Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 63:1

A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, thou [art] my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

1. O God, thou art my God ] Elohim, thou art my El. He addresses Jehovah, for Elohim here is the substitute for that Name (cp. Psa 140:6), as the Strong One to whom he can appeal with confidence in his need. Cp. Psa 42:2; Psa 42:8-9; Psa 43:4.

early will I seek thee ] So the LXX, (the word used in Luk 21:38); and hence the use of the Psalm as a morning Psalm. Rather, however, earnestly will I seek thee; though sometimes (e.g. Isa 26:9) the word seems to be used with allusion to the supposed derivation from shachar, ‘dawn.’

my soul my flesh ] My whole self, soul and body. Cp. Psa 84:2, ‘soul, heart, flesh’: the emotions, the reason and the will, the physical organism in and through which they act.

thirsteth for thee ] See Psa 42:2, note; Psa 84:2.

longeth for thee ] Pineth for thee, a strong word, occurring here only, meaning probably, ‘faints with desire.’

in a dry and thirsty, land ] In a dry and weary land (Psa 143:6; Isa 32:2). These words are certainly metaphorical, not literal: it is the ‘water of life’ for which he thirsts; the spiritual refreshment with which God revives the fainting soul. But the metaphor was naturally suggested by the circumstances in which David was situated.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

1, 2. Recalling the glorious visions of God which he has enjoyed in the sanctuary, the Psalmist thirsts for a renewed sense of His Presence.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

O God, thou art my God – The words here rendered God are not the same in the original. The first one – ‘Elohiym – is in the plural number, and is the word which is usually employed to designate God Gen 1:1; the second – ‘El – is a word which is very often applied to God with the idea of strength – a strong, a mighty One; and there is probably this underlying idea here, that God was the source of his strength, or that in speaking of God as his God, he was conscious of referring to him as Almighty. It was the divine attribute of power on which his mind mainly rested when he spoke of him as his God. He did not appeal to him merely as God, with no reference to a particular attribute; but he had particularly in his eye his power or his ability to deliver and save him. In Psa 22:1, where, in our version, we have the same expression, My God, my God, the two words in the original are identical, and are the same which is used here – ‘El – as expressive of strength or power. The idea suggested here is, that in appealing to God, while we address him as our God, and refer to his general character as God, it is not improper to have in our minds some particular attribute of his character – power, mercy, love, truth, faithfulness, etc. – as the special ground of our appeal.

Early will I seek thee – The word used here has reference to the early dawn, or the morning; and the noun which is derived from the verb, means the aurora, the dawn, the morning. The proper idea, therefore, would be that of seeking God in the morning, or the early dawn; that is, as the first thing in the day. Compare the notes at Isa 26:9. The meaning here is, that he would seek God as the first thing in the day; first in his plans and purposes; first in all things. He would seek God before other things came in to distract and divert his attention; he would seek God when he formed his plans for the day, and before other influences came in, to control and direct him. The favor of God was the supreme desire of his heart, and that desire would be indicated by his making him the earliest – the first – object of his search. His first thoughts – his best thoughts – therefore, he resolved should be given to God. A desire to seek God as the first object in life – in youth – in each returning day – at the beginning of each year, season, month, week – in all our plans and enterprises – is one of the most certain evidences of true piety; and religion flourishes most in the soul, and flourishes only in the soul, when we make God the first object of our affections and desires.

My soul thirsteth for thee – See the notes at Psa 42:2.

My flesh longeth for thee – All my passions and desires – my whole nature. The two words – soul and flesh, are designed to embrace the entire man, and to express the idea that he longed supremely for God; that all his desires, whether springing directly from the soul, or the needs of the body, rose to God as the only source from which they could be gratified.

In a dry and thirsty land – That is, As one longs for water in a parched desert, so my soul longs for God. The word thirsty is in the margin, as in Hebrew, weary. The idea is that of a land where, from its parched nature – its barrenness – its rocks – its heat – its desolation – one would be faint and weary on a journey.

Where no water is – No running streams; no gushing fountains; nothing to allay the thirst.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Psa 63:1-11

O God, Thou art my God; early will I seek Thee.

The greatest things of the soul

I. The greatest hunger of the soul (Psa 63:1). The soul wants God, as the thirsty land the refreshing showers, as the opening flower the sunbeam.

II. The greatest faith of the soul (Psa 63:3). Lovingkindness is indeed better than life; it is independent, it is the cause of life, the redemption of life: It is lovingkindness that supplies the wants, gratifies the desires, develops the powers of life. All the elements of soul-joy,–gratitude, admiration, moral esteem, benevolence,–are awakened by lovingkindness. Lovlngkindness is heaven. Faith in this lovingkindness is the greatest faith–greatest because it is the most soul-sustaining, soul-inspiring, soul-ennobling.

III. The greatest exercise of the soul–praise. It is not a service, but a life. It is not that which merely goeth forth in sacred music and on sacred occasions; but, as a sap in the trunk of the tree runs through all its branches and leaves and blossoms, so true praise runs through all the activities of human life.

IV. The greatest satisfaction of the soul, Davids great desire was, To see Thy power and glory as I have seen Thee in the sanctuary. The blessedness of such a soul is ever with it. The pleasure of the religous man, says Dr. South, is an easy and portable pleasure, such a one as he carries about in his bosom, without alarming either the rage or the envy of the world. A man putting all his pleasures into this one is like a traveller putting all his goods into one jewel; the value is the same, and the convenience greater.

V. The greatest study of the soul (Psa 63:6).

1. Man can think upon God–not merely on what He has done, but on what He is, Himself.

2. Man, can think upon God on his bed. When all other objects are shut out from him, when the beautiful earth and the star-spangled heavens are excluded, God cart be brought into the soul as the subject of thought. No study so quickening. The thought of God vivifies the faculties and stirs the heart. None so humbling, With God before the eye of thought, all egotism wanes and dies. None so spiritualizing. With God before the minds eye, fleets, armies, markets, governments, the solemn globe itself and all it contains, dwindle into insignificance. None so enlightening. The study of God lightens up all the fields truth. All the branches have their root in God.

VI. The greatest trust of the soul (Psa 63:7). (Homilist.)

Ancient piety

This psalm was composed in the wilderness of Judaea, where the privations he sustained lent language to devotion, and ardours to piety. It shows David as he really was, resting On the promises of God, and supported by earnests and pledges of his future hope. It is a more luminous display of ancient piety.

I. Ancient piety is founded on filial confidence: O God, thou art my God; early will I seek Thee. A culprit cannot have this confidence in his judge, because he comes clothed with power to punish his crimes. But here the psalmist says, Thou art my God; mine by covenant; mine by promises; mine by innumerable blessings and answers to prayer; yea, thou art mine by full consent of heart, and by daily acts of faith, and devotion to all Thy holy will.

II. Piety is supreme in its aspirations and desires after God: My soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh, etc. A prince whose heart was less impressed with piety than Davids might have said, These sands and deserts, which afford neither bread nor water, are not places for religion. Restore me to the throne, and then I will be religious; put the sceptre into my hand, and then I will defend the saint; give me the means, and then I will make all my people happy. Ah! promises of future piety do not gain much credence in heaven. The bosom-sin which seduces the heart in the desert would seduce it on the throne. Not so David: he would bring burning coals to the altar, that its ardours might glow the more when allowed to tread the hallowed courts. He asks for God alone.

III. There is a reality in the consolations of religion; and a reality which surpasses all terrestrial enjoyments (Psa 63:8).

IV. Piety: it abstracts the soul from the world; diverts it from the keen sensations of adversity; and so unites it to God, as to communicate a plenitude of Divine felicity (Psa 63:5-6). Devotion elevates the soul to the true source of felicity, to drink of streams which are never dry. The mind, contemplating its God in the wide unfoldings of revelation, spontaneously kindles with the fire of the altar, and with grateful utterance of the heart.

V. The enjoyments of piety are inseparably connected with the exercises of devotion (Psa 63:5). While the psalmist was musing on all the ways of providence and grace, the fire kindled in his heart.

VI. It was by these exercises, and by experience, that the ancient saints became decided in character, and attained the full assurance of faith and comfort (Psa 63:7). Those who waver in the faith, and are inconstant in duty, and whose religion is only like a winters sun, find a failure in bringing the plants of grace to perfection.

VII. The brightest trait of piety is yet to come: she holds fast her assurance and joy in the times of affliction, and foresees deliverance before the arm of salvation can actually appear. In all her troubles, the voice of despair is never heard. She lays hold on the promises, and embraces the sure mercies of David. Hear the psalmists words in the wilderness, when all his enemies account him as lost and undone (Psa 63:9-10). You who may be tried in various ways, and with the long-continued strokes of affliction, take to yourselves the full cup of comfort from the Word of the Lord. Davids God is your God, and He will deliver you in His own time, and in His own way, out of all your troubles. (James Sutcliffe, M. A.)

Davids owning of, and application to, God

I. His owning of God. O God, thou art my God. This was a good beginning, and a very fair preface to that which follows after. And it is that, indeed, which lays a foundation to all the rest. It is that which must be necessarily premised in all our addresses to God, and petitions for anything from Him.

1. It is an expression of faith. David calls God his God, as having taken Him so to be to him. God is in a common and general sense the God of all men, as He is said to be the Saviour of all men (1Ti 4:10). Namely, in regard of common and general blessings which He bestows upon them, of Creation and Providence. But for believers, and those which are His children, as the prophet David here was, He is their God more especially, in a more peculiar manner, above any besides; He is to them a God in covenant, engaging Himself to them, to do them good, and to provide graciously for them. And they call Him their God thus, and with this emphasis upon it.

(1) The benefit of it is very great; yea, in effect all things else. To say, God is ours, is to say, The whole world is ours, and a great deal more; it is to give us title to everything which may be requisite or convenient for us. Whatever we can desire or stand in need of, it is all wrapt up in this, Thou art my God.

(2) It is an hard thing, too, it is a matter of difficulty. There are two states and conditions in which it is very difficult to say, O God, thou art my God; the one is the state of nature and unregeneracy; and the other is the state of desertion, and the hiding of Gods face from the soul.

2. It is an expression also of obedience and self-resignation. Those whom God is a God to, He does bestow special favours upon them; and those to whom God is a God, they do return special services to Him; which is here now considerable of us. And so we shall find it to be all along in Scripture (Psa 118:28).

II. His application to Him.

1. His resolution, what he would do, Early will I seek Thee. He promises to seek after God, and to do it betimes, which is an enlargement of it; where, while he signifies his own purpose, he does likewise signify our duty; while he tells us what shall be done by him, he tells us also what is to be done by us, namely, to seek the Lord early; not only to seek Him, but to be forward in our seeking of Him.

(1) Early as to the time of the day. Early, that is, in the morning. We should give God the first of our thoughts every day.

(2) Early, as to the time of our life, in the morning of our age. For men to defer their repentance and reformation to their old age, and when they have spent all their time before in the pursuit of their lusts, to think to seek God then, and that will be time enough;–thats but a vain conceit and imagination in them.

(3) Early as to the time of Gods judgments, and providential dispensations. We must seek Him early, that is, before He fetches us to Him, and compels us, as it were, to the seeking of Him. It is better in regard of piety, and it is better in regard of safety. It is more ingenuity in us in respect of God, and it is more wisdom in us in respect of ourselves. For hereby we save both Him and ourselves a great deal of labour, which otherwise He is put unto with us; and we may escape a great deal of smart which otherwise through our own wilful-nose and neglect happens unto us.

2. His intimation of the state and temper which he was now in, or the ground and reason of his resolution.

(1) The object of his desire was God Himself. As he is in a state of darkness, so he longs for God in the clearer evidence and more comfortable assurance of His favour and good-will towards him. As he is in a state of weakness, so he thirsts for God in She impartment of more of His grace, and strength, and assistance to him. As he is in a state of strangeness, some kind of distance and alienation from God; so he does also long for Him in the intercourse of communion with Him.

(2) The intention of his desire. His own necessities, and the sense and apprehension of them. This puts him upon this desire. A good Christian hath so much need of God, as that he cannot be well satisfied without Him. The amiableness of the object does provoke and excite the desire. God being so exceedingly lovely and admirable, as indeed He is in His own nature, it cannot but draw on those which do discern it, very much to desire it; and theres experience also in it which does promote it, and help it on.

3. The subject of the desire, which is here signified to be the soul and the flesh; hit soul properly, his flesh by way of sympathy with it; they are both of them in it.

(1) In the midst of any outward and temporal deficiencies, we should consider and reflect upon our spiritual.

(2) The best way to correct and qualify our desires as to temporals, is to fasten them upon spirituals. When we would restrain any inordinate longing for some outward or earthly accommodation, or suppress any grief, either of the like nature, we cannot better do it, than by provoking ourselves to the desire of spiritual comforts. This helps, first, by way of diversion, and turning the stream of the affections another way, and so breaking off the violence of it, that it prevails not upon us. And then further, there is that also in spirituals which does supply and make amends to us for any temporal deficiency. (T. Horton, D. D.)

The saint claiming God as his God

I. Concerning the Deity whom faith claims. There can be no claiming or believing till He be known. It is therefore proper to begin with a display of His glory.

1. Every perfection in His glory. Had we the tongue and the voice of the seraphim, we could not declare it all. Paper broader than the earth, ink deeper than the sea, pens stronger than iron, and hands readier than the quickest scribe, could not write the thousandth part of it.

2. God is the Creator and Preserver of all (Isa 42:5).

3. God is the spring and fountain of our reconciliation by the death of His Son.

4. God is the promiser and the lawgiver. Without the promise, we could not observe the law, and without the law, we would abuse the promise.

5. Our blessedness is in God (Psa 62:1-12).

II. Concerning the claiming of property in God.

1. The Word is the ground of our claiming property in God.

2. Believing in God through our Lord Jesus Christ is the exercise of our claim. Christ and God are not divided and separated, in our believing and claiming. God was, and is, and will be in Christ. Christ was, and is, and will be in God.

3. The promises of the covenant encourage our claiming interest and property in God through Christ Jesus the Lord.

4. The exercise of the heart which believes and claims interest and property in God is recommended by the example of Christ. In the anguish and bitterness of distress He cried, My Father, and My God. And no sooner was He delivered from the power of death by a glorious resurrection, than He said, I ascend to My Fatter and your Father, and to My God and your God. Follow His example.

5. The Spirit of adoption constrains to this exercise of the heart. Without His presence and operation, no man believes and claims interest and property in God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

6. No law condemns this exercise of the heart. Believing and claiming interest and property in God through Jesus Christ is against no law. Is the law against the promises of God, or the promises against the law of God? God forbid.

III. The manner in which interest and property in God should be claimed in believing.

1. In Christ. Christ is the true, and living, and only way to God. No man, said He, cometh to the Father but by Me. In claiming interest and relation in one, we claim interest and relation and property in both. The guilty and polluted cannot approach the holiness of the Lord but through, and by, and in a Mediator, whom He hath made unto them wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.

2. In humility. When we venture into the presence of the high and holy One, and say, O God, Thou art my God, humility of mind is our adorning. Our unworthiness as creatures, and our pollution as sinners, should produce in us the deepest debasement before Him.

3. With reverence. Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. When the humble spirit is before Him, saying, O God, Thou art my God, it doth not allow itself to forget and disregard these instructions.

4. With confidence (Psa 48:14).

IV. Concerning the seasons in our exercise of believing and claiming relation, interest, and property in God through Christ.

1. The season of labouring. God is the glory of our strength; and believing and claiming Him in Christ, what service may we not undertake boldly, and what labour may we not endure joyfully.

2. The season of suffering. We need to abound in the believing exercises of the heart to God-ward through Christ, in order to draw in strength from the promises to endure it, and encourage and confirm hope of deliverance out of it.

3. The season of trouble and vexation of spirit.

4. The season of heaviness and grief.

5. The season of temptation. By steadfast believing, and continuance in well-doing, ye will, through the grace, and Spirit, and word of Christ, defeat every attempt to invalidate a claim, standing on His own My God and your God, My Father and your Father.

6. The season of dying. Steadfast believing in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have received the atonement, will make us smile in the face of an enemy at whose appearance our heart would otherwise be alarmed and dismayed. (A. Shanks.)

God and the soul

The text might form a motto for what is termed, in the modern phrase, personal religion. No religion, of course, can deserve its name if it be not personal at bottom, if it do not recognize as its basis the case of the personal soul face to face with the personal God. But, even with a view to the perfection of the individual himself, religion may, nay, it must, embrace other interests besides his own. Each time that, in the earliest creed, we formally profess our belief in God, we also profess our belief in the Catholic Church and the Communion of Saints. But at least in David we have a notable example of a sensitive, tender, self-analyzing soul, living in sustained communion with God, while yet deeply sensible of the claims of the civil and religious polity of Israel. My God. The word does not represent a human impression, or desire, or conceit, but an aspect, a truth, a necessity of the Divine Nature. Man can, indeed, give himself by halves; he can bestow a little of his thought, of his heart, of his endeavour, upon his brother man. In other words, man can be imperfect in his acts, as he is imperfect and finite in his nature. But when God, the Perfect Being, loves the creature of His Hand, He cannot thus divide His love. He must give Himself to the single soul with as absolute a completeness as if there were no other being besides the soul which He loves. And, on his side, man knows that this gift of Himself by God is thus entire; and in no narrow spirit of ambitious egotism, but as grasping and representing the literal fact, he cries, My God. Therefore does this single word enter so largely into the composition of Hebrew names. Men loved to dwell upon that wondrous relation of She Creator to their personal life which it so vividly expressed. Therefore we find St. Paul writing to the Galatians as if his own soul, in its solitary anguish, had alone been redeemed by the sacrifice of Calvary: He loved me, and gave Himself for me. But hero let us observe that there are two causes within the soul which might indispose us for looking more truly and closely at the truth before us. Of these causes, the first is moral: it is the state of unrepented wilful sin. It is hostile to the assertion no less of the love than of the rights of God. It is averse from Him. It has other ends in view which are so many denials of His supreme claims upon created life. It cowers with involuntary dread at the sound of His voice among the trees of the garden. If the depraved and sinful will, still clinging to its sin, could conceivably attain to a spiritual embrace of the All-Holy God, so intimate, so endearing as is that of the psalmist, such nearness would be to it nothing less than repulsive; it would be scarcely less than an agony. The other cause is intellectual. It may, without offence, be described as the subjective spirit, which is so characteristic and predominant an influence in the thought of our day. In plain English this spirit is an intellectual selfishness, which makes man, and not God, the monarch and centre of the world of thought. Man is again to be, as of old with the Greek sophist, the measure of all things. God is as but a point on the extreme circumference of His creatures thought. Nay, more, in its more developed form, this temper makes God Himself a pure creation of the thought of His creature; and, by doing so, it at length denies His real existence. An educated man of the present day who would look God really in the face has perhaps no greater intellectual difficulty to contend with than the trammels and false points of view which strictly subjective habits of thought have imposed upon his understanding. While these habits are dominant in a man, God may be a portion, nay, the most considerable portion, of his thought; but God will not be in any true sense the mans God, before whom his soul bows, Among the many truths which the Supreme Being has disclosed to us men about Himself, there are two which, beyond others, are peculiarly calculated to enable us to realize our real relation towards Him. The first, the truth that God is our Creator. The second, the truth that He has made us for Himself, and is Himself the end and the explanation of our existence. The most simple and obvious truths are, as a rule, the most profound; and no apology is needed for asking each one of you to reflect steadily on the answer to this question, Where was I one short century ago? The lowest and vilest creatures were more than we; in that to them a being had been given, while as yet we were without one. Rut at this moment we are in possession of that blessed and awful gift which we name life. We find ourselves endowed with an understanding capable of knowledge, and with a heart formed for love. We cannot but ask how we came to be here, and we cannot worship God unless we believe that it was He who made us. Yet, though we witness around us the wreck of serious convictions, and the despair of true and noble hearts, and the triumph of false theories, and the additional difficulties of our daily struggle with unseen foes, and (it may be) with the results of our own past unfaithfulness to light and grace, we have but to look within ourselves to trace without doubt or misgiving the true law of that life which our God has given us. By gathering up the scattered fragments of the shattered statue, we can recover, if not the perfect work itself, at least the ideal which was before the Eye of the Artist. In this place we are sufficiently familiar with the presumption that there must be a correspondence and proportion between a faculty and its object. Why, then, does the human intellect crave perpetually for new fields of knowledge? It was made to apprehend an Infinite Being; it was made for God. Why does the human heart disclose, when we probe it, such inexhaustible capacities for love, and tenderness, and self-sacrifice? It was made to correspond to a love that had neither stint nor limit; it was made for God. Why does no employment, no success, no scene or field of thought, no culture of power or faculty, no love of friend or relative, arrest definitely and for all time the onward, craving, restless impulse of our inner being? No other explanation is so simple as that we were made for the Infinite and Unchangeable God, compared with whom all else is imperfect, fragile, transient, and unsatisfying. (Canon Liddon.)

The saint resolving to seek his God

I. Concerning seeking God. This includes–

1. Our belief of His existence and attributes.

2. His relation to us in Christ, created by sovereign goodness, and set in an everlasting covenant.

3. Our blessedness in Him. In lively piety the belief of this is firm and operative.

4. Our duty to worship and glorify Him in the way appointed by Himself. Hearing the Word, receiving the sacraments, singing of psalms, with humiliation, thanksgiving, and prayer, are ordinances of worship; and observing them in their seasons is seeking God in convocations and assemblies. Reading, and prayer, and praise, and instruction, are duties of piety; and performing them is seeking Him in households and families. Reading, meditation, and prayer, are holy services; and doing them is seeking Him in closets and secret places.

II. Concerning seeking God early.

1. Early in respect of life. As soon as we awake into being, capable of exercising ourselves unto godliness, it should be distinguished by seeking the knowledge of Him who gave us our spirit and our breath. Before the world seize the heart and fill it with vanity and care, it will be your wisdom who are young to seek after God; for He is your life and the length of your days.

2. Early in respect of fervour. O that all our heart, and all our soul, and all our strength, and all our mind, were in the exercises of our piety toward the Lord our God!

3. Incessantly in respect of time or continuance in well-doing. Whatever hour it be in the day of life, it is early with the pious mind. Early in the morning of youth, early in the noon of manhood, early in the evening of old age.

III. Concerning the resolution or determination of the pious man to seek God early.

1. Inclination is in a resolution or determination of mind for the exercise of piety.

2. In the resolution of the heart there is complacency in the exercise of piety.

3. Ardour in the resolution for piety. Coldness in seeking God is an infirmity of which pious men are ashamed. It quenches and grieves the Holy Spirit, who is the principle of their life and ardour.

4. Contention with the enemies of piety in the heart and in the world. Resolution to seek God early is lifting up a standard of opposition in the presence of a deceitful enemy, which hath made a settlement for itself in our heart. (A. Shanks.)

Seeking God

I. How should we seek God?

1. Intelligently.

2. Earnestly.

3. Constantly.

4. Hopefully.

II. Where should we seek Him? In the closet. In His Word. In the ordinances.

III. When should we seek Him? Early in life. In advance of temporal things.

IV. Why should we seek Him? He is the souls life–God. His nature is communicative–My God. (W. W. Wythe.)

My soul thirsteth for Thee.—

The souls thirst and satisfaction

(with Psa 63:5; Psa 63:8):–

1. The soul thirsting for God. (Psa 63:1). Now, the psalmist is a poet, and has a poets sensitiveness to the external aspects of nature, and the imagination that delights in seeing in these the reflection of his own moods. So, very beautifully, he looks upon the dreary scene around, and sees in it symbols of the yet drearier experience within. He beholds the grey monotony of the waterless wilderness, where the earth is cracked with clefts that look like mouths gaping for the rain that does not come, and he recognizes the likeness of his own yearning spirit. He feels the pangs of bodily weariness and thirst, and these seem to him to be but feeble symbols of the deeper-seated pains of desire which touch his spirit. All men thirst after God. The unrest, the deep yearnings, the longings and desires of our natures–what are they all except cries for the living God, the tendrils which are put forth, seeking after the great prop which alone is fit to lift us from the mud of this lower world? But the misery is that we do not know what we want, that we misinterpret the meaning of our desires, that we go to the wrong sources for our need; that when our souls are crying out for God we fling them worldly good and say, There, satisfy yourselves on that! At man that has a wild thing in a cage, and does not know what its food is, when he hears it yelping, will cast to it what he thinks may fit it, on which it eagerly springs, and then turns from it in disgust. So, men seek to feed their souls on the things of earth, and, all the while, what they are crying for is, not earth, but God. Shipwrecked sailors drink salt water in their wild thirst, and it makes them mad. Travellers in the desert are drawn by the mirage to seemingly shimmering lakes, fringed with palm trees; and it is nothing but sand. My soul thirsteth for Thee.

II. The seeking soul satisfied (Psa 63:5). The imagery of a feast naturally follows upon the previous metaphor of the souls thirst. Now, it is to be observed here with what beautiful and yet singular swiftness the whole mood of the psalmist changes. People may say that that is unnatural, but it is true to the deepest experiences, and it unveils for us one of the surest and most precious blessings of a true Christian life–vim that fruition is ever attendant upon desire. Gods gifts are never delayed, in the highest Of all regions. In the lower there often are long delays–the lingerings of love for our good–but in the loftiest, fruition grows side by side with longing. The same moment witnesses the petition flashed to Heaven, as with the speed of lightning, and the answer coming back to the waiting heart; as in tropical lands when the rain comes, what was barren baked earth in a day or two is rich meadow, all ablaze with flowers, and the dry torrent beds, where the stones lay white and glistening ghastly in the hot sunshine, are foaming with rushing streams and fringed with budding oleanders. This verse also tells us that the soul thus answered will be satisfied. If it be true that God is the real object of all human desire, then the contact of the seeking soul with that perfect aim of all its seeking will bring rest to every appetite, its desired food to every wish, strength for every weakness, fulness for all emptiness. Like two of the notched sticks that used to be used as tallies, the seeking soul and the giving God fit into one another, and there is nothing that we need that we cannot get in Him. Further, as our psalm tells us, the satisfied soul breaks into music. For it goes on to say, My mouth shall praise Him with joyful lips. Of course, the psalmist had still many occasions for sorrow, and doubt, and fear. Nothing had changed in his outward circumstances. The desert was still round him. The foe was still pursuing murderous in heart as before. But this had changed–God was felt to be as close as ever He had been in the sanctuary. And that consciousness altered everything, and turned all the psalmists lamentations into jubilant anthems. It transposed his music from the minor key, and his lips broke into songs of gladness. Translate these particulars into general thoughts, and they are just this:–No sorrow, nor anxiety, nor care, nor need for vigilance against danger ought to check the praise that may come, and should come, from a heart in touch with God, and a soul satisfied in Him. It is a hard lesson for some of us to learn; but it is a lesson the learning of which will be full of blessedness. There is a bird common in our northern districts which people call the storm-cock, because his note always rings out cheeriest in tempestuous weather. That is the kind of music that the Christians heart should make, responding, like an AEolian harp, to the tempests breath by music, and filling the night with praise. It is possible for us, even before sorrow and sighing have fled away, to be pilgrims on the road, with songs and everlasting joy upon our heads.

III. The satisfied soul presses closer to God (Psa 63:8). Literally translated, though, of course, much too clumsily for an English version, the words run–My soul cleaveth after Thee, expressing, in one pregnant phrase, two attitudes usually felt to be incompatible, that of calm repose and that of eager pursuit. But these two, unlike each other as they are, may be, and should be, harmoniously blended in the experience of a Christian life. On the one hand there is the clinging of satisfaction, and, on the other hand, the ever-satisfied stimulus to a closer approach. The soul that is satisfied will, and ought to, adhere with tenacity to the source that satisfies it. The dove folds its pinions when it reaches the ark, and needs no more to wing its weary way over sullen waters, vainly searching for a resting-place. Nomad tribes, when they find themselves in some rich valley, unload their camels, and pitch their tents, and say, Here will we dwell, for the land is good. And so we, if we have made experience, as we may, of God and His sweet sufficiency, and sufficient sweetness, should be delivered from temptation to go further and fare worse. And then this clinging, resulting from satisfaction, is accompanied with earnest seeking after still more of the infinite good. In other regions, and when directed to other objects, satisfaction is apt to pass into satiety, because the creature that satisfies us is limited. But when we turn ourselves to God, and seek for all that we need in Him, there can be no satiety in us, because there can be no exhaustion of that which is in Him. The blessedness of search that is sure of finding, and the blessedness of finding which is calm repose, are united in the Christian experience. And we may, at every moment, have all that we want given to us, and by the very gift our capacity, and therefore our longings, be increased. Thus, in wondrous alternation, satisfaction and thirst beget each other, and each possesses some of the others sweetness. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

The saint thirsting for God

I. Concerning the fountain of living waters.

1. Where is the fountain of living waters? It is everywhere.

2. What is in the fountain of life? The incomprehensible Being with whom it is speaks of Himself in this sovereign exclusive style, I live.

3. What comes out of the fountain of life? Every good and every perfect gift. Particularly the Mediator and His fulness. The reconciliation of the world. The forgiveness of sins. The justification of the ungodly: The sanctification of the unholy. Grace and glory.

4. Which is the way of a thirsty man to get a drink of the fountain of life? I am the way, and the truth, and the life, ere,

II. Concerning thirsting and longing for God, with whom is the fountain of life. The rise, the tendency, the strength, the operation, and energies of these holy affections, may be observed in the following particulars–

1. The thirst for God is the desire or longing of the new heart.

2. The thirsting and longing of the renewed mind for God are influenced by the knowledge and taste of His favour in Christ Jesus. Before we thirst for God, or long for him, we must know that He is, and taste that He is gracious.

3. The thirst or longing for God is attended with crying and tears. This mourning and crying among the sons of regeneration is not the noise and din of peevishness and discontent. It is the crying of the spirit of adoption in their heart, for the nourishing and strengthening of their life, with those pleasures and joys which they believe are in its fountain.

4. Thirsting for God, the fountain of living waters, increases with indulgence. The more freely and abundantly the thirsty soul is indulged in drinking at the fountain, the keener and more vehement is its thirst.

5. In thirsting and longing for God, there are strong mixtures of faith, and love, and hope, and joy, and the other graces of the Spirit.

6. Providential occurrences give the new heart a keener sensibility in thirsting and longing for God.

III. How thirsting and longing for God, the fountain of living waters, contribute aid to the sustaining of the liveliness and vigour of piety, when cut off from the rivers and streams of the sanctuary.

1. These energies of the new heart in a dry and thirsty land, keep its intercourse with the fountain lively night and day.

2. Assurances of favour through the offices of the Mediator are sent down from the fountain to the thirsting and longing soul.

3. In thirsting and longing for God in a dry and thirsty land, experience shoots up and rises be a great height.

4. In thirsting and longing for God in a dry and thirsty land, the fruit of righteousness sown in the new heart springs, and grows, and ripens, and comes to maturity.

5. In a dry and thirsty land, piety is removed from the fat places of the earth which are full of things unfavourable to its growth.

In conclusion, observe–

1. The difference between animal and spiritual thirsting.

2. Intercourse with the Deity through the Mediator is not confined to courts, altars, and tabernacles. The whole wilderness of Judah, dry and thirsty as it might be, was a chamber of audience, into which David had access to the Deity day and night, to complain, to petition, and consult; and all around was court, altar, tabernacle, and holy of holies. He longed notwithstanding to be restored, and no wonder. Institutions for the multitude that kept holyday in the city were more desirable than the chamber opened in the field to an individual,

3. The Lord is not harsh and unkind, in schooling His chosen in a wilderness, and trying them with hunger and thirst. Their education in the science and exercises of piety requires it, and His intention is to do them good at the latter end. (A. Shanks.)

The Christians longing

All mankind are athirst. The human soul is made capacious; so capacious that nothing else can fill it, but that immortality for which man is created, and the favour and enjoyment of that God whoso creature he is. There is a relationship between the Capacity of the soul and Him who ought to fill it, such that its happiness depends on its union with Him, and is derived entirely from Him; and man, even when ignorant of God and alienated from Him, finds no real satisfaction from any other source.

I. Acceptance. This is the first stage of the desire after God, for it is the desire of the heart-stricken sinner (Psa 27:9; Psa 31:16; Psa 35:8).

II. Acquaintance with God. The desire for this must be a feature of the advanding Christian. Love begets love, and hence–we love Him (God) because He first loved us, Now, in proportion as we love any one, we desire better acquaintance, in order that we may appreciate his excellences.

III. The believer longs for communion with God. The more we love and reverence any one, the more must we long to be admitted to the privilege of intimacy, and the more highly shall we value that privilege, and fear its loss if we possess it.

IV. The Christians earnest desire is for conformity to the will and to the image of God. The faculty of imitation is instinctive. Hence the contagion of evil example; hence the instinctive imitation by children of their parents. This faculty is not destroyed in the believer, but, through grace, receives a new bias, his love and reverence for God naturally creating the desire to imitate His perfections, and thus to attain a growing conformity to His likeness. (R. J. Rowton, M. A.)

Davids desire for Gods presence

I. The prayer. With David life would lose its light, its worth, its meaning, all its delight and all its joy without God. Ask him whether man could do without God, and he would toll you that without God this world is lodgings; but with Him it is Homo–Homo–a very different thing. He would tell you that without God there is no sunlight on the world, no meaning in history, no hope for humanity, no prospect. That without God there is nothing to enfranchise the soul, to emancipate it, to enlarge it. But with Gods presence it has dignity, it develops its forces, and with Him it is secure. He would tell you that without Him the soul has no model on which to mould its life, no motive with which to animate itself in conflict, no quiet resting-place. David, above all things, wants God. He wants God–in the sense of wanting the Presence, Love, Protection, and Vindication of God. There are few people in the world that have not, in some direction or other, a conflict going on, a cause to be maintained; and one of lifes keenest pains is, when doing ones best, to be left to think that after all God does not care, and will not espouse the right, but will leave it to sink or swim, and let the wrong come off defeated or victorious, as chance may have it. David desired otherwise, and believed it. He wanted God; he expected and desired that God would plead the causes of his soul, and wherein he was right, would take his part and give him his hearts desire. Thus, in the last place of all, there comes in the wish which would have been first, second, third, fourth, and everything probably in our ease.

