Psalms63

New King James Version

TranslationKJV WEB ASV ESV NIV NASB NKJV NLT

¹ O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.

² So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory.

³ Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You.

⁴ Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.

⁵ My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

⁶ When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches.

⁷ Because You have been my help, Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.

⁸ My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me.

⁹ But those who seek my life, to destroy it, Shall go into the lower parts of the earth.

¹⁰ They shall fall by the sword; They shall be a portion for jackals.

¹¹ But the king shall rejoice in God; Everyone who swears by Him shall glory; But the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.

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Psalms 63

Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Psalms 63. The full AI study guide (summary, themes, context) has its own page.

Chapter Summary

In this chapter: David's desire toward God. (1, 2). His satisfaction in God. (3–6). His dependence upon God, and assurance of safety. (7–11).

vv1-2

Early will I seek thee. The true Christian devotes to God the morning hour. He opens the eyes of his understanding with those of his body, and awakes each morning to righteousness. He arises with a thirst after those comforts which the world cannot give, and has immediate recourse by prayer to the Fountain of the water of life. The true believer is convinced, that nothing in this sinful world can satisfy the wants and desires of his immortal soul; he expects his happiness from God, as his portion. When faith and hope are most in exercise, the world appears a weary desert, and the believer longs for the joys of heaven, of which he has some foretastes in the ordinances of God upon earth.

vv3-6

Even in affliction we need not want matter for praise. When this is the regular frame of a believer's mind, he values the loving-kindness of God more than life. God's loving-kindness is our spiritual life, and that is better than temporal life. We must praise God with joyful lips; we must address ourselves to the duties of religion with cheerfulness, and speak forth the praises of God from a principle of holy joy. Praising lips must be joyful lips. David was in continual danger; care and fear held his eyes waking, and gave him wearisome nights; but he comforted himself with thoughts of God. The mercies of God, when called to mind in the night watches, support the soul, making darkness cheerful. How happy will be that last morning, when the believer, awaking up after the Divine likeness, shall be satisfied with all the fulness of God, and praise him with joyful lips, where there is no night, and where sorrow and sighing flee away!

vv7-11

True Christians can, in some measure, and at some times, make use of the strong language of David, but too commonly our souls cleave to the dust. Having committed ourselves to God, we must be easy and pleased, and quiet from the fear of evil. Those that follow hard after God, would soon fail, if God's right hand did not uphold them. It is he that strengthens us and comforts us. The psalmist doubts not but that though now sowing in tears, he should reap in joy. Messiah the Prince shall rejoice in God; he is already entered into the joy set before him, and his glory will be completed at his second coming. Blessed Lord, let our desire towards thee increase every hour; let our love be always upon thee; let all our enjoyment be in thee, and all our satisfaction from thee. Be thou all in all to us while we remain in the present wilderness state, and bring us home to the everlasting enjoyment of thee for ever.

Key Words

PsalmH4210Hebrew

מִזְמוֹר: properly, instrumental music; by implication, a poem set to notes

DavidH1732Hebrew

דָּוִד: David, the youngest son of Jesse

wildernessH4057Hebrew

מִדְבָּר: a pasture (i.e. open field, whither cattle are driven); by implication, a desert; also speech (including its organs)

JudahH3063Hebrew

יְהוּדָה: Jehudah (or Judah), the name of five Israelites; also of the tribe descended from the first, and of its territory

GodH430Hebrew

אֱלֹהִים: gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative

GodH410Hebrew

אֵל: strength; as adjective, mighty; especially the Almighty (but used also of any deity)

seekH7836Hebrew

שָׁחַר: properly, to dawn, i.e. (figuratively) be (up) early at any task (with the implication of earnestness); by extension, to search for (with painstaking)

soulH5315Hebrew

נֶפֶשׁ: properly, a breathing creature, i.e. animal of (abstractly) vitality; used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental)

thirstsH6770Hebrew

צָמֵא: to thirst (literally or figuratively)

fleshH1320Hebrew

בָּשָׂר: flesh (from its freshness); by extension, body, person; also (by euphemistically) the pudenda of aman

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