Notice the intensity of his seeking, He says, earnestly I seek you. He is not just praying every once in a while. Second, he is strengthened as he remembers how God has helped him in the past. b. He stayed steady in the storm because he had the inner resource of Gods strength. When this is the regular frame of a believer's mind, he values the loving-kindness of God more than life. [Notice the contrasts: Davids mouth is full of praise, their lies. 1. As the king of Israel, he knew the pressures of leadership. David was a prophet and speaks this way here (Acts 2:30). 10But those who seek my life will come to ruin; they shall go down to the depths of the netherworld! The International Bible Lessons can be read at: David summarizes his renewed faith 8My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.He is fully dependent upon God and God is upholding him in his trial. But he is full of praise to God and worships with hands upraised. The idea is loyalty related to strong feelings of affection. Suddenly he finds time to spend with her! "Earnestly" is literally "early." Let me ask you this morning What trials are you going through today? Review your past week or month and ask yourself, Did my schedule reflect that seeking God was my number one priority? You say, Well, thats my priority, but Ive been under a lot of pressure! Pressure is what reveals your true priorities. (LogOut/ There is a determination here: I shall seek you earnestly (63:1b). When we are suffering and discouraged it is easy to push God away, to blame God, to become angry at God. Expositions on the Psalms. 3 Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. First, he is strengthened as heremembers who God is. And also all those who are loyal to him will exult. Changes will take effect once you reload the page. It is one of the most well-loved psalms. John Piper Sep 25, 1983. The title of this psalm is To the Chief Musician. They are seeking to kill him v. 9. The king;I, who am already anointed king, and who shall be actually king, when these mine enemies are fallen by the sword. But those that seek my soul, &c. That seek to take away my life; shall go into the lower parts of the earth Into the grave; and, if they repent not, into hell. ], Jesus stays behind in the temple. Gods powerful hand upheld and sustained David. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. Whether we are delivered or not (David here has a prophetic insight that he will be delivered) we can confess with David that Gods steadfast love is better than life. That even if things dont get better, we know God will take care of us. They will be delivered over to the power of the sword; they will be a prey for jackals [lit.]. There is no area of your life, be it your business, your family, your education, or whatever, where God is not an integral part. finally,he speaks prophetically in faith of Gods deliverance. i. His schedule seems packed. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain. He has gone from luxury to the wilderness; from power to weakness; from respect to dishonor; from safety to danger. Click on the different category headings to find out more. Now you know at what a high rate men value their lives; they will bleed, sweat, vomit, purge, part with an estate, yea, with a limb, yea, limbs, to preserve their lives. Second, he is strengthened as he remembers how God has helped him in the past. He told how he faced a time in his life when the opportunities for ministry were the greatest he had ever seen. God shall cut them off, and send them to their own place. Daniel 3, Follow Christian teaching on WordPress.com. belongeth mercy. He speaks of himself in the third person, either out of modesty or out of prudence. (Poole). He gives you eternal life as His free gift. Exegesis of Psalm 19 Corey Keating, Page 4. information from prior phrases. 11 Jam es O r , d .The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia Vol 4 (Gran Rapids: Wm. The primary sense of [the Hebrew word is] to glue together; from thence it signifies figuratively to associate, to adhere to, to be united with; and particularly to be firmly united with strong affection. (Chandler, cited in Spurgeon). We need 2 cookies to store this setting. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. JOSEPH A ALEXANDER Psalms Commentary (1864) Spurgeon had high praise for Alexander's work writing that it "Occupies a first place among expositions. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition The Lockman Foundation, Steve served as the pastor of Flagstaff Christian Fellowship from May, 1992 through his retirement in December, 2018. Evaluated by any criteria known, David's prophecies here are among the most remarkable in the Bible. This is a very beautiful psalm of devotion to God. What a remarkable fulfilment of David's prophecy came to pass. This is a very beautiful psalm that speaks to seeking after God in difficult times and finding faith to make it through. i. There is no division between sacred and secular; all of life is related to God. Then he meets the woman of his dreams. 