II. The lessons of this prayer.

1. Do not tightly part with your belief in God. It is a very comforting thing that in the long run, all religions questions resolve themselves into the great question as to whether there is or is not a God to trust. Come with the believers, and live not in the God-forsaken world, without any light loft in it, and no Rock of Ages on which to rest. Dont live in such a world as that, but live in the world whose canopy is the wing of God, and whose centre is the pierced heart of Calvary. You will find your blessedness in such a life. Men dont gather blessedness off briars, and joys off thistles.

2. Pray more fervently. The fault of our prayers is their littleness, we ask and distress God by the smallness of our asking. Ask for Himself, His glory, His beauty, His love, to rest upon you, the shadow of His wing, the whisper of His love; not small mercies, but great ones. And in order to be able to pray, do as David tells you he did, follow hard after God. (R. Glover.)

The paramount need

What thirst means in a tropical wilderness none but those who have passed through it can tell. It is an overpowering and a paralyzing need. All this the psalmist had felt. As in the long marches through the desert sands, in the awful blaze of an Eastern noon, he had sighed for the pasture lands and the springs, so life seemed but a dry and weary waste until his soul was satisfied with the sight of God. It is a parable of the life, not of the psalmist only, but of the world; it is a picture of Gods education of our race. Just as He did not teach our forefathers the arts of life–the use of iron and of fire–by an immediate inspiration, but let them find them out by slow and gradual processes, as the need of them was felt; just as He has not put intellectual truths into our minds at our birth, but lets us work them out as the satisfaction of a felt desire, so it is with religion. He does not all at once satisfy our mouths with good things. He teaches us through the discipline of thirst and want. He lets each age tread its own path, work out its own problems, cope with its own difficulties, and be brought to Him at last by the constraining force of an unsatisfied desire. I might show that the parable is true of many ages, but I will take only two–the first ages of Christianity and our own. If we look at the first ages of our faith we see that it did not all at once convince men of its truth, as the sun that rose this morning told all who had eyes to see that a light was shining. Men came to it by many paths, and the greatest of all those paths led them through the splendid scenery of philosophy; for it was an age of culture; education was general in almost all the cities of the Roman Empire, and the basis of education was philosophy. Men were as familiar with some of the technical terms of metaphysics as they are now with some of the technical terms of chemistry or of physiology. To the better sort of men at the time, philosophy was a passion; it absorbed all the other interests of life. They not only lived for their beliefs, but were sometimes ready to die for them. And they were beliefs for which a man might be content to die. I should be the last to attempt to disparage the work which philosophy then actually accomplished; but it was no substitute for religion. It failed, and that on so large a scale, and among so many types of character, that the experiment need never be tried again; there was the demonstration for all time that the soul had a thirst which philosophy could not satisfy; it was the need of God, of a God whom men could love, of a God err whom they could lean, of a God to whom they could cry out in their despair, and their failure, and their sin: My soul longeth for Thee. Side by side with philosophy was superstition. There were fantastic forms of worship, new divinities, and new modes of approaching them; but all these were various expressions of one overpowering thirst; and in the discipline of God the thirst was for a long time unsatisfied. It was not until all other waters had been found to be bitter that the masses of educated men came to drink of that living water which the Christian faith supplied–the water of the knowledge of God in Christ, which is, in the believers soul, a well of water springing up unto ever-lashing life. That was one fulfilment of the parable. It is being fulfilled again before our eyes in our own time; we, too, are passing through another kind of scenery, a scenery so new and vast that we must be ready, as I doubt not that God is ready, to forgive those who, in their wonder at the newness and vastness of it all, have come to think that this at last is a satisfaction for the soul, and that in this crown of all the ages we have found in nature a substitute for God. Alike from the mountain-tops and the ravines and the far-off stare and from the depths of the deep seas, there shine out splendours upon splendours of new knowledge, and new possibilities of knowledge, which seem to lift us into a higher sphere of living than that which to our forefathers was possible. It is splendid scenery–the world, has never seen its like–but, splendid as it is, there are needs, the deepest needs, of the soul which it does not, which it cannot, satisfy. In time there comes to all men the sense of thirst. There are few who rise at all times, there are none who rise uniformly at all times, to the heroic height of doing good for goodness sake, and of furthering justice for justices sake. The baffled efforts of the struggle for righteousness, the defects of truth, the relapse from self-control, make men weary before the day is spent; and across the evening of life, if not across its morning, there rises the sharp and sudden cry, a thirst which God alone can satisfy. And, on the other hand, in the rebound from the superabundant talk about religion which characterizes our age, from the battles of the Churches and the unsubstantial theories which claim the place of Divine verities, there are those who substitute for the whole of religion that part of it which consists, in active philanthropy. For this, again, I have no word but that of praise. Without this religion can hardly be said to exist, but it is not religion; for though religion must move about the world with the busy feet of an angel of benevolence, benevolence does net of itself satisfy the souls thirst for God. The soul comes back hungry from its errands of mercy–it needs a Diviner motive and a Diviner satisfaction. The beginning of it is neither the love of righteousness nor the practice of benevolence, but the thirst for God. Where that thirst exists there is religion; where that thirst is absent, there, in spite of all that a man may profess, religion is absent also. And that thirst is satisfied. I will speak for a moment of its satisfaction not in society at large, but in the individual soul. The satisfaction is as real as the need, and He has placed it within our own power. To the simpleminded psalmist, living as he did before the age of philosophy–I had almost said before the age of theology–the satisfaction was to appear before the visible symbol of Gods presence at Jerusalem. That, too, brethren, is part of the parable. It is true for all time. The souls satisfaction is to realize the presence of God. The other name for it is faith. It is the seeing of Him who is invisible. (Edwin Hatch, D. D.)

Passionate devotion

It is not every one who can sympathize with the intensity of devout feeling here expressed. One must have seen the power and the glory in bygone days, to thirst and long for God like this. All, however, can understand something about it; all, at least, can stand apart and admire the man with thoughts so elevated, affections so pure, a soul so predominant over sense, that his very sensuous nature longs, not for the objects of sense, but for God! In all ages we find instances of this passionate devotion, which appropriates to itself the language Of human affection, and applies it to the Infinite One. Now, what estimate are we to form of the devotion which assumes this character? Shall we condemn it as enthusiasm, or commend it as the pure and natural development of the affections towards God? Shall we cherish it in ourselves? or restrain such assimilations to human loves? I think we shall better be able to answer when we have examined a little into the conditions under which it arises. First, then, it is quite evident, those rising to this intensely passionate longing after God must have a great power of giving a reality to their ideas–I mean, of realizing their ideas as substantive, present existences. For God being known to us only in thought, must be represented by this realizing faculty of the mind as personally present with us, or no deep emotion can be awakened towards Him. You may contemplate His works, you may take the Bible and draw out a history of all He has done for mans salvation, you may reason most correctly upon the relations He sustains to your soul, you may ascribe to Him all goodness, truth, and holy beauty, all imaginable perfections; but unless you have the power of believing in the substantial reality of your ideas, no passionate love or desire (which can cling only to persons as known) can be excited within you. There may be trust, there may be reverence, there may be the deliberate surrender of the will to the great and glorious Being conceived in thought; but there can be for a merely logical, intellectual abstraction no passionate love. This, then, being undoubtedly the case, a second condition arises, namely, God, in order to be thus loved and desired, must be brought within the compass of human imagination, idealization–that is, being thought of and realized as personally present, the mind must form of Him some representation to itself, some conceivable and embraceable idea. Passionate love and desire cannot embrace the infinitely vague. Hence the fact that, within the Christian Church our Saviour and the Virgin have been made more frequently the objects of this passionate devotion than the Infinite Father. Well, then, if these be the conditions of this passionate love and desire for God, it already is evident there must be some element in it which needs toning down or modifying in some way or the other. For, whatever brings the glory and infinitude of the Creator down to the limitation and level of the creature must have an element of evil in it. We may take it as an axiom that, Whatever tends to exalt our notions of His perfections and glory, whatever tends to fill us with deep and humble reverence and awe, with adoration and lowly worship, that is leading us on the right road to a knowledge of God; and whatever limits, circumscribes, defines our image of Him, reduces Him within the narrow outlines of our delineations, that falsifies and corrupts our knowledge. False devotion pretends to know. It has come face to face with God, it says, and loves. Vain dream! It has rather created an image, out of its sanctified fancy, and for that burns with passionate desire. And yet, we must be just. There is a truth in this imaging of God in the mind. It is not altogether a false representation of Him which the mind creates for itself. The elements Out of which the representation is made are true, so far as they go. Have you ever seen the canvas intended for a great picture, after the artist has worked two or three days only upon it? That is like our sanctified imagings of God. All the right colours laid on, all the lines in the right direction, but what resemblance, nevertheless, is there to the perfected work? The sun is imaged in a clew-drop; but who could learn by looking in the dew-drop what are the majesty and glory of the sun? They are, then, divine properties which the soul loves in its image of God, but divine properties limited and reduced to created patterns. Those who know God and think of Him as the omnipresent Spirit, the all-efficient power whose operations extend through, and whose nature is manifested in, all creation, cannot but adore and love as they contemplate His nature in these created manifestations. To them He necessarily is the one, all-sufficing, all-efficient God, the one joy and blessedness of all creatures. And, knowing Him thus, they cannot but desire to know Him more fully, to share more largely in the communications of His nature, to come into closer union with Him. For, to put it in another form, this is nothing more than desiring to share in, and partake more and more of, whatever is true, beautiful, and good in the world, to enter more and more into the blessedness of all true, beautiful, and good thoughts and feelings, For, not in His inmost being is God known or can He be enjoyed; but in these manifestations of Him,–in all His glorious and beautiful works, in all the glorious and beautiful thoughts He creates within us. And it is in keeping with this that the psalmist tells us in the text that his soul and flesh long for God, to see His power and glory so as he had seen them in the sanctuary. He did not dream that he, the finite, could appropriate to himself all the glory and power of the Infinite One. There is, therefore, no extravagance of language, transferring the passionate feelings awakened by human love to the Creator; but, what he prays for, longs, thirsts for, is to see more of God in His manifestations–more of that power and glory which he had already discerned as he heard the Levites chant His holy praise, and had joined in the sacrifices, the prayers, the worship of the temple. Whatever brought to him truer and more beautiful thoughts, purer and more ennobling feelings, that would fulfil the desire and satisfy the longing of his soul. (J. Cranbrook.)

Soul-thirst

I need not remind you how true it is that a man is but a bundle of appetites, desires, often tyrannous, often painful, always active. But the misery of it–the reason why mans misery is great upon him–is mainly, I suppose, that he does not know what it is that he wants; that he thirsts, but does not understand what the thirst means, nor what it is that will slake it, His animal appetites make no mistakes; he and the beasts know that when they are thirsty they have to drink, and when they are hungry they have to eat, and when they are drowsy they have to sleep. But the poor instinct of the animal that teaches it what to choose and what to avoid fails us in the higher reaches; and we are conscious of a craving, and do not find that the craving reveals to us the source from whence its satisfaction can be derived. Therefore, broken cisterns that can hold no water are at a premium, and the fountain of living waters is turned away from, though it could slake so many thirsts. Like ignorant explorers in an enemys country, we see a stream, and we do not stop to ask whether there is poison in it or not before we glue our thirsty lips to it. There is a great old promise in one of the prophets which puts this notion of the misinterpretation of our thirsts, and the mistakes as to the sources from which they can be slaked, into one beautiful metaphor which is obscured in our English version. The prophet Isaiah says, the mirage shall become a pool, the romance shall turn into a reality, and the mistakes shall be rectified, and men shall know what it is that they want, and shall get it when they know. Brethren, unless we have listened to the teaching from above, unless we have consulted far more wisely and far more profoundly than many of us have ever done the meaning of our own hearts when they cry out, we, too, shall only be able to take for ours the plaintive cry of the half of this first utterance of the psalmist, and say, despairingly, My soul thirsteth. Blessed are they who know where the fountain is, who know the meaning of the highest unrests in their own souls, and can go on with clear and true self-revelation, My soul thirsteth for God. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

In a dry and thirsty land, where no water is.—

A wilderness cry

Chrysostom tells us that amongst the primitive Christians it was ordained that this psalm should be sung every day. If we do not follow that Custom, it is not because it is unsuitable. The psalm may be said or sung all the year round. In all the seasons of the soul, its spring, summer, autumn and winter. By day and by night. But the psalm especially belongs to those who, through any cause, feel themselves to dwell in a desert land, The stages of Israel in all their history, in Egypt and out of it, and onwards, are gone over in our spiritual history. And even when we are in Canaan, we may, like David, be driven, out of our home, and find ourselves in the wilderness again.

I. True saints are sometimes in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is. For–

1. All things are changeable, and living things most of all. A man of stone changes not, but the living man must sorrow and suffer as well as laugh and rejoice.

2. And in some senses, to a Christian, this world must always be a dry and thirsty land, We are not carrion crows, or else might we float and feed upon the carcases which abound in the waters around our ark. We are doves, and when we leave the hand of our Noah we find nought to rest upon. Even when the world is at its best, it is but a dry land for saints.

3. And we carry an evil within us which would cause a drought in Paradise itself if it could come there (Rom 7:1-25.), We may have been so unwatchful as to have brought ourselves into this condition by actual faults of life and conduct.

5. Sometimes it is brought about by our being banished from the means of grace. Poor as our ministry may be, there are some Christians who would miss it more than their daily food if it were taken from them. It is a sore trial to such to be kept sway from sanctuary privileges. 6, And by denial of the sweets of Christian intercourse. David had poor company when he was in the wilderness, in the days of Saul; his friends were not much better than freebooters and runaways. And sometimes Gods people are shut up to similar company.

6. Sometimes a man may be treated with gross injustice, and endure much hardship as the result. David did; so may we.

7. Domestic conditions, and health, and physical conditions, may grievously depress the soul. Thus, there are many reasons why the best of saints are sometimes in a dry and thirsty land.

II. But God is their God still. O God, Thou art my God. Yes, he is as much our God in the dry land as if we sat by Siloas softly flowing brook. God is the God of the wilderness. Was He not with His people there?

III. When we are in a dry and thirsty land, our wisest course is to cry to Him at once. When you feel least like praying, then pray to Him the more, for you need it the more. Do not, any of you, practise the sinners folly: he declares that he will tarry till he is better, and then he never comes at all. Seek the Lord at once, Practise the Gospel principle of Just as I am. Say, I must have a sense of His love, and I must have it now. Make a dash for it, and you shall have it. Therefore, do not be afraid to cry out to God. Our heavenly Father loves to hear His children cry all the day long. Rutherford says, The bairn in Christs house that is most troublesome is the most welcome. He that makes the most din for his meat is the best bairn that Christ has. You may not quite agree with that as to your own children, but it is certainly so with our Lord. Desire, then, and let those desires be vehement. Jesus will joyfully hear you. Only be thou careful that thou be not content to be in a dry and thirsty land, away from God. Do not get into such a state, and certainly do not stay there. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

PSALM LXIII

David’s soul thirsts after God, while absent from the

sanctuary, and longs to be restored to the Divine

ordinances, 1, 2.

He expresses strong confidence in the Most High, and praises

him for his goodness, 3-8;

shows the misery of those who do not seek God, 9, 10;

and his own safety as king of the people, 11.

NOTES ON PSALM LXIII

The title of this Psalm is, A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judea; but instead of Judea, the Vulgate, Septuagint, AEthiopic, Arabic, several of the ancient Latin Psalters, and several of the Latin fathers, read Idumea, or Edom; still there is no evidence that David had ever taken refuge in the deserts of Idumea. The Hebrew text is that which should be preferred; and all the MSS. are in its favour. The Syriac has, “Of David, when he said to the king of Moab, My father and mother fled to thee from the face of Saul; and I also take refuge with thee.” It is most probable that the Psalm was written when David took refuge in the forest of Hareth, in the wilderness of Ziph, when he fled from the court of Achish. But Calmet understands it as a prayer by the captives in Babylon.

Verse 1. O God, thou art my God] He who can say so, and feels what he says, need not fear the face of any adversary. He has God, and all sufficiency in him.

Early will I seek thee] From the dawn of day. De luce, from the light, Vulgate; as soon as day breaks; and often before this, for his eyes prevented the night-watches; and he longed and watched for God more than they who watched for the morning. The old Psalter says, God my God, til the fram light I wake; and paraphrases thus: God of all, thurgh myght; thu is my God, thurgh lufe and devocion; speciali till the I wak. Fra light, that is, fra thy tym that the light of thi grace be in me, that excites fra night of sine. And makes me wak till the in delite of luf, and swetnes in saul. Thai wak till God, that setes all thar thoght on God, and for getns the werld. Thai slep till God, that settis thair hert on ani creatur.-I wak till the, and that gars me thirst in saule and body.

What first lays hold of the heart in the morning is likely to occupy the place all the day. First impressions are the most durable, because there is not a multitude of ideas to drive them out, or prevent them from being deeply fixed in the moral feeling.

In a dry and thirsty land] beerets, IN a land: but several MSS. have keerets, AS a dry and thirsty land, &c.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

My God; in covenant with me.

Early, Heb.

in the morning; which implies the doing it with greatest diligence and speed, taking the first and the best time for it, as Job 8:5; Psa 78:34; Pro 1:28.

Thirsteth for thee, i.e. for the presence and enjoyment of thee in thy house and ordinances, as the next verse declareth it.

Longeth; or, languisheth, or pineth away. The desire of my soul after thee is so vehement and insatiable, that my very body feels the effects of it, as it commonly doth of all great passions.

A dry and thirsty land, where no water is; so called, either,

1. Metaphorically; in a land where I want the refreshing waters of the sanctuary. Or,

2. Properly; I thirst not so much for water (which yet I greatly want) as for thee.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

1. early . . . seek theeearnestly(Isa 26:9). The figurativeterms

dry and thirstyliterally,”weary,” denoting moral destitution, suited his outwardcircumstances.

soulandfleshthewhole man (Psa 16:9; Psa 16:10).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

O God, thou [art] my God,…. Not by nature only, or by birth; not merely as an Israelite and son of Abraham; but by grace through Christ, and in virtue of an everlasting covenant, the blessings and promises of which were applied unto him; and he, by faith, could now claim his interest in them, and in his God as his covenant God; who is a God at hand and afar off, was his God in the wilderness of Judea, as in his palace at Jerusalem. The Targum is,

“thou art my strength;”

early will I seek thee; or “I will morning thee” o; I will seek thee as soon as the morning appears; and so the Targum,

“I will arise in the morning before thee;”

it has respect to prayer in the morning, and to seeking God early, and in the first place; see Ps 5:3; or “diligently” p; as a merchant seeks for goodly pearls, or other commodities suitable for him; so Aben Ezra suggests, as if the word was to be derived, not from

, “the morning”, but from , “merchandise”; and those who seek the Lord both early and diligently shall find him, and not lose their labour, Pr 2:4;

my soul thirsteth for thee; after his word, worship, and ordinances; after greater knowledge of him, communion with him, and more grace from him; particularly after pardoning grace and justifying righteousness; see Ps 42:1; My flesh longeth for thee; which is expressive of the same thing in different words; and denotes, that he most earnestly desired, with his whole self, his heart, soul, and strength, that he might enjoy the presence of God;

in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; such was the wilderness of Judea, where he now was, and where he was destitute of the means of grace, of the ordinances of God’s house, and wanted comfort and refreshment for his soul, which he thirsted and longed after, as a thirsty man after water in a desert place.

o “sub auroram quaero te”, Piscator. p “Studiosissime”, Gejerus, Michaelis.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

If the words in Psa 63:2 were , then we would render it, with Bttcher, after Gen 49:8: Elohim, Thee do I seek, even Thee! But forbids this construction; and the assertion that otherwise it ought to be, “Jahve, my God art Thou” (Psa 140:7), rests upon a non-recognition of the Elohimic style. Elohim alone by itself is a vocative, and accordingly has Mehupach legarme. The verb signifies earnest, importunate seeking and inquiring (e.g., Psa 78:34), and in itself has nothing to do with , the dawn; but since Psa 63:7 looks back upon the night, it appears to be chosen with reference to the dawning morning, just as in Isa 26:9 also, stands by the side of . The lxx is therefore not incorrect when it renders it: (cf. , Luk 21:38); and Apollinaris strikes the right note when he begins his paraphrase,

–

At night when the morning dawns will I exult around Thee,

most blessed One.

The supposition that is equivalent to , or even that the Beth is Beth essentiae (“as a,” etc.), are views that have no ground whatever, except as setting the inscription at defiance. What is meant is the parched thirsty desert of sand in which David finds himself. We do not render it: in a dry and languishing land, for is not an adjective, but a substantive – the transition of the feminine adjective to the masculine primary form, which sometimes (as in 1Ki 19:11) occurs, therefore has no application here; nor: in the land of drought and of weariness, for who would express himself thus? , referring to the nearest subject , continues the description of the condition (cf. Gen 25:8). In a region where he is surrounded by sun-burnt aridity and a nature that bears only one uniform ash-coloured tint, which casts its unrefreshing image into his inward part, which is itself in much the same parched condition, his soul thirsts, his flesh languishes, wearied and in want of water ( languidus deficiente aqua ), for God, the living One and the Fountain of life. (here with the tone drawn back, , like , 1Ch 28:10, , Hab 3:11) of ardent longing which consumes the last energies of a man (root , whence and to conceal, and therefore like , , proceeding from the idea of enveloping; Arabic Arab. kamiha , to be blind, dark, pale, and disconcerted). The lxx and Theodotion erroneously read (how frequently is this the case!); whereas Aquila renders it , and Symmachus still better, (the word used of the longing of love). It is not a small matter that David is able to predicate such languishing desire after God even of his felsh; it shows us that the spirit has the mastery within him, and not only forcibly keeps the flesh in subjection, but also, so far as possible, draws it into the realm of its own life – an experience confessedly more easily attained in trouble, which mortifies our carnal nature, than in the midst of the abundance of outward prosperity. The God for whom he is sick [ lit. love-sick] in soul and body is the God manifest upon Zion.

Now as to the in Psa 63:3 – a particle which is just such a characteristic feature in the physiognomy of this Psalm as is in that of the preceding Psalm – there are two notional definitions to choose from: thus = so, as my God (Ewald), and: with such longing desire (as e.g., Oettinger). In the former case it refers back to the confession, “Elohim, my God art Thou,” which stands at the head of the Psalm; in the latter, to the desire that has just been announced, and that not in its present exceptional character, but in its more general and constant character. This reference to what has immediately gone before, and to the modality, not of the object, but of the disposition of mind, deserves the preference. “Thus” is accordingly equivalent to “longing thus after Thee.” The two in Psa 63:3 and Psa 63:5 are parallel and of like import. The alternation of the perfect (Psa 63:3) and of the future (Psa 63:5) implies that what has been the Psalmist’s favourite occupation heretofore, shall also be so in the future. Moreover, and form a direct antithesis. Just as he does not in a dry land, so formerly in the sanctuary he looked forth longingly towards God ( with the conjoined idea of solemnity and devotion). We have now no need to take as a gerundive ( videndo ), which is in itself improbable; for one looks, peers, gazes at anything just for the purpose of seeing what the nature of the object is (Psa 14:2; Isa 42:18). The purpose of his gazing upon God as to gain an insight into the nature of God, so far as it is disclosed to the creature; or, as it is expressed here, to see His power and glory, i.e., His majesty on its terrible and on its light and loving side, to see this, viz., in its sacrificial appointments and sacramental self-attestations. Such longing after God, which is now all the more intense in the desert far removed from the sanctuary, filled and impelled him; for God’s loving-kindness is better than life, better than this natural life (vid., on Psa 17:14), which is also a blessing, and as the prerequisite of all earthly blessings a very great blessing. The loving-kindness of God, however, is a higher good, is in fact the highest good and the true life: his lips shall praise this God of mercy, his morning song shall be of Him; for that which makes him truly happy, and after which he even now, as formerly, only and solely longs, is the mercy or loving-kindness ( ) of this God, the infinite wroth of which is measured by the greatness of His power ( ) and glory ( ). It might also be rendered, “Because Thy loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise Thee;” but if is taken as demonstrative (for), it yields a train of thought that that is brought about not merely by what follows (as in the case of the relative because), but also by what precedes: “for Thy loving-kindness…my lips shall then praise Thee” ( with the suffix appended to the energetic plural form un , as in Isa 60:7, Isa 60:10; Jer 2:24).

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

Devout Affections.

A psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

      1 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;   2 To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.

      The title tells us when the psalm was penned, when David was in the wilderness of Judah; that is, in the forest of Hareth (1 Sam. xxii. 5) or in the wilderness of Ziph, 1 Sam. xxiii. 15. 1. Even in Canaan, though a fruitful land and the people numerous, yet there were wildernesses, places less fruitful and less inhabited than other places. It will be so in the world, in the church, but not in heaven; there it is all city, all paradise, and no desert ground; the wilderness there shall blossom as the rose. 2. The best and dearest of God’s saints and servants may sometimes have their lot cast in a wilderness, which speaks them lonely and solitary, desolate and afflicted, wanting, wandering, and unsettled, and quite at a loss what to do with themselves. 3. All the straits and difficulties of a wilderness must not put us out of tune for sacred songs; but even then it is our duty and interest to keep up a cheerful communion with God. There are psalms proper for a wilderness, and we have reason to thank God that it is the wilderness of Judah we are in, not the wilderness of Sin.

      David, in these verses, stirs up himself to take hold on God,

      I. By a lively active faith: O God! thou art my God. Note, In all our addresses to God we must eye him as God, and our God, and this will be our comfort in a wilderness-state. We must acknowledge that God is, that we speak to one that really exists and is present with us, when we say, O God! which is a serious word; pity it should ever be used as a by-word. And we must own his authority over us and propriety in us, and our relation to him: “Thou art my God, mine by creation and therefore my rightful owner and ruler, mine by covenant and my own consent.” We must speak it with the greatest pleasure to ourselves, and thankfulness to God, as those that are resolved to abide by it: O God! thou art my God.

      II. By pious and devout affections, pursuant to the choice he had made of God and the covenant he had made with him.

      1. He resolves to seek God, and his favour and grace: Thou art my God, and therefore I will seek thee; for should not a people seek unto their God? Isa. viii. 19. We must seek him; we must covet his favour as our chief good and consult his glory as our highest end; we must seek acquaintance with him by his word and seek mercy from him by prayer. We must seek him, (1.) Early, with the utmost care, as those that are afraid of missing him; we must begin our days with him, begin every day with him: Early will I seek thee. (2.) Earnestly: “My soul thirsteth for thee and my flesh longeth for thee (that is, my whole man is affected with this pursuit) here in a dry and thirsty land.” Observe, [1.] His complaint in the want of God’s favourable presence. He was in a dry and thirsty land; so he reckoned it, not so much because it was a wilderness as because it was at a distance from the ark, from the word and sacraments. This world is a weary land (so the word is); it is so to the worldly that have their portion in it–it will yield them no true satisfaction; it is so to the godly that have their passage through it–it is a valley of Baca; they can promise themselves little from it. [2.] His importunity for that presence of God: My soul thirsteth, longeth, for thee. His want quickened his desires, which were very intense; he thirsted as the hunted hart for the water-brooks; he would take up with nothing short of it. His desires were almost impatient; he longed, he languished, till he should be restored to the liberty of God’s ordinances. Note, Gracious souls look down upon the world with a holy disdain and look up to God with a holy desire.

      2. He longs to enjoy God. What is it that he does so passionately wish for? What is his petition and what is his request? It is this (v. 2), To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. That is, (1.) “To see it here in this wilderness as I have seen it in the tabernacle, to see it in secret as I have seen it in the solemn assembly.” Note, When we are deprived of the benefit of public ordinances we should desire and endeavour to keep up the same communion with God in our retirements that we have had in the great congregation. A closet may be turned into a little sanctuary. Ezekiel had the visions of the Almighty in Babylon, and John in the isle of Patmos. When we are alone we may have the Father with us, and that is enough. (2.) “To see it again in the sanctuary as I have formerly seen it there.” He longs to be brought out of the wilderness, not that he might see his friends again and be restored to the pleasures and gaieties of the court, but that he might have access to the sanctuary, not to see the priests there, and the ceremony of the worship, but to see thy power and glory (that is, thy glorious power, or thy powerful glory, which is put for all God’s attributes and perfections), “that I may increase in my acquaintance with them and have the agreeable impressions of them made upon my heart”–so to behold the glory of the Lord as to be changed into the same image, 2 Cor. iii. 18. “That I may see thy power and glory,” he does not say, as I have seen them, but “as I have seen thee.” We cannot see the essence of God, but we see him in seeing by faith his attributes and perfections. These sights David here pleases himself with the remembrance of. Those were precious minutes which he spent in communion with God; he loved to think them over again; these he lamented the loss of, and longed to be restored to. Note, That which has been the delight and is the desire of gracious souls, in their attendance on solemn ordinances, is to see God and his power and glory in them.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

Psalms 63

Psalm of The Thirsty Soul

In this psalm David is in the wilderness of Judah, an arid land, west of the Dead Sea, during his flight from his son, Absalom, 2Sa 15:23; 2Sa 15:28; 2Sa 16:2; 2Sa 17:16; as also mentioned, Mat 3:1. He was thirsting often, (Heb hayeephim) both physically and spiritually, 2Sa 16:2; 2Sa 16:14; 2Sa 17:2.

Verse 1 confides that the living God is the God after whom David’s soul longed for fellowship. He stated “early will I seek thee,” or earnestly, because his soul thirsted and his whole body longed for a closer fellowship with God; tho exiled in a dry and thirsty desert wilderness, where water could hardly be found for survival, as also related Psa 27:4; Psa 27:13; Psa 42:2; Psa 84:2; Psa 143:6; Exo 15:2; Zec 13:9.

Verse 2 adds that he earnestly longed “to see thy power and thy glory,” even as he had seen it in the sanctuary at Jerusalem, in past times, in songs of praise, prayer, and worship, Psa 43:3; 2Sa 15:25; Psa 133:1-3.

Verse 3 declares “because thy loving kindness is better than life my lips shall praise thee.” In the sanctuary, in the midst of Jerusalem, the city of God, in the land of the covenant, God’s loving kindness was realized as “better than life,” or “life’s earthly blessings,” Mat 6:33; Psa 30:5. For when one is spiritually right with God and His people, all material needs are made available, Php_4:19; Eph 3:21; Heb 10:24-25.

Verses 4, 5 add that when restored to access to God’s house, from which he had been long exiled, David’s resolve was to praise and extol his name, while lifting up his hands toward the exalted, living God, Psa 20:1; Psa 20:5. He added that in this his soul would be satisfied with fatness of plenty as his lips and mouth burst forth with joyful praises, Psa 23:5; Isa 25:6.

Verse 6 explains that as David meditated on this sure restoration to God’s sanctuary, he often stayed awake through the whole night, rejoicing on his bed through the whole night watches, as recorded La 2:19; Jdg 7:19; Exo 14:24; 1Sa 2:11; Psa 119:55; Psa 148:1-2; Psa 42:2; Psa 149:5.

Verses 7, 8 declare that the reason David could not cease to meditate on God during the night was due to His gracious help and goodness. Because of such in the past he resolved to continually rejoice under the shadow of the wings of His living, caring God, Psa 61:4; Psa 17:8-9; Psalms 91; Psalms 4. He added that his soul followed hard (continually) after the Lord, cleaved to Him, by day and night, Hos 6:3; He certified that the Lord’s right hand upheld him in hours of trouble, as it did Peter when he began to sink, Mat 14:30-31; Psa 18:35; Psa 60:5.

Verses 9 and 10 warn that those who sought to destroy his life and soul-influence would fall by the sword, become a portion of food for foxes or jackals that feast on dead, unburied carcasses; or go into the lower parts of the earth, as Korah did, and his company, in his rebellion, Psa 55:15; Num 16:31-35; 2Sa 18:7-8; 2Sa 18:14; 2Sa 18:17.

Verse 11 concludes “But the king (David) shall rejoice in the Elohim God,” who had anointed him to reign over His covenant people Israel, whom He would not desert to His enemies. In this hope and faith David rested his soul. He added that “every one that sweareth by him (as a token of loyalty) shall glory,” come to an hour of glory, Gen 42:15-16. But the mouth of those who spoke lies, it is asserted, “shall be stopped,” permanently, or silenced in judgment from the Lord, Deu 6:13; Isa 19:18; Isa 65:16; Zep 1; 5; Heb 6:13; Psa 62:4.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

1. O God! thou art my God. The wilderness of Judah, spoken of in the title, can be no other than that of Ziph, where David wandered so long in a state of concealment. We may rely upon the truth of the record he gives us of his exercise when under his trials; and it is apparent that he never allowed himself to be so far overcome by them, as to cease lifting up his prayers to heaven, and even resting, with a firm and constant faith, upon the divine promises. Apt as we are, when assaulted by the very slightest trials, to lose the comfort of any knowledge of God we may previously have possessed, it is necessary that we should notice this, and learn, by his example, to struggle to maintain our confidence under the worst troubles that can befall us. He does more than simply pray; he sets the Lord before him as his God, that he may throw all his cares unhesitatingly upon him, deserted as he was of man, and a poor outcast in the waste and howling wilderness. His faith, shown in this persuasion of the favor and help of God, had the effect of exciting him to constant and vehement prayer for the grace which he expected. In saying that his soul thirsted, and his flesh longed, he alludes to the destitution and poverty which he lay under in the wilderness, and intimates, that though deprived of the ordinary means of subsistence, he looked to God as his meat and his drink, directing all his desires to him. When he represents his soul as thirsting, and his flesh as hungering, we are not to seek for any nice or subtile design in the distinction. He means simply that he desired God, both with soul and body. For although the body, strictly speaking, is not of itself influenced by desire, we know that the feelings of the soul intimately and extensively affect it.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

INTRODUCTION

Superscription.A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. Hengstenberg: The wilderness of Judah is the whole wilderness towards the east of the tribe of Judah, bounded on the north by the tribe of Benjamin, stretching, southward to the south-west end of the Dead Sea, eastward to the Dead Sea and the Jordan, and westward to the mountains of Judah. This wilderness is not unfrequently designated simply The wilderness. In this wilderness David was often found when flying from Saul. In the same wilderness also he took refuge during the rebellion of Absalom. That he did so is self-evident, inasmuch as the road from Jerusalem to the Jordan leads through it: it is, moreover, expressly asserted in more than one passage in the Books of Samuel (2Sa. 15:23; 2Sa. 15:28; 2Sa. 16:2; 2Sa. 16:14; 2Sa. 17:16). We cannot refer our psalm to the time of Saul, because mention is expressly made of a king in Psa. 63:11. On the other hand, in favour of the time of Absalom; besides this reason we have a very marked reference in Psa. 63:1, in a dry land, and is weary () without water, to 2Sa. 16:14, And the king and all the people that were with him came weary (), and he rested there. Comp. Psa. 16:2, according to which Ziba brought out, in the way, wine, that such as were faint in the wilderness might drink, with the word in Psa. 17:2.

