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NOTES for Psa 63

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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.
3 Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.
4 Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.
5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:
6 When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.
7 Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.
8 My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.
9 But those that seek my soul, 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 foxes.
11 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.
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Life without God resembles a parched desert. The desert where many of the events described in the Bible took place and where the words of the psalm were composed vividly conveys what happens in the soul of a person cut off from the Source of life and the Giver of living water. Not only the soul but also the flesh languishes in one who is cut off from true being. This is not merely a poetic image, but an expression of the important biblical truth about the significance of our bodies and the proper way to treat them. Our bodies were not given to us by the Creator by accident; they are not the prison of the soul, and in our bodies we too can glorify Him.

For the psalmist, the Lord's mercy is more precious than life. To some, these words may seem like a beautiful phrase, a rhetorical device detached from reality. Yet the bitter experience of many generations has shown time and again that life apart from the Lord becomes a slow dying.

Other notes

 
For Psa 63:1-10
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.
3 Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.
4 Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.
5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:
6 When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.
7 Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.
8 My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.
9 But those that seek my soul, 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 foxes.
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The psalmist, and we after him, often have to ask for help in the face of open enemy attacks...  Read more

The psalmist, and we after him, often have to ask for help in the face of open enemy attacks. Yet more than once we also hear a plea for help in hiding from the enemies’ treachery. Enemies seek to act not only with the point of a sword in open battle, but often with lies and cunning from around a corner. Their behavior is vividly portrayed, and it is all too familiar, too “human.” Yet there is no humanity in this “human” behavior.

This is understandable, for the Lord is the source of what we call humanity. He is above everything earthly, yet only with Him does life on earth become truly possible. To remain on a human level, we must strive toward Him.

Conversely, when we establish ourselves solely on the human level, we easily slip below it—and we are fortunate if we do not fall all the way to the bottom. Meanwhile, evil cunningly devised to harm one’s neighbor sooner or later returns to the schemers themselves. This has long been known, and it almost feels awkward to repeat it yet again. But repetition does not make this old thought untrue.

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