Big Idea: Even in the “dry and parched land” of our problems, God’s love is still better than life.
Understanding the Text
Psalm 63 is an individual lament,1 which Kraus puts into his subcategory of “the prayer song of the persecuted and the accused,”2 for which the psalm certainly qualifies in view of “those who want to kill” him (63:9). It also contains elements of thanksgiving (63:3–7) and confidence (63:8–10),3 which is not unusual for lament psalms.
The psalmist, in a “parched land where there is no water” (63:1), recounts his previous experience in the sanctuary (63:2), just as the thirsty soul of Psalm 42, isolated in a foreign land, remembers going to the house of God (42:4). In the more immediate context, Psalms 61 and 63, both attributed to David, have affinities that may be more coincidental than intentional, but the similarities are of value in the broad scope of Book 2, especially the prayer for the king (61:6–7; 63:11) and the longing for the sanctuary (61:4; 63:2; see table 1). The longing for God’s presence, which began Book 2 (see “The Text in Context” in the unit on Psalms 42–43)—there a levitical longing—now is the king’s passion, matching up with David’s passion for God’s presence in Book 1 (see Pss. 16; 23; 26; 27).
Outline/Structure
The psalm moves along the lines of thirst for God, praise that arises from the vision of God in the sanctuary, and lament over enemies, which was evidently the occasion for the psalm.
1. Thirst for God in a dry and parched land (63:1)
a. Confession (63:1a–b)
b. Thirst for God (63:1c–f)
2. Vision of God in the sanctuary and life (63:2–8)
a. David’s vision of God in the sanctuary (63:2)
b. Vow to praise God because his love is better than life (63:3–5)
c. Night contemplation of God (63:6)
d. David’s worship in the sanctuary (63:7)
e. David’s faith and God’s support (63:8)
3. Complaint against David’s enemies (63:9–10)
a. His enemies’ intention to kill him (63:9a)
b. His assurance of their end (63:9b–10)
4. The king’s and Israel’s rejoicing and the silencing of the enemies (63:11)
Historical and Cultural Background
Delitzsch gives convincing reasons to assign Psalm 63 to the time of Absalom’s rebellion. His reasons are the following: (1) during Saul’s pursuit, David could not easily call himself “king”; (2) during his flight from Absalom he spent one or two days in the “fords in the wilderness” (2 Sam. 15:23, 28; 17:16), that is, the wilderness of Judah; (3) he was called “weary” (2 Sam. 16:2, 14; NIV: “exhausted”); and (4) he longs for the sanctuary (Ps. 63:2), which was not established, at least in Jerusalem, until his reign.4Yet, in view of the “Desert of Judah” in the title and the allusion to “a dry and parched land” (the Negev) in verse 1, the time could very well be David’s wilderness period.
The horror of war can be seen in the word pictures of verse 10: “the sword,” where the expression is literally, “they will pour him out [ngr, “to pour”; cf. 2 Sam. 14:14] on the handles [lit., “hands of”] the sword”; and “food for jackals,” a picture of the scavengers of the wilderness devouring their carnage.
Interpretive Insights
Title When he was in the Desert of Judah. While David was fleeing from Saul, he spent time in several places in the Judean wilderness (1 Sam. 23:14, 24; 24:1; 25:1; see also “Historical and Cultural Background”). The “Desert of Judah” lies between the Judean hill country and the Dead Sea. Rainfall is so minimal, and thus some regions so arid, especially in the eastern part, that the area is called “desert,”5but not “desert” in the sense of sand and sand dunes. “Wilderness” is probably a good compromise.
63:1 earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you.The word for “seek” (shhr) is different from the one used in a worship setting (bqsh). A. A. Anderson says the verb shhr belongs to wisdom language (Job 7:21; 8:5; 24:5; Prov. 1:28; 7:15; 8:17).6Whether or not it is a denominative verb from the word for “dawn” (shahar), verse 6 nevertheless looks back on the night, and the Septuagint has “I cry to thee early” (orthrizō; thus KJV, “early will I seek thee”). For “I thirst for you,” compare Psalm 42:2. The verb translated “longs” occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament. However, in parallel with the verb “thirst” in the previous colon of the verse, the meaning seems to be “to yearn.”7The memory of the Israelites’ thirst during the wilderness sojourn (Exod. 15:22–27; Deut. 8:15) may be in the psalmist’s mind, a crisis whose remedy is mentioned explicitly in Psalm 78:15–20.