M. Henry: As the sweetest of Paul, epistles were those that bore date out of a prison, so some of the sweetest of Davids Psalms were those that were penned, as this was, in a wilderness. Donne: The spirit and soul of the whole Book of Psalms is contracted into this psalm. Perowne: This is unquestionably one of the most beautiful and touching psalms is the whole Psalter.
Homiletically, we see in this psalm, the thirst, the satisfaction, and the anticipation of the godly soul.

THE THIRST OF THE GODLY SOUL

(Psa. 63:1-4.)

Consider

I. The nature of this thirst.

1. It is a thirst for God. I seek Thee; my soul thirsteth for Thee, &c. In the second verse mention is made of Gods power and glory as things which the Psalmist desired to see. In the A. V. the clauses of this verse are needlessly transposed. The Hebrew is: Thus have I beheld Thee in the sanctuary, to see Thy power and Thy glory. The power and the glory are not the external pomp and splendour of public worship; but the communications of Divine grace, as manifested in the experience of the devout soul. The Psalmist longs for such communion with God as he had formerly enjoyed in the sanctuary. The thirst is not merely for the ordinances of religion, or for teaching concerning God, or even for His power and glory; but for God Himself. The thirst of the soul of man needs for its satisfaction that the soul shall be brought into vital and sympathetic relations with

(1) A Person. Creeds and ordinances cannot satisfy the soul.

(2) A living Person. Not one whose work and life and love are things of the past; but One who is able to save, because He ever liveth, &c.

(3) A Divine Person. One who is able satisfactorily to respond to its deepest yearnings, to help it to realise its loftiest aspirations, &c. One who ever liveth, who changeth not, &c. Only in God can the thirst of mans soul find satisfaction. (See on Psa. 42:1-2).

2. It is an intense thirst. I seek Thee earnestly (not early, as in the A. V. The verb is not to be referred to the noun = the dawn. It means to seek zealously, a solicitous seeking); my soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth (Hengstenberg: fainteth; Moll: languisheth) for Thee. Each of the verbs indicates intense desire.

3. It is a thirst of the entire man My soul thirsteth, my flesh pineth for Thee. Soul and flesh are used to denote the whole man by his two principal parts. His whole being went out after God in fervent desire.

II. The occasion of this thirst. In a dry and thirsty land where no water is.

1. These words are true literally. The wilderness of Judah where David was at this time, even in the neighbourhood of the Jordan, was a desert country (2Sa. 16:2; 2Sa. 16:14).

2. These words are true figuratively. The desert was a picture of his condition. An exile from his throne and home, and from the sanctuary of the Lord. His own son and his most trusted counsellor, with a great host of his subjects, in armed rebellion against him. The circumstances in which he was placed led him to seek the Lord the more earnestly. Sorrow and trial often drive us the more closely to God. When my blood flows like wine, says Beecher, when all is ease and prosperity, when the sky is blue, and birds sing, and flowers blossom, and my life is an anthem moving in time and tune, then this worlds joy and affection suffice. But when a change comes, when I am weary and disappointed, when the skies lower into a sombre night, when there is no song of bird, and the perfume of flowers is but their dying breath, when all is sun-setting and autumn, then I yearn for Him who sits with the summer of love in His soul, and feel that all earthly affection is but a glow-worm light, compared to that which blazes with such effulgence in the heart of God.

Trials make the promise sweet.
Trials give new life to prayer.

III. The reason of this thirst. Why did David thus yearn for God? Two reasons are suggested

1. Because of his personal relation to God. Thou art my God. Jehovah was the God of the Poet, not only by creation, but by covenant; not only by virtue of His claims, but also by the Poets choice and consecration. There was a recognised and sacred relation between them, because of which it was right and appropriate that the Psalmist should seek God. Blessed are we if, when the woes of life oertake us, we can address ourselves to Him, saying, O God, Thou art my God.

2. Because of his exalted estimation of God. David says that he longs for God, Because Thy lovingkindness is better than life. We regard life here as signifying more than mere existence; for the statement of the Psalmist implies that life is good; and that mere existence is not a boon is clear from Mat. 26:24, and Rev. 9:6. The Psalmist regarded the lovingkindness of God as better than a life of prosperity and pleasure. Having Gods lovingkindness in his troubled life in the wilderness of Judah, David would esteem himself more blessed than in a life of pleasure in his palace at Jerusalem without it.

Better than life itself, Thy love,
Dearer than all beside to me;
For whom have I in heaven above,
Or what on earth compared with Thee?

IV. The relation of this thirst to the praise of God. My lips shall praise Thee. Thus will I bless Thee while I live; I will lift up my hands in Thy name. The lifting up of the hands was the attitude of worship, and symbolised the lifting up of the heart.

1. In his sorrowful exile while thirsting for God, the Psalmist praises Him because of what He is in Himself, what He is to him, what He has done for him, and what He has promised to do for him. In the bitterest experiences of life the devout heart will find matter and motive for praising God.

2. In the delightful realisation of His presence, which he now seeks and anticipates, he will praise Him yet more. The prospects of the godly soul should inspire the most joyous songs.

3. In his whole life he will praise Him. I will bless Thee while I live. The entire life of the godly man should be grateful, reverent, and songful.

My days of praise shall neer be past,
While life and thought and being last, Or immortality endures.

CONCLUSION.How are you endeavouring to quench the thirst of your soul? Avoid the delusive promises of satisfaction held out by the world. At no earthly stream can you find the refreshing draught which you seek (Jer. 2:13). Jesus cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto ME and drink, &c.

SEEKING GOD

(Psa. 63:1.)

I. How should we seek God?

1. Intelligently.
2. Earnestly.
3. Constantly.
4. Hopefully.

II. Where should we seek Him?

1. In the closet.
2. In His Word.
3. In the ordinances.

III. When should we seek Him?

1. Early in life.
2. In advance of temporal things.

IV. Why should we seek Him?

1. He is the souls lifeGod.

2. His nature is communicativeMY God.W. W. Wythe.

GODS POWER AND GLORY MANIFESTED IN THE SANCTUARY

(Psa. 63:2.)

In nothing is genuine piety more strikingly manifested than in the esteem for Divine ordinances. In the proper use of the public means of grace, communion with God is enjoyed, spirituality of mind is promoted, &c.
By the glory of God as displayed in the sanctuary we understand the glory of His character as developed in the principles of His moral government and in the method of redemption. The natural perfections of God are manifested in the works of nature; His moral attributes are made known in His Word.

By the power of God as manifested in the sanctuary, we understand the spiritual energy which renders His Word effectual. Consider

I. How God has manifested His glory in the sanctuary.

1. In the sanctuary He has made known the moral excellences of His characterHis holiness, mercy, wisdom, faithfulness.

2. In the sanctuary His people are favoured with communion with Him. This privilege is enjoyed in meditation, praise, and prayer.

II. How God has manifested His power in the sanctuary. The means designed for the conversion of sinners and the edification of saints are admirably adapted to the end for which they are designed; yet, through the depravity of mankind, they are inefficient unless accompanied with Divine influence. Thus the power of God is seen in the sanctuary

1. When sinners are converted.

2. When believers are edified.

III. The pleasure which the Divine manifestations have afforded the people of God. In contemplating the Divine character, in communing with Him, and in witnessing displays of the Divine power, great has been the pleasure which they have enjoyed (Psa. 26:8, and Psalms 84).

IV. The desirableness of being favoured with the constant manifestations of the Divine power and glory. My soul thirsteth for Thee, &c. If these things are so desirable, how may we attain them?

1. Esteem Divine ordinances, attend with delight upon them, and pray that the blessing of God may attend them.

2. Pray fervently for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. His agency is indispensable, &c.

CONCLUSION.

1. How great is the criminality of those who neglect Divine ordinances.

2. Those who neglect them need not wonder if they are not converted.

3. How great is the privilege of having a place in the sanctuary of God.

4. What will it be to behold His power and glory in heaven!(Abridged from an unpublished MS.)

THE LOVINGKINDNESS OF GOD BETTER THAN THE LIFE OF MAN

(Psa. 63:3.)

Thy lovingkindness is better than life.
These words imply

I. That life is good. This could not be said of mere existence. Existence may be an evil

(1.) Because of its miserableness. In his great sufferings, Job felt his existence to be a curse (Job 3. Comp. Mat. 26:24; Rev. 9:6).

(2.) Because of its perniciousness. From the holy Word we learn that there are certain beings in the universe whose characters are utterly depraved, whose aim in life is utterly destructive, and whose influence is only and continually malignant (Joh. 8:44; 1Pe. 5:8). Their existence is good neither for themselves nor for others. It is a bane and blight in the universe. According to the tone and teaching of the Scriptures a life of misery or a life of sin is not to be accounted life at all, but only a form of death. David thought of a life of peace at home, in secure possession of the throne, and in the enjoyment of Divine ordinances; and he affirmed that the lovingkindness of God was better than such a life, and his statement clearly implies that life itself when it is not blighted by sin or sorrow is a good thing. It is so

1. Because of its great faculties. How remarkable are the powers of recollection, reflection, anticipation, ratiocination, imagination, affection, with which human life is endowed! How great its power of usefulness!

2. Because of its great capacities. How immense is mans capacity for enjoyment! The streams of delight from which he drinks are countless and inexhaustible. The whole endless future is before him for the satisfaction and development of his capacities. He was created in the image of the ever-blessed God, and, therefore, capable of participating in His peace, joy, &c.

3. Because of its conditions and circumstances. The world in which at present we spend our life is full of interest, instruction, utility, beauty; It is a great treasury, exhibition, school, temple. Heaven, to which we look forward as the scene of our life in the future, is of unspeakable glory, &c. Truly life is good. But the Psalmist states

II. That the lovingkindness of God is better than life even at its best. Thy lovingkindness is better than life. It is so

1. Because all that is good in life flows from the lovingkindness of God. The powers and capacities of human life, and all that is pleasing and precious in its circumstances and conditions, are streams from the fountain of the Divine lovingkindness. All my springs are in Thee. With Thee is the fountain of life. All that is true, useful, good, and beautiful in the universe springs from the infinite grace of God.

2. Because while much that is good and pleasant in life is transient and intermittent, the lovingkindness of God is constant and abiding. In life joyous hours are succeeded by sorrowful ones. Like David, we pass from peace and home and the sanctuary of God into the exile and weariness of the wilderness of Judah. Fairest prospects soon fade. But the lovingkindness of God is eternal, unchangeable, &c. It is that good part which shall not be taken away from the man who trusts in God.

3. The lovingkindness of God sanctifies even the pains and trials of life, so that by means of them life is enriched and blest (Rom. 5:3-5; Rom. 8:28; 2Co. 4:17-18; Jas. 1:2-3; Jas. 1:12; 1Pe. 1:6-9).

4. The lovingkindness of God is the crown and glory of life. The enjoyment of it makes lifes fairest scenes more divinely beautiful; its most precious experiences more precious. It ennobles the pleasures of life, it consecrates its friendships, it sanctifies its successes, &c. It is the heaven of the soul.

CONCLUSION.

1. What is the character of your life?

2. What is your estimate of the Divine lovingkindness?

THE SATISFACTION OF THE GODLY SOUL

(Psa. 63:5-8.)

The Psalmist passes from thirst to the assurance of satisfaction in God. And in these verses we see the nature of this satisfaction. He found satisfaction

I. In the provisions of God. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness. The provisions of God for the spiritual needs of men are frequently represented in the Scriptures as a sumptuous feast. David looked forward confidently to the realisation of spiritual satisfaction and delight.

1. The Divine provisions are spiritual. My soul shall be satisfied. Satisfied with delightful experiences, exalted and blessed fellowship, ennobling occupations, enrapturing prospects, &c. Pardon, communion with God, work for God, hope of holiness and heaven, &c.

2. The Divine provisions are rich. Marrow and fatness. The provisions of the Gospel are like a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. Its blessings are not only useful but delightful; not only healthful, but pleasant.

3. The Divine provisions are abundant. The Psalmist was assured of satisfaction. My soul shall be satisfied. Whatever God gives He gives abundantly. Pardon (Psa. 136:5; Psa. 136:15; Psa. 103:8; Isa. 55:7); Redemption (Psa. 130:7). Grace (2Co. 9:8).

II. In meditation on God. I remember Thee upon my bed, and meditate on Thee in the night watches.

1. The nature of this exercise. Remember, meditate. Recollection presented the doings and sayings of God, and then the mind meditated upon them, and upon Him. Meditation is not mere reverie, but musing, or fixed and continuous thought One of the most important mental exercises, especially in relation to spiritual life and progress. And we fear that it is also a most neglected exercise.

2. The subject of this exercise. Remember Thee, meditate on Thee. The grandest, most glorious subject that is possible. Meditation on God is

(1) humbling, inasmuch as it reveals our feebleness, insignificance, sinfulness.

(2) Spiritualising, inasmuch as it withdraws us from the material and worldly into association with the spiritual and Divine.

(3) Transforming, inasmuch as we become like unto those with whom in thought and feeling we dwell (2Co. 3:18).

3. The season of this exercise. On my bed, in the night watches. Night is favourable to meditation on God and spiritual things,

(1) Because of its darkness. Material things are then hidden from our view and spiritual things appear with reality and vividness.

(2) Because of its stillness. The noise and tumult of the day ill accord with meditation on spiritual and Divine themes. The quiet of the night harmonises with and aids such meditation. Great are the advantages of meditation like this.

III. In the protection of God. Because Thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice.

1. This protection is well assured. It is guaranteed both by Gods promise and by mans experience. Because Thou hast been my help, therefore, &c.

2. This protection is perfect. In the shadow of Thy wings. (See the Hom. Com. on Psa. 57:1.)

3. This protection is joy-inspiring. Will I rejoice. (See the outline below on this verse.)

IV. In the sustentation of God. My soul followeth hard after Thee, Thy right hand upholdeth me. In the support of the godly soul two important things are here brought into clear view:

1. Mans trust. My soul followeth hard after Thee. More correctly: My soul cleaveth to Thee. Hengstenberg: My soul depends on Thee. In Psa. 63:8, there are the mutual relations between the believing soul and the Lord: it depends on Him, and cleaves to Him, like a bur to a coat, and He takes hold of it, and holds it up with His powerful right hand, so that it does not sink into the abyss of destruction and despair. Our business is to depend upon God, by faith to cleave to Him with the utmost tenacity.

2. Gods power. Thy right hand upholdeth me. The right hand is the instrument of skill and strength. With infinite wisdom and almighty power God sustains the souls that trust in Him. This representation of the mutual affection and reciprocal relation of God and His servant is both beautiful and encouraging.

V. In the celebration of the praise of God. My mouth shall praise Thee with joyful lips. The satisfaction of his soul the godly man seeks to express in praise to God. David resolves to praise God

1. Vocally. My month shall praise. By so doing he would express the praise of his own heart, and excite the hearts and voices of others to praise God.

2. Joyfully. With joyful lips. To David, praising God was pleasurable employment. He viewed it not as a duty, but as a delightful privilege.

CONCLUSION.Here then is satisfaction for the thirsting soul. In the protection, provision, and support of God, and by our meditation and trust and praise of Him, our spiritual anxieties may be calmed, our wants supplied, our joy inspired, &c. Turn thee, thou thirsting soul, from the shallow and muddy streams of earth to the clear and deep river of heavenly grace; and drink, and be for ever blessed (Joh. 4:13-14).

THE ARGUMENT OF EXPERIENCE

(Psa. 63:7.)

These words speak alike of sorrow and joy. We need help. We can experience joy. Thus read, the text is true to life.

In commencing fresh eras in life the Christian feels that there will be nothing really new. The forms and dresses of things will alter; but the pensive features of sorrow and the open face of joy will be there too. The servant of God has an experience. God has been his refuge and strength. What words, then, can I select as the basis of an argument from experience more appropriate than theseBecause Thou hast been mine help, &c.

I. The rejoicing is reasonable.Because. It is not founded on promise alone (though if that be Gods, never will it be broken), but upon past experience. And upon this experience, as it divides itself into thousandfold circumstances. Oh, what seasons there have been! &c.

II. The rejoicing is personal.My help. That does not exclude others. Every soldier in the army lifts up his answering Amen. Who can explain that strange mystery of individuality? At the heart of each of us there are unspoken mysteries of solitude. Even a child lives in a tiny world of its own. My help. I am not alone. God is my help.

III. The rejoicing is real. There is joy. Something more than rest or quiescent peace. The soul was made for delight as well as for discipline and duty. Nay, rather shall I not say, for gladness in discipline and duty? In Christ there is a fountain of blessedness springing up unto everlasting life. For us all to-day there may be joy in the Saviour, the joy of forgiveness through the redeeming sacrifice of the cross, the joy of a new life which sanctifies suffering and sweetens toil, the joy of immortal life through the resurrection.

IV. The rejoicing is restful. Therefore under the shadow of Thy wings. This is beautiful. You and I can make no such protection by machine-made covering for our beds, as a bird makes for its young. No! Rain and snow cannot pierce those shadowing wings! How roof-like their setting! How softly the inner covering makes all complete; resistance in the feathers without, down in the wings within. Can anything better represent the idea of security than this? of rest than this? of comfort than this? for it is the birds beating heart that is the warm glow of the nest; and it is Gods great heart of love in Christ that is near to usso very near, taking our manhood up into God, clothing Himself in our nature, that He might succour and help us in temptation as well as in grief.

. The Psalmist had been meditating. Quiet hours bring quiet memories. He reminds us of the still night, in which the memory is set free, and unfolding its wings in the silence, broods over the pilgrim way. Yes, thereand thereand there, the word of the Lord was tried, and the promise of the Lord was tested, and the deliverance of the Lord was vouchsafed, and lo, there are memorial stones all along the way! Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me, &c. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, &c.

V. The rejoicing is prophetic. Will I rejoice. So we anticipate lifes future with entire and holy confidence. What can that future bring with it that our gracious Saviour cannot prepare us for, and order for our good? (Rom. 8:31-39).

This, then, is to be written on our banners, In the shadow of Thy wings I will rejoice. Change and trouble must come to us all. But Gods right hand will uphold us all. Because Thou hast been mine help, &c.W.M. STATHAM (Abridged from The Christian World Pulpit.)

THE ANTICIPATION OF THE GODLY SOUL

(Psa. 63:9-11.)

The Poet here looks forward confidently to the defeat and destruction of is enemies, and to his own exaltation because of his deliverance. The verses present to us a triple contrast.

I. A contrast of character.

1. The malignant and mendacious. The rebels were animated by a most cruel and malicious feeling against the king. They were as false as they were malicious. They spake lies. They delighted in lies. (See on Psa. 62:3-4.)

2. The religious and truthful. Every one that sweareth by Him. M. Henry: That is, by the blessed name of God, and not by any idol (Deu. 6:13), and then it means all good people, that make a sincere and open profession of Gods name. Swearing by Him indicates truthfulness also. They appeal to Him as the true God, the God who delights in truth.

This great contrast of character still exists amongst men in this world. The false and the true, the good and the evil are still here.

II. A contrast of pursuit.

1. The rebels sought the life of the king. They seek my soul. Though the words to destroy it must be applied to the rebels; still it is true that they sought to take the life of David. The objects for which they were striving were utterly cruel and base.

2. The king sought his own salvation and Gods glory. They thirsted for the life of another; he thirsted for God. They looked forward to seizing his throne and kingdom; he to grateful, joyful, lifelong worship of God.

Of what character are our pursuits? Will they bear the searching scrutiny of truth and honesty?

III. A contrast of destiny.

1. The mendacious shall be silenced, and the truthful exalted.Every one that sweareth by Him shall glory; but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped. Hypocrisies, shams, false-hoods, may live long, as life appears to us; but they must perish; and they who utter them will come to silence and shame. Truth cannot perish, but must grow and advance to splendid triumph. The truth-seeker and the truth-speaker will have abundant reason for exultation.

2. The malignant shall be utterly and ignominiously destroyed, and the religious shall have cause for rejoicing, And they to (their) destruction will they seek my soul; they shall go into the depths of the earth. They shall be given over to the power of the sword; a portion for jackals shall they be. The jackals are the scavengers of the East. They prey on dead bodies; and assemble in troops on battle-fields to feast on the slain.

What a terrible fulfilment the words of the Poet had in the case of Absalom, Ahithophel, and twenty thousand of the rebels! In seeking the life of the king they brought upon themselves dread destruction. A fearful doom awaits all persistent workers of iniquity. Sin when it is finished bringeth forth death. The wicked shall be turned into hell. The wicked is driven away in his wickedness. They shall be punished with everlasting destruction, &c.
But the king shall rejoice in God. The destruction of the rebels was the salvation of the king. And his rejoicing by reason thereof was religiousin God. Those who truly trust in God shall come forth from the trials and conflicts of life more than conquerors through Him.
CONCLUSION.How unspeakably important is individual character! Our character expresses itself in our pursuits, and determines our destiny. As righteousness tendeth to life; so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death. Only through Christ can man attain righteousness of character. What is your character?

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Psalms 63

DESCRIPTIVE TITLE

A Banished Soul, Athirst for God, Anticipates Satisfaction and Vindication.

ANALYSIS

Stanza I., Psa. 63:1, The Psalmist Avows and Describes his Longing for God. Stanza II., Psa. 63:2-3, He Traces it back to Sanctuary-worship. Stanza III., Psa. 63:4-8, He Promises himself a Life of Glad, Satisfying and Trustful Devotion. Stanza IV., Psa. 63:9-10, His Enemies, he foresees, are Doomed to Destruction. Stanza V., Psa. 63:11, His Own Joy Anticipates that of Others over the Divine Silencing of Falsehood.

(Lm.) A PsalmBy David
When he was in the Wilderness of Judah.

1

O God! my GOD art thouI earnestly seek thee:[676]

[676] Or: I long for thee.

thirsty for thee is my soul faint for thee is my flesh,
in[677] a land that is dry and weary for want of water.

[677] Some cod. (w. Syr.): likeGn.

2

Thus in the sanctuary gained I vision of thee

to see thy power and thy glory.

3

Because better is thy kindness than life

my lips shall extol[678] thee.

[678] Or: laudas in Psa. 117:1, Psa. 145:4.

4

Thus will I bless thee while I live,

in thy name will I uplift mine open hands:

5

As with fatness and richness shall my soul be satisfied,

and with lips of jubilation[679] shall my mouth utter praises.

[679] Uttering ringing criesDr.

6

If I remember thee on my couch

in the night-watches will I talk to myself of thee.

7

Because thou hast become a succour to me

therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I tarry.[680]

[680] So Gt., Gn. M.T.: ring out my joy.

8

My soul hath come clinging to

thee, on me hath laid hold thy right-hand.

9

Since they unto ruin seek for my life[681]

[681] U.: soul.

they shall enter into the lowest parts of the earth:[682]

[682] Cp. Intro., Chap. III., Hades.

10

He shall be given[683] over to the power of the sword,

[683] Ml.: they will give himperh. they, the unseen agents of providence, as in Luk. 12:20.

the portion of jackals shall they become.

11

But the king will rejoice in God:

every one who sweareth by Him will glory,
for the mouth of such as speak falsehood shall be stopped.

(Lm.) To the Chief Musician.

PARAPHRASE

Psalms 63

(A Psalm of David when he was hiding in the wilderness of Judea.)

O God, my God! How I search for You! How I thirst for You in this parched and weary land where there is no water! How I long to find You!
2

How I wish I could go into Your sanctuary to see Your strength and glory!

3

For Your love and kindness are better to me than life itself. How I praise You!

4

I will bless You as long as I live, lifting up my hands to You in prayer.

5

At last I shall be fully satisfied; I will praise You with great joy!

6

I lie awake at night thinking of You

7

Of how much You have helped meand how I rejoice through the night beneath the protecting shadow of Your wings.

8

I follow close behind You, protected by Your strong right arm.

9

But those plotting to destroy me shall go down to the depths of hell.

10

They are doomed to die by the sword, to become the food of jackals.

11

But I[684] will rejoice in God! All who trust in Him exult, while liars shall be silenced.

[684] Literally, the king.

EXPOSITION

This is a psalm to be experienced rather than expounded. Apart from experience it seems unreal. It has but little framework to sustain it, though what little there is helps us to get to the inner sense. The king is in banishment, passing through a dry and weary landprobably the northern border of the wilderness of Judah, on his way to the Jordan. Had his mind been moving on a lower level than at present, he would naturally have lamented his absence from the sanctuary, and longed to return. But, for the time, he is borne up to a higher altitude. He has brought with him a vision of God, obtained in sanctuary-worship, but outliving it. He has brought with him an assurance, that the God of vision there, is still with him here; ready, even under these altered circumstances, to verify the foregoing vision, by revealing his strength to sustain him here in the wilderness, and his glory to bring him home again.

Gods kindness has been seen in his life, but it is felt to be better than life; and therefore shall call forth abiding praise. He has begun a life of praise, and banishment cannot silence his praise: he will keep on praising as long as he lives. His lips shall make the welkin ring: here, in the open, he will solemnly lift up his hands in prayer, and so find a new and larger sanctuary under the spacious dome of heaven.

Such worship will not be barren. His soul will be fed to satisfaction, and his lips in jubilant strains will break forth anew. The night may come on, and its shadows close him in as he reclines on his tent-bed; but he will not be alone. Should he awake in the night, and inviting theme of meditation will await him, even the inspiring theme of his ever-present God of kindnessa theme he can never exhaust; it will move him to soliloquy, perchance entice him to song. A sense of safety will encompass him. He will be under the shadow of Divine wings, and there will he tarry. He thus speaks, not as to an absent God: My soul hath come clinging to thee. Not in vain, does he thus come: On me hath laid hold thy right hand.

This is the glory of the psalm: that the worshipper brings his sanctuary with himhis thoughts, his feelings, his trust are filled with God. To this extent it is a psalm for all timefor every dispensationfor every placein assembly or out of itat home or abroadin prosperity or adversity. It may be an ecstacy, but it is real, and bears abiding fruit. Such an ecstasy would appear all the more astonishing were we to suppose that it was experienced on occasion of his restoration from his terrible fall; and yet it is in that direction that the time-indication points. The psalmist may soon have to descend to a lower level, but the mountain heights will leave precious memories behind. The valley cannot swallow up the mountain.
In truth, the last two stanzas of this psalm may in a general way serve a useful purpose. As Bp. Perowne well says: We pass all at once into a different atmosphere. We have come down, as it were, from the mount of holy aspirations, into the common everyday world, where human enemies are struggling, and human passions are strong. Yet this very transition, harsh as it is, gives us a wonderful sense of reality. In some respects it brings the psalm nearer to our own level.
Still, we must remember, that the common everyday world of the psalmist was not quite the same as ours. Our lives are not in continual danger, as was his life; nor are we warranted to assume that the doom of our enemies will be their consignment to the lowest hades, the finding of their way thither through the terrors of the battlefield. Nevertheless, our own joy is enhanced by the joy of every righteous king who rejoices in God; and whether, like our Lord, we accept of an oath-taking which we cannot prevent, and swear not at all of our own free will, or like the ancient Hebrews and the Apostle Paul sometimes voluntarily solemnly swear by God,this at least may furnish us with a prospect to glory in: that the mouth of such as speak falsehood shall sooner or later be stopped, and truth be triumphant.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1.

The longing of Davids heart for God is such an example for all men of all time. Discuss how such a desire is developed.

2.

Into what sanctuary did David go? How did he there behold the strength and glory of God? What part of the meeting house is the sanctuary?

3.

Please discuss in a very practical sense how the steadfast love of God is better than life. Read verse three.

4.

Have we ever in our so-called more enlightened age found the complete satisfaction in God that David did? Discuss.

5.

The ability to meditate is so sadly lackingor is it? We can meditate on the means of making money, or exercise this capacity in lasciviousness. There is a deeper need than that of meditation. Discuss.

6.

Confidence and satisfaction in Godthese two qualities were very real to David; they should be even more so to the Christian. How can this psalm help to develop these qualities?

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(1) Early will I seek thee.LXX. and Vulgate, to thee I wake early, i.e., my waking thoughts are toward thee, and this was certainly in the Hebrew, since the verb here used has for its cognate noun the dawn. The expectancy which even in inanimate nature seems to await the first streak of morning is itself enough to show the connection of thought. (Comp. the use of the same verb in Son. 7:12; and comp. Luk. 21:28, New Testament Commentary.)

Soul . . . flesh.Or, as we say, body and soul. (Comp. Psa. 84:2, my heart and my flesh.)

Longeth.Heb., khmah, a word only occurring here, but explained as cognate with an Arabic root meaning to be black as with hunger and faintness.

In.Rather, as. (Comp. Psa. 143:6.) This is the rendering of one of the Greek versions quoted by Origen, and Symmachus has as in, &c

Thirsty.See margin. Fainting is perhaps more exactly the meaning. (See Gen. 25:29-30, where it describes Esaus condition when returning from his hunt.) Here the land is imagined to be faint for want of water. The LXX. and Vulgate have pathless. The parched land thirsting for rain was a natural image, especially to an Oriental, for a devout religious soul eager for communion with heaven.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

1. My God The “Our Father” and “Abba Father” of the Old Testament, expressive of the confidence and submission of all acceptable prayer or praise.

Early At daybreak, to be taken literally. See on Psa 46:5.

Soul It occurs four times, and “is the characteristic word of the psalm.” Jebb.

Flesh longeth The soul thirsted for God, the fountain of living water; the flesh languished from hunger for the bread of life.

Dry and thirsty land Dry and weary land. A land which exhausted life and furnished no supply. To be taken literally of the land, but as an emblem, also, of his condition in exile, cut off from the ordinances of worship and the fellowship of saints.

Where no water is Not absolutely, but where it was frightfully scarce. En-gedi, now Ain-jiddy, means “fountain of the kid,” from a beautiful fountain that breaks out of the rocks above the ruins of the ancient city, and about 400 feet above the plain. But such fountains are very rare in the desert. The city stood far south, near the shore of the Dead Sea, in the heart of the desert, south by east from Hebron. Its immediate vicinity was exceedingly fertile and beautiful, but David was in the adjacent desert mountains, probably el-Mersed, on the north.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Heading.

‘A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.’

It is noticeable that there is here no dedication to the Chief Musician, and no mention of the tune to which it was to be sung. We can only surmise why this is so. Perhaps the aim was to indicate the close connection between this Psalm and the previous one.

Psa 63:11 of the Psalm refers in a positive way to the king, so that, unless we see that verse as added later, this time ‘in the wilderness of Judah’ must have in mind David’s flight from Absalom’s rebellion. If it was written as an almost immediate consequence of David sending the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem (2Sa 15:24-26) it brings special meaning to some of the phrases used. There must have been an emptiness within him when he saw the Ark moving back towards Jerusalem, but an emptiness met by recognising that the closeness of God was not affected by the absence of ritual symbols. He knew that God was as much with him in his camp and in his bed, as He was in the Tent in Jerusalem.

The Psalm may be divided into four parts:

1) David’s Flight Through The Parched Wilderness Thirsting For Water Brings Home To Him How Much His Own Inner Life Thirsts After God, In The Same Way As Being In The Sanctuary Had Once Brought Home To Him God’s Glory (Psa 63:1-3).

2) His Refreshed Vision Of God Has Restored His Heartfelt Spiritual Satisfaction, Has Enhanced His Praise Towards God And Has Reminded Him That It Is God Who Is His Refuge (Psa 63:4-7).

3) Because, From Deep Within Him, He Follows Hard After God, God’s Right Hand Upholds Him, So That Those Who Are Seeking To Destroy Him Will Themselves Be Destroyed (Psa 63:8-10).

4) The Consequence Of God’s Judgment On Those Who Rebel Against The King Will Be That The King Will Rejoice In God, And Those Who Are Faithful To Their Oaths Of Loyalty Sworn In God’s Name Will Glory (Psa 63:11).

There is an interesting pattern in that the first part has ten lines, the second part has eight lines, the third part has six lines, and the last part has four lines.

David’s Flight Through The Parched Wilderness Thirsting For Water Brings Home To Him How Much His Own Inner Life Thirsts After God, In The Same Way As Being In The Sanctuary Had Once Brought Home To Him God’s Glory ( Psa 63:1-3 ).

In his flight David compares his awareness of God as the One Who will satisfy his spiritual thirst in the wilderness, with his awareness of the glory of God in the Sanctuary. Both circumstance bring home to him God’s covenant love, and both fill him with praise.

Psa 63:1

‘O God, you are my God,

Earnestly will I seek you.’

My soul thirsts for you,

My flesh longs for you,

In a dry and weary land,

Where no water is.’

As David and his men fled from Absalom through the wilderness of Judah (2Sa 15:23), having watched the Ark return to Jerusalem (2Sa 15:24-26) as they travelled on towards the Jordan, they thirsted, and it was then that David’s thirst reminded him of the God Whom he loved and Whom his soul craved, the God Whom of late he had been treating too casually. Looking around at the wilderness, which was in such contrast to the palace that he had left, and seeing what a dry and wearisome land it was, it brought home to him his own situation of forsakenness, and in turn this brought home to him his hunger for God. There is nothing like being in the wilderness to make us think of God. So, in danger of his life, he cried out to Him, longing after Him with the same thirst that he had for water.

‘O God, you are my God.’ He knew that the fact that his circumstances had changed did not alter the fact that God was still his God. Indeed he realised that it was God’s concern for him that had brought him up sharp because he had grown slack in his rulership and in his religious life. And now his reverses had brought home to him his need to know God afresh. He had become once more athirst for God. And he longed after Him more than he longed after water in a waterless land.