22:5) or in the wilderness of Ziph, 1 Sa. Turkey satisfies our stomach, and pumpkin pie satisfies our sweet tooth, but only the Lord Jesus Christ satisfies the soul. We're commanded to not think it a strange thing when we encounter trials in our life. Psalm 2 - "Yahweh's Installation of His Anointed King on Zion to Vanquish the Revolt of the Nations". "The psalm integrates well with the Isaiah text. Now, though life be so dear and precious to a man, yet a deserted soul prizes the returnings of divine favour upon him above life, yea, above many lives. (Brooks, cited in Spurgeon), iii. 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 Sa. 63:3-5 These verses describe how the psalmist praises God because of His lovingkindness (see Special Topic at Ps. There are family pressures: finding the right mate and building a solid marriage in a culture where divorce is easy and accepted. Come near to the holy men and women of the past and you will soon feel the heat of their desire after God. RZKw >v|enw3o%7.i2.W(s^))~hvmZ/^=sxMK9pV;Z8/. ! Sometimes you have to work at the romance (which sounds contradictory, but its not). He spoke of the deep satisfaction that comes in a surrendered seeking of God, of receiving His great love, of praising God without reservation. Everyone has a set of priorities. This psalm helped them, as it will us, to stay focused on God in the midst of life's desert seasons-surrounded by the wilderness and loneliness of heart. Gods love nourished and refreshed David more than the water he needed. He considered the Lords loyal love even better than life itself. 7you have been my help. God has helped David out of many difficulties, including life threatening situations.And to think back about this builds up his faith. My soul follows close: Press toward the mark. Meditation on God fills a basic need in the heart of every person, as basic a need as food and drink. 3Because your steadfast love is better than life . "Better than life" (Psalms 63:3). . Davids thirst for God found relief as he praised Him. Luke2:40-52, How to overcome evil with good. Because You have been my help: Many of Davids psalms are simple cries for help. John 6:35, 4:14, Matt. The soul of David in Psalms 63:1 "thirsted" for God, but here the metaphor of physical hunger is employed to describe the soul's overwhelming desire for God and his healing fellowship. This is merely an Old Testament manner of speaking of the grave. Yes, because he calls Him my God. But he wanted more. How much do you desire to know God? In it, Jesus promised this. Yet it was a promise of God (first expressed in 1 Samuel 16), so by faith David could dare to think of himself as the king, and in that daring faith rejoice in God. You can learn all about his personality, his personal habits, and his family life. Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2009, All Rights Reserved. Have you spoken with God this morning? We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website. 3. I will lift up my hands, calling on your name. ." He knew his calling (king, 63:11) and that God would not fail to accomplish all that concerned him (Ps. If you or I were under the kinds of pressure David faced at this point in his life, I doubt if we would be writing songs. Read Matthew 5:10 at the top of this psalm. The way of the righteous. . 352-53.]. Do you allow a day to pass without converse with God? The meaning here is simply that the enemies of the king shall die. Verses 1-11. 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. Psalm 63:4. My soul clings to You (63:8a). Even though David was miles away from the ark, he still worshipped God. John Chrysostom (347-407) wrote that it was decreed and ordained by the primitive [church] fathers, that no day should pass without the public singing of this Psalm. He also observed that the spirit and soul of the whole Book of Psalms is contracted into this Psalm (cited by J. J. Stewart Perowne, The Book of Psalms, [Zondervan], p. 486). 124-26.] d. I will lift up my hands in Your name: The lifting of the hands was not only the common posture of prayer among the ancient Hebrews, it was especially appropriate for praise. God was at the center of Davids present and his future. Its an emotional psalm, coming out of the depths of Davids life, and it would be an injustice to pick the psalm apart while missing the feeling that it conveys. "But those that seek my soul to destroy it. Fellowship must be cultivated. (Morgan), (c) 2020 The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik ewm@enduringword.com. He meant, "Let the promotion of God's glory or honor be your aim in all that you do. If we did, the song would probably contain a lot of urgent requests: Help, God! . What a beautiful balance! If we take swearing by David as an expression of loyalty to him (as it is with swearing by Yahweh) this fits the context of a rebellion against David. There is a vast difference between knowing about a person and actually knowing that person. Early in the morning, our song shall rise to thee. c. Thus I will bless You: David did not mean this in the sense that a greater person bestows a blessing on a lesser. Scripture: Psalm 63:5-6. But David is following hard after God, as the old King James Version puts verse 8. People are good, and human relationships are a blessing from God. Give me my kingdom back. But rather, he prayed, I shall seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh yearns for You; Your love is better than life. What amazing statements! For you my body yearns; for you my soul thirsts, In a land parched, lifeless, and without water. 