63:2 I have seen you in the sanctuary.The verb “to see” (hzh) sometimes means “to have a vision” (“to gaze on the beauty of the Lord,” Ps. 27:4). The same root forms the noun “vision” (hazon) that describes a prophet’s oracle (e.g., Isa. 1:1), and it also forms the noun “seer” (hozeh). It appears that the psalmist is writing from the perspective of already having seen Yahweh in the sanctuary. Verses 2 and 4 (MT 63:3, 5) begin with “thus, so” (ken), which the NIV has not translated. But this word can have a resultant meaning, “for this reason,” which seems to be appropriate here. That is, the psalmist’s longing of verse 1 was a result, at least in part, of his experience in the sanctuary (63:2): “Thus I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and glory.” In parallel manner, the “thus, so” that begins verse 4 is a result of the vision of God in the sanctuary: (As a result of the fact that I have seen you in the sanctuary,) “thus I will praise you as long as I live.”
beheld your power and your glory.Psalms 78:61 and 132:8 speak of the ark of the covenant as God’s “power” (NIV: “might”). Psalm 96:6 also describes God’s “power [NIV: “strength”] and glory” in the sanctuary. It would logically follow that the suppliant’s singing “in the shadow of your wings” (63:7) is an allusion to the ark of the covenant with its winged cherubim on either end.
63:3 Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.The psalmist is convinced, most likely by his vision of God in the sanctuary, that life without God’s “love” (hesed) is not worth living. The verb “glorify,” or “extol” (shbh), occurs parallel to “praise” (hll) in Psalm 117:1, attesting to its other five occurrences in the Psalter as “praise.”8
63:4 I will lift up my hands.This gesture of worship was a symbol of reaching up to God, much like the expression “lift up my soul” (Ps. 25:1 ESV). It occurs in Psalms 28:2; 119:48; and 134:2, as well as here.
63:5 with the richest of foods.Literally, “my soul is satisfied as with marrow and fat.” This verse continues the thought of verse 4, “I will praise you as long as I live . . . just like my soul is satisfied with marrow and fat.” The “fat” of animals was reserved for the Lord (Lev. 3:16; 7:23), thus the idea of “choicest [or “richest”] of foods.” Quite marvelously the murderous plans of his enemies would fail, and they would become “food for jackals” (63:10), while he was eating “the richest of foods.”
63:6 I think of you through the watches of the night.The verb “think” (hgh) is the same verb translated “meditate” in Psalm 1:2. The night was divided into several “watches” (Judg. 7:19; 1 Sam. 11:11). In later Judaism there were three.
63:7 in the shadow of your wings.This metaphor occurs also in Psalms 17:8 and 36:7 (see also 61:4; 91:4). This may be a veiled reference to the wings of the two cherubim that flanked either end of the ark of the covenant. But more intimately, it is a description of the psalmist’s relationship to God and his protective presence.
63:8 I cling to you; your right hand upholds me.In Deuteronomy the verb translated here as “cling” describes Israel’s intimate relationship to God (Deut. 4:4; 10:20; 11:22; 13:4; 30:20; NIV: “hold fast”). The “right hand” usually being the stronger hand denotes God’s strength or God himself. This is an instance of synecdoche, the “right hand” meaning God’s whole being.
63:9 the depths of the earth.The idea is that the human spirit descends below the subterranean waters to the deep recesses of the earth (Job 26:5; Ps. 139:8). While the nature of that world after death is not very clear, there are arguably Old Testament texts that suggest hope of a better life (Pss. 16:10; 49:15; 139:8; Job 19:26), even a bodily resurrection (Isa. 26:19; Dan. 12:2).9Here, sadly, the picture is one of doom for the psalmist’s enemies.
63:10 food for jackals.The slain would be eaten by these omnivorous scavengers and not be given a proper burial, something that was greatly feared in ancient Israel (see 2 Sam. 21:10–14; 2 Kings 9:10). On “the sword,” see “Historical and Cultural Background.”
63:11 all who swear by God . . . the mouths of liars. The phrase “all who swear by God” literally reads, “all who swear by him,” where the NIV has interpreted “him” as God. While this may well be, there is evidence that the people sometimes swore by God and the king (1 Sam. 17:55; 25:26; 2 Sam. 11:11; 15:21),10even though the Israelites were commanded to swear by the name Yahweh and no other (Deut. 6:13). The “liars” are evidently those who want to kill the psalmist (63:9). If the background is David’s flight from Saul, then he is likely alluding to Saul and his men, or if Absalom’s rebellion, they are the supporters of Absalom.
Theological Insights
Kidner observes: “Once more the worst has brought out David’s best, in words as it did in deeds.”11The suppliant’s experience in the wilderness, most likely brought about by those who want to kill him (63:9), has caused him all the more to “thirst” for God (cf. 42:1). Furthermore, the hardship created by their murderous and lying designs has resulted not in his destruction but in the praise of God; and quite contrary to his enemies’ intentions, it has resulted in their own destruction—a boomerang effect.