It is often necessary for God to allow problems to happen in order to shake us out of complacency. For it is so easy for us, when all is going well, to proceed onwards and let God slip into the background. And God thus has to bring us up with a jolt, as He did David here.

Psa 63:2-3

‘So have I looked on you in the sanctuary,

To see your power and your glory,

Because your covenant love is better than life,

My lips will praise you.’

In the same way as he now looked on the wilderness and was reminded of the God Who could satisfy his deepest longings, so had he once looked on the Sanctuary and been reminded of God’s power and glory. Both experiences had brought home to him God’s inestimable worth and glory. Both had brought home to him the fact that to enjoy God’s covenant love, to have God on his side, was better than life. The Sanctuary which revealed God’s glory had caused him to praise God, and to recognise the depth of His covenant love, but even moreso did this desolate wilderness as it reminded him of how God could satisfy his deepest thirst, and give him continuing life in the midst of it. It would have brought home to him afresh the days when he had fled from Saul and had been so wondrously upheld by God’ love. To him the very wilderness was a Sanctuary of God.

‘My lips will praise you.’ The verb is an Aramaism, but in view of the plentiful Aramaisms found in the Ugaritic literature this says nothing about the date of the Psalm.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Psalms 63

Psa 63:1-6 A Description of the Total Man Worshiping God – Psa 63:2-6 describes a person totally given to worship. He worships God with his heart (Psa 63:1), eyes (Psa 63:2), his lips (Psa 63:3), his hands (Psa 63:4), his soul (Psa 63:5), his mouth (Psa 63:5) and with his mind (Psa 63:6).

Psa 63:1  (A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.) O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

Psa 63:1 “O God, thou art my God” Comments – We must experience God as “our God,” on a personal level, before we understand how good He is to us as His dear children.

Psa 63:1 “early will I seek thee” Comments – We must seek God first above all else.

Psa 63:1 “my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is” Comments – The things of this world seem empty and unable to satisfy our souls after we encounter the presence of God. Only those who have experienced the presence of God (Psa 63:2 a) know how dry the things of this world compare to His glory.

Psa 63:1 Comments – This psalm of David in exile in the wilderness uses descriptions from this arid land to figuratively describe his inner struggles.

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Morning Hymn of a Fugitive.

A psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah, very likely at the time when he left Jerusalem at the approach of Absalom, for it was then that he spent a few days in the wilderness on the west side of the Dead Sea, a prey of the troubled anxiety which sapped his strength, 2 Samuel 15-17.

v. 1. O God, Thou art my God, the psalm opening with a mighty word of personal faith; early will I seek Thee, that is, earnestly, solicitously, at the rising of the dawn. My soul thirsteth for Thee, Psa 42:1, my flesh longeth for Thee, languishing with desire, in a dry and thirsty land, which made him weary, all his present circumstances filling him with a languid disgust, where no water is, for the desert aspect of the country increased his feeling of forsakenness,

v. 2. to see Thy power and Thy glory, so as I have seen Thee in the Sanctuary, literally, “Thus have I in the Sanctuary looked for Thee to see Thy power and Thy glory. ” That had been the psalmist’s custom in the past; that is what he missed so greatly at the present time.

v. 3. Because Thy loving-kindness is better than life, that explained his longing, that the grace of God exceeded all this earthly life could offer, my lips shall praise Thee, extolling the grace which he had experienced in his whole life.

v. 4. Thus will I bless Thee while I live, with the true gratitude of a believing heart; I will lift up my hands in Thy name, in the gesture of earnest supplication.

v. 5. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, an image borrowed from a rich and splendid banquet, to show the possession of the most wonderful spiritual riches, and my mouth shall praise Thee with joyful lips,

v. 6. when I remember Thee upon my bed, considering all the manifold evidences of God’s favor as they showed in his whole life, and meditate on Thee in the night-watches, in earnest and prayerful meditation during the entire night.

v. 7. Because Thou hast been my Help, coming to his assistance and rescue time and again, therefore in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice, the remembrance of God’s mercy experienced in the past encouraging him to look with joy and confidence into the future.

v. 8. My soul followeth hard after Thee, cleaving to Him as the one Helper in all the wide world; Thy right hand Upholdeth me, lending just the right assistance to the psalmist to keep him from falling.

v. 9. But those that seek my soul to destroy it, rather, “they” (emphatically) “to their own destruction shall seek my soul,” that is, in trying to bring misfortune to David, they would fall a prey to their own designs, shall go into the lower parts of the earth, into the abysses of the earth, that is, to death and the grave.

v. 10. They shall fall by the sword, whose hand or edge would dispose of them quickly; they shall be a portion for foxes, a prey of jackals, the wilderness scavengers of the Orient.

v. 11. But the king, who was now being persecuted, shall rejoice in God, in the certain deliverance effected by Him; every one that sweareth by Him, with firm trust in His willingness and ability to help, shall glory, finally having occasion to boast of His deliverance; but the mouth of them that speak lies, the foes guilty of base treachery, shall be stopped, put to silence in death. Thus the trust of the believers is bound to be rewarded, since the God of their salvation has promised them the mighty deliverance of His arm. No matter what the present may offer, the future is safe, because it is in God’s hands.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Cheth. True Piety the Calling of the Believers.

v. 57. Thou art my Portion, O Lord; I have said that I would keep Thy words. To realize at all times that God is his Portion, his Inheritance, and that for that reason he intends to observe the words of the Lord, this is the calling of the faithful, in this everyone who is a child of God fulfils his destiny.

v. 58. I entreated Thy favor, literally, “I appealed with supplications to Thy face,” with my whole heart, begging for a manifestation of divine grace; be merciful unto me according to Thy word, the believer once more holding the Lord to His promise.

v. 59. I thought on my ways, carefully examining them from all sides to see whether they were in agreement with God’s Word, and turned my feet unto Thy testimonies, deciding quickly in favor of following the Word of God all alone.

v. 60. I made haste, for the Lord delights in quick decisions in His favor, and delayed not to keep Thy commandments, always ready to exercise his piety in good works.

v. 61. The bands of the wicked have robbed me, rather, “the cords of the wicked have surrounded me,” that is, they have laid their snares for him as they do for all children of God who show that their profession of godliness is sincere; but I have not forgotten Thy Law; in fact, the remembrance of the Word of God gives to the believer his wonderful strength.

v. 62. At midnight, as he meditates upon the wonderful manifestations of God’s favor, I will rise to give thanks unto Thee because of Thy righteous judgments, to acknowledge with proper gratitude the judgments of God’s righteousness.

v. 63. I am a companion of all them that fear Thee, whose piety causes them to seek companionship of people of their own way of thinking, and of them that keep Thy precepts. All believers are united by their common faith, in a common cause.

v. 64. The earth, O Lord, is full of Thy mercy, the evidences of His merciful blessings are everywhere to be found; teach me Thy statutes; for only the proper appreciation of the Word of God as the highest treasure given by God will cause one to realize the incomparable greatness of His mercy. All Christians are eager to possess the light, the consolation, and the strength of the Word of God.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

EXPOSITION

A PSALM of one absent from the sanctuary, and longing to return to it (Psa 63:1, Psa 63:2), pursued by enemies who seek his life (Psa 63:9), but confident in God’s protection (Psa 63:7, Psa 63:8), and, indeed, full of joy and praise and thankfulness (Psa 63:3-6 and Psa 63:11). Near the close he lets fall a word, which shows him to be a king; and there is some reason to think that he is passing through a “dry and thirsty land,” literally as well as figuratively (Psa 63:1). All these indications agree exactly with the statements in the “title,” that the poem was composed by David as he fled through the wilderness of Judea towards the Jordan on the revolt of Absalom (2Sa 15:16-30; 2Sa 16:1-14).

The psalm is made up of five short stanzasthe first four consisting of two verses each, and the last of three.

Psa 63:1

O God, thou art my God; or, my strong God (Eli)my Tower of strength. Early will I seek thee. The song was, perhaps, composed in the night watches, and poured forth at early dawn, when the king woke “refreshed” (comp. Psa 63:5, Psa 63:6; and 2Sa 16:14). My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee; or, pineth for thee (the verb occurs only in this place). Soul and body equally long for God, and especially desire to worship him in the sanctuary (Psa 63:2). In a dry and thirsty (or, weary) land, where no water is. This is figurative, no doubt; but it may also contain an allusion to the literal fact (2Sa 16:2; 2Sa 17:29).

Psa 63:2

To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. This is the form which the longing takesto see God once more worshipped in the sanctuary in all the “beauty of holiness,” as he had so often seen him previously.

Psa 63:3

Because thy loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. The complete resignation of the psalmist, his sense of God’s “loving kindness,” and his desire to “praise,” not to complain, are, under the circumstances, most wonderful, most admirable, and furnish a pattern to the Church in all ages.

Psa 63:4

Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy Name (comp. Psa 104:33; Psa 146:2). The purpose of man’s creation, the end of his being, his main employment throughout eternity, is the praise of God.

Psa 63:5

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness. The “marrow and fatness” of the sacrificial feasts caused a delight to worshippers, which was no doubt partly sensuous. The memory of them occurs to the psalmist, but only as the shadow and emblem of the far deeper joy and satisfaction which he finds in the spiritual worship of the Most High, and especially in the offering of praise and thanksgiving. And my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips; or, while my mouth praiseth thee (see the Prayer book Version, which brings out the true sense).

Psa 63:6

When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. David had doubtless done this during the long and anxious night which followed his first day in the wilderness of Judea (2Sa 16:14).

Psa 63:7

Because thou hast been my help. God bad already delivered David out of so many dangers and troubles, that he felt all the more confidence for the future. Therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice (see the comment on Psa 61:4).

Psa 63:8

My soul followeth hard after thee; or, clingeth close after thee (Kay, Cheyne); “Tibi adhaeret teque sequitur” (Gesenius)longs to come as near to thee as possible; while, on thy part, thy right hand upholdeth me; i.e. with a reciprocal action, thou puttest forth thy right hand to sustain and support me, drawing me to thee, and holding me, as it were, in thy embrace.

Psa 63:9

But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth. Professor Cheyne notes that “the psalmist has no sense of any incongruity between deeply spiritual musings and vehement denunciations of his enemies.” And this is certainly true. But it is to be remembered that he views his enemies, not merely as his own fees, but as the foes of God and of Israel. As the servant of God, he must hate those who are opposed to God; as the King of Israel, he must hate those who seek to injure and ruin his people. He does not, however, desire for them suffering or torment; he only asks that they may be removed from this sphere into another world. (On David’s conception of the lower world, see the comment upon Psa 16:10 and Psa 86:13.)

Psa 63:10

They shall fall by the sword; i.e. in battlethe natural end of those who stir up civil strife. They shall be a portion for foxes; rather, for jackals (see 2Sa 18:6-8).

Psa 63:11

But the king shall rejoice in God. The “king,” thus suddenly introduced, cannot be an entirely new personage, unknown to the rest of the psalm, and, therefore, must be the composer, speaking of himself in the third person (comp. Psa 18:50; Psa 72:1). Every one that sweareth by him (i.e. by God) shall glory; or, shall triumph (Kay). Those who swear by the Name of God show themselves to be believers in God, and will be upheld by him in time of danger (see Deu 6:13; Isa 65:16). But the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped. (On the falsehoods told by David’s enemies, see 2Sa 15:3; 2Sa 16:7, 2Sa 16:8; and comp. Psa 38:12; Psa 41:5-8.)

HOMILETICS

Psa 63:1

An invocation and a vow.

“O God seek thee.” Rightly understood, these are the sublimest words human lips can utter. “My God!” To claim God as his own with joyful, adoring intelligence and absolute faith, is the highest act of which our nature is capable. It is melancholy to think that these same words may denote the degradation of our nature instead of its glory! The Prophet Isaiah, with holy indignation, restrained only by pity from utter scorn, depicts the idol worshipper falling down before his wooden image, and saying, “Deliver me, for thou art my god!” (Isa 44:14-17). Perhaps we need not go far to find even a lower depth. These words, “My God!” constantly slip from thoughtless, profane lips, as an unmeaning exclamation, with no trace of religious feeling. The poor heathen, who has some dim sense of an invisible spiritual power behind his image, may look down with wonder and pity on the educated Englishman who is devoid of all sense of worship, all consciousness of relationship to the Father of spirits. We have here

(1) an invocation; and

(2) a purpose or vow.

I. DAVID‘S SUBLIME DECLARATION. “O God, thou art my God!”

1. The expression of worship. Our English word “God” is one of those ancient words whose original meaning is unknown, The Hebrew word for which it stands in the Bible primarily means “mighty.” The object of true worship is the omnipotent, self-existent Creator. Yet observe that mere power is never set forth in Scripture as the sole or chief reason for worship,that would be heathenish. God’s wisdom, righteousness, truth, holiness, bountiful loving kindness, and pardoning mercy are everywhere regarded as his claim to our worship, obedience, trust, and love. Underneath, like the solid rock on which the temple stood, is this foundation truth of his almightiness. Worship is bowing down before God, but it is also looking up. “He that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” The more abasing the sense of our weakness, ignorance, sin, need, the more glorious and joyful a thing it is to look out of ourselves to him with whom is “the fountain of life,” and say, “O God, thou art my God!”

2. The expression of the sense of personal relationship. “My God!” Worship is much, but it is far from being the sum of religion. No small proof that the Bible is God’s Word to mana message from our Father to his lost children, is thisthat its practical aim throughout is to awaken and appeal to this sense of personal relationship to God; to show us how sin has put us in a wholly false, unnatural relation to him; to bring us back to our right place and character”children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”

3. Accordingly, this is the utterance of faithreasonable, happy, unlimited trust. Nature, brilliant with the glory of its Maker, ruled by the awful harmony of his unswerving laws, impresses us with the distance between the Creator and the creature. Sin adds to the sense of distance that of estrangement and fear. In Psa 51:1-19, David says, “Thou God of my salvation!” but does not venture to say, “My God!” But when faith sees “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,” and grasps his plighted word, the shadow of guilt is chased away by the joy of pardon. Love casts out fear. The soul that was “far off” is “brought nigh by the blood of Christ.” Experience comes in to help faith, and the language of faith becomes also the language of adoring gratitude and exulting certainty: “O God, thou art my God!”

II. DAVID‘S PURPOSE AND VOW. “Early will I seek thee.” Our Revisers have happily kept this beautiful word “early,” which an overstrained scholarship seeks to get rid of. The Hebrew word is the same with the word for “dawn.” We have a similar figure in Psa 130:6, a very natural and forcible image to a nation of early risers (comp. Alexander on Isa 26:9). This yearning of the spirit after Godheart hunger, soul thirst for his presence, love, likeness, is the very voice of his Spirit in the soul. Desire, hope, quest, perseverance, are all included here (see Psa 130:2-5). And they who thus seek shall find, for “the Father seeketh such” (Joh 4:23). Some sincere Christians may feel this intense yearning after God an experience they would fain reach, but scarcely dare claim. Take courage; he is God of the valleys as well as of the hills. The prayer of the humble is his delight. Why not make David’s words your ownwith better right than he? For the ancient saint came and claimed his privilege only on the ground of God’s covenant; we claim our birthright through him who said, “I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God” (Joh 20:17; cf. Rom 8:16). We are met for worship, yet there may be those to whom worship is but a dead form, who have never aspired, never cared to say, “O God, thou art my God!” You pity and despise the poor Hindu idolater. Which is really on the lower platformhe in his rude, dim, maimed, yet sincere fashion, expressing his sense of dependence on a higher and invisible, power, “feeling after God;” or you, with the light of nineteen Christian centuries shining full on you with the open Bible, with the music of God’s message of reconciliation filling the air, yet with man’s noblest aspiration, the quest of God; man’s deepest, purest affection,the love of God; man’s sublimest capacity,the worship of God, dead or slumbering in your soul? Alas! you do not dream what a glory, power, joy, meaning, would come into your life if from this hour you learned to say, “O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee.”

HOMILIES BY W. FORSYTH

Psa 63:1-11

Soul thirst.

We may imagine the psalmist in the wilderness. It is night. He stands at his tent door. The light of moon and stars falls on a sandy waste stretching into dimness and mystery. He is lonely and sad. The emptiness of all around and the memory of better times breed a great longing in his soul. It is not as if it were something new and strange, rather it is the revival of the deepest and strongest cravings of his heart, that as he muses gather force and intensity, and must express themselves in song. The key verses seem to be Psa 63:1, Psa 63:5, Psa 63:8.

I. THE SOUL‘S LONGING. (Psa 63:1-4.) When we “thirst for God,” we naturally look back and recall the times when we had the truest and fullest enjoyment of his presence. We think of “the sanctuary.” It was not the outward glory; it was not the splendid ritual; it was not the excitement of the great congregation; but it was the vision of God that then brought peace and joy to the soul. And that is what is craved againmore life and fuller: “To see thy power and thy glory.” There are often circumstances which intensify and strengthen our longings. When we come to know God, not only as God, but as our God and our Redeemer, we feel that it is a very necessity of our being, that it is our life, to see him and to serve him, to love him, to worship him, to rejoice in him as all our Salvation and all our Desire.

II. THE SOUL‘S SATISFACTION. (Psa 63:5-7.) What alone can satisfy the soul is the vision of God; not God afar off, but nigh; not God in nature, or in the Law, or in the imagination of our hearts, but God in Christ. Here is true and abiding satisfaction, infinite truth for the mind, eternal righteousness for the conscience, perfect love for the heart. Philip said, “Show us the Father, and it sufficeth us;” and the answer of our Lord was, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” The more we meditate on this possession, the more we rejoice and give thanks. We cannot but praise. “As the spirit of the whole Book of Psalms is contracted into this psalm, so is the spirit and soul of the whole psalm contracted into this verse” (Donne). “Because thou hast been my Help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice” (verse 7).

III. THE SOUL‘S RESOLUTION. (Verses 8-11.) There is mutual action. The soul cleaves to God, and God cleaves to the soul. There is a double embracewe both hold and are upheld. The result is invigorationthe quickening glow of life through all our being, the free and joyous resolve to cleave to God, and to follow him in love and devotion all our days. Our needs are constant, and God’s love never fails. When we are weak, his strength makes us strong; when we are weary, his comforts sustain our fainting souls; when we are ready to sink in the waters, his voice gives us courage, and his strong arm brings us salvation. God ever comes to those who want him. Desire on our part is met by satisfaction on his part. More and more as we love and serve we enter into the joy of our Lord. Our heart is prophet to our heart, and tells of vanquishment of the enemy, of the coming glory and the pleasures which are at God’s right hand forevermore.W.F.

HOMILIES BY C. SHORT

Psa 63:1-8

Sublime things.

Chrysostom says, “That it was decreed and ordained by the primitive Fathers that no day should pass without the public singing of this psalm.”

I. THE GRANDEST CONVICTION THE CREATURE CAN HAVE. (Psa 63:1.) That God is ours, and that we are God’s.

II. THE GRANDEST LONGING OF BODY AND SOUL. (Psa 63:1.)

III. THE GRANDEST VISION OF LIFE. (Psa 63:2.) To see the power and glory of God.

IV. THE GRANDEST SONG. (Psa 63:3.) The loving kindness of God better than life “in all the fulness of its earthly meaning.”

V. THE MOST ABOUNDING SATISFACTION OF THE SOUL. (Psa 63:5.)

VI. THE SUREST AND SAFEST PROTECTION. (Psa 63:7.)

VII. THE MOST UNFAILING SUPPORT. (Psa 63:8.)S.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

Psalms 63.

David’s thirst for God: his manner of blessing God: his confidence of his enemies’ destruction, and his own safety.

A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

Title. mizmor ledavid. The beginning of this psalm evidently shews, that David was, when he wrote it, in a wilderness or desart country, (1Sa 22:5 probably the forest of Hareth, or Ziph, belonging to Judah,) absent from the sanctuary: for he therein expresses the impatience of his desires to be restored to the solemnity of divine worship, and resolves, that, when God grants him that satisfaction, he will continually employ himself in celebrating his lovingkindness; Psa 63:3-4. This, he tells us, would be to him a more grateful entertainment than the richest feast, Psa 63:5.should employ his waking hours in the watches of the night, Psa 63:6 and confirm his pleasing trust and confidence in the divine protection, Psa 63:7.And from his adherence to God, and past experience of his favour, he assures himself of the disappointment and destruction of his enemies; but that himself, and all who feared God, should rejoice in his salvation, Psa 63:8-11. Chandler.

Psa 63:1. Early will I seek thee To seek God, is to address him by supplication and thanksgiving: and as our safety by night should be acknowledged by the sacrifice of praise, so should our protection through the day be humbly sought after by serious prayer every morning. My soul thirsteth for thee, continues the Psalmist; i.e. eagerly desires to approach thee: Thirsting, in all languages, is frequently used for earnestly longing after, or passionately wishing for anything. He goes on, my flesh longeth for thee. The verb kamah, tendered longeth, is used only in this place; and therefore the signification of it is rather uncertain, but will receive light from the Arabic dialect. In Golius’s Lexicon it signifies, His eye grew dimhis colour was changed, and his mind weakened; and, therefore, as used by the Psalmist, implies the utmost intenseness and fervency of desire; as though it impaired his sight, and altered the very hue of his body; effects oftentimes of eager and unsatisfied desires. Houbigant and some other critics are for altering the Hebrew in the next clause, and reading, not in a dry land, but as a dry land; which is figuratively said to thirst for water, when it wants rain. But David describes his own eager desire to approach God’s sanctuary, by the figurative expression of thirsting himself, and not by barren land’s thirsting for or desiring water; and the reading of the text is genuine, as he represents his present situation, which was in a dry and thirsty wilderness. The whole clause, however, should be thus rendered, My flesh pines away for thee in a dry land, and where I am faint without water. He experienced the vehemency of thirst in a wilderness, where he could get no supply of water, and by that sensation expresses the vehemence and impatience of his own mind to be restored to the worship of God.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Psalms 63

A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah

O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee:

My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee
In a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

2To see thy power and thy glory,

So as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.

3Because thy lovingkindness is better than life,

My lips shall praise thee.

4Thus will I bless thee while I live:

I will lift up my hands in thy name.

5My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness;

And my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:

6When I remember thee upon my bed,

And meditate on thee in the night watches.

7Because thou hast been my help,

Therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

8My soul followeth hard after thee:

Thy right hand upholdeth me.

9But those that seek my soul, to destroy it,

Shall go into the lower parts of the earth.

10They shall fall by the sword:

They shall be a portion for foxes.

11But the king shall rejoice in God;

Every one that sweareth by him shall glory:
But the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Its Contents and Composition.The speaker longs vehemently after Elohim=Jehovah as his God (El), and designates this longing as the thirst of one who is parched and languishing, because he was in this bodily condition when he sojourned in the dry, barren land (Psa 63:1). The mention of jackals (Psa 63:10) is against a figurative interpretation of this expression (Hitzig), derived from the fact that God is the element of life, as it were the nourishing sap of men (Hupfeld)=as in the barren land (Syriac, et al.). The description of the fate of the enemies of the Psalmist (Psa 63:10) is much more natural, if a designation of place is found in Psa 63:1 (Septuagint, Chald., Hengstenberg, Ewald, Delitzsch); and the mention of the king (Psa 63:11), is not at all in such a way that we are compelled to think of a different person from the speaker (De Wette). On the contrary, the verbs, which it is better to regard as futures than optatives, lead to the assurance of the joy of victory in the overthrow of lying and boasting enemies, who pursue the Psalmist in his flight to the wilderness, but will themselves perish in this undertaking. In this connection it is much easier to think of the royal dignity of the Psalmist, who vindicates this against his enemies and as a sign of his Divine calling, in order to strengthen his faith, than to think that the king not mentioned otherwise is to rejoice in the deliverance of the Psalmist from the hands of his enemies. This being the case, we cannot think of any other royal poet but David, especially as this Psalm not only has points of resemblance with Psalms 41. and other Davidic Psalms, but the characteristic expression of the thirsting of David and his followers is used, 2Sa 16:2; 2Sa 16:14; 2Sa 17:29 (Hengstenberg, Delitzsch), when he halted in the steppes of the wilderness one or two days (2Sa 15:23; 2Sa 15:28; 2Sa 17:16) in his flight from Absalom, before he crossed the Jordan. As well the mention of the sanctuary (Psa 63:2) as the prominence given to the royal dignity (Psa 63:11), makes it necessary to think of this period and not of the sojourn of David in the wilderness of Judah in the time of Saul (most of the older interpreters). The Psalmist thirsting in the wilderness wishes to be again near to God (Psa 63:1), as he was previously near Him in the sanctuary (Psa 63:2), and this longing is based upon the grace of God, which surpasses the dearest and most precious of all things, life (Psa 63:3), for which the singer will praise God continually (Psa 63:4). His soul lives and is nourished by this, his mouth is filled with it (Psa 63:5), as his hours of rest and the night watches are filled with meditation upon God (Psa 63:6). For God has become to him a constant help, so that he can shout for joy in the experience of Divine protection (Psa 63:7), and feels himself, in the attachment of his soul, drawn towards God, whom he thanks for his preservation (Psa 63:8). His enemies will suffer a terrible ruin (Psa 63:9-10). He, the king, on the other hand, will rejoice in God, that is to say, as one who has been delivered by God and drawn to Him; and every one who swears by God, that is, honors God as God (Deu 6:13; Isa 19:13; Isa 45:23; Isa 65:16; Amo 8:14), will glory, because the mouth of those who speak lies is stopped (Psa 63:11).In the ancient Church, the morning service was opened with the singing of this Psalm (const, apost. II. 59; VIII. 37), partly on account of Psa 63:6, partly on account of the translation of Psa 63:1 : early I seek Thee:7

Str. I. Psa 63:1. I seek Thee (earnestly).The older interpreters translated this: I seek Thee early, since they referred the verb to the noun (dawn), although it properly means only a solicitous seeking.8My flesh languisheth.The Septuagint and Symm. have read incorrectly =as often, instead of which Symm. renders by . [My flesh, in connection with my soul, indicates the whole man in his two principal parts, body and soul, as Psa 16:9; Psa 31:10; Psa 44:25, etc.C. A. B.]

Psa 63:2. Thus have I looked at Thee in the sanctuary, to see Thy power and Thy glory.The change of the perfect (Psa 63:2) and the imperfect (Psa 63:4) shows that the Psalmist will continue to do, what he has previously done; and the repeated thus, renders prominent the similarity of his feelings prevailing under both circumstances, namely, the longing after God, which he now has in the barren land, as he once had it in the sanctuary. The supposition of a reference back to the beginning of the Psalm=so as to my God (Ewald), has little in its favor. The following interpretations are to be entirely rejected, especially on account of their not regarding the perfect: then (when my longing is quieted) I will behold (Chald., De Wette), or there, that is to say, in such a land (Luther, Geier), or: thence, that is, in consequence of which (Calvin, Rosenm., Hengstenberg) I behold Thee in the sanctuary, so that I see Thy glory, which then is understood of spiritual beholding, as if the beholder, though far off in the body, had been snatched away by his longing into the sanctuary. There is no necessity to transpose the halves of each Verse from Psa 63:2 to Psa 63:8 (Hupfeld). [The A. V. transposes the parts of Psa 63:2 without reason.C. A. B ]

[Psa 63:3. For Thy grace is better than life.The A. V. regards the as giving the reason of the praise in the second clause, and translates: because. This is possible, yet not so good as the interpretation that it gives the reason of the longing of Psa 63:1 (Hupfeld, Delitzsch, Moll, Perowne, et al.). Hengstenberg refers it to the previous Verse.9

Psa 63:4. Comp. Psa 28:2, for the lifting up of the hands in prayer.C. A. B]

Str. II. [Psa 63:5. As with marrow and fatness.Perowne: An image borrowed from a rich and splendid banquet, comp. Psa 22:26; Psa 22:29; Psa 23:5-6. Hupfeld, following J. H. Mich., thinks that the reference is immediately to the sacrificial meal, which accompanied the thank-offering, here used as an image of thanksgiving (comp. Psa 50:13; Psa 54:6, etc.), and that the comparison is between his delight in rendering thanksgiving to God, and the enjoyment of the fat of the sacrifices. But the simpler explanation is the more probable, comp. Deu 32:14; Isa 25:6; Jer 31:14.C. A. B.]

Psa 63:6. The mention of night-watches, of which there were three, at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of the night (Exo 14:24; Jdg 7:19; Lam 2:19), shows that the remembrance of God with the Psalmist was not a transient occurrence, but called forth (repeated earnest meditation during the whole night, Psa 139:17 sq.

[Psa 63:7. For Thou hast been a help to me, and in the shadow of Thy wings will I shout for joy.Perowne: David in the present, distress, finding support in the past, and from that sure ground looking forward with confidence and joy to the future.For the figure in the last clause, comp. Psa 17:8; Psa 36:7; Psa 57:1; Psa 61:4.

Psa 63:8. My soul cleaveth to Thee, Thy right hand upholds me.God holds fast to the righteous with His right hand and holds him up, whilst the righteous hangs on to God or cleaves to Him. This is a beautiful representation of the mutual affection and reciprocal relation of God and His servant.C. A. B.]

Str. III. Psa 63:9. But they, to (their own) destruction shall they seek my soul, shall go into the abysses of the earth.Some, after the Septuagint and Vulgate, take =in vain (in vanum), as if they had before them . But it does not state the purpose of the enemy (most interpreters), but the consequence of their hostile pursuit, which was for the ruin of others, yet brought ruin upon themselves. The parallel clause is particularly in favor of this. The abysses of the earth, or the depths of the interior of the earth (Psa 139:15; Isa 44:23), mean here as Eph 4:9, not the clefts and caves, but the world below (Bttcher, et al.).

Psa 63:10. They shall be given up to the edge of the sword.This is literally: they shall pour him (that is, the enemy as a collective noun) into the hands of the sword. This, would not only be unusual and obscure in English, but in the present connection would cause misunderstandings; hence transposition is necessary.10 The verb is the Hiphil of , and not from . The same construction is found, Jer 18:21; Eze 35:5.[A portion for jackals.The idea is that, slain by the sword and left upon the field, their bodies would be the prey of jackals. Jackals are the scavengers of the East, and even enter the towns and quarrel with the dogs in the streets for carrion, 11C. A. B.]

Psa 63:11. Every one that sweareth by Him. It is likewise correct, as far as the language is concerned, to explain: that sweareth by the king, that is, confess themselves as his subjects, and show themselves to be such (Theodoret, Ewald, Hengstenberg); but actually this is objectionable from the fact that heathen nations might very well swear by the life of the king (Gen 32:15), but an Israelite could not do this.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. In the greatest abandonment, in the desolate wilderness, in peril of body and life, the pious hold fast their communion with God in faith, and long constantly for a more complete realization of it. For God is the highest good of the pious, and as their God is not only more precious than life, but is likewise the source of all refreshment and the ground of every deliverance and help. Hence God, as the abiding object of their longing, as well as the essence of salvation, is the constant subject of their meditation and praise, in which they find the strongest nourishment and the sweetest enjoyment for their souls

2. The remembrance of the blessings which the pious have received in the sanctuary of the Lord, and the longing there experienced and gratified, for ever deeper insight into the power and glory of God, not unfrequently, in times when they are far from the sanctuary, without their own fault, and in distress of body and of soul, is violently awakened by the burning longing for consolation, assistance and deliverance from God. Since, however, it is connected with the recollection of previous benefits and assistances from God, it draws the soul into the sphere of comforting thoughts and blessed experiences, and excites it even during the time of suffering to pleasure in prayer and joy in thanksgiving, from which again grows resignation to God, confidence in deliverance from the hands of the enemies who pursue the pious to their own destruction, and the enlargement of the view, so that it embraces all who confess God.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

We can call upon God in the wilderness as well as in Gods house, yet we have no reason to undervalue the latter or give it up.He who cannot enter the house of God, may yet thankfully remember the blessings which he has there received, as well as the benefits which God has bestowed upon him besides.Why is the grace of God more precious than life?To praise God is no burden, but pleasure to the pious.With the pious sorrow as well as joy should serve to express the dependence of their souls on God, and at the same time to render this more spiritual and deeper. The longing after God in its grounds, its expressions, and consequences.To reflect upon Gods glory, benefits and guidances is a salutary occupation, and at the same time a sweet enjoyment.What fills the heart passes over the mouth, yet for some to everlasting confusion.Together with Psalm cv., the daily morning prayer of the ancient Church.

Augustine: Si non traheris, ora, ut traharis.

Starke: True thankfulness has its ground in the heart, but expresses itself by words and works.A believing soul finds its greatest pleasure in the consideration of the word of God, hence it has likewise a constant longing after it.Where a carnal mind prevails in a man over the fear of God, the carnal will be the last before sleep, and the first after awaking.He who loves lies is hateful to God and men, and ruins himself thereby.

Franke: What is it, that man has to seek more than this, that the Lord may be his God, who begins the ten commandments thus: I am the Lord, thy God.Frisch: Better lose a thousand lives, than once willingly dispense with the grace of God.Arndt: To live without Gods grace is death, to be eternally without Gods grace is eternal death.Tholuck: The power of prayer depends on knowing God as our God.Guenther: O that we might learn three things from David: The art of doing without a thing without pain the preparation and use of the still hours, the blessed joy in communion with God in spite of flight, hunger, thirst, a wilderness, anxiety, and need.

[Matt. Henry: Gracious souls look down upon the world with a holy disdain, and look up to God with a holy desire.A closet may be turned into a little sanctuary.Barnes: Nothing can be more proper than that our last thoughts, as we sink into quiet slumber, should be of God;of His being, His character, His mercy, His loving-kindness; of the dealings of His providence, and the manifestation of His grace towards us during the day; and nothing is better fitted to compose the mind to rest, and to induce quiet and gentle slumber, than the calmness of soul which arises from the idea of an Infinite God, and from confidence in Him.Wordsworth: Every devout soul which has loved to see God in His house, will be refreshed by visions of God in the wilderness of solitude, sorrow, sickness, and death.Spurgeon: A weary place and a weary heart make the presence of God the more desirable; if there be nothing below and nothing within to cheer, it is a thousand mercies that we may look up and find all we need.Life is dear, but Gods love is dearer. To dwell with God is better than life at its best.When God gives us the marrow of His love, we must present to Him the marrow of our hearts.We see best in the dark if we there see God best.Night is congenial, in its silence and darkness, to a soul which would forget the world, and rise into a higher sphere.C. A. B.]