1A psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.a. There were three of these, the first, middle, and last; and the sleeplessness of the beleaguered king would seem to be indicated by his being awake, thinking of God, during the night watches. Now for the crucial question: Im assuming that you already know God personally through Christ. 2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding wyour power and glory. Psalm 63 speaks of praise and devotion given to God in gratitude, out of a rich sense of being blessed. 63:2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. 11But the king shall rejoice in God; all who swear by him shall exult, for the mouths of liars will be stopped.. This Psalm is filled with metaphors and creative imagery that is best understood through contextual knowledge. And then, right in the middle of it, Redpath was laid up with a stroke. Never was a rebellion snuffed out as suddenly and thoroughly as was Absalom's, several facets of which were outlined in the prophecies. Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice: The idea of the shelter of shadow of Gods wings is repeated many times in the psalms. Psalm 104:34 My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD.. Click to enable/disable Google reCaptcha. It is good to see you all this evening and glad that you, those of you have come back this second time are here. We're told in the New Testament that we are supposed to "count it all joy" when we fall into various trials. The address of God as "my God" is indicative thereof. I invite you to turn there in your Bibles. [Note: Wiersbe, The . 2. stream In the midst of his trial he prays, "1O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.". Its contents are read and sung by millions every day. * [Psalm 63] A Psalm expressing the intimate relationship between God and the worshiper. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. 224-226) nicely outlines it as God my desire (1-4); God my delight (5-8); and, God my defense (9-11). Solitude and stillness render the night watches a fit season for meditation on the so often experienced mercies of God; which, when thus called to remembrance, become a delicious repast to the spirit, filling it with all joy, and peace, and consolation. (Horne). Lifting up the hands toward God was a gesture of prayer (cf. Indeed, even our Lord Jesus Christ was tried and tested and tempted during his time on this earth. (Spurgeon, C. H. Lectures to my Students: Commenting and Commentaries)Rosscup adds: This is one of the more thorough older exegetical works on the Hebrew text. To know the President personally would require an introduction or occasion to meet, and then spending hours with him over a long period of time in many situations. Rebellion against God and Christ began at the arrest of Jesus ( Acts 4:23-26 ). The authorship and occasion of this psalm are made certain by the fact that the author was a king (Psalms 63:11), who was temporarily denied access to the tabernacle in Jerusalem, and who cried out to God from a parched desert. And the mouths of liars will be stopped. . . You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. Most commentators believe it to belong either to David's wilderness years before he came to the throne of Israel, or to his brief exile from the throne in the rebellion of Absalom. He is the bread of life and the living water, the one who fills those who hunger for righteousness (cf. During his reign, his son, Absalom, led a rebellion against him. This includes time in His Word, renewing your mind so that you can please Him. A. Scripture: Psalm 63. One of these paths has a future of glory and the other path will be stopped. 10. He was speaking of his sense of dependence on God. "[10] Christ himself adopted this beautiful metaphor (Matthew 23:37). As he remembers who God is, this leads him to worship God, even in his time of trial. Notice, briefly four things which characterize the person who seeks the Lord: My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness. He is never complacent, but satisfied. my soul. Verse 1: As our bodies need food and drink, so our *souls need something. In the midst of such pressures, there is one thing that will determine the course of your life: your priorities. 63 John 4:1-42. "[9] 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 (Psalms 63:9-10). Psa 63:5. This is the psalm where David writes a parable-song equating his walk with God to that of a shepherd taking care of his sheep. Psalm 63:1-8. Psalms is a collection of poems and one of only two Old Testament books authored by multiple authors. The theme of trust, which Psalms 61, 62 emphasize, reaches a climax in Psalms 63. He praises God now in some of the most beautiful language found anywhere in the Old Testament. And this is a God who is faithful. In Ps 63:1-8 verses the writer expresses his holy desires after God, and his confidence in him, and then in Ps 63:9-11 remaining three verses he prophesies the overthrow of all his enemies. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. It is a clear and judicious explanation of the text, and cannot be dispensed with. Psalm 63 is the 63rd psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee".In the slightly different numbering system of the Greek Septuagint version of the Bible and the Latin Vulgate, this psalm is Psalm 62.In Latin, it is known as "Deus Deus meus". Our website uses cookies to store user preferences. A young man ran after Socrates, calling, Socrates, Socrates, can I be your disciple? Socrates ignored him and walked out into the water. Again David pictured himself as a bird under the wing of its mother and as a dependent infant held by its parent. For You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy. 63:3 Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. Obedience. Shall go into the lower parts of the earth. (1) What the righteous man does not do. He knows that the steadfast love of God which he praised in verse 3, is strong with justice (cf. The bodies of the dead provided food for the wild beasts. Because You have been my help, 63. He compared this to the feeling of a stomach filled with the richest food. "The jackals are the scavengers of the East. I don't mean just saying prayers that are not spawned from the heart, of course. Why now, when the opportunities to serve You are so great? Ill never forget what he said next. Being faint and thirsty are mentioned in 2 Samuel 16:2 and 17:29. The man came up gasping for air. Acts6:1-6, The Parable of the Vineyard Tenants. Teach your children Psalm 63, and tell them about a better Thanksgiving. Sep 25, 1983. These people are liars v. 11. As you reflect on His great love and faithfulness toward you over the years, in spite of your failures, you ought to feel love for Him. Psalm 1 - The Two Ways: The Way of the Righteous and the Way of the Wicked". Get me out of here! David did write a song like that (Psalm 3). The words translated follows close have the sense of joining or gluing together, as in Genesis 2:24. iii. 62 DeClaisse-Walford, et al., The Book of Psalms, 622. 4. Forty-thousand of the rebel army died in the forest of Ephraim. Davids soul was at rest. Therefore, David says, My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me (63:8). It displayed the anticipation of gratefully receiving from God, and the sense of surrender to Him. The result of this remembering is that he is satisfied and full of praise to God. We all make time to do what we really want to do. David knew God would deliver him because God had elected him and had blessed him for his submission to the Lords will. And yet in all of this, David wasnt seeking for any of those things to fill the vacuum in his life. But the king shall rejoice in God: David was not yet on Israels throne and that promise still waited many years for fulfillment. Its not a duty; its a delight! Their enmity to David, and opposition to the counsel of God respecting him, he foresaw would be their death and their damnation, their ruin and their . He seeks God, they seek to kill him.]. Holy, holy, holy, Merciful and Mighty, God over all, and blessed eternally. David clings to God, but underneath it all, Gods powerful hand is under David. He will cut corners elsewhere if he has to, but he will not miss his time with this beautiful creature. Sometimes it has the idea of protection, as a mother bird shelters her young chicks. B Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1956) p. 2487. He seeks God, they seek to kill him. b. The commitment carries you through the hard times when the feelings may fade. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. You manage your money by considering what His Word says about it. f. When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches: David thought that there were not enough hours in the day to think upon Gods greatness and goodness. But that was far from all of it. Click to enable/disable _gid - Google Analytics Cookie. How does a person who lacks self-discipline go about getting it? The contrast to trusting God is to speak lies; we resort to lies when we dont trust God. But knowing that God will faithfully and loving watch over him is better than all that he lost his former life of good things. O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. God alone can do that. A psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. Far away from the temple, the psalmist feels spiritually distant from God. For I should not be able to praise God, unless He gave me to be able to praise Him. O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. Then there is the pressure of getting a good job and, once we get it, of doing well enough to keep it and be promoted. This comes from his encounters with God in worship 2So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary . The wicked would not prevail in the long run. The man followed him and repeated the question. He has fled from the throne. Psalm 63:1-11 One sign of a genuine believer is devotion to Christ. The fact is, its easy to fill your life with things other than God. a. Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. . Psalm 5. An accomplished scholar of the Psalms, Mark Futato next . On Sunday, they usually give God an hour, but He isnt the center of their lives; people are. We should seek Him every day by spending time praying and reading the Bible. B. As we seek God in our trial, let us be renewed in our faith. Verse 2: David wanted to see God's power and *glory in the *Temple in Jerusalem. Blessed is the man. Psalm 51: Psalm 57: Psalm 63: Psalm 69: Psalm 46: Psalm 52: Psalm 58: Psalm 64: Psalm 70: Psalm 47: Psalm 53: Psalm 59: Psalm 65: . Twenty thousand of Absalom's forces were slain by the sword in the battle that ended the rebellion, which was fought in the forest of Ephraim (2 Samuel 18:7f). David models this for us. it is you I seek! With no less than forty-thousand of Absalom's partisans to be buried, there was no earthly way that such a feat could have been accomplished. Two of the most well-known of these authors are Moses and . Absalom and Ahithophel, the leaders, led the way. There is no reason for taking these words in some figurative or mystical sense. We too need to earnestly seek after God in our time of trial. King David was a man who knew what it meant to live under pressure. By proceeding, you consent to our cookie usage. How does one go about making the change. And in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. But there is not one word of asking for temporal or even spiritual blessings. Can it be right for us to treat the Lord with mute indifference? (Spurgeon), iii. Psalm 65 - At the Temple, In the Earth. But those who seek my life, to destroy it: Davids deep communion with God did not take away his problems. "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled" (Matthew 5:6). Even in the middle of a calamity such as this rebellion, which would push many to fall apart emotionally, David had inner peace and calm. If you love God, youll make time to spend with Him because you delight to do so. An older translation put it more graphically; "Jesus set his face to . That which is bitter is called , root , stringere, from . Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer. O20 Z$Uqg>6%rW);oN:Z[^"eBz!Yk&:%r(7! Psalm 4 - "Faith Amid Opposition!" Reginald Heber's immortal hymn, "Holy, Holy, Holy," memorializes these words in the first stanza. He said that the Lord quietly impressed upon him, Alan, youve gotten your work ahead of your worship. Ouch! To seek after God means that there is always more, because God is an infinite person. We join athletic teams where there is more pressure to excel. Psa 63:6. No area was off limits to God. Psalm 63 background the journey to the wilderness ! Let there be no needless space between the Master and thee. (Meyer). May I ask a question of every professed Christian? (LogOut/ It includes time in praise and worship, expressing your love for Him. That God's lovingkindness toward those who enjoy fellowship in Him is indeed "better than life" is indeed attested by the thousands of martyrs through many centuries who have sealed with their blood the sacred truth of these blessed words. It can become an overpowering, all consuming desire. This is the God that he knows, has walked with and served his life. This is how much he is seeking after God. As the relationship developed you would begin to discover more and more about the man, not from an academic standpoint, but as a close friend. If v. 11 does mean swearing by King David, this is what Ittai does in 2 Samuel 15:21. v. 11 speaks of David as a king which doesnt fit his fleeing from Saul. SUPERSCRIPTION: A PSALM OF DAVID; WHEN HE WAS IN THE WILDERNESS OF JUDAH. is the interpretation added to the figure, as in Psalm 144:7. "[4] 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."[5]. For example, many people fill their lives with family and friends. EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES) Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges. Romans12:19-21, A true test of character: How you treat those weaker thanyou, Come to Jesus and find rest. Everyone who swears by Him shall glory; I have always been moved and challenged by Luke's description of Christ's decisive turn to the cross in Luke 9:51. In Ephesians 4:9, Paul referred to the grave of Jesus as "the lower parts of the earth." e. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness: David spoke of a satisfaction that too few people know, even among believers. Instead of anticipating destruction as the Lords enemies could, David confidently rejoiced. Psalm 4. 11Those who would hand over my life to the sword shall. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Verses 8-9 conclude the first section of the psalm by revealing the fruit of the psalmist's prescription for his own soul. 3:11). I will . Psa 63:1-2. U;Xy[j)SPT$p,/9O3u&&N';W9oT.=z{kk?z:hkT`[j.t*X60Z8 $~ewK5N}o%>0=.OzJ-G>~~Ya \]7IvrDHyAp]*f*&e q"h0xDZe mt)MPP#zg7C7|KOvs]'z$+$hI>%yTK|4%IS; p.>1^[!