those that fought against him, as Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it, but unto God in heaven; and that not as a gesture used in swearing, but either in blessing, as Aben Ezra observes; so the high priest lifted up his hands when he blessed the people; or in prayer, or in both, so Jarchi's note is, to pray and to praise; (See Gill on Psalms 28:2). The Targum is,

``in the name of thy Word I will spread out my hands in prayer for the world to come;''

that is, in the name of the Messiah, the essential Word, in whose name prayer is to be made, and whereby it becomes prevalent and successful; see ( John 14:13 John 14:14 ) ( John 16:23 John 16:24 John 16:26 ) . This is a prayer gesture; (See Gill on Psalms 28:2).

Psalms 63:4 In-Context

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;)