Footnotes:

[7][Perowne: This is unquestionably one of the most beautiful and touching Psalms in the whole Psalter. Donne says of it: As the whole Book of Psalms is oleum effusum (as the spouse speaks of the name of Christ), an ointment poured out upon all sorts of sores, a cerecloth that supplies all bruises, a balm that searches all wounds; so are there some certain Psalms that are imperial Psalms, that command over all affections, and spread themselves over all occasions-catholic, universal Psalms, that apply to all necessities.And again he observes: the spirit and soul of the whole Book of Psalms is contracted into this Psalm, Serm. 66.C. A. B.]

[8][Delitzsch admits this, yet contends that since Psa 63:6 looks back upon the night, this expression was chosen with reference to the break of the morning, as Isa 26:9. is side by side with , and thus he prefers the translation: I seek Thee early.C. A. B.]

[9][Delitzsch: This longing after God, which is now the more violent in the wilderness afar off from the sanctuary, fills him and impels him, for Gods grace is better than life, better than natural life (see Psa 17:14), which as likewise a good thing, and the condition of all earthly blessings is a very good thing; yet Gods grace is a higher good, the highest good and the true life. His lips are to praise this God of grace, a morning song is due Him, for that which truly blesses, and that which he now, as previously, solely and alone longs for, is the grace of this God, whose infinite worth is measured only by the greatness of His power and glory .C. A. B.]

[10][It is better., with Perowne, Alexander, et al., to translate the power of the sword, the hand being expressive of power. Hupfeld and Delitzsch prefer the rendering: hands of the sword.C. A.B.]

[11][Tristram Nat. Hist, of the Bible, p. Psalms 110 : Shual, always in the Bible translated fox is undoubtedly a comprehensive term, from which our own word jackal is ultimately derived, and which comprehends the jackal as well as the fox. In several instances, as in the expression, Psa 63:10, the jackal is indicated. It is the jackal rather than the fox which preys on dead bodies, and which assembles in troops on the battle-fields to feast on the slainThe natives of the East discriminate very little between the two animals, or rather look upon the fox as a small and inferior species of jackal. Indeed, their appearance to a cursory observer is very similar, the jackal having its fur of a paler color or yellowish rather than reddish in hue.C. A. B.]

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

DISCOURSE: 600
THE BELIEVERS DISPOSITIONS TOWARDS GOD

Psa 63:1-7. O God, thou art my God: early will I seek thee; my soul thirsteth for thee; my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is; to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Became thy loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live; I will lift up my hands in thy name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips, when I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night-watches. Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

IT is justly said of God, that he giveth songs in the night: and never was there a more striking evidence of it than in the palm before us. David is supposed to have written it when he was in the wilderness of Ziph, fleeing from Saul who was seeking to destroy him [Note: 1Sa 23:15.]. But we can scarcely conceive that he would call himself the king, as he does in the 11th verse, in the life-time of Saul: for though he believed that God would ultimately raise him to the throne, it would have been treason against his legitimate prince to arrogate to himself the title of king; nor can we conceive that under his perilous circumstances he would have given Saul so just a ground of accusation against him. For these reasons we are inclined to think it was written at the time that he fled into the wilderness from Absalom, when he, and the people that were with him, were in the greatest distress for every necessary of life [Note: 2Sa 17:28-29.]. But what are the contents of this psalm? Nothing but joy and triumph: the things of time and sense were as nothing in his eyes; but God was all in all.

From that portion of the psalm which we have read, we shall take occasion to shew you the desires, the purposes, and the expectations of a renewed soul.

I.

The desires

As soon as the soul has obtained an interest in Christ, and reconciliation with God through him, it is privileged to claim God as its own peculiar portion: it is entitled to say of Christ, My Beloved is mine, and I am his: He has loved me, and given himself for me. And to the Father himself also, as now reconciled to him, he can say, O God, thou art my God. It is no wonder then, that from henceforth God becomes the one object of his desire.

The soul now finds no satisfaction in earthly things
[The whole world appears to it as a land where no water is. The whole creation seems to be but a broken cistern, which, whilst it promises refreshment to the weary and heavy-laden, is never able to impart it.
If it be objected, that, though David, under his peculiar trials, found the world so barren of all good, we may find it a source of comfort to us; we answer, That there is nothing in this world that is suited to satisfy the desires of an immortal soul; and that, the more we have of this world, the more fully shall we be convinced, that it is altogether an empty bubble, a cheat, a lie; and that vanity and vexation of spirit is written by the finger of God himself upon all that it contains. The carnal mind cannot credit this: but the renewed soul needs no argument to convince it of this truth.]
Its desire therefore is after God alone
[Early will I seek thee, is the language of every one that is born of God. In the secret chamber his first waking thoughts will be, Where is God my Maker? where is Jesus my Redeemer? where is the blessed Spirit my Sanctifier and my Comforter? In the public ordinances also especially will his soul desire communion with its God. It has beheld somewhat of Gods power and glory in the manifestations of his love, and in the communications of his grace; and it bears those seasons in remembrance, and longs to have them renewed from time to time. The bare ordinances will not satisfy the believer, if God be not in them: it is not to perform a duty that he comes up to the sanctuary, but to meet his God, and enjoy sweet converse with him: and if he meet not God there, he is like a man who, with much ardent expectation, has gone to a distant city to meet his friend, and has been disappointed of his hope: or rather he is like those of whom the prophet Jeremiah speaks, who in a season of extreme drought came to the pits and found no water: and returning with their vessels empty, were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads [Note: Jer 14:3.]. They know by sad experience that there is no water elsewhere: and if they find not access to God, the living fountain, their very flesh sympathizes with their souls, and fainteth by reason of the painful disappointment, This is beautifully described in another psalm [Note: Psa 42:1-3.]: and it is realized in the experience of every believer, in proportion to the integrity of his soul before God, and to the measure of grace with which he is endued ]

In perfect correspondence with the desires of a renewed soul, are,

II.

Its purposes

The Believer determines to praise and glorify his God
[The language of his heart is, My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise. He knows what God hath said, Whoso offereth me praise, glorifieth me: and he determines to offer unto God the tribute that is so justly due. Nor will he do this in a cold and formal manner: no; as a man of warm feelings expresses with his body the emotions of his soul, so will he, together with his heart, lift up his hands also in the name of his God. Nor will he pour forth these effusions only on some particular occasions, or during any one particular season: he will do it continually; he will do it to the latest hour of his life. He considers praise as comely for the upright; and he wishes it to be the constant language of his lips.]
To this determination he is led by the consideration of the loving-kindness of his God
[O how wonderful does that love appear to him, which gave no less a person than Gods co-equal co-eternal Son to die for him! which gave him too the knowledge of that Saviour, together with all spiritual and eternal blessings in him, whilst thousands and millions of the human race are dying in ignorance and perishing in their sins! This loving-kindness so free, so rich, so full, appears to him better than even life itself; and all that he can do to testify his gratitude seems nothing, yea less than nothing, in comparison of it. The language of his heart is, If I should hold my peace, the very stones would cry out against me. O that I had powers equal to the occasion! how would I praise him! how would I glorify him! verily I would praise him on earth, even as they do in heaven.]
In these purposes the believing soul is yet further confirmed by,

III.

Its expectations

The service of God is not without its reward even in this life: and hence the Believer, whilst engaged in his favourite employment, expects,

1.

The richest consolation

[The carnal mind can see no pleasure in this holy exercise; but the spiritual mind is refreshed by it, more than the most luxurious epicure ever was by the richest dainties. His very meditations are unspeakably sweet: yea, while contemplating his God upon his bed, and during the silent watches of the night, his soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness: it has a foretaste even of heaven itself From its own experience of this heavenly joy, the soul expects this glorious harvest, when it has sown in tears, and laboured to glorify its God in songs of praise.]

2.

The most assured safety

[Thus engaged, the soul looks down upon all its enemies with disdain: it feels itself in an impregnable fortress: it is conscious that it owes all its past preservation to the help of its Almighty Friend; and it rejoices in the thought that under the shadow of the Redeemers wings it must still be safe; and that none shall ever pluck it out of the Fathers hands. The state of Hezekiah, when surrounded by a vast army that was bent on his destruction, exactly shows what is the state of a believing soul in the midst of all its enemies: The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn: the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. Such was the language of Zion to all the Assyrian hosts: and such is the blessed anticipation of victory which every Believer is privileged to enjoy [Note: e Rom 8:33-39.].]

Improvement
1.

How greatly do the generality of religious professors live below their privileges!

[It was not peculiar to David thus to delight in God: it en common, and is yet common, to all the saints. Can it be thought that we, who live under so much better a dispensation than he, and have so much brighter discoveries of Gods power and glory than ever he had, should yet not be privileged to delight in God as he did? Were this the case, we should be losers by that religion which the Son of God cam. down from heaven to establish. But it is not so: we may partake of all spiritual blessing? in as rich abundance as he, or any other of the saints of old, did. And we have reason to be ashamed that our desires after God are so faint, our purposes respecting him so weak, and our expectations from him so contracted. Let us, each for himself, look at our experience from day to day, and compare it with his; and let us not rest, till we have attained somewhat at least of that delight in God, which so eminently distinguished that blessed man.]

2.

What encouragement have all to seek after God!

[It was not only after David had so grievously transgressed, but at the very moment that God was chastening him for his transgressions, that he was thus favoured of his God [Note: Absaloms incestuous commerce with Davids wives was foretold by Nathan, as a part of Davids punishment for his sin in taking to him the wife of his friend Uriah.]. Can we then with propriety say, This mercy is not for me? it is not possible for such a sinner as I ever to be thus highly favoured? Know ye, that there is no limit, either to the sovereign exercise of Gods grace, or to its influence on the souls of men. His grace often most abounds, where sin has most abounded: and the vilest of us all may yet become the richest monument of Gods love and mercy, if only, like David, he will humble himself for his iniquities, and sprinkle on his conscience the blood of our great sacrifice. O beloved! know, if you come to God by Christ, you shall never be cast out; and if you commit yourself in faith entirely to Christ, you shall rejoice in him with joy unspeakable, and receive in due time the great end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

CONTENTS

This Psalm contains the devout breathings of the soul. If we read what is here expressed as the language of Christ, and in him of his church, it will be blessed indeed. David’s feelings in the wilderness of Judah, very plainly prove what God the Holy Ghost graciously desires the use of this Psalm to be in the church in all ages, to express the suitable breathings of all the redeemed after a God in Christ, as their only joy.

A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

Psa 63:1

The Holy Ghost hath here given us some of those sweet and precious Words which the people of God are commanded to take with them, when they turn unto the Lord; Hos 14:2 . Reader, what words shall you and I take with us, when we come before the Lord, but the very words which God hath furnished us with in his holy word? What can a poor sinner say to the Lord so properly and so profitably, as what the Lord hath first said to that poor sinner, in the person of his dear Son Jesus Christ? Do not fail to remark, what a rich cluster of the most precious things are contained in this short verse. You see, the pious soul doth not think it enough to call God the Elohim, but his soul’s chief joy is, that this God is his Elohim. God in covenant, God in engagements; in short, to sum up all in one, God in Christ; for this includes everything the soul can desire, or is capable of enjoying, in time or in eternity. Reader, it is blessed thus to look up to God, and doubly blessed when we know our right of appropriation in him as our God. And, see what a wilderness is capable of producing, when the soul is drawn out in such sweet enjoyments. Who would not wish to be in a wilderness with Jesus alone, when wilderness-frames are capable, through grace, to bring forth such wilderness-enjoyments? Happy David! when Judah’s wilderness thus opened such rich communion with thy Lord. So found Paul in his prison; and so felt John at Patmos. See these scriptures, 1Sa 22:5 ; Phi 1:19 , etc.; Rev 1:9 , etc. Reader, do not dismiss this verse, before you have asked your soul, whether you know anything of those thirstings and longings, which are here described, for the sweet enjoyment of God in Christ?

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

The Cry of the Heart for God

Psa 63:1

When I saw his hands wandering over the counterpane, and he picked at the threads, and his features were drawn as sharp as a needle, I knew there was only one way for him; and then he cried out suddenly: ‘God! God! God!’ Now I, to comfort the gentleman, told him I hoped there was no need to think of God just then; and so he died.

Probably many of you recognize these words. They are put into the mouth of a bad woman by Shakespeare a bad woman who saw a bad man die. Mistress Quickly describes the death of Falstaff. I suppose what gives Shakespeare his place in the estimation of men is this that outside the pages of the Bible, which is truer to man than any other book, probably he comes next. His characters are undying. Why? Because they are true to nature. He has taken in this particular instance the most unlikely man of all the men that he has drawn, and he has shown us that there is something in that man. He refers we should not expect it to God; and we feel it is true. We get at this that to man, to every man, to every member of the human race who can think, God is the inevitable, God is the ultimate thought.

I. Wherever man is found he builds two things he builds a hearth, the centre of his social and individual life, and he builds an altar, the symbol of that tendency in him which directs his thoughts and his heart towards God. Wherever you touch the history of mankind in any age you find that man is social and he is religious. He has a home and he has a temple. He advanced much in the cultivation of his social life; in the cultivation of his spiritual and moral life, he advanced but little until Jesus Christ came. Until God gave a revelation to the world more than half the world was enslaved, and hopelessly enslaved, and the ultimate appeal was always either to pure force or to pure passion. But in his spiritual things, in religion, he could get no further than this the altar he builds must be dedicated ‘to the Unknown God’. And with the Unknown God how many pretended known ones? He must worship, and he must find an object of worship, and yet he feels in his quest he is never satisfied, because he has never reached the truth.

II. Now there is one religion that stands alone in the world. There is one religion that differs from every system that has come from man, and it claims for the cause of that difference that it is not from man at all that its origin is with God.

And this religion, that differs from all other religions, pronounces as the first thing the foundation upon which all else must rest that God is the Creator of all that is not God, and that His creation is separate from Himself. There is only one other creed in the world, all the religions that ever have been you can sum up in one term they are all alike in essence, they are the same, of the same origin, they are what is called pantheism. They are idolatrous; the man who worships money, the man who worships himself (a vast portion of the whole race have no other worship than that), they are all pantheistic that is, they make a creature of some sort into God.

Now here, at the very first page of our religion and our religious book, in the very first utterance of that religious body which hass lated now 2000 years, and has, with all that can be said against it, blessed the world as it was never blessed before, the first utterance of our creed is this God is on one side, and all else is at the other; and the relation between the two is this He brought out of nothingness all else that is. Now apply that to yourself. I am God’s creature. He found a prompting which bade Him call to the abyss of nothingness, and He produced me. I was called out of nothingness by God. That means that I belong to Him in a sense in which nothing can ever belong to me. I can manufacture. Given a certain amount of education, of skill, and given the material, I can fashion it for my purpose; but creation is not that. Creation is calling out of nothingness into being. Are we not justified in putting that at the very beginning? Is it not right that this should be written in the first sentence of our Bibles? Is not the Church’s instinct true when summing up the things that belong to our peace, that we must accept if we will be saved, she puts creation first? ‘I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and earth.’

III. But there is something more. If God has called me out of nothingness into being, He also sustains me from passing altogether into the nothingness from which He called me. This creative act of God, if I may so express it, is continuous. He sustains us. ‘In Him,’ says St. Paul, ‘we live, and move, and have our being.’ Now what He does He does for a purpose. He called me into being and gave me liberty; He gave me this head of mine and this heart of mine in order that I might do three things that I might know Him, love Him, and fulfil His Will; and I am sinning against the primary truth that is written in my nature when at any time in my life I give myself up to other things than those for which I was created to know Him, to love Him, and to do His Will.

References. LXIII. 1. J. M. Neale, Sermons on Passages from the Psalms, p. 154. R. Allen, The Words of Christ, p. 162. H. P. Liddon, University Sermons, p. 1.

The Spirit of Worship

Psa 63:1-2

This passage expresses the pleasure which one who is piously disposed has in the ordinances of public Christian worship.

I. ( a ) Though the Lord is nigh unto all such as call upon him, yet is He nigh to those especially who call upon Him faithfully that is, in the spirit which He approves, and after the manner which He has prescribed, and in the place which He has chosen to set His name.

( b ) Your aim should be to feel that you are daily approaching nearer to Him and He to you.

II. The source of that sacred delight which we should have in public worship would be: ( a ) The joy of spiritual repose.

( b ) Its bringing more distinctly before us the realities of the happiness of the life to come.

E. J. Brewster, The Sword of the Spirit, p. 43.

References. LXIII. 1, 2. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxiv. No. 1427. D. Moore, Penny Pulpit, No. 3166.

The Soul’s Thirst and Satisfaction

Psa 63:1 ; Psa 63:5 ; Psa 63:8

The experiences of a soul in communion with God.

I. The soul thirsting for God. The Psalmist is a poet, and has a poet’s sensitiveness to the external aspects of nature. He feels the pangs of bodily weariness and thirst, and these seem to him to be but feeble symbols of the deeper-seated pains of desire which touch his soul. The unrest, the deep yearnings, the longing and desires of our natures what are they all except cries for the living God, tendrils which are put forth, seeking after the great prop which alone is fit to lift us from the mud of this lower world? But the misery is that we do not know what we want, that we misinterpret the meaning of our own desires, that we go to the wrong sources for our need. Shipwrecked sailors drink salt water in their wild thirst, and it makes them mad. Let us see to it, too, that since we believe, or say we believe, that God is our chiefest good, the intensity of the longing bear some proportion to the worth of the thing desired. Can there be anything more preposterous, anything in the strictest sense of the word more utterly irrational than tepid wishes for the greatest good? What would you think of a man that had some feeble wish after health or life? Cold wishes for God are as flagrant an absurdity as cold sunshine. Religion is nothing if it is not fervour.

II. The seeking soul satisfied. The lips that were parted to say, ‘My soul thirsteth’ had scarcely uttered it when again they opened to say ‘My soul is satisfied’. It is no wonder. God’s gifts are never delayed in the highest of all regions. Not only does this second text of ours give us that thought of the simultaneousness, in regard to the highest of all gifts, of wish and enjoyment, but it also tells us that the soul thus answered will be satisfied. If it be true, as we have been trying to say, that God is the real object of all human desire, then the contact of the seeking soul with that perfect aim of all its seeking will bring rest to every appetite, its desired food to every wish, strength for every weakness, fullness for all emptiness.

III. The satisfied soul presses closer to God. The soul that is satisfied will and ought to adhere with tenacity to the source that satisfies it. We, if we have made experience, as we may, of God and His sweet sufficiency, and sufficient sweetness, should be delivered from temptation to go further and fare worse. And then this clinging, resulting from satisfaction, is accompanied with earnest seeking after still more of the infinite God. When we turn ourselves to God and seek for all that we need there, there can be no satiety in us. So the two opposing blessed-nesses, the blessedness of search that is sure of finding, and the blessedness of finding which is calm repose, are united in the Christian experience.

A. Maclaren, Christ’s Musts, p. 98.

References. LXIII. 3. J. M. Neale, Sermons on Passages of the Psalms, pp. 162, 170. H. J. Bevis, Sermons, p. 144. LXIII. 6. J. Martineau, Endeavour after the Christian Life, p. 84. LXIII. 7. J. Armstrong, Parochial Sermons, p. 76.

The Pursuing Soul

Psa 63:8

In this Psalm we are brought into contact with the highest reach of Old Testament religion and the deepest spirit of the Psalter itself.

I. The heart of all spiritual religion is communion, and the aim of all high faith is communion; and nowhere does communion find such classic expression. When the author rises to the ecstatic state where his soul seems joined to God, few of us can follow him. Yet, as we look forward to communion, it is good for us to see what communion may mean to a man, good for us to hold out the ideal before our eyes of a soul following hard after God and cleaving fast to Him, upheld by His right hand. The subject of the Psalm is the heart’s longing for God and the heart’s joy in His fellowship the need for communion and the joy of communion.

II. The human need for God to which this Psalmist gave voice demands a similar expression from us. Men may say that man cannot know God, can have no personal relations with the great First Cause. But they cannot say that man has no need of God, that man has no desire towards God, no instincts and cravings and spiritual wants. All history throbs with the passion of human longing. Without God life is a dry and weary land where no water is. But exceeding all that dim and dumb desire, that sense of incompleteness which men feel is the desire of the man who has known God that he might enter into full communion and that interrupted fellowship might be renewed. The Psalmist’s situation corresponds somewhat; for he is absent from the sanctuary where alone he could realize to the full his loving worship. He comforts himself by happy memory when in times past he had seen God’s power and glory revealed in the sanctuary. Spiritually he dwells in the House of the Lord, and feels that the Divine love follows him.

III. The Hebrew division of human nature was a twofold division into soul and flesh or body. When the Psalmist speaks of his soul thirsting and his flesh longing, he means that his whole being desires God. However dark and dreary, he is never lonely he puts out his hand and feels that he is near, he rests in the presence of his gracious Companion. He has proved and tested his faith, and found it fit to live by. Nay, God’s lovingkindness is better than life. Without it there would be nothing to live for. We have pledges of that love more precious than this pious heart could ever dream of. The symbols of communion speak to us with a power and a pathos that would have put new music into the Psalmist’s song and a new wonder into his heart. If we hunger and thirst and long for God, will not we too be satisfied with His mercy? If God is our desire, God will be our portion. The pursuing soul reaches at last his goal and is satisfied. God is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.

Hugh Black, Christ’s Service of Love, p. 92.

References. LXIII. International Critical Commentary, vol. ii. p. 72. A. Maclaren, Life of David, p. 250. LX1V. International Critical Commentary, vol. ii. p. 76. LXV. 1. S. Home, The Soul’s Awakening, p. 275.

Psa 63

This Psalm was chanted by Savonarola and his brother Dominicans, a.d. 1497, as they marched to the grand Piazza of Florence to meet the trial of fire to which they had been summoned by their enemies. Richard Baxter says of this Psalm: ‘I can sing it, because though I have not a soul like David, I desire to have it. I have a heart to the heart’

John Ker.

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson

PSALMS

XI

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS

According to my usual custom, when taking up the study of a book of the Bible I give at the beginning a list of books as helps to the study of that book. The following books I heartily commend on the Psalms:

1. Sampey’s Syllabus for Old Testament Study . This is especially good on the grouping and outlining of some selected psalms. There are also some valuable suggestions on other features of the book.

2. Kirkpatrick’g commentary, in “Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges,” is an excellent aid in the study of the Psalter.

3. Perowne’s Book of Psalms is a good, scholarly treatise on the Psalms. A special feature of this commentary is the author’s “New Translation” and his notes are very helpful.

4. Spurgeon’s Treasury of David. This is just what the title implies. It is a voluminous, devotional interpretation of the Psalms and helpful to those who have the time for such extensive study of the Psalter.

5. Hengstenburg on the Psalms. This is a fine, scholarly work by one of the greatest of the conservative German scholars.

6. Maclaren on the Psalms, in “The Expositor’s Bible,” is the work of the world’s safest, sanest, and best of all works that have ever been written on the Psalms.

7. Thirtle on the Titles of the Psalms. This is the best on the subject and well worth a careful study.

At this point some definitions are in order. The Hebrew word for psalm means praise. The word in English comes from psalmos , a song of lyrical character, or a song to be sung and accompanied with a lyre. The Psalter is a collection of sacred and inspired songs, composed at different times and by different authors.

The range of time in composition was more than 1,000 years, or from the time of Moses to the time of Ezra. The collection in its present form was arranged probably by Ezra in the fifth century, B.C.

The Jewish classification of Old Testament books was The Law, the Prophets, and the Holy Writings. The Psalms was given the first place in the last group.

They had several names, or titles, of the Psalms. In Hebrew they are called “The Book of Prayers,” or “The Book of Praises.” The Hebrew word thus used means praises. The title of the first two books is found in Psa 72:20 : “The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.” The title of the whole collection of Psalms in the Septuagint is Biblos Psalman which means the “Book of Psalms.” The title in the Alexandrian Codex is Psalterion which is the name of a stringed instrument, and means “The Psalter.”

The derivation of our English words, “psalms,” “psalter,” and “psaltery,” respectively, is as follows:

1. “Psalms” comes from the Greek word, psalmoi, which is also from psallein , which means to play upon a stringed instrument. Therefore the Psalms are songs played upon stringed instruments, and the word here is used to apply to the whole collection.

2. “Psalter” is of the same origin and means the Book of Psalms and refers also to the whole collection.

3. “Psaltery” is from the word psalterion, which means “a harp,” an instrument, supposed to be in the shape of a triangle or like the delta of the Greek alphabet. See Psa 33:2 ; Psa 71:22 ; Psa 81:2 ; Psa 144:9 .

In our collection there are 150 psalms. In the Septuagint there is one extra. It is regarded as being outside the sacred collection and not inspired. The subject of this extra psalm is “David’s victory over Goliath.” The following is a copy of it: I was small among my brethren, And youngest in my father’s house, I used to feed my father’s sheep. My hands made a harp, My fingers fashioned a Psaltery. And who will declare unto my Lord? He is Lord, he it is who heareth. He it was who sent his angel And took me from my father’s sheep, And anointed me with the oil of his anointing. My brethren were goodly and tall, But the Lord took no pleasure in them. I went forth to meet the Philistine. And he cursed me by his idols But I drew the sword from beside him; I beheaded him and removed reproach from the children of Israel.

It will be noted that this psalm does not have the earmarks of an inspired production. There is not found in it the modesty so characteristic of David, but there is here an evident spirit of boasting and self-praise which is foreign to the Spirit of inspiration.

There is a difference in the numbering of the psalms in our version which follows the Hebrew, and the numbering in the Septuagint. Omitting the extra one in the Septuagint, there is no difference as to the total number. Both have 150 and the same subject matter, but they are not divided alike.

The following scheme shows the division according to our version and also the Septuagint: Psalms 1-8 in the Hebrew equal 1-8 in the Septuagint; 9-10 in the Hebrew combine into 9 in the Septuagint; 11-113 in the Hebrew equal 10-112 in the Septuagint; 114-115 in the Hebrew combine into 113 in the Septuagint; 116 in the Hebrew divides into 114-115 in the Septuagint; 117-146 in the Hebrew equal 116-145 in the Septuagint; 147 in the Hebrew divides into 146-147 in the Septuagint; 148-150 in the Hebrew equal 148-150 in the Septuagint.

The arrangement in the Vulgate is the same as the Septuagint. Also some of the older English versions have this arangement. Another difficulty in numbering perplexes an inexperienced student in turning from one version to another, viz: In the Hebrew often the title is verse I, and sometimes the title embraces verses 1-2.

The book divisions of the Psalter are five books, as follows:

Book I, Psalms 1-41 (41 chapters)

Book II, Psalms 42-72 (31 chapters)

Book III, Psalms 73-89 (17 chapters)

Book IV, Psalms 90-106 (17 chapters)

Book V, Psalms 107-150 (44 chapters)

They are marked by an introduction and a doxology. Psalm I forms an introduction to the whole book; Psa 150 is the doxology for the whole book. The introduction and doxology of each book are the first and last psalms of each division, respectively.

There were smaller collections before the final one, as follows:

Books I and II were by David; Book III, by Hezekiah, and Books IV and V, by Ezra.

Certain principles determined the arrangement of the several psalms in the present collection:

1. David is honored with first place, Book I and II, including Psalms 1-72.

2. They are grouped according to the use of the name of God:

(1) Psalms 1-41 are Jehovah psalms;

(2) Psalms 42-83 are Elohim-psalms;

(3) Psalms 84-150 are Jehovah psalms.

3. Book IV is introduced by the psalm of Moses, which is the first psalm written.

4. Some are arranged as companion psalms, for instance, sometimes two, sometimes three, and sometimes more. Examples: Psa 2 and 3; 22, 23, and 24; 113-118.

5. They were arranged for liturgical purposes, which furnished the psalms for special occasions, such as feasts, etc. We may be sure this arrangement was not accidental. An intelligent study of each case is convincing that it was determined upon rational grounds.

All the psalms have titles but thirty-three, as follows:

In Book I, Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 10 ; Psa 33 , (4 are without titles).

In Book II, Psa 43 ; Psa 71 , (2 are without titles).

In Book IV, Psa 91 ; Psa 93 ; Psa 94 ; Psa 95 ; Psa 96 ; Psa 97 ; Psa 104 ; Psa 105 ; Psa 106 , (9 are without titles).

In Book V, Psa 107 ; III; 112; 113; 114; 115; 116; 117; 118; 119; 135; 136; 137; 146; 147; 148; 149; 150, (18 are without titles).

The Talmud calls these psalms that have no title, “Orphan Psalms.” The later Jews supply these titles by taking the nearest preceding author. The lack of titles in Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; and 10 may be accounted for as follows: Psa 1 is a general introduction to the whole collection and Psa 2 was, perhaps, a part of Psa 1 . Psalms 9-10 were formerly combined into one, therefore Psa 10 has the same title as Psa 9 .

QUESTIONS

1. What books are commended on the Psalms?

2. What is a psalm?

3. What is the Psalter?

4. What is the range of time in composition?

5. When and by whom was the collection in its present form arranged?

6. What the Jewish classification of Old Testament books, and what the position of the Psalter in this classification?

7. What is the Hebrew title of the Psalms?

8. Find the title of the first two books from the books themselves.

9. What is the title of the whole collection of psalms in the Septuagint?

10. What is the title in the Alexandrian Codex?

11. What is the derivation of our English word, “Psalms”, “Psalter”, and “Psaltery,” respectively?

12. How many psalms in our collection?

13. How many psalms in the Septuagint?

14. What about the extra one in the Septuagint?

15. What is the subject of this extra psalm?

16. How does it compare with the Canonical Psalms?

17. What is the difference in the numbering of the psalms in our version which follows the Hebrew, and the numbering in the Septuagint?

18. What is the arrangement in the Vulgate?

19. What other difficulty in numbering which perplexes an inexperienced student in turning from one version to another?

20. What are the book divisions of the Psalter and how are these divisions marked?

21. Were there smaller collections before the final one? If so, what were they?

22. What principles determined the arrangement of the several psalms in the present collection?

23. In what conclusion may we rest concerning this arrangement?

24. How many of the psalms have no titles?

25. What does the Talmud call these psalms that have no titles?

26. How do later Jews supply these titles?

27. How do you account for the lack of titles in Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 10 ?

XII

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS (CONTINUED)

The following is a list of the items of information gathered from the titles of the psalms:

1. The author: “A Psalm of David” (Psa 37 ).

2. The occasion: “When he fled from Absalom, his son” (Psa 3 ).

3. The nature, or character, of the poem:

(1) Maschil, meaning “instruction,” a didactic poem (Psa 42 ).

(2) Michtam, meaning “gold,” “A Golden Psalm”; this means excellence or mystery (Psa 16 ; 56-60).

4. The occasion of its use: “A Psalm of David for the dedication of the house” (Psa 30 ).

5. Its purpose: “A Psalm of David to bring remembrance” (Psa 38 ; Psa 70 ).

6. Direction for its use: “A Psalm of David for the chief musician” (Psa 4 ).

7. The kind of musical instrument:

(1) Neginoth, meaning to strike a chord, as on stringed instruments (Psa 4 ; Psa 61 ).

(2) Nehiloth, meaning to perforate, as a pipe or flute (Psa 5 ).

(3) Shoshannim, Lilies, which refers probably to cymbals (Psa 45 ; Psa 69 ).

8. A special choir:

(1) Sheminith, the “eighth,” or octave below, as a male choir (Psa 6 ; Psa 12 ).

(2) Alamoth, female choir (Psa 46 ).

(3) Muth-labben, music with virgin voice, to be sung by a choir of boys in the treble (Psa 9 ).

9. The keynote, or tune:

(1) Aijeleth-sharar, “Hind of the morning,” a song to the melody of which this is sung (Psa 22 ).

(2) Al-tashheth, “Destroy thou not,” the beginning of a song the tune of which is sung (Psa 57 ; Psa 58 ; Psa 59 ; Psa 75 ).

(3) Gittith, set to the tune of Gath, perhaps a tune which David brought from Gath (Psa 8 ; Psa 81 ; Psa 84 ).

(4) Jonath-elim-rehokim, “The dove of the distant terebinths,” the commencement of an ode to the air of which this song was to be sung (Psa 56 ).

(5) Leannoth, the name of a tune (Psa 88 ).

(6) Mahalath, an instrument (Psa 53 ); Leonnoth-Mahaloth, to chant to a tune called Mahaloth.

(7) Shiggaion, a song or a hymn.

(8) Shushan-Eduth, “Lily of testimony,” a tune (Psa 60 ). Note some examples: (1) “America,” “Shiloh,” “Auld Lang Syne.” These are the names of songs such as we are familiar with; (2) “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” and “There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood,” are examples of sacred hymns.

10. The liturgical use, those noted for the feasts, e.g., the Hallels and Hallelujah Psalms (Psalms 146-150).

11. The destination, as “Song of Ascents” (Psalms 120-134)

12. The direction for the music, such as Selah, which means “Singers, pause”; Higgaion-Selah, to strike a symphony with selah, which means an instrumental interlude (Psa 9:16 ).

The longest and fullest title to any of the psalms is the title to Psa 60 . The items of information from this title are as follows: (1) the author; (2) the chief musician; (3) the historical occasion; (4) the use, or design; (5) the style of poetry; (6) the instrument or style of music.

The parts of these superscriptions which most concern us now are those indicating author, occasion, and date. As to the historic value or trustworthiness of these titles most modern scholars deny that they are a part of the Hebrew text, but the oldest Hebrew text of which we know anything had all of them. This is the text from which the Septuagint was translated. It is much more probable that the author affixed them than later writers. There is no internal evidence in any of the psalms that disproves the correctness of them, but much to confirm. The critics disagree among themselves altogether as to these titles. Hence their testimony cannot consistently be received. Nor can it ever be received until they have at least agreed upon a common ground of opposition.

David is the author of more than half the entire collection, the arrangement of which is as follows:

1. Seventy-three are ascribed to him in the superscriptions.

2. Some of these are but continuations of the preceding ones of a pair, trio, or larger group.

3. Some of the Korahite Psalms are manifestly Davidic.

4. Some not ascribed to him in the titles are attributed to him expressly by New Testament writers.

5. It is not possible to account for some parts of the Psalter without David. The history of his early life as found in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1and 2 Chronicles, not only shows his remarkable genius for patriotic and sacred songs and music, but also shows his cultivation of that gift in the schools of the prophets. Some of these psalms of the history appear in the Psalter itself. It is plain to all who read these that they are founded on experience, and the experience of no other Hebrew fits the case. These experiences are found in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles.