At the same time, the psalmist’s experience in the sanctuary, where he has gazed on God’s power and glory (63:2), has taught him the real value of God’s love (hesed)—it “is better than life” (63:3; see “Teaching the Text”). With that settled value, the psalmist seeks God with his “whole being” (63:1). While David can never forget his enemies (63:9–10), his suffering in the wilderness of life and worship in God’s sanctuary combine to produce, as Paul has said of the Christian’s experience, “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:17 KJV).
Teaching the Text
When a psalm presents us with a memorable saying such as verse 3, we should try to determine what role that saying plays in the total message of the psalm: Is the saying the centerpiece of the message and every other piece fits around it? Or is it an auxiliary message that is just one component of a larger message complex? To determine that, we need to examine the context of the saying. In our present case, David begins by declaring that he has seen God “in the sanctuary,” where he has beheld his power and glory (63:2). Verse 3 then says something more about what he has learned there: “Your love [hesed] is better than life,” and because of that, he will praise the Lord. He would prefer to die rather than to live without God’s love (cf. Phil. 1:21). In the totality of biblical revelation, the love of God is the sine qua non for understanding God, so much so that John can equate God with love and write: “God is love” (1 John 4:8).
Then begins a section of praise (63:4–6) that flows naturally out of the statement of verse 3, thus suggesting that the statement of verse 3 is the fulcrum on which these two pieces move. That leads us to seek the theological ramifications of this saying, especially in the verses that follow it. The first, as already suggested, is that it leads the suppliant into praise (“Because . . . , I will praise you” 63:3–4). The more we learn about God, the more we will love him.
The second ramification is the satisfaction this conviction brings him. God’s love has been laid before him as a feast of the “richest of foods” (lit., “marrow and fat”; 63:5), reserved only for God but laid on the banquet table of the psalmist’s life. It is not overstating biblical theology to say that when God gives us his best, he gives us himself: “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32).
Third, the truth of verse 3 has infused the psalmist’s whole life to the extent that he thinks about God not just in his waking hours but also in the “watches of the night” (63:6). This gives his statement in verse 1 (“my whole being longs for you”) a ring of authenticity.
Fourth, the truth of verse 3 means that the psalmist “clings” to God, and God’s “right hand upholds” him (63:8). That is another way to express the truth of verse 1. The psalmist’s relationship to God—and ours should imitate this model—is encompassing, and he has come to the recognition that God is everything, his all in all.
Illustrating the Text
“My whole being longs for you.”
Personal Stories: Eugene Peterson tells the story of the beginnings of the church he and his wife, Jan, planted in Maryland in the 1960s in his book The Pastor: A Memoir. After meeting for two and a half years in the basement of their home, they built a sanctuary, encouraged and enabled by much enthusiasm and excitement in the congregation. After the dedication, Peterson noticed that attendance began to drop off. Even some of the people who had been most enthusiastic and involved in the project began to miss church. This caused him a lot of anguish, and he visited them, one by one, hoping to understand what was happening, only to discover that the enthusiasm evidently could not be sustained once the project was accomplished. Even the chairman of the building committee was going fishing on Sunday mornings rather than going to church. He explained that there were other things in life that he realized he was missing, and just to be out with a fishing rod in his hand and the quiet peace of nature all around was something he was newly discovering. Without judging people like these, we can admit that many of us need to adopt and learn to live by the motto “my whole being longs for you” (v. 1). When we live under that banner, and only then, will we come to confess that “your love is better than life” (v. 3).
An expectation for worship
Science: Many people have a very low expectation for worship. They just show up at church out of tradition or to “put in their time.” This was not the case for David (see 63:2). Science journalist Chris Berdik has argued, based on science, that expectation matters. Discussing the power of the “placebo effect” in medicine, Berdik argues that this same principle can be applied broadly to all areas of life. For instance, Berdik writes, “brain scans reveal that expectations about a wine’s quality (based on price or a critic’s review) actually change the level of activity in the brain’s reward centers when a person takes a sip. Highly-trained weight lifters can out-do their personal bests when they believe they’ve taken a performance booster.”12In other words, expectations matter. What might happen in worship if every Christian came with the expectation that they were going to see the power and glory of God? Choose to prepare for worship by expecting to meet the Lord!
Desire God.
Theological Book: When I Don’t Desire God: How I Fight for Joy, by John Piper. Piper writes about fasting as a way to deepen our hunger for God. He quotes William Law: “If you don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great.”13Almost everyone longs to say with integrity, “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you” (63:1). If you do not hunger for God, it is not because God does not satisfy. Rather, it is because your heart is divided between the Lord and the desires of the world.