As to the attempt of the destructive critics to rob David of his glory in relation to the Psalter by assigning the Maccabean era as the date of composition, I have this to say:

1. This theory has no historical support whatever, and therefore is not to be accepted at all.

2. It has no support in tradition, which weakens the contention of the critics greatly.

3. It has no support from finding any one with the necessary experience for their basis.

4. They can give no reasonable account as to how the titles ever got there.

5. It is psychologically impossible for anyone to have written these 150 psalms in the Maccabean times.

6. Their position is expressly contrary to the testimony of Christ and the apostles. Some of the psalms which they ascribe to the Maccabean Age are attributed to David by Christ himself, who said that David wrote them in the Spirit.

The obvious aim of this criticism and the necessary result if it be Just, is a positive denial of the inspiration of both Testaments.

Other authors are named in the titles, as follows: (1) Asaph, to whom twelve psalms have been assigned: (2) Mosee, Psa 90 ; (3) Solomon, Psa 72 ; Psa 127 ; (4) Heman, Psa 80 ; (5) Ethem, Psa 89 ; (6) A number of the psalms are ascribed to the sons of Korah.

Not all the psalms ascribed to Asaph were composed by one person. History indicates that Asaph’s family presided over the song service for several generations. Some of them were composed by his descendants by the game name. The five general outlines of the whole collection are as follows:

I. By books

1. Psalms 1-41 (41)

2. Psalms 42-72 (31)

3. Psalms 73-89 (17)

4. Psalms 90-106 (17)

5. Psalms 107-150 (44)

II. According to date and authorship

1. The psalm of Moses (Psa 90 )

2. Psalms of David:

(1) The shepherd boy (Psa 8 ; Psa 19 ; Psa 29 ; Psa 23 ).

(2) David when persecuted by Saul (Psa 59 ; Psa 56 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 52 ; Psa 54 ; Psa 57 ; Psa 142 ).

(3) David the King (Psa 101 ; Psa 18 ; Psa 24 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 110 ; Psa 20 ; Psa 20 ; Psa 21 ; Psa 60 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 41 ; Psa 55 ; Psa 3:4 ; Psa 64 ; Psa 62 ; Psa 61 ; Psa 27 ).

3. The Asaph Psalms (Psa 50 ; Psa 73 ; Psa 83 ).

4. The Korahite Psalms (Psa 42 ; Psa 43 ; Psa 84 ).

5. The psalms of Solomon (Psa 72 ; Psa 127 ).

6. The psalms of the era of Hezekiah and Isaiah (Psa 46 ; Psa 47 ; Psa 48 )

7. The psalms of the Exile (Psa 74 ; Psa 79 ; Psa 137 ; Psa 102 )

8. The psalms of the Restoration (Psa 85 ; Psa 126 ; Psa 118 ; 146-150)

III. By groups

1. The Jehovistic and Elohistic Psalms:

(1) Psalms 1-41 are Jehovistic;

(2) Psalms 42-83 are Elohistic Psalms;

(3) Psalms 84-150 are Jehovistic.

2. The Penitential Psalms (Psa 6 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 130 ; Psa 143 )

3. The Pilgrim Psalms (Psalms 120-134)

4. The Alphabetical Psalms (Psa 9 ; Psa 10 ; Psa 25 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 37 ; 111:112; Psa 119 ; Psa 145 )

5. The Hallelujah Psalms (Psalms 11-113; 115-117; 146-150; to which may be added Psa 135 ) Psalms 113-118 are called “the Egyptian Hallel”

IV. Doctrines of the Psalms

1. The throne of grace and how to approach it by sacrifice, prayer, and praise.

2. The covenant, the basis of worship.

3. The paradoxical assertions of both innocence & guilt.

4. The pardon of sin and justification.

5. The Messiah.

6. The future life, pro and con.

7. The imprecations.

8. Other doctrines.

V. The New Testament use of the Psalms

1. Direct references and quotations in the New Testament.

2. The allusions to the psalms in the New Testament. Certain experiences of David’s life made very deep impressions on his heart, such as: (1) his peaceful early life; (2) his persecution by Saul; (3) his being crowned king of the people; (4) the bringing up of the ark; (5) his first great sin; (6) Absalom’s rebellion; (7) his second great sin; (8) the great promise made to him in 2Sa 7 ; (9) the feelings of his old age.

We may classify the Davidic Psalms according to these experiences following the order of time, thus:

1. His peaceful early life (Psa 8 ; Psa 19 ; Psa 29 ; Psa 23 )

2. His persecution by Saul (Psa 59 ; Psa 56 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 7 ; Psa 52 ; Psa 120 ; Psa 140 ; Psa 54 ; Psa 57 ; Psa 142 ; Psa 17 ; Psa 18 )

3. Making David King (Psa 27 ; Psa 133 ; Psa 101 )

4. Bringing up the ark (Psa 68 ; Psa 24 ; Psa 132 ; Psa 15 ; Psa 78 ; Psa 96 )

5. His first great sin (Psa 51 ; Psa 32 )

6. Absalom’s rebellion (Psa 41 ; Psa 6 ; Psa 55 ; Psa 109 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 39 ; Psa 3 ; Psa 4 ; Psa 63 ; Psa 42 ; Psa 43 ; Psa 5 ; Psa 62 ; Psa 61 ; Psa 27 )

7. His second great sin (Psa 69 ; Psa 71 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 103 )

8. The great promise made to him in 2Sa 7 (Psa 2 )

9. Feelings of old age (Psa 37 )

The great doctrines of the psalms may be noted as follows: (1) the being and attributes of God; (3) sin, both original and individual; (3) both covenants; (4) the doctrine of justification; (5) concerning the Messiah.

There is a striking analogy between the Pentateuch and the Psalms. The Pentateuch contains five books of law; the Psalms contain five books of heart responses to the law.

It is interesting to note the historic controversies concerning the singing of psalms. These were controversies about singing uninspired songs, in the Middle Ages. The church would not allow anything to be used but psalms.

The history in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles, and in Ezra and Nehemiah is very valuable toward a proper interpretation of the psalms. These books furnish the historical setting for a great many of the psalms which is very indispensable to their proper interpretation.

Professor James Robertson, in the Poetry and Religion of the Psalms constructs a broad and strong argument in favor of the Davidic Psalms, as follows:

1. The age of David furnished promising soil for the growth of poetry.

2. David’s qualifications for composing the psalms make it highly probable that David is the author of the psalms ascribed to him.

3. The arguments against the possibility of ascribing to David any of the hymns in the Hebrew Psalter rests upon assumptions that are thoroughly antibiblical.

The New Testament makes large use of the psalms and we learn much as to their importance in teaching. There are seventy direct quotations in the New Testament from this book, from which we learn that the Scriptures were used extensively in accord with 2Ti 3:16-17 . There are also eleven references to the psalms in the New Testament from which we learn that the New Testament writers were thoroughly imbued with the spirit and teaching of the psalms. Then there are eight allusions ‘to this book in the New Testament from which we gather that the Psalms was one of the divisions of the Old Testament and that they were used in the early church.

QUESTIONS

1. Give a list of the items of information gathered from the titles of the psalms.

2. What is the longest title to any of the psalms and what the items of this title?

3. What parts of these superscriptions most concern us now?

4. What is the historic value, or trustworthiness of these titles?

5. State the argument showing David’s relation to the psalms.

6. What have you to say of the attempt of the destructive critics to rob David of his glory in relation to the Psalter by assigning the Maccabean era as the date of composition?

7. What the obvious aim of this criticism and the necessary result, if it be just?

8. What other authors are named in the titles?

9. Were all the psalms ascribed to Asaph composed by one person?

10. Give the five general outlines of the whole collection, as follows: I. The outline by books II. The outline according to date and authorship III. The outline by groups IV. The outline of doctrines V. The outline by New Testament quotations or allusions.

11. What experiences of David’s life made very deep impressions on his heart?

12. Classify the Davidic Psalms according to these experiences following the order of time.

13. What the great doctrines of the psalms?

14. What analogy between the Pentateuch and the Psalms?

15. What historic controversies concerning the singing of psalms?

16. Of what value is the history in Samuel, 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles, and in Ezra and Nehemiah toward a proper interpretation of the psalms?

17. Give Professor James Robertson’s argument in favor of the Davidic authorship of the psalms.

18. What can you say of the New Testament use of the psalms and what do we learn as to their importance in teaching?

19. What can you say of the New Testament references to the psalms, and from the New Testament references what the impression on the New Testament writers?

20. What can you say of the allusions to the psalms in the New Testament?

XVII

THE MESSIAH IN THE PSALMS

A fine text for this chapter is as follows: “All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Psalms concerning me,” Luk 24:44 . I know of no better way to close my brief treatise on the Psalms than to discuss the subject of the Messiah as revealed in this book.

Attention has been called to the threefold division of the Old Testament cited by our Lord, namely, the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms (Luk 24:44 ), in all of which were the prophecies relating to himself that “must be fulfilled.” It has been shown just what Old Testament books belong to each of these several divisions. The division called the Psalms included many books, styled Holy Writings, and because the Psalms proper was the first book of the division it gave the name to the whole division.

The object of this discussion is to sketch the psalmist’s outline of the Messiah, or rather, to show how nearly a complete picture of our Lord is foredrawn in this one book. Let us understand however with Paul, that all prophecy is but in part (1Co 13:9 ), and that when we fill in on one canvas all the prophecies concerning the Messiah of all the Old Testament divisions, we are far from having a perfect portrait of our Lord. The present purpose is limited to three things:

1. What the book of the Psalms teaches concerning the Messiah.

2. That the New Testament shall authoritatively specify and expound this teaching.

3. That the many messianic predictions scattered over the book and the specifications thereof over the New Testament may be grouped into an orderly analysis, so that by the adjustment of the scattered parts we may have before us a picture of our Lord as foreseen by the psalmists.

In allowing the New Testament to authoritatively specify and expound the predictive features of the book, I am not unmindful of what the so-called “higher critics” urge against the New Testament quotations from the Old Testament and the use made of them. In this discussion, however, these objections are not considered, for sufficient reasons. There is not space for it. Even at the risk of being misjudged I must just now summarily pass all these objections, dismissing them with a single statement upon which the reader may place his own estimate of value. That statement is that in the days of my own infidelity, before this old method of criticism had its new name, I was quite familiar with the most and certainly the strongest of the objections now classified as higher criticism, and have since patiently re-examined them in their widely conflicting restatements under their modern name, and find my faith in the New Testament method of dealing with the Old Testament in no way shattered, but in every way confirmed. God is his own interpreter. The Old Testament as we now have it was in the hands of our Lord. I understand his apostle to declare, substantially, that “every one of these sacred scriptures is God-inspired and is profitable for teaching us what is right to believe and to do, for convincing us what is wrong in faith or practice, for rectifying the wrong when done, that we may be ready at every point, furnished completely, to do every good work, at the right time, in the right manner, and from the proper motive” (2Ti 3:16-17 ).

This New Testament declares that David was a prophet (Act 2:30 ), that he spake by the Holy Spirit (Act 1:16 ), that when the book speaks the Holy Spirit speaks (Heb 3:7 ), and that all its predictive utterances, as sacred Scripture, “must be fulfilled” (Joh 13:18 ; Act 1:16 ). It is not claimed that David wrote all the psalms, but that all are inspired, and that as he was the chief author, the book goes by his name.

It would be a fine thing to make out two lists, as follows:

1. All of the 150 psalms in order from which the New Testament quotes with messianic application.

2. The New Testament quotations, book by book, i.e., Matthew so many, and then the other books in their order.

We would find in neither of these any order as to time, that is, Psa 1 which forecasts an incident in the coming Messiah’s life does not forecast the first incident of his life. And even the New Testament citations are not in exact order as to time and incident of his life. To get the messianic picture before us, therefore, we must put the scattered parts together in their due relation and order, and so construct our own analysis. That is the prime object of this discussion. It is not claimed that the analysis now presented is perfect. It is too much the result of hasty, offhand work by an exceedingly busy man. It will serve, however, as a temporary working model, which any one may subsequently improve. We come at once to the psalmist’s outline of the Messiah.

1. The necessity for a Saviour. This foreseen necessity is a background of the psalmists’ portrait of the Messiah. The necessity consists in (1) man’s sinfulness; (2) his sin; (3) his inability of wisdom and power to recover himself; (4) the insufficiency of legal, typical sacrifices in securing atonement.

The predicate of Paul’s great argument on justification by faith is the universal depravity and guilt of man. He is everywhere corrupt in nature; everywhere an actual transgressor; everywhere under condemnation. But the scriptural proofs of this depravity and sin the apostle draws mainly from the book of the Psalms. In one paragraph of the letter to the Romans (Rom 3:4-18 ), he cites and groups six passages from six divisions of the Psalms (Psa 5:9 ; Psa 10:7 ; Psa 14:1-3 ; Psa 36:1 ; Psa 51:4-6 ; Psa 140:3 ). These passages abundantly prove man’s sinfulness, or natural depravity, and his universal practice of sin.

The predicate also of the same apostle’s great argument for revelation and salvation by a Redeemer is man’s inability of wisdom and power to re-establish communion with God. In one of his letters to the Corinthians he thus commences his argument: “For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? -For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preach-ing to save them that believe.” He closes this discussion with the broad proposition: “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God,” and proves it by a citation from Psa 94:11 : “The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.”

In like manner our Lord himself pours scorn on human wisdom and strength by twice citing Psa 8 : “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight” (Mat 11:25-26 ). “And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children that were crying in the temple and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, and said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?” (Mat 21:15-16 ).

But the necessity for a Saviour as foreseen by the psalmist did not stop at man’s depravity, sin, and helplessness. The Jews were trusting in the sacrifices of their law offered on the smoking altar. The inherent weakness of these offerings, their lack of intrinsic merit, their ultimate abolition, their complete fulfilment and supercession by a glorious antitype were foreseen and foreshown in this wonderful prophetic book: I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices; And thy burnt offerings are continually before me. I will take no bullock out of thy house, Nor he-goat out of thy folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, And the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all of the birds of the mountains; And the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, Or drink the blood of goats? Psa 50:8-13 .

Yet again it speaks in that more striking passage cited in the letter to the Hebrews: “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshipers, once purged should have no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance made of sins year by year. For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, But a body didst thou prepare for me; In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hadst no pleasure: Then said I, Lo, I am come (In the roll of the book it is written of me) To do thy will, O God. Saying above, Sacrifice and offering and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou wouldst not, neither hadst pleasure therein, (the which are offered according to the law), then hath he said, Lo, I am come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second” (Heb 10:1-9 ).

This keen foresight of the temporary character and intrinsic worthlessness of animal sacrifices anticipated similar utterances by the later prophets (Isa 1:10-17 ; Jer 6:20 ; Jer 7:21-23 ; Hos 6:6 ; Amo 5:21 ; Mic 6:6-8 ). Indeed, I may as well state in passing that when the apostle declares, “It is impossible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins,” he lays down a broad principle, just as applicable to baptism and the Lord’s Supper. With reverence I state the principle: Not even God himself by mere appointment can vest in any ordinance, itself lacking intrinsic merit, the power to take away sin. There can be, therefore, in the nature of the case, no sacramental salvation. This would destroy the justice of God in order to exalt his mercy. Clearly the psalmist foresaw that “truth and mercy must meet together” before “righteousness and peace could kiss each other” (Psa 85:10 ). Thus we find as the dark background of the psalmists’ luminous portrait of the Messiah, the necessity for a Saviour.

2. The nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation to be wrought by the coming Messiah. In no other prophetic book are the nature, fullness, and blessedness of salvation so clearly seen and so vividly portrayed. Besides others not now enumerated, certainly the psalmists clearly forecast four great elements of salvation:

(1) An atoning sacrifice of intrinsic merit offered once for all (Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:4-10 ).

(2) Regeneration itself consisting of cleansing, renewal, and justification. We hear his impassioned statement of the necessity of regeneration: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts,” followed by his earnest prayer: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me,” and his equally fervent petition: “Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psa 51 ). And we hear him again as Paul describes the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputes righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, And whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not reckon sin Psa 32:1 ; Rom 4:6-8 .

(3) Introduction into the heavenly rest (Psa 95:7-11 ; Heb 3:7-19 ; Heb 4:1-11 ). Here is the antitypical Joshua leading spiritual Israel across the Jordan of death into the heavenly Canaan, the eternal rest that remaineth for the people of God. Here we find creation’s original sabbath eclipsed by redemption’s greater sabbath when the Redeemer “entered his rest, ceasing from his own works as God did from his.”

(4) The recovery of all the universal dominion lost by the first Adam and the securement of all possible dominion which the first Adam never attained (Psa 8:5-6 ; Eph 1:20-22 ; Heb 2:7-9 ; 1Co 15:24-28 ).

What vast extent then and what blessedness in the salvation foreseen by the psalmists, and to be wrought by the Messiah. Atoning sacrifice of intrinsic merit; regeneration by the Holy Spirit; heavenly rest as an eternal inheritance; and universal dominion shared with Christ!

3. The wondrous person of the Messiah in his dual nature, divine and human.

(1) His divinity,

(a) as God: “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever” (Psa 45:6 and Heb 1:8 ) ;

(b) as creator of the heavens and earth, immutable and eternal: Of old didst thou lay the foundation of the earth; And the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure; Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; As a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed. But thou art the same, And thy years shall have no end Psa 102:25-27 quoted with slight changes in Heb 1:10-12 .

(c) As owner of the earth: The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof; The world, and they that dwell therein, Psa 24:1 quoted in 1Co 10:26 .

(d) As the Son of God: “Thou art my Son; This day have I begotten thee” Psa 2:7 ; Heb 1:5 .

(e) As David’s Lord: The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, Until I make thine enemies thy footstool, Psa 110:1 ; Mat 22:41-46 .

(f) As the object of angelic worship: “And let all the angels of God worship him” Psa 97:7 ; Heb 1:6 .

(g) As the Bread of life: And he rained down manna upon them to eat, And gave them food from heaven Psa 78:24 ; interpreted in Joh 6:31-58 . These are but samples which ascribe deity to the Messiah of the psalmists.

(2) His humanity, (a) As the Son of man, or Son of Adam: Psa 8:4-6 , cited in 1Co 15:24-28 ; Eph 1:20-22 ; Heb 2:7-9 . Compare Luke’s genealogy, Luk 3:23-38 . This is the ideal man, or Second Adam, who regains Paradise Lost, who recovers race dominion, in whose image all his spiritual lineage is begotten. 1Co 15:45-49 . (b) As the Son of David: Psa 18:50 ; Psa 89:4 ; Psa 89:29 ; Psa 89:36 ; Psa 132:11 , cited in Luk 1:32 ; Act 13:22-23 ; Rom 1:3 ; 2Ti 2:8 . Perhaps a better statement of the psalmists’ vision of the wonderful person of the Messiah would be: He saw the uncreated Son, the second person of the trinity, in counsel and compact with the Father, arranging in eternity for the salvation of men: Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:5-7 . Then he saw this Holy One stoop to be the Son of man: Psa 8:4-6 ; Heb 2:7-9 . Then he was the son of David, and then he saw him rise again to be the Son of God: Psa 2:7 ; Rom 1:3-4 .

4. His offices.

(1) As the one atoning sacrifice (Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:5-7 ).

(2) As the great Prophet, or Preacher (Psa 40:9-10 ; Psa 22:22 ; Heb 2:12 ). Even the method of his teaching by parable was foreseen (Psa 78:2 ; Mat 13:35 ). Equally also the grace, wisdom, and power of his teaching. When the psalmist declares that “Grace is poured into thy lips” (Psa 45:2 ), we need not be startled when we read that all the doctors in the Temple who heard him when only a boy “were astonished at his understanding and answers” (Luk 2:47 ); nor that his home people at Nazareth “all bear him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth” (Luk 4:22 ); nor that those of his own country were astonished, and said, “Whence hath this man this wisdom?” (Mat 13:54 ); nor that the Jews in the Temple marveled, saying, “How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?” (Joh 7:15 ) ; nor that the stern officers of the law found their justification in failure to arrest him in the declaration, “Never man spake like this man” (Joh 7:46 ).

(3) As the king (Psa 2:6 ; Psa 24:7-10 ; Psa 45:1-17 ; Psa 110:1 ; Mat 22:42-46 ; Act 2:33-36 ; 1Co 15:25 ; Eph 1:20 ; Heb 1:13 ).

(4) As the priest (Psa 110:4 ; Heb 5:5-10 ; Heb 7:1-21 ; Heb 10:12-14 ).

(5) As the final judge. The very sentence of expulsion pronounced upon the finally impenitent by the great judge (Mat 25:41 ) is borrowed from the psalmist’s prophetic words (Psa 6:8 ).

5. Incidents of life. The psalmists not only foresaw the necessity for a Saviour; the nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation; the wonderful human-divine person of the Saviour; the offices to be filled by him in the work of salvation, but also many thrilling details of his work in life, death, resurrection, and exaltation. It is not assumed to cite all these details, but some of the most important are enumerated in order, thus:

(1) The visit, adoration, and gifts of the Magi recorded in Mat 2 are but partial fulfilment of Psa 72:9-10 .

(2) The scripture employed by Satan in the temptation of our Lord (Luk 4:10-11 ) was cited from Psa 91:11-12 and its pertinency not denied.

(3) In accounting for his intense earnestness and the apparently extreme measures adopted by our Lord in his first purification of the Temple (Joh 2:17 ), he cites the messianic zeal predicted in Psa 69:9 .

(4) Alienation from his own family was one of the saddest trials of our Lord’s earthly life. They are slow to understand his mission and to enter into sympathy with him. His self-abnegation and exhaustive toil were regarded by them as evidences of mental aberration, and it seems at one time they were ready to resort to forcible restraint of his freedom) virtually what in our time would be called arrest under a writ of lunacy. While at the last his half-brothers became distinguished preachers of his gospel, for a long while they do not believe on him. And the evidence forces us to the conclusion that his own mother shared with her other sons, in kind though not in degree, the misunderstanding of the supremacy of his mission over family relations. The New Testament record speaks for itself:

Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them. How is it that ye sought me? Knew ye not that I must be in my Father’s house? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them Luk 2:48-51 (R.V.).

And when the wine failed, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. And Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. Joh 2:3-5 (R.V.).

And there come his mother and his brethren; and standing without; they sent unto him, calling him. And a multitude was sitting about him; and they say unto him. Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. And he answereth them, and saith, Who is my mother and my brethren? And looking round on them that sat round about him, he saith, Behold, my mother and my brethren) For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother Mar 3:31-35 (R.V.).

Now the feast of the Jews, the feast of tabernacles, was at hand. His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judea, that thy disciples also may behold thy works which thou doest. For no man doeth anything in secret, and himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou doest these things, manifest thyself to the world. For even his brethren did not believe on him. Jesus therefore saith unto them, My time is not yet come; but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that its works are evil. Go ye up unto the feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; because my time is not fulfilled. Joh 7:2-9 (R.V.).

These citations from the Revised Version tell their own story. But all that sad story is foreshown in the prophetic psalms. For example: I am become a stranger unto my brethren, And an alien unto my mother’s children. Psa 69:8 .

(5) The triumphal entry into Jerusalem was welcomed by a joyous people shouting a benediction from Psa 118:26 : “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Mat 21:9 ); and the Lord’s lamentation over Jerusalem predicts continued desolation and banishment from his sight until the Jews are ready to repeat that benediction (Mat 23:39 ).

(6) The children’s hosanna in the Temple after its second purgation is declared by our Lord to be a fulfilment of that perfect praise forecast in Psa 8:2 .

(7) The final rejection of our Lord by his own people was also clear in the psalmist’s vision (Psa 118:22 ; Mat 21:42-44 ).

(8) Gethsemane’s baptism of suffering, with its strong crying and tears and prayers was as clear to the psalmist’s prophetic vision as to the evangelist and apostle after it became history (Psa 69:1-4 ; Psa 69:13-20 ; and Mat 26:36-44 ; Heb 5:7 ).

(9) In life-size also before the psalmist was the betrayer of Christ and his doom (Psa 41:9 ; Psa 69:25 ; Psa 109:6-8 ; Joh 13:18 ; Act 1:20 ).

(10) The rage of the people, Jew and Gentile, and the conspiracy of Pilate and Herod are clearly outlined (Psa 2:1-3 ; Act 4:25-27 ).

(11) All the farce of his trial the false accusation, his own marvelous silence; and the inhuman maltreatment to which he was subjected, is foreshown in the prophecy as dramatically as in the history (Mat 26:57-68 ; Mat 27:26-31 ; Psa 27:12 ; Psa 35:15-16 ; Psa 38:3 ; Psa 69:19 ).

The circumstances of his death, many and clear, are distinctly foreseen. He died in the prime of life (Psa 89:45 ; Psa 102:23-24 ). He died by crucifixion (Psa 22:14-17 ; Luk 23 ; 33; Joh 19:23-37 ; Joh 20:27 ). But yet not a bone of his body was broken (Psa 34:20 ; Joh 19:36 ).

The persecution, hatred without a cause, the mockery and insults, are all vividly and dramatically foretold (Psa 22:6-13 ; Psa 35:7 ; Psa 35:12 ; Psa 35:15 ; Psa 35:21 ; Psa 109:25 ).

The parting of his garments and the gambling for his vesture (Psa 22:18 ; Mat 27:35 ).

His intense thirst and the gall and vinegar offered for his drink (Psa 69:21 ; Mat 27:34 ).

In the psalms, too, we hear his prayers for his enemies so remarkably fulfilled in fact (Psa 109:4 ; Luk 23:34 ).

His spiritual death was also before the eye of the psalmist, and the very words which expressed it the psalmist heard. Separation from the Father is spiritual death. The sinner’s substitute must die the sinner’s death, death physical, i.e., separation of soul from body; death spiritual, i.e., separation of the soul from God. The latter is the real death and must precede the former. This death the substitute died when he cried out: “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me.” (Psa 22:1 ; Mat 27:46 ).

Emerging from the darkness of that death, which was the hour of the prince of darkness, the psalmist heard him commend his spirit to the Father (Psa_31:35; Luk 23:46 ) showing that while he died the spiritual death, his soul was not permanently abandoned unto hell (Psa 16:8-10 ; Act 2:25 ) so that while he “tasted death” for every man it was not permanent death (Heb 2:9 ).

With equal clearness the psalmist foresaw his resurrection, his triumph over death and hell, his glorious ascension into heaven, and his exaltation at the right hand of God as King of kings and Lord of lords, as a high Driest forever, as invested with universal sovereignty (Psa 16:8-11 ; Psa 24:7-10 ; Psa 68:18 ; Psa 2:6 ; Psa 111:1-4 ; Psa 8:4-6 ; Act 2:25-36 ; Eph 1:19-23 ; Eph 4:8-10 ).

We see, therefore, brethren, when the scattered parts are put together and adjusted, how nearly complete a portrait of our Lord is put upon the prophetic canvas by this inspired limner, the sweet singer of Israel.

QUESTIONS

1. What is a good text for this chapter?

2. What is the threefold division of the Old Testament as cited by our Lord?

3. What is the last division called and why?

4. What is the object of the discussion in this chapter?

5. To what three things is the purpose limited?

6. What especially qualifies the author to meet the objections of the higher critics to allowing the New Testament usage of the Old Testament to determine its meaning and application?

7. What is the author’s conviction relative to the Scriptures?

8. What is the New Testament testimony on the question of inspiration?

9. What is the author’s suggested plan of approach to the study of the Messiah in the Psalms?

10. What the background of the Psalmist’s portrait of the Messiah and of what does it consist?

11. Give the substance of Paul’s discussion of man’s sinfulness.

12. What is the teaching of Jesus on this point?

13. What is the teaching relative to sacrifices?

14. What the nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation to be wrought by the coming Messiah and what the four great elements of it as forecast by the psalmist?

15. What is the teaching of the psalms relative to the wondrous person of the Messiah? Discuss.

16. What are the offices of the Messiah according to psalms? Discuss each.

17. Cite the more important events of the Messiah’s life according to the vision of the psalmist.

18. What the circumstances of the Messiah’s death and resurrection as foreseen by the psalmist?

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

Psa 63:1 A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, thou [art] my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

When he was in the wilderness of Judah ] That is, of Idumea, saith Genebrard, which bordered upon the tribe of Judah; but better understand it either of the forest of Hareth, 1Sa 22:5 , or of the wilderness of Ziph, 1Sa 23:14 , where David was, In deserto desertus exul, et omnis fere consolationis inept, not only destitute of outward comforts, but in some desertion of soul; Et sic miserrimus, et calamitosissimus oberravit, saith Beza.

Ver. 1. O God, thou art my God ] And that is now mine only comfort; Divini mellis alvearium, the bee hive of heavenly honey.

Early will I seek thee ] Now they who seek God early have a promise that they shall find him. Aben-Ezra rendereth it, Sicut mercator gemmas, inquiram re, I will diligently seek thee, as a merchant doth the precious stones (Mercator).

My soul thirsteth for thee ] Thirst is Taclith hattaavah, say the Rabbis, the perfection of desire. The whole life of a Christian is nothing else but Sanctum desiderium, saith Austin. How many broken spirits spend and exhale themselves in continual sallies, as it were, and egressions of affection unto God, thirsting after, not only a union, but a unity with him?

My flesh longeth for thee ] Non habet haec vex secium, saith Aben-Ezra; this word is here only found. It is a notable metaphor, saith another interpreter, taken from women with child, to express the earnest affection that he had to God-ward. The Septuagint rendereth it , Quam multipliciter. His soul, his flesh, all was on a light fire, as it were, with ardent affection towards God (R. Solomon).

In a dry and thirsty land ] Where I am hardly bestead, and at a great fault for outward accommodations, but much more for sweet and spiritual communion with thee in holy ordinances; there lieth the pinch of my grief.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

This rises higher still; it is “A psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.” Higher than this, in its kind, no soul can go, though the covenant blessings cannot be enjoyed far from the city and the sanctuary. But the blessedness of God is enjoyed as never before, the Giver Himself, when the righteous are outside the prostitution of His gifts. Our Lord knew this, as no man ever did. Even deliverance is not sought; and the thirst is not of the desert but of the soul after God, and this too to see His power and His glory where He revealed Himself. A dry and weary land only brings out the more the longing for God fully manifested. It is meanwhile what the apostle. calls joying or glorying in God (Rom 5 ), and in the close what the Lord desires for us in Joh 17:24 . When the Bride the Lamb’s wife is glorified, she rejoices that she has in fact the glory of God (Rev 21:11 ), in the hope of which we now exult.

The first of psalms Ps. 64 – 67 appears to close the series wherein is set out the iniquity of the adversaries against those who look for Christ, the godly Jewish remnant. The three following portray their feelings as having in the Beloved a plea for deliverance which waxes stronger and clearer by His Spirit working in them according to the word provided for their souls.

Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)

Psalms

THIRST AND SATISFACTION

Psa 63:1 , Psa 63:5 , Psa 63:8 .

It is a wise advice which bids us regard rather what is said than who says it, and there are few regions in which the counsel is more salutary than at present in the study of the Old Testament, and especially the Psalms. This authorship has become a burning question which is only too apt to shut out far more important things. Whoever poured out this sweet meditation in the psalm before us, his tender longings for, and his jubilant possession of, God remain the same. It is either the work of a king in exile, or is written by some one who tries to cast himself into the mental attitude of such a person, and to reproduce his longing and his trust. It may be a question of literary interest, but it is of no sort of spiritual or religious importance whether the author is David or a singer of later date endeavouring to reproduce his emotions under certain circumstances.

The three clauses which I have read, and which are so strikingly identical in form, constitute the three pivots on which the psalm revolves, the three bends in the stream of its thought and emotion. ‘My soul thirsts; my soul is satisfied; my soul follows hard after Thee.’ The three phases of emotion follow one another so swiftly that they are all wrapped up in the brief compass of this little song. Unless they in some degree express our experiences and emotions, there is little likelihood that our lives will be blessed or noble, and we have little right to call ourselves Christians. Let us follow the windings of the stream, and ask ourselves if we can see our own faces in its shining surface.

I. The soul that knows its own needs will thirst after God.

The Psalmist draws the picture of himself as a thirsty man in a waterless land. That may be a literally true reproduction of his condition, if indeed the old idea is correct, that this is a work of David’s; for there is no more appalling desert than that in which he wandered as an exile. It is a land of arid mountains without a blade of verdure, blazing in their ghastly whiteness under the fierce sunshine, and with gaunt ravines in which there are no pools or streams, and therefore no sweet sound of running waters, no shadow, no songs of birds, but all is hot, dusty, glaring, pitiless; and men and beasts faint, and loll out their tongues, and die for want of water. And, says the Psalmist, such is life, if due regard be had to the deepest wants of a soul, notwithstanding all the abundant supplies which are spread in such rich and loving luxuriance around us-we are thirsty men in a waterless land. I need not remind you how true it is that a man is but a bundle of appetites, desires, often tyrannous, often painful, always active. But the misery of it is-the reason why man’s misery is great upon him is-mainly, I suppose, that he does not know what it is that he wants; that he thirsts, but does not understand what the thirst means, nor what it is that will slake it. His animal appetites make no mistakes; he and the beasts know that when they are thirsty they have to drink, and when they are hungry they have to eat, and when they are drowsy they have to sleep. But the poor instinct of the animal that teaches it what to choose and what to avoid fails us in the higher reaches; and we are conscious of a craving, and do not find that the craving reveals to us the source from whence its satisfaction can be derived. Therefore ‘broken cisterns that can hold no water’ are at a premium, and ‘the fountain of living waters’ is turned away from, though it could slake so many thirsts. Like ignorant explorers in an enemy’s country, we see a stream, and we do not stop to ask whether there is poison in it or not before we glue our thirsty lips to it. There is a great old promise in one of the prophets which puts this notion of the misinterpretation of our thirsts, and the mistakes as to the sources from which they can be slaked, into one beautiful metaphor which is obscured in our English version. The prophet Isaiah says, according to our reading, ‘the parched land shall become a pool.’ The word which he uses is that almost technical one which describes the phenomenon known only in Eastern lands, or at least known in them only in its superlative degree; the mirage, where the dancing currents of ascending air simulate the likeness of a cool lake, with palm-trees around it. And, says he, ‘the mirage shall become a pool,’ the romance shall turn into a reality, the mistakes shall be rectified, and men shall know what it is that they want, and shall get it when they know. Brethren! unless we have listened to the teaching from above, unless we have consulted far more wisely and far more profoundly than many of us have ever done the meaning of our own hearts when they cry out, we too shall only be able to take for ours the plaintive cry of the half of this first utterance of the Psalmist, and say despairingly, ‘My soul thirsteth.’ Blessed are they who know where the fountain is, who know the meaning of the highest unrests in their own souls, and can go on to say with clear and true self-revelation, ‘My soul thirsteth for God!’ That is religion. There is a great deal more in Christianity than longing, but there is no Christianity worth the name without it. There is moral stimulus to activity, a pattern for conduct, and so on, in our religion, and if our religion is only this longing-well then, it is worth very little; and I fancy it is worth a good deal less if there is none of this felt need for God, and for more of God, in us.

And so I come to two classes of my hearers; and to the first of them I say, Dear friends! do not mistake what it is that you ‘need,’ and see to it that you turn the current of your longings from earth to God; and to the second of them I say, Dear friends! if you have found out that God is your supreme good, see to it that you live in the good, see to it that you live in the constant attitude of longing for more of that good which alone will slake your appetite.

‘The thirst that from the soul doth rise Doth ask a drink divine,’ and unless we know what it is to be drawn outwards and upwards, in strong aspirations after something-’afar from the sphere of our sorrow,’ I know not why we should call ourselves Christians at all.

But, dear friends! let us not forget that these higher aspirations after the uncreated and personal good which is God have to be cultivated very sedulously and with great persistence, throughout all our changing lives, or they will soon die out, and leave us. There has to be the clear recognition, habitual to us, of what is our good. There has to be a continual meditation, if I may so say, upon the all-sufficiency of that divine Lord and Lover of our souls, and there has to be a vigilant and a continual suppression, and often excision and ejection, of other desires after transient and partial satisfactions. A man who lets all his longings go unchecked and untamed after earthly good has none left towards heaven. If you break up a river into a multitude of channels, and lead off much of it to irrigate many little gardens, there will be no force in its current, its bed will become dry, and it will never reach the great ocean where it loses its individuality and becomes part of a mightier whole. So, if we fritter away and divide up our desires among all the clamant and partial blessings of earth, then we shall but feebly long, and feebly longing, shall but faintly enjoy, the cool, clear, exhaustless gush from the fountain of life-’My soul thirsteth for God!’-in the measure in which that is true of us, and not one hairsbreadth beyond it, in spite of orthodoxy, and professions, and activities, are we Christian people.

II. The soul that thirsts after God is satisfied.

The Psalmist, by the magic might of his desire, changes, as in a sudden transformation scene in a theatre, all the dreariness about him. One moment it is a ‘dry and barren land where no water is’; the next moment a flash of verdure has come over the yellow sand, and the ghastly silence is broken by the song of merry birds. The one moment he is hungering there in the desert; the next, he sees spread before him a table in the wilderness, and his soul is ‘satisfied as with marrow and with fatness,’ and his mouth praises God, whom he possesses, who has come unto him swift, immediate, in full response to his cry. Now, all that is but a picturesque way of putting a very plain truth, which we should all be the happier and better if we believed and lived by, that we can have as much of God as we desire, and that what we have of Him will be enough.

We can have as much of God as we desire. There is a quest which finds its object with absolute certainty, and which finds its object simultaneously with the quest. And these two things, the certainty and the immediateness with which the thirst of the soul after God passes into a satisfied fruition of the soul in God, are what are taught us here in our text; and what you and I, if we comply with the conditions, may have as our own blessed experience. There is one search about which it is true that it never fails to find. The certainty that the soul thirsting after God shall be satisfied with God results at once from His nearness to us, and His infinite willingness to give Himself, which He is only prevented from carrying into act by our obstinate refusal to open our hearts by desire. It takes all a man’s indifference to keep God out of his heart, ‘for in Him we live, and move, and have our being,’ and that divine love, which Christianity teaches us to see on the throne of the universe, is but infinite longing for self-communication. That is the definition of true love always, and they fearfully mistake its essence, and take the lower and spurious forms of it for the higher and nobler, who think of love as being what, alas! it often is, in our imperfect lives, a fierce desire to have for our very own the thing or person beloved. But that is a second-rate kind of love. God’s love is an infinite desire to give Himself. If only we open our hearts-and nothing opens them so wide as longing-He will pour in, as surely as the atmosphere streams in through every chink and cranny, as surely as if some great black rock that stands on the margin of the sea is blasted away, the waters will flood over the sands behind it. So unless we keep God out, by not wishing Him in, in He will come.

The certitude that we possess Him when we desire Him is as absolute. As swift as Marconi’s wireless message across the Atlantic and its answer; so immediate is the response from Heaven to the desire from earth. What a contrast that is to all our experiences! Is there anything else about which we can say ‘I am quite sure that if I want it I shall have it. I am quite sure that when I want it I have it’? Nothing! There may be wells to which a man has to go, as the Bedouin in the desert has to go, with empty water-skins, many a day’s journey, and it comes to be a fight between the physical endurance of the man and the weary distance between him and the spring. Many a man’s bones, and many a camel’s, lie on the track to the wells, who lay down gasping and black-lipped, and died before they reached them. We all know what it is to have longing desires which have cost us many an effort, and efforts and desires have both been in vain. Is it not blessed to be sure that there is One whom to long for is immediately to possess?

Then there is the other thought here, too, that when we have God we have enough. That is not true about anything else. God forbid that one should depreciate the wise adaptation of earthly goods to human needs which runs all through every life! but all that recognised, still we come back to this, that there is nothing here, nothing except God Himself, that will fill all the corners of a human heart. There is always something lacking in all other satisfactions. They address themselves to sides, and angles, and facets of our complex nature; they leave all the others unsatisfied. The table that is spread in the world, at which, if I might use so violent a figure, our various longings and capacities seat themselves as guests, always fails to provide for some of them, and whilst some, and those especially of the lower type, are feasting full, there sits by their side another guest, who finds nothing on the table to satisfy his hunger. But if my soul thirsts for God, my soul will be satisfied when I get Him. The prophet Isaiah modifies this figure in the great word of invitation which pealed out from him, where he says, ‘Ho! everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.’ But that figure is not enough for him, that metaphor, blessed as it is, does not exhaust the facts; and so he goes on, ‘yea, come, buy wine’-and that is not enough for him, that does not exhaust the facts, therefore he adds, ‘and milk.’ Water, wine, and milk; all forms of the draughts that slake the thirsts of humanity, are found in God Himself, and he who has Him needs seek nowhere besides.

Lastly-

III. The soul that is satisfied with God immediately renews its quest.

‘My soul followeth hard after Thee.’ The two things come together, longing and fruition, as I have said. Fruition begets longing, and there is swift and blessed alternation, or rather co-existence of the two. Joyful consciousness of possession and eager anticipation of larger bestowments are blended still more closely, if we adhere to the original meaning of the words of this last clause, than they are in our translation, for the psalm really reads, ‘My soul cleaveth after Thee.’ In the one word ‘cleaveth,’ is expressed adhesion, like that of the limpet to the rock, conscious union, blessed possession; and in the other word ‘after Thee’ is expressed the pressing onwards for more and yet more. But now contrast that with the issue of all other methods of satisfying human appetites, be they lower or be they higher. They result either in satiety or in a tyrannical, diseased appetite which increases faster than the power of satisfying it increases. The man who follows after other good than God, has at the end to say, ‘I am sick, tired of it, and it has lost all power to draw me,’ or he has to say, ‘I ravenously long for more of it, and I cannot get any more.’ ‘He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abundance with increase.’ You have to increase the dose of the narcotic, and as you increase the dose, it loses its power, and the less you can do without it the less it does for you. But to drink into the one God slakes all thirsts, and because He is infinite, and our capacity for receiving Him may be indefinitely expanded; therefore, ‘Age cannot wither, nor custom stale His infinite variety’; but the more we have of God, the more we long for Him, and the more we long for Him the more we possess Him.

Brethren! these are the possibilities of the Christian life; being its possibilities they are our obligations. The Psalmist’s words may well be turned by us into self-examining interrogations and we may-God grant that we do!-all ask ourselves; ‘Do I thus thirst after God?’ ‘Have I learned that, notwithstanding all supplies, this world without Him is a waterless desert? Have I experienced that whilst I call He answers, and that the water flows in as soon as I open my heart? And do I know the happy birth of fresh longings out of every fruition, and how to go further and further into the blessed land, and into my elastic heart receive more and more of the ever blessed God?’ These texts of mine not only set forth the ideal for the Christian life here, but they carry in themselves the foreshadowing of the life hereafter. For surely such a merely physical accident as death cannot be supposed to break this golden sequence which runs through life. Surely this partial and progressive possession of an infinite good, by a nature capable of indefinitely increasing appropriation of, and approximation to it is the prophecy of its own eternal continuance. So long as the fountain springs, the thirsty lips will drink. God’s servants will live till God dies. The Christian life will go on, here and hereafter, till it has reached the limits of its own capacity of expansion, and has exhausted God. ‘The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water, springing up into everlasting life.’

Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 63:1-5

1O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly;

My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You,

In a dry and weary land where there is no water.

2Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary,

To see Your power and Your glory.

3Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,

My lips will praise You.

4So I will bless You as long as I live;

I will lift up my hands in Your name.

5My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness,

And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.

Psa 63:1-5 In this strophe the psalmist describes how he feels about God (Psa 63:1, Elohim and El, see SPECIAL TOPIC: NAMES FOR DEITY ).

1. he seeks Him earnestly (lit. look early ) BDB 1007, KB 1465, Piel imperfect (cf. Psa 78:34; Pro 7:15; Pro 8:17; Isa 26:9; Hos 5:15); the same root is the noun form for dawn (cf. Psa 57:8)

2. his soul (lit. nephesh, BDB 659) thirsts for God BDB 854, KB 1032, Qal perfect, cf. Psa 42:2; Psa 84:2; Mat 5:6

3. his flesh (BDB 142) yearns (lit. faints) for God BDB 484, KB 480, Qal perfect; only here in the OT; from Arabic root to be pale of face

4. he describes his thirsting and fainting as caused by being in a dry and weary land where there is no water (cf. Psa 143:6); God is often described as the source of living water (cf. Isa 12:3; Isa 44:3; Isa 55:1; Jer 2:13; Jer 17:13; Joh 4:10; Joh 7:37-38; Rev 21:6; Rev 22:17)

This intense search for God in a dry land is caused because of the refreshing joy he knew earlier in the worship in the temple (Psa 63:2).

1. beheld God in the sanctuary (lit. in holiness, cf. Psa 60:6; Psa 89:35; Psa 102:19) BDB 302, KB 301, Qal perfect; this word can mean sanctuary but does not necessarily mean that; I do not think this line of the poem mandates a person in exile; AB (p. 97) even suggests heavenly sanctuary in Psa 63:5 and eternal life in Psa 63:4

2. see His power BDB 906, KB 1157, Qal infinitive construct, cf. Psa 59:17; Psa 62:11

3. see His glory BDB verb above assumed (a double object)

Exactly how the power and glory were manifested is not stated but since the word glory is used of the Shekinah glory (i.e., cloud) during the wilderness wanderings (cf. Exo 16:7; Exo 16:10; Exo 24:16-17; Exo 40:34-35; Lev 9:6; Lev 9:23; Num 14:10; Num 16:19; Num 20:6), possibly something like 1Ki 8:11 occurred again (the other option is a vision of God Himself, like Isaiah 6 or Ezekiel 1; Ezekiel 10).

Psa 63:3-5 These verses describe how the psalmist praises God because of His lovingkindness (see SPECIAL TOPIC: LOVINGKINDNESS (HESED) is better than life.

1. his lips will praise God BDB 986 II, KB 1387, Piel imperfect

2. he will bless God as long as he lives BDB 138, KB 159, Piel imperfect

3. he will lift up his hands BDB 669, KB 724, Qal imperfect

4. his soul is satisfied BDB 959, KB 1302, Qal imperfect, cf. Psa 36:8

5. his mouth offers praises with joyful lips BDB 237 II, KB 248, Piel imperfect

Psa 63:4 lift up hands See note at Psa 28:2.

in Your name See Special Topic: The Name of YHWH .

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

Title. A Psalm. Hebrew. mizmor. App-65.

when, &c. See 1Sa 22:5; 1Sa 23:14-16.

My soul = I myself. Hebrew. nephesh.

longeth = fainteth. Occurs nowhere else.

In. Some codices, with Syriac, read “like”.

thirsty = weary.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Psa 63:1-11

Psa 63:1-11 is a psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah. Now, from Jerusalem west lies the coastal plains, fertile valleys, beautiful lush orange groves, and apricot and pear and peach orchards, and all. From Jerusalem east lies the Judean wilderness, just outside of Jerusalem. Just beyond Bethany you begin to drop down into that great African rift to the area of the Dead Sea 1,200 feet below sea level at its surface. And that area from Jerusalem east gets very little rain. Maybe about an inch a year, and so it is quite a wilderness area. And it is known as the Judean wilderness. David spent quite a bit of time in the Judean wilderness fleeing from Saul.

O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee ( Psa 63:1 )

And I’ll tell you, you can get thirsty down in that Judean wilderness. Actually, Bishop Pike died of thirst there in the Judean wilderness in his quest for the historic Christ. Too bad he wasn’t looking for the living Christ, he probably would still be around.

my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and a thirsty land, where no water is; [I desire] to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary ( Psa 63:1-2 ).

So David is using the bareness of the wilderness to speak actually of the bareness of his own soul. And there are times it seems when our souls become very barren and very parched, where we long again to feel the presence of God. To see and to feel that power of God working in us once more. “I desire to see Thy power and Thy glory as I have seen in the sanctuary.”

Because thy loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: and I will lift up my hands in thy name ( Psa 63:3-4 ).

And so David lifted up his hands in the name of the Lord, to worship God and to praise Him.

Now we, it seems, become very stilted in our worship and we oftentimes become so formal. Some of you have maybe never just lifted up your hands in the name of the Lord to worship the Lord or to praise Him. And there are exhortations in scripture, “Lifting up holy hands,” and all. And one thing about the Jewish people that is really beautiful is that they are very uninhibited in their worship and in their praise. Even there at the Western Wall today it’s always fascinating to go and to watch them as they are in their prayers and in their worship and they are uninhibited in their worship and in their praises. They, I don’t know, have sort of a traditional kind of a bowing of the head, and all. And we have noticed it even with the little boys, that they’ll have their prayer book, and as they’re reading their prayers, even the little kids, will start rocking with the prayer books as they are reading the prayers to the Lord. And some of the rabbis down there at the wall, they really get into it. I mean, they really almost dance, just getting going back and forth, you know, as they are reading their prayers. And they get loud and it is a very interesting thing to watch these people in their uninhibited worship. But we want to be proper. And yet, David said, “I will lift up my hands in Thy name.”

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate upon thee in the night watches ( Psa 63:5-6 ).

If you have problem with insomnia, use it as an advantage to just meditate on the Lord on the night watches.

For thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me. But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go down into the lower parts of the earth. They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes. But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that sweareth by him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped ( Psa 63:7-11 ). “

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

This is said to be A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. I suppose, therefore, that it was composed when he fled from Jerusalem because of the cruel treachery of his son Absalom. He must have been heart-broken, and stricken with the greatest possible sorrow as he fled away with his faithful followers into the wilderness of Judah. But even there he praised his God; and he did not sing unto him with old and stale Psalms, but with a new song. How restful and calm he must have been, in his great sorrow, to sit down even in the wilderness of Judah, and make a new hymn of praise unto the Lord! How gloriously he begins!

Psa 63:1. O God, thou art my God;

The psalmist has no doubt about this great fact, he does not hesitate or falter, but he makes the positive assertion, O God, thou art my El, my mighty God, strong to deliver me. In the sixty-second Psalm, he had finished up with the power of God: God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God. So he begins this new song with the great name El, which expresses the might and power of God: O God, thou art my El, my mighty God;

Psa 63:1. Early will I seek thee:

People in the wilderness have hard beds to lie on, and they sleep all the fewer hours. David was up in the morning early, and he began the day with prayer to God: Early will I seek thee. While the dew is on the grass, the dew of the Spirit shall be upon my soul. He means also, I will seek thee at once, immediately, now, without delay. But how could he seek the God who was already his God? Thou art my God; early will I seek thee. Brethren, nobody ever seeks another mans God. Till God is your God, you will not want to seek him; and when you have him, you will seek him yet more and more.

Psa 63:1. My soul thirsteth for thee,

He had a strong passion for God. There is, sometimes, an unbearable, insatiable pang of the body, which you cannot forget; and David had an insatiable longing of soul, which nothing could make him forget: My soul thirsteth for thee.

Psa 63:1. My flesh longeth for thee-

Even his flesh, his body-not his carnal nature,-but his body mastered by his soul, was caused to yield its little help towards the making of this verse: My flesh longeth for thee-

Psa 63:1. In a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

And this world is just like that. To the most of Christians, the six days of the week take them through the wilderness, and the Sabbath brings them to an oasis in the desert, an Elim, a place where there are wells of living water. But oh! what longings they have after God! What did David want when he was in the wilderness?

Psa 63:2. To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.

He did not want the sanctuary so much as to see God in the sanctuary. Brethren, it is well to have a love to our own place of worship, but it is infinitely better to have a soul longing for the God we worship, and to feel that the place of worship is nothing unless God be there.

Psa 63:3. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life my lips shall praise thee.

In the wilderness, when my comforts are cut off, when my son, who was my darling, is seeking my life, my lips shall praise thee, for still thy lovingkindness is better than life.

Psa 63:4. Thus will I bless thee while I live:

As long as I live, I will praise thee; every breath of mine shall be perfumed with thankfulness and adoration.

Psa 63:4. I will lift up my hands in thy name.

In astonishment at the power of thy great name, and in confidence will I lift them up when they have been hanging down in weakness. I will go forth in holy activity, with uplifted hands, in thy name.

Psa 63:5.My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness;

Orientals, in their feasts, are very fond of fat such as you and I would hardly eat; they think that the choicest part of their diet. So David, using his own metaphor, says that God would satisfy his soul as with the very marrow and fatness of joys.

Psa 63:5. And my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:

A heart full of grace makes a mouth full of praise. When God makes thee inwardly to be content with himself, thou wilt be outwardly full of thanksgiving and praise.

Psa 63:6. When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.

Of course, in the wilderness, they had to set a watch against Absalom and his men; and David very likely could hear the noise in the camp as they changed the sentries, and marked the hours of the night. Oh! said he, while I lie awake, and the watchers are on guard all around, I will make the night to be a time of spiritual feasting: My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and I will make a song at night unto the God who giveth songs in the night: my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.

Psa 63:7-8. Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth hard after thee:

If he could not keep pace with his Lord, and did in some measure lose the joy of walking with God, then he would run after him. If thou canst not lean on Christs arm, keep close at Christs heel; be as near him as thou canst, like a dog who keeps close to his master: My soul followeth hard after thee. Where did David get the grace and the strength thus to follow after God? Listen.

Psa 63:8. Thy right hand upholdeth me.

There is the secret upholding of divine grace, even when the soul cannot attain the fellowship at which it aims. When we are struggling to be near to God, let us thank the Lord who, by his Spirit, worketh in us the heavenly ardor that makes us run to him. The last three verses of the Psalm describe what would become of Davids enemies.

Psa 63:9. But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth.

The wicked always grovel, they never rise to higher things; and their course shall be downward,-downward to the grave, downward to eternal death.

Psa 63:10. They shall fall by the sword:

They took the sword; they shall perish by the sword. They were seeking to slay David; they shall be themselves slain.

Psa 63:10. They shall be a portion for foxes.

Not for lions; but for foxes, or jackals, for that is the word; the jackals shall gnaw them in pieces.

Psa 63:11. But the king shall rejoice in God;

David was the king; so you see that he did not rejoice in the slaughter of his enemies, but he did rejoice in his God.

Psa 63:11. Every one that sweareth by him shall glory:

Those who were true and loyal to the king would have reason for rejoicing when the rebels were overthrown; and those who were true and loyal to God would have still greater reason for exultation.

Psa 63:11. But the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.

Every true man must be glad that it is so. The mouths of liars will be stopped by the sexton with a shovel full of earth, if in no other way; but every lying tongue in all the world shall be silent one day at the judgment bar of God. The Lord bless to us the reading of his Word! Amen.

Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible

Psa 63:1-2

DAVID’S CRY TO GOD FROM THE DESERT

SUPERSCRIPTION: A PSALM OF DAVID; WHEN HE WAS IN THE WILDERNESS OF JUDAH.

This is a very beautiful psalm of devotion to God. Matthew Henry wrote that, “Just as the sweetest of Paul’s epistles were those sent out from a Roman prison, so some of the sweetest of David’s Psalms are those that were penned, as this one was, in the wild desolation of the Dead Sea desert.

All but the timid scholars agree with Rawlinson who wrote: “All the indications agree exactly with the superscription that this psalm was composed by David as he fled through the wilderness of Judea toward the Jordan during the revolt of Absalom.

The authorship and occasion of this psalm are made certain by the fact that the author was a king (Psa 63:11), who was temporarily denied access to the tabernacle in Jerusalem, and who cried out to God from a parched desert. These conditions point unerringly to King David during his flight through the wilderness of Judea from the enmity of Absalom.

Delitzsch more particularly identified David’s location with that arid strip of desert just west of the Dead Sea.

There are five divisions in the psalm, the first four with two verses each, and the fifth taking in the last three verses.

Psa 63:1-2

“O God, thou art my God; earnestly will I seek thee:

My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee,

In a dry and weary land where no water is.

So have I looked on thee in the sanctuary,

To see thy power and thy glory.”

“O God, thou art my God” (Psa 63:1). “In the Hebrew, these words are: [~’Elohiym], [~’Eli]. [~’Elohiym] is plural and [~’Eli] is singular.? Spurgeon commented on this as, “Expressing the Mystery of the Trinity and the Mystery of their Unity, along with that of the Spirit of God.

“Early will I seek thee” (Psa 63:1). This is the KJV rendition of this clause; and we have chosen it here because of the long traditions associated with this rendition. Reginald Heber’s immortal hymn, “Holy, Holy, Holy,” memorializes these words in the first stanza.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty! Early in the morning, our song shall rise to thee.

Holy, holy, holy, Merciful and Mighty, God over all, and blessed eternally.

Kidner gives a scholarly defense of this rendition.

“Where no water is” (Psa 63:1). There is no reason for taking these words in some figurative or mystical sense. The parched desert just west of the Dead Sea reminded David of how hungry and thirsty his soul was for God.

“So have I looked upon thee in the sanctuary” (Psa 63:2). “Some have interpreted this to mean that David was here granted a vision of God just as clear and distinct as he had seen in the sanctuary. Such a theophany is not unreasonable, for God surely did grant such a vision to Joshua in the conquest of Canaan. The threat to the Davidic dynasty, David’s kingdom being a type of the Messianic kingdom, and the heavenly necessity that David’s heart should have been comforted and strengthened in this situation – all these things might very well indeed have led to such a theophany.

Then, there is the mystery of that little word, “So,” standing at the head of Psa 63:2, which will surely bear this interpretation. It is no embarrassment to us that many scholars reject it.

Such a vision of God, as McCaw admitted, “Would explain the sudden transition from sadness to great joy. It would also explain the confidence and prophetic certainty of the entire psalm, which among other things, accurately announced the end of Absalom’s rebellion as being accomplished by the wholesale death (literally) of the whole rebellious army, leaders and all (Psa 63:9-10).

E.M. Zerr:

Psa 63:1. The name God is used twice and is from two different originals. The first refers to a supreme Being as a ruler; the second has the special significance of a powerful One. David was not actually in want of the necessary things of life. He used such conditions to compare the feeling he had for the need of divine help.

Psa 63:2. This verse names the things he longed for in the preceding one. It would not be a new experience, for he had seen them in the sanctuary. He wished for a repetition or continuance of the same.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

Here the conviction which has been the inspiration of the two previous psalms reaches a consummation of expression. The song can hardly be divided, for it runs on in a continuous outpouring of praise. The singer is beset by difficulty and sadness, and yet the statement of this at the beginning and at the close, constitutes a background which throws into clearer relief the sure confidence of the soul in God.

Beginning with the affirmation, O God, Thou art my God, the singer declares his thirst in a dry land for the same visions of God he had seen in the sanctuary in former days. Immediately the song ascends to higher levels. The past is the inspiration of the present. Over all diverse and difficult circumstances it rises in triumph because it knows God. Happy indeed is the soul who is able to make sorrow the occasion of a song, and darkness the opportunity for shining. Two things are necessary for such triumph as this. These are indicated in the opening words of the psalm. First, there must be the consciousness of personal relationship, “O God, Thou art my God”; and, second, there must be earnest seeking after God: “Early will I seek Thee.” Relationship must be established. Fellowship must be cultivated.

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

the Longing Soul Abundantly Satisfied

Psa 63:1-11

Ever since the third century this has been the morning song of the Church. The superscription tells us that it was written in the wilderness of Judah, probably during the events recorded in 2Sa 15:23-28; 2Sa 16:2; 2Sa 17:16. Notice the many references to the life of the soul. These are the many considerations of our mortal pilgrimage! My soul thirsteth; my soul longeth; my soul shall be satisfied; my soul followeth hard after thee.

The soul thirsting, Psa 63:1-4

Let us be on the alert to see Gods power and glory, not only in the sanctuary, but in dry and thirsty lands. How sad and weary, r.v., is life without God!

The soul satisfied, Psa 63:5-7

To desire God is to have Him. To long for Him is to be at the well-head. To remember Him on the bed rests us. To meditate on Him in the night is to have the dawn. The shadow of His wings is absolute safety.

The soul in hot pursuit, Psa 63:8-11

God is always in front of us. The Savior went before; we must follow in His steps, but there ought to be as little space as possible between us. Another turn of the road, and you will see Him!

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

Psa 63:1

In this text there is a prostration, an appropriation, an obedience, and a now.

I. It is a great thing to have grand views of God, to get some approach to an idea of the exceeding greatness of God. We go to God too much for what we want to get. We ought to go to God, and meditate upon Him, and worship Him for what He is in Himself-His attributes, His glory.

II. Important as this is, it is of infinitely more importance to be able to say, “Thou art my God.” This is faith. Nature can say, “O God;” but only the believer can say, “My God.”

III. To those who can say that, the last part of David’s words and his firm resolve will come as a very easy and a necessary thing; they cannot help saying it: “Early will I seek Thee.” For it is attraction that does it. The secret of all true religion is attraction. As soon as God is “my God,” there is a force which compels me to it; I cannot help coming nearer and nearer to Him; it is my necessity; it is my life.

IV. True religion is essentially an early thing. “They that seek Me early shall find Me.” It is the spring seeds that make the richest harvests, and a God sought early will be a God found ever.

J. Vaughan, Sermons, 9th series, p. 189.

I. The Psalmist stood alone, we will suppose, at the tent-door watching the night. The light of moon and stars fell on a wide, grassless, unwatered country, spread far and wide before him; and the low, indefinite sounds of the desert crept up to his feet, bringing with them the sense of mystery and awe, and sent their quiet with a touch of trouble to his heart. The mystery of night and solitude created a vague longing, the impression of the thirsty land deepened the longing through association with the appetite of thirst, and both became, wrought upon in that receptive moment by the excited spirit, the longing of the soul for union with the mystery and love of God.

II. Brought through nature to prayer, he remembers old days when God was near to him. The soul of the man is now alone with God, and communes with Him by memory. Doubt and hardness of heart depart. Sorrow is round the Psalmist, but he forgets it; difficulty before him, but it seems nothing. He loses self, and bursts in the midst of sadness into joy. “Thy loving-kindness is better than life; my lips shall praise Thee,” etc.

III. The rush of joy ceases at the end of the sixth verse, and the meditative part of the song begins with the seventh. The experience is over: the trouble, the prayer, the recollection, the joy. The result is twofold: the sense of God’s righteousness as his own, the sense of joy in trust in God. And both brought peace into his heart. “My soul trusted in Thee. Thy righteousness clings close to me.”

IV. The sense of being God’s own care, of being at one with Him, leads the Psalmist beyond, outside himself. He loses himself in prayer for others. The Psalm that began in self-consciousness ends in self-forgetfulness.

S. A. Brooke, The Spirit of the Christian Life, p. 80.

What thirst means in a tropical wilderness none but those who have passed through it can tell. It is an overpowering and a paralysing need. All this the Psalmist had felt. He had wandered in his shepherd days through those vast and gorgeous wildernesses; he had felt what thirst was; and when, in later days, he lay upon his bed, the contrast between the grandeur of that scenery and his unconquerable thirst became to him a parable of life. As in the long marches through the desert sands, in the awful blaze of an Eastern noon, he had sighed for the pasture land and the springs, so life seemed but a dry and weary waste until his soul was satisfied with the sight of God. It is a parable of the life, not of the Psalmist only, but of the world; it is a picture of God’s education of our race. He does not all at once satisfy our mouth with good things. He teaches us through the discipline of thirst and want. He lets each age tread its own path, work out its own problems, cope with its own difficulties, and be brought to Him at last by the constraining force of an unsatisfied desire.

I. If we look at the first ages of our faith, we see that it did not all at once convince men of its truth, as the sun that rose this morning told all who had eyes to see that a light was shining. Men came by it by many paths, and the greatest of all these paths led them through the splendid scenery of philosophy. To the better sort of men philosophy was a passion; it absorbed all the other interests of life. Side by side with philosophy was superstition. It was not until all other waters had been found to be bitter that the mass of educated men came to drink of the living water which the Christian faith supplied-the water of the knowledge of God in Christ.

II. The parable is being fulfilled again before our eyes in our own time. Alike from the mountain-tops, and the ravines, and the far-off stars, and from the depths of the deep seas, there shine out splendours upon splendours of new knowledge and new possibilities of knowledge, which seem to lift us into a higher sphere of living than that which to our forefathers was possible. It is splendid scenery, the world has never seen its like, but splendid as it is, there are needs, the deepest needs of the soul, which it does not, which it cannot, satisfy. Consciously or unconsciously, in a thousand different ways, men in our time are thirsting for God.

III. And that thirst is satisfied. To the simple-minded Psalmist the satisfaction was to appear before the visible symbol of God’s presence at Jerusalem. The soul’s satisfaction is to realise the presence of God. The other name for it is faith. It is the seeing of Him who is invisible.

E. Hatch, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxviii., p. 40.

I. Consider the prayer of the Psalm. For what does David pray? Not for what we might have prayed had we been in his circumstances. Put yourself in his place-a fugitive in the wilderness on the edge of what seems ruin. Most of us would have had only one prayer, viz., to be lifted out of the mire. But no prayer for material advantage rises from David’s lips. What he wants is God. His prayer is for God to come nigh; he longs for God as in a dry and thirsty land where no water is.

II. Observe the elements of his prayer. (1) He wants the vision of God. Sight is the regal faculty, the clearest, surest, largest of the senses; and as you have seen some friend stand near you, so he has known God near to him: traced the features of the soul of God, seen Him in the sanctuary, as he was helped by the glow and tide of worship. (2) He wants the love of God. He had tasted it, and he says it is better than life. (3) He expects the help and the protection of God. With innumerable enemies, he wants an infinite defence, the shadow of a wing, soft, gentle, perfect protection. (4) There is the desire that God would vindicate his right. He expected and desired that God would plead the cause of his soul, and wherein he was right would take his part and give him his heart’s desire.

III. Notice the lessons of this prayer. (1) Do not lightly part with your belief in God. (2) Pray more fervently. (3) In order to be able to pray, do as David tells you he did: “Follow hard after God.”

R. Glover, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxx., p. 228.

I. Take, first, the spiritual longings of the true believer, and it will be found, as a rule, that they have the following characteristics: (1) They are occasioned by some experience of trial; (2) they are founded on some past experience of God’s goodness; and (3) they are finally and fully satisfied in God.

II. Consider the case of awakened sinners. Their misery is a hopeful condition if only they will rightly interpret their heart-yearnings, and go to the only source where they can be satisfied. It is for God the soul of the awakened sinner is crying; therefore let him beware of attempting to satisfy his heart with anything short of God. Turn from God on Sinai to God in Christ. Listen to Him who says, “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink.”

III. Consider the heart-yearnings of the yet unconvinced worldling. In every soul there are sighings after happiness which, if men only understood them aright, are really thirstings after God. Until the heart be cured, all will be to us as to the Preacher: vanity and vexation. And this cure of heart God in Christ performs for us by His Holy Spirit.

W. M. Taylor, The Christian at Work, Sept. 4th, 1879.

The text might form a motto for what is termed, in the modern phrase, “personal religion.”

I. “My God.” The word does not represent a human impression, or desire, or conceit, but an aspect, a truth, a necessity of the Divine nature. When God, the perfect Being, loves the creature of His hand, He cannot divide His love. He must perforce love with the whole directness, and strength, and intensity of His being; for He is God, and therefore incapable of partial and imperfect action. And on his side, man knows that this gift of Himself by God is thus entire; and in no narrow spirit of ambitious egotism, but as grasping and representing the literal fact, he cries, “My God.”

II. There are two causes within the soul which might indispose us for looking more truly and closely at the truth before us. (1) Of these causes, the first is moral; it is the state of unrepented, wilful sin. (2) The other cause is intellectual. It may without offence be described as the subjective spirit, which is so characteristic and predominant an influence in the thought of our day. In plain English, this spirit is an intellectual selfishness, which makes man, and not God, the monarch and centre of the world of thought.

III. In the truth that God has created us, we see much of the meaning of the Psalmist’s words. But we see even more when we reflect that He has created us for Himself. That which would be selfishness in a creature is in the great Creator a necessary result of His solitary perfection. The knowledge and love of our Maker is not, like the indulgence of a sentiment or a taste, a matter of choice. For every man who looks God and life steadily in the face, it is a stern necessity. Not to serve God is. to be in the moral world that which a deformity or monster is in the world of animal existence. It is not only to defy the claims of God. It is to ignore the plain demands of our inner being, to do violence to the highest guidance of our mysterious and complex life.

H. P. Liddon, University Sermons, 1st series, p. 1.

References: Psa 63:1.-F. W. Farrar, In the Days of thy Youth, p. 285; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iv., p. 125.

Psa 63:1-2

Notice:-

I. Some of the characteristics of public worship. (1) The text suggests the promise of special nearness to God. The expression of the Psalmist is not only that he desires to see the power and glory of God in the sanctuary, but that he may realise communion with God Himself. In the sanctuary David looked for special nearness to God, the nearness of friendship, and reconciliation, and protection, and love. (2) What is the cause of this realised nearness to God in the sanctuary, and by what stages do we arrive at it? These stages are progressive, beginning with the enlightened mind, proceeding with the subjugated will, and ending in the surrendered affections, Heaven drawing us with its cords of love. (3) There is indicated in this desire of the Psalmist a heartfelt love to God, a growing delight in sacredness, a pleasure in worship, because we love Him whom we serve. Obedience is not obedience if it be not a heart-offering, returning love for love, and finding in the happiest feelings of our nature both the incentive to duty and its reward.

II. Notice the delight which, as the text suggests, we ought to feel in contemplated public worship. (1) A part of the joy which David would look for in the sanctuary would be the joy of spiritual repose. (2) Another part of the delight which the Psalmist found in public worship would be in its giving greater vividness to his anticipations of the bliss of the life to come.

D. Moore, Penny Pulpit, No. 3166.

References: Psa 63:1, Psa 63:2.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxiv., No. 1427; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii., p. 119.

Psa 63:1-11

This Psalm, with its passion of love and mystic rapture, is a monument for us of how the writer’s sorrows had brought to him a closer union with God, as our sorrows may do for us, like some treasure washed to our feet by a stormy sea. The key to the arrangement of the Psalm will be found in the threefold recurrence of an emphatic word. In the first verse we read, “My soul thirsteth for Thee;” in the fifth verse, “My soul shall be satisfied;” in the eighth verse, “My soul followeth hard after Thee.” These three points are the turning-points of the Psalm; and they show us the soul longing, the longing soul satisfied, and the satisfied soul still seeking.

I. We have the soul longing for God. (1) This longing is not that of a man who has no possession of God. Rather is it the desire of a heart which is already in union with Him for a closer union; rather is it the tightening of the grasp with which the man already holds his Father in heaven. All begins with the utterance of a personal, appropriating faith. (2) Upon that there are built earnest seeking, expressed in the words “Early”-that is to say, “Earnestly”-“will I seek Thee,” and! the intensest longing, breathing in the pathetic utterance, “My soul thirsteth for Thee,” etc. (3) Notice what it is, or rather whom it is, that the Psalmist longs for. “My soul thirsts for Thee.” All souls do. Blessed are those who can say, “Thou art my God.” (4) Notice when it was that this man thus longed. It was in the midst of his sorrow. (5) This longing, though it be struck out by sorrow, is not forced upon him for the first time by sorrow. The longing that springs in his heart is an old longing: “So have I gazed upon Thee in the sanctuary, to see Thy power and Thy glory.” (6) This longing is animated by a profound consciousness that God is best: “Because Thy loving-kindness is better than life.” (7) This longing is accompanied with a firm resolve of continuance: “Thus will I bless Thee while I live.”

II. In the second portion of the Psalm, which is included in the next three verses, we have the longing soul satisfied. (1) The fruition of God is contemporaneous with the desire after God. (2) The soul that possesses God is fed full. (3) The satisfied soul breaks into the music of praise. (4) This satisfaction leads to a triumphant hope. The past of the seeking soul is the certain pledge of its future.

III. The final section of the Psalm gives us the satisfied soul still following after God. The word translated “followeth” here literally means to cleave or to cling. (1) “My soul cleaveth after God.” Desire expands the heart; possession expands the heart. More of God comes when we can hold more of Him, and the end of all fruition is the renewed desire after further fruition. (2) There is also very beautifully here the co-operation and reciprocal action of the seeking soul and the sustaining God. We hold, and we are held. (3) The soul thus cleaving and following is gifted with a prophetic certainty. David’s certainty of the destruction of his foes is the same triumphant assurance, on a lower spiritual level, as Paul’s trumpet-blast of victory, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” etc.

A. Maclaren, Christ in the Heart, p. 243.

References: Psa 63:2.-G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 251. Psa 63:3.-J. M. Neale, Sermons on Passages from the Psalms, pp. 162, 170. Psa 63:7.-H. Allon, Congregationalist, vol. viii., pp. 305, 820; J. Armstrong, Parochial Sermons, p. 76; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii., p. 559; W. M. Statham, Christian World Pulpit, vol. viii., p. 214. Psalm 63-A. Maclaren, Life of David, p. 250. Psa 65:1, Psa 65:2.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvii., No. 1023.

Fuente: The Sermon Bible

Psalm 63

Heart Longings

1. To see Thy power and glory (Psa 63:1-4)

2. Satisfied longings (Psa 63:5-11)

A Psalm of David when he was an outcast in the wilderness of Judah. Thus it fits in well with the outcast remnant, thirsting after God, longing to see His power and His glory displayed. And these longings are created in their hearts by the Holy Spirit, as in our hearts also. These longings will be satisfied in the coming day of His manifestation, when His people shall praise and worship Him.

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)

thou: Psa 31:14, Psa 42:11, Psa 91:2, Psa 118:28, Psa 143:10, Exo 15:2, Jer 31:1, Jer 31:33, Zec 13:9, Joh 20:17

early: Psa 5:3, Psa 78:34, Job 8:5, Pro 1:27, Pro 1:28, Pro 8:17, Son 3:1-3, Hos 5:15, Mat 6:33

soul: Psa 42:1, Psa 42:2, Psa 84:2, Psa 119:81, Psa 143:6, Joh 7:37, Rev 7:16, Rev 7:17

flesh: Psa 102:3-5, Son 5:8

dry and thirsty land, where no water is: Heb. weary land without water, Exo 17:3, Isa 32:2, Isa 35:7, Isa 41:18, Mat 12:43

Reciprocal: Gen 21:15 – the water Gen 34:8 – The soul Deu 12:20 – I will Deu 18:6 – and come with 1Sa 23:29 – General 2Sa 15:25 – he will bring 2Sa 23:5 – desire 2Sa 23:15 – longed 1Ki 1:36 – the Lord 1Ch 11:17 – of the water 1Ch 16:14 – the Lord Neh 6:14 – My God Psa 8:1 – our Psa 27:8 – Thy Psa 65:9 – and waterest it Psa 73:26 – flesh Psa 119:20 – soul Psa 119:148 – eyes Psa 122:1 – was glad Pro 25:25 – cold Son 2:5 – Stay Son 2:16 – beloved Son 8:6 – love Isa 26:8 – we Isa 26:9 – my spirit Isa 41:17 – seek Isa 44:3 – dry ground Isa 55:1 – every Eze 19:13 – in a dry Hos 13:5 – great drought Amo 8:13 – General Zep 3:18 – sorrowful Mat 5:6 – are Mat 17:4 – it is Luk 6:21 – for ye shall be Luk 11:24 – dry Phi 3:12 – I follow 1Th 2:17 – endeavoured

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

MANS RELATION TO GOD

O God, Thou art my God.

Psa 63:1

Wherever man is found he builds two thingshe builds a hearth, the centre of his social and individual life, and he builds an altar, the symbol of that tendency in him which directs his thoughts and his heart towards God. Wherever you touch the history of mankind in any age you find that man is social and he is religious. He has a home and he has a temple. He advanced much in the cultivation of his social life; in the cultivation of his spiritual and moral life, he advanced but little until Jesus Christ came. Until God gave a revelation to the world more than half the world was enslaved, and hopelessly enslaved, and the ultimate appeal was always either to pure force or to pure passion. But in his spiritual things, in religion, he could get no further than thisthe altar he builds must be dedicated to the Unknown God. And with the Unknown God how many pretended known ones? He must worship, and he must find an object of worship, and yet he feels in his quest he is never satisfied, because he has never reached the truth.

I. There is one religion that stands alone in the world.There is one religion that differs from every system that has come from man, and it claims for the cause of that difference that it is not from man at allthat its origin is with God. And this religion, that differs from all other religions, pronounces as the first thing the foundation upon which all else must restthat God is the Creator of all that is not God, and that His creation is separate from Himself. There is only one creed in the world; all the religions that ever have been you can sum up in one termthey are all alike in essence, they are the same, of the same origin, they are what is called Pantheism. They are idolatrous; the man who worships money, the man who worships himself (a vast portion of the whole race have no other worship than that), they are all pantheisticthat is, they make a creature of some sort into God. Now here, at the very first page of our religion and our religious book, in the very first utterance of that religious body which has lasted now 2000 years, and has, with all that can be said against it, blessed the world as it was never blessed before, the first utterance of our creed is thisGod is on one side, and all else is at the other; and the relation between the two is thisHe brought out of nothingness all else that is. Now apply that to yourself. I am Gods creature. He found a prompting which bade Him call to the abyss of nothingness, and He produced me. I was called out of nothingness by God. That means that I belong to Him in a sense in which nothing can ever belong to me.

II. If God has called me out of nothingness into being, He also sustains me from passing altogether into the nothingness from which he called me.This creative act of God, if I may so express it, is continuous. He sustains us. In Him, says St. Paul, we live, and move, and have our being. Now what He does He does for a purpose. He called me into being and gave me liberty; He gave me this head of mine and this heart of mine in order that I might do three thingsthat I might know Him, love Him, and fulfil His Will; and I am sinning against the primary truth that is written in my nature when at any time in my life I give myself up to other things than those for which I was createdto know Him, to love Him, and to do His Will. And then I know this from experience in two waysI know that other things do not satisfy me; and I know when I see a man or woman who is spending his or her life in learning to know God better, I see a sainta man or woman who is really performing the end for which they were designed. I know that all else disappoints; I know it must end in confusion.

III. God shows us His truth in order that it may bless us.You have an infinite capacity of blessedness in your own bosom. You can have the very happiness of God and none can take it from you. You can possess it for ever. It is that you recognise Him as your Creator Who has called you out of nothingness, Who in His love sustains you, and in His love (for He is love, and never can be anything but love) endowed you with your freedom in order that you might merit it by learning to know, to love, and to serve Him in this life.

Rev. W. Black.

Illustration

When I saw his hands wandering over the counterpane, and he picked at the threads, and his features were drawn as sharp as a needle, I knew there was only one way for him; and then he cried out suddenly: God! God! God! Now I, to comfort the gentleman, told him I hoped there was no need to think of God just then; and so he died.

Probably many of you recognise these words. They are put into the mouth of a bad woman by Shakespearea bad woman who saw a bad man die. Mistress Quickly describes the death of Falstaff. I suppose what gives Shakespeare his place in the estimation of men is thisthat outside the pages of the Bible, which is truer to man than any other book, probably he comes next. His characters are undying. Why? Because they are true to nature. He has taken in this particular instance the most unlikely man of all the men that he has drawn, and he has shown us that there is something in that man. He referswe should not expect itto God; and we feel it is true. We get at thisthat to man, to every man, to every member of the human race who can think, God is the inevitable, God is the ultimate thought.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

Breathing after the Sanctuary.

A psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

It is entirely natural that, after this displacing of every false confidence, that God might have His true place as the whole rightful confidence of men, a psalm of the sanctuary should follow, -the breathing of the soul after God as this. “David in the wilderness of Judah” might well be the writer of such a psalm; but his circumstances could be but the occasion, and there is evidently contemplated a much greater King.

1. The first section shows us God as thus sought, the only and eager desire of the soul. He seeks early for Him; his soul thirsting, his flesh pining, in a dry, thirsty, waterless land. The epithets increasing in emphasis show the intensity of the conviction, how thoroughly the truth in the last psalm has been apprehended by the soul. He recalls what he had once seen of the divine power and glory in the sanctuary: -think here of Him who had left the glory which He had with the Father before the world was! -and he longs for this again, praising Him for loving-kindness better than life itself, a joy that makes God supreme in the heart that holds it. And this cup has in it no excess, while it never fails. A joy found in the unchanging nature of God, it shall endure because He endures: so that the heart can say, Thus will I bless Thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in Thy Name.”

2. The second section shows the double confirmation of this joyous confidence, in his own experience and in the end of his adversaries. For himself he can testify to perfect satisfaction of soul; which will bear reflection in those quiet hours when the shadows fall upon all other things, and one is apart from all influences that would hinder realization of the truth. Then in the consciousness of divine succor, the very darkness shall be like the shadow of sheltering wings: rest shall send forth with renewed energy in the track of the glory moving on before, and not without the support of the right hand of strength.

The same hand acts for him against all enemies. While seeking to destroy his life, they themselves go into the depths of the earth. We think of Korah and the great enemies of Christ, the beast and false prophet, gulfed in a living death; while their followers are slain with the sword as here, and left upon the battle-field to the jackals.

And then the King is seen in His victory. It is no mere triumph of strength, but of right and truth, the end of the unceasing warfare since the world began. It is the triumph of faith that has clung to and followed, amid suffering and apparent defeat, the bruised heel of the Captain of salvation. “They shall glory, every one that sweareth by Him” who is the living Truth: “for the mouth of those that speak falsehood shall be stopped.”

Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary

Psa 63:1. O God O thou who art God, and the only living and true God, the author and end of all things, the Governor and Judge of men and angels, and the sole object of their worship; thou art my God Mine by creation, and therefore my rightful owner and ruler; mine by covenant and my own consent, and therefore the object of my highest esteem, most fervent desire, and most entire trust and confidence. Early will I seek thee Which clause is all expressed in one word in the Hebrew, , ashacherecha, (a most significant term, from , shachar, aurora, vel diluculum, the dawn of day, or morning twilight,) a phrase which no translation can very happily express. Buxtorf interprets it thus, Quasi aurorare, vel diluculare dicas, words which will not admit of being rendered into our language. The sense of them, however, is, I will prevent, or be as early as the first approach of light in seeking thee. Perhaps no version can better express the precise meaning and force of the original term than that of the Seventy, namely, , but it is equally difficult, if not impossible, to be literally translated into English. We find the same Hebrew phrase Isa 26:9, which our translators interpret in the same manner, namely, With my spirit within me will I seek thee early. The primary meaning of the word early, in both passages, is early in the morning, or before, or with the dawn of day; which implies the doing it (namely, seeking God) with the greatest speed and diligence, taking the first and best time for it. And to seek him, the reader will observe, is to covet his favour as our chief good, and to consult his glory as our highest end: it is to seek an acquaintance with him by his word, and mercy from him by prayer: it is to seek union with him, and a conformity to him by his Spirit. My soul thirsteth for thee Eagerly desires to approach thee, to have access to thee, and to enjoy communion with thee. Thirsting, in all languages, is frequently used for earnestly longing after, or passionately desiring any thing. My flesh longeth for thee Or, languisheth, or pineth away, as , chamah, the word here used, seems properly to signify. R. Sal. renders it, arescit, it is dried up, withered, or wasted. In some approved lexicons it is interpreted of the eye growing dim, the colour changing, and the mind being weakened. As used here by the psalmist, the word implies the utmost intenseness and fervency of desire; as though it impaired his sight, altered the very hue of his body, and even injured his understanding; effects oftentimes produced by eager and unsatisfied desires. In a dry and thirsty land where no water is Where I have not the refreshing waters of the sanctuary, and where I thirst not so much for water to refresh my body, although I also greatly want that, as for thy presence, and the communications of thy grace to refresh my soul. He experienced the vehemence of natural thirst in a wilderness, where he could get no supply of water; and by that sensation he expresses the vehemence of his spiritual thirst, of his desire after God, and the ordinances of his worship.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Psa 63:4. I will lift up my hands in thy name. This was swearing fidelity to the Lord. The heathens did the same to their idols; they kissed their hand, or they stretched it out. Job 31:27. Psa 44:20. Davids generals did the same, when they swore fidelity to Solomon. 1Ch 29:24. An Indian writer, cited by our missionaries, speaks to the same effect; An idol is not Brumha [God] therefore lift not up your hand to it. Virgil refers to the same custom among the gentiles.

Oremus pacem, et dextras tendamus inermes. NEID, 11:414.

Let us ask for peace, and extend our right hands unarmed.

Psa 63:9. The lower parts of the earth; that is, to hell, for graves they had none. See on Job 26:5.

Psa 63:11. But the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped. How was that accomplished? When Saul came out against David with three thousand of his guards, David marked the place where he lay, and in the dead of night he and the swift-footed Abishai went over to the camp, and found Saul and all around him in profound repose. David restrained Abishai from slaying the Lords anointed, but brought away Sauls spear, and the cruse of water. In the morning David enjoyed a full triumph of generalship over Abner. He cried from the adjacent hill, Oh Abner, Abner; answerest thou not, Abner? Thou art worthy to die, for thou hast not kept the head of my lord the king. Abner made no defence. But Saul found a tongue. Is this thy voice my son David? Thou art more righteous than I. If a man find his enemy will he let him go again? Oh, yesterday it was rebel David, traitor David; to-day, it is my son! The battle was now over. Saul had not only lost his spear, but the whole camp was disarmed. No man in future durst say that David was forming treasons against the life of Saul, or conspiracies against his country.These, christian, these are the weapons by which thou also shalt subdue all thy foes; for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God.

REFLECTIONS.

We have here a psalm of piety, of piety in exile, and labouring under the greatest privations. This ancient piety is founded on confidence: Oh God, thou art my God, early will I seek thee. My opening eves shall be an offering to the Lord. In the morning thou shalt hear my voice.

Piety is supreme in its breathings after God. My soul thirsteth for thee; my flesh longeth for thee, in a dry land where no water is. The commandment is justly founded, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart. All earthly good, yea the crown itself is not to be named in comparison of God. Oh how the royal exile desired once more to tread the hallowed courts, to see the altars smoke with victims, to see the faces of the devout men, to hear the law read, and the prophets preach. There is a glory in devotion far surpassing all human delights.

There is also a blessed reality in religion: because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee, in the sublime of discourse and song. How strange is this language to the ears of worldly men. What, better than life! Yea, and the language is not solitary. There is a joy which surpasses the joy of those whose corn and wine are increased, and which fills the soul with the most seraphic delight, a joy unspeakable and full of glory.

The enjoyments of religion leave the world very far behind. Who among the votaries of pleasure is satisfied with the delights of the senses, and the gratification of the passions? How soon is the epicure satiated at the feast, the ear with music, and pride mortified that my friend was noticed, and I overlooked. Who among the rich and the great is satisfied with wealth and honour? Will feeding a fire extinguish it? Divine enjoyment bears away the palm, it reposes the soul on the bosom of its God.

But mark well, all these consolations are connected with the diligent use of means. The mind of the royal exile was thus favoured, while he meditated on the statutes of the Lord in the night watches; while he followed hard after God, and praised him with joyful hymns. Oh my soul, follow thou him in this safe, this ancient road.

To crown all, piety in trouble sees deliverance by faith, before that deliverance can actually come. It sees its enemies fall, as Davids foes on mount Gilboa; it sees confusion cover persecutors, and all liars clothed with shame. Oh my soul, rally thou around the banners of thy Saviour and king, swear to the Lord, and glory in the wings of his defence.

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

LXIII. Written by one who has seen Gods glory in the Temple and resolved to praise Him all his life. He is confident his enemies will perish.

Psa 63:11 refers to a Hebrew king, possibly Maccabean. The language of the Ps. is late.

Psa 63:1. Follow mg.In a dry: read, as a dry. As the parched soil pines for rain, so the Psalmist for union with God.

Psa 63:2. So: read as.Place Psa 63:4 immediately after Psa 63:2.

Psa 63:6. When has no apodosis: read also.

Psa 63:10 b. Render jackals (mg.).

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

PSALM 63

The confidence of a godly soul that longs after God in a dry and thirsty land – a scene where there is nothing to minister to the soul.

Psalm 61 is the cry of an overwhelmed soul; Psalm 62, the cry of a waiting soul: Psalm 63, the cry of the longing soul.

(vv. 1-2) The psalm opens by expressing the longing of the heart for God, by a god-fearing Jew, cast out of the land, and far from the sanctuary. Both soul and body – the whole man – longs for God, while yet in a desert scene where there is no water – nothing to refresh the soul.

The longing of the soul is according to the knowledge of God formed in the sanctuary. There, in God’s own dwelling, God is displayed in His power and glory.

(vv. 3-7) The psalmist proceeds to give a two-fold reason for his delight in God. First, because he has found that God’s loving-kindness is better than life. Joy in God is better than the joys of this earthly life; therefore, says the psalmist, will I bless thee while I live. Rejoicing in God, he finds his soul satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and his lips filled with praise; even though he is as yet in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is. Moreover, in the silent watches of the night, when all nature excitement is hushed and the soul is alone, he will meditate upon God.

The psalmist gives as a second reason for his delight in God the help that he has found in God in all his sorrows, leading him to rejoice in the protection of God.

(vv. 8-10) The practical result of this delight in God is then described. The soul follows hard after God, and is upheld by His mighty power. If God is thus for him, who can be against him? Therefore he can with confidence say of his enemies that they will fall under the sword of judgment, and be left on the battlefield as a prey to jackals.

(v. 11) The destruction of his enemies will lead to the display of the King in His victory, rejoicing in God. All that trust in the King shall glory; while those who have sought to prevail by lies will be confounded.

This God-fearing man longs to see the display of God’s power on the earth (v. 2). In verses 8 to 10 he anticipates the power of God in supporting His own, and in dealing with all who oppose His people; in verse 11, he anticipates the glory, when the judgment of the wicked will be followed by the reign of Christ as King.

Fuente: Smith’s Writings on 24 Books of the Bible

63:1 [A Psalm of David, when he was in the {a} wilderness of Judah.] O God, thou [art] my God; early will I seek thee: my soul {b} thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

(a) That is, of Ziph 1Sa 23:14.

(b) Though he was both hungry and in great distress, yet he made God above all meat and drink.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

Psalms 63

King David wrote this individual lament psalm when he was in the wilderness of Judah away from the ark and the place of formal worship (2Sa 15:25). This could have been when he was fleeing from Saul (1 Samuel 23) or from Absalom (2Sa 15:13-30). [Note: Kirkpatrick, pp. 352-53.]

The theme of trust, which Psalms 61, 62 emphasize, reaches a climax in Psalms 63. Even though David was miles away from the ark, he still worshipped God.

"There may be other psalms that equal this outpouring of devotion; few if any that surpass it." [Note: Kidner, p. 224.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

1. David’s thirst for God 63:1-2

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Evidently David’s thirst for water in the wilderness led him to express his soul’s thirst for God. "Earnestly" is literally "early." As soon as David arose in the morning, he became aware of his need for God-just as he needed water shortly after waking up. He was speaking of his sense of dependence on God.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Psa 63:1-11

IF the psalmist is allowed to speak, he gives many details of his circumstances in his song. He is in a waterless and weary land, excluded from the sanctuary, followed by enemies seeking his life. He expects a fight, in which they are to fall by the sword, and apparently their defeat is to lead to his restoration to his kingdom.

These characteristics converge on David. Cheyne has endeavoured to show that they fit the faithful Jews in the Maccabean period, and that the “king” in Psa 63:2 is “Jonathan or [better] Simon” (“Orig. of Psalt.,” 99, and “Aids to Dev. Study of Crit.,” 308 seqq.). But unless we are prepared to accept the dictum that “Pre-Jeremian such highly spiritual hymns obviously cannot be” (u.s.), the balance of probability will be heavily in favour of the Davidic origin.

The recurrence of the expression “My soul” in Psa 63:1, Psa 63:5, Psa 63:8, suggests the divisions into which the psalm falls. Following that clue, we recognise three parts, in each of which a separate phase of the experience of the soul in its communion with God is presented as realised in sequence by the psalmist. The soul longs and thirsts for God (Psa 63:1-4). The longing soul is satisfied in God (Psa 63:5-7). The satisfied soul cleaves to and presses after God (Psa 63:8-11). These stages melt into each other in the psalm as in experience, but are still discernible.

In the first strophe the psalmist gives expression in immortal words to his longing after God. Like many a sad singer before and after him, he finds in the dreary scene around an image of yet drearier experiences within. He sees his own mood reflected in the grey monotony of the sterile desert, stretching waterless on every side, and seamed with cracks, like mouths gaping for the rain that does not come. He is weary and thirsty; but a more agonising craving is in his spirit, and wastes his flesh. As in the kindred Psa 42:1-11 and Psa 43:1-5, his separation from the sanctuary has dimmed his sight of God. He longs for the return of that vision in its former clearness. But even while he thirsts, he in some measure possesses, since his resolve to “seek earnestly” is based on the assurance that God is his God. In the region of the devout life the paradox is true that we long precisely because we have. Every soul is athirst for God; but unless a man can say, “Thou art my God,” he knows not how to interpret nor where to slake his thirst, and seeks, not after the living Fountain of waters, but after muddy pools and broken cisterns.

Psa 63:2 is difficult principally because the reference of the initial “So” is doubtful. By some it is connected with the first clause of Psa 63:1 : “So”-i.e., as my God-“have I seen Thee.” Others suppose a comparison to be made between the longing just expressed and former ones, and the sense to be, “With the same eager desire as now I feel in the desert have I gazed in the sanctuary.” This seems the better view. Hupfeld proposes to transpose the two clauses, as the A.V. has done in its rendering, and thus gets a smoother run of thought. The immediate object of the psalmists desire is thus declared to be “to behold Thy power and glory,” and the “So” is substantially equivalent to “According as.” If we retain the textual order of the clauses, and understand the first as paralleling the psalmists desert longing with that which he felt in the sanctuary, the second clause will state the aim of the ardent gaze-namely, to “behold Thy power and Thy glory.” These attributes were peculiarly manifested amid the imposing sanctities where the light of the Shechinah, which was especially designated as “the Glory,” shone above the ark. The first clause of Psa 63:3 is closely connected with the preceding, and gives the reason for some part of the emotion there expressed, as the introductory “For” shows. But it is a question to which part of the foregoing verses it refers. It is probably best taken as assigning the reason for their main subject-namely, the psalmists thirst after God. “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Our desires are shaped by our judgments of what is good. The conviction of Gods transcendent excellence and absolute sufficiency for all our cravings must precede the direction of these to Him. Unless all enjoyments and possessions, which become ours through our corporeal life, and that life itself, are steadfastly discerned to be but a feathers weight in comparison with the pure gold of Gods lovingkindness, we shall not long for it more than for them.

The deep desires of this psalmist were occasioned by his seclusion from outward forms of worship, which were to him so intimately related to the inward reality, that he felt farther away from God in the wilderness than when he caught glimpses of His face, through the power and glory which he saw visibly manifested in the sanctuary. But in his isolation he learns to equate his desert yearnings with his sanctuary contemplations, and thus glides from longing to fruition. His devotion, nourished by forms, is seen in the psalm in the very act of passing on to independence of form; and so springs break out for him in the desert. His passion of yearning after God rebukes and shames our faint desires. This mans soul was all on the stretch to grasp and hold God. His very physical frame was affected by his intense longing. If he did not long too much, most men, even those who thirst after God most, long terribly too little. Strong desire has a joy in its very aching; feeble desire only makes men restless and uncomfortable. Nothing can be more preposterous than tepid aspirations after the greatest and only good. To hold as creed that Gods lovingkindness is better than life, and to wish a little to possess it, is surely irrational, if anything is so.

The remaining clauses of Psa 63:3 and Psa 63:4 form a transition to the full consciousness of satisfaction which animates the psalmist in the second part. The resolve to praise, and the assurance that he will have occasion to praise, succeed his longing with startling swiftness. The “So” of Psa 63:4 seems to be equivalent to “Accordingly”-i.e., since Thy lovingkindness is such supreme good, and is mine because I have desired it. Continual praise and as continual invocation are the fitting employments of those who receive it, and by these alone can their possession of the lovingkindness bestowed be made permanent. If empty palms are not ever lifted towards God, His gifts will not descend. When these are received, they will fall like morning sunbeams on stony and dumb lips, which before were only parted to let out sighs, and will draw forth music of praise. There are longings which never are satisfied: but God lets no soul that thirsts for Him perish for lack of the water of life. Wisdom bids us fix our desires on that Sovereign Good, to long for which is ennobling and blessed, and to possess which is rest and the beginning of heaven.

Thus the psalmist passes imperceptibly to the second strophe, in which the longing soul becomes the satisfied soul. The emblem of a feast is naturally suggested by the previous metaphor of thirst. The same conviction, which urged the psalmist forward in his search after God, now assures him of absolute satisfaction in finding Him. Since Gods lovingkindness is better than life, the soul that possesses Him can have no unappeased cravings, nor any yet hungry affections or wishes. In the region of communion with God, fruition is contemporaneous with and proportioned to desire. When the rain comes in the desert, what was baked earth is soon rich pasture, and the dry torrent beds, where the white stones glittered ghastly in the sunshine, are musical with rushing streams and fringed with budding oleanders. On that telegraph a message is flashed upwards and an answer speeds downwards, in a moment of time. Many of Gods gifts are delayed by Love; but the soul that truly desires Him has never long to wait for a gift that equals its desire.

When God is possessed, the soul is satisfied. So entire is the correspondence between wants and gift, that every concavity in us finds, as it were, a convexity to match it in Him. The influx of the great ocean of God fills every curve of the shore to the brim, and the flashing glory of that sunlit sea covers the sands, and brings life where stagnation reigned and rotted. So the satisfied soul lives to praise, as the psalm goes on to vow. Lips that drink such draughts of Lovingkindness will not be slow to tell its sweetness. If we have nothing to say about Gods goodness, the probable cause is our want of experience of it.

That feast leaves no bitter taste. The remembrance of it is all but as sweet as its enjoyment was. Thus, in Psa 63:6, the psalmist recounts how, in the silent hours of night, when many joys are seen to be hollow, and conscience wakes to condemn coarse delights, he recalled his blessednesses in God, and, like a ruminant animal, tasted their sweetness a second time. The verse is best regarded as an independent sentence. So blessed was the thought of God, that, if once it rose in his wakeful mind as he lay on his bed, he “meditated” on it all the night. Hasty glances show little of anything great. Nature does not unveil her beauty to a cursory look; much less does God disclose His. If we would feel the majesty of the heavens, we must gaze long and steadfastly into their violet depths. The mention of the “night watches” is appropriate, if this psalm is Davids. He and his band of fugitives had to keep vigilant guard as they lay down shelterless in the desert; but even when thus ringed by possible perils, and listening for the shout of nocturnal assailants, the psalmist could recreate and calm his soul by meditation on God. Nor did his experience of Gods sufficiency bring only remembrances; it kindled hopes. “For Thou hast been a help for me; and in the shadow of Thy wings will I shout for joy.” Past deliverances minister to present trust and assure of future joy. The prerogative of the soul, blessed in the sense of possessing God, is to discern in all that has been the manifestations of His help, and to anticipate in all that is to come the continuance of the same. Thus the second strophe gathers up the experiences of the satisfied soul as being fruition, praise, sweet lingering memories that fill the night of darkness and fear, and settled trust in the coming of a future which will be of a piece with such a present and past.

The third strophe (Psa 63:8-11) presents a stage in the devout souls experience which naturally follows the two preceding. Psa 63:8 has a beautifully pregnant expression for the attitude of the satisfied soul. Literally rendered, the words run, “cleaves after Thee,” thus uniting the ideas of close contact and eager pursuit. Such union, however impossible in the region of lower aims, is the very characteristic of communion with God, in which fruition subsists along with longing, since God is infinite, and the closest approach to and fullest possession of Him are capable of increase. Satisfaction tends to become satiety when that which produces it is a creature whose limits are soon reached; but the cup which God gives to a thirsty soul has no cloying in its sweetness. On the other hand, to seek after Him has no pain nor unrest along with it, since the desire for fuller possession comes from the felt joy of present attainment. Thus, in constant interchange satisfaction and desire beget each other, and each carries with it some trace of the others blessedness.

Another beautiful reciprocity is suggested by the very order of the words in the two clauses of Psa 63:8. The first ends with “Thee”; the second begins with “Me.” The mutual relation of God and the soul is here set forth. He who “cleaves after God” is upheld in his pursuit by Gods hand. And not in his pursuit only, but in all his life; for the condition of receiving sustaining help is desire for it, directed to God and verified by conduct. Whoever thus follows hard after God will feel his outstretched, seeking hand inclosed in a strong and loving palm, which will steady him against assaults and protect him in dangers. “No man is able to pluck them out of the Fathers hand,” if only they do not let it go. It may slip from slack fingers.

We descend from the heights of mystic communion in the remainder of the psalm. But in the singers mind his enemies were Gods enemies, and, as Psa 63:11 shows, were regarded as apostates from God in being traitors to “the king.” They did not “swear by Him”-i.e., they did not acknowledge God as God. Therefore, such being their character, the psalmists confidence that Gods right hand upheld him necessarily passes into assurance of their defeat. This is not vindictiveness, but confidence in the sufficiency of Gods protection, and is perfectly accordant with the lofty strains of the former part of the psalm. The picture of the fate of the beaten foe is partly drawn from that of Korah and his company. These rebels against Gods king shall go where those rebels against His priest long ago descended. “They shall be poured out upon the hands of the sword,” or, more literally still, “They shall pour him out,” is a vigorous metaphor, incapable of transference into English, describing how each single enemy is given over helplessly, as water is poured out, to the sword, which is energetically and to our taste violently, conceived of as a person with hands. The meaning is plain-a battle is impending, and the psalmist is sure that his enemies will be slain, and their corpses torn by beasts of prey.

How can the “kings” rejoicing in God be the consequence of their slaughter, unless they are rebels? And what connection would the defeat of a rebellion have with the rest of the psalm unless the singer were himself the king? “This one line devoted to the king is strange,” says Cheyne. The strangeness is unaccounted for, but on the supposition that David is the king and singer. If so, it is most natural that his song should end with a note of triumph, and should anticipate the joy of his own heart and the “glorying” of his faithful followers, who had been true to God in being loyal to His anointed.

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary