Introduction
This psalm expresses David’s close relationship with God, he seeks after God at all times, he trusts Him and he is confident God is at work and will continue to work in his life.
Heading
‘A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah.’
Although the headings aren’t inspired by God, they are important because they give us some understanding about the Psalm and they help us to see why it was written. The headings usually tell us four things.
1. Who wrote them, probably wrote them or possibly wrote them.
2. Information about the historical background to the Psalm. Why it was written.
3. They tell us of the tune the Psalm was written to.
4. How it was used.
The heading tells us it was a psalm of David and the historical setting appears to point to either before he was king and fled from Saul, 1 Samuel 23:14-15, or more likely while he was king but fled because of his son Absalom’s revolt, 2 Samuel 15:24-17.
‘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. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your right hand upholds me.’ Psalm 63:1-8
David begins by saying, you God, that is, ‘Elohim’, Genesis 1:1, is his God, that is, ‘El’. David’s says he seeks God and thirsts for God with his whole being, as a land without any water, Psalm 42:2 / Isaiah 26:9.
When David went to the sanctuary, that is, the tabernacle, he beheld God’s power and glory, he’s longing for spiritual fellowship with God.
The reason David wants close fellowship with God is because of God’s love, it’s better than life itself and his lips will continually glorify God because of His love, Job 2:4 / Acts 20:24. In fact, David will praise God all the days of his life because of God’s love.
The lifting up of hands doesn’t always relate to prayer, here, David lifts his hands in relation to praising God, Psalm 28:2. As far as he is concerned, God always has and always will satisfy his every need for which David would praise God for, Psalm 36:8 / Isaiah 25:6.
In the evening when David lays in bed, he remembers God, he remembers Him all through the night. This was David’s time to meditate upon God and His Word, Psalm 1:2.
The word ‘watches’ is a military word which speaks of the various times throughout the night, the soldiers would keep watch, Matthew 14:25 / Luke 12:38.
Usually David cries out to God for help but here he thanks God for being his help. He says he will sing in the shadow of God’s wings, this isn’t speaking about God’s protection, Psalm 17:8 / Psalm 36:7 / Psalm 57:1 / Matthew 23:37, he’s speaking about being in the presence of God, Psalm 61:4.
David’s relationship with God is seen in that he ‘clings’ to God, Genesis 2:24, and as a result God’s right hand, that His strength, upheld him.
‘Those who want to kill me will be destroyed; they will go down to the depths of the earth. They will be given over to the sword and become food for jackals. But the king will rejoice in God; all who swear by God will glory in him, while the mouths of liars will be silenced.’ Psalm 63:9-11
Despite having a close relationship with God, David still had his problems, his enemies still wanted him dead. He is probably referring to the time either before he was king and fled from Saul, 1 Samuel 23:14-15, or more likely while he was king but fled because of his son Absalom’s revolt, 2 Samuel 15:24-17.
His enemies will go down to the depths of the earth, that is, the deepest graves. His enemies would die by the sword, that is die in battle, Saul died by the sword, 1 Samuel 31:4, and Absalom died in battle, 2 Samuel 18:9-18.
They would become food for the jackals, that is, after a battle the jackals would come long and eat the remains of any dead people who were left on the ground, Judges 15:4.
Notice that David says, ‘the king’ will rejoice in God. This appears to reinforce the idea that this was written when David was king, not Saul. In other words, David was the true king of Israel, not Absalom.
Those who swear, that is trust in God will glory in Him but those who lie don’t trust in Him.
Conclusion
David had a really close relationship with God, he thirsted for God, sought God and meditated upon God and His Word. As Christians, it’s important to maintain a close relationship with God throughout our Christians lives but this won’t happen all by itself.
Any relationship is a two way system and so for us to maintain that relationship with Him we must make the following efforts.
1. Our relationship with God will become stronger when we pray and spend time with God regularly, Psalm 139:2 / Matthew 6:9-13.
2. Our relationship with God will become stronger when we confess our sins and ask Him to forgive us our sins, Psalm 51:17 / 1 John 1:9.
3. Our relationship with God will become stronger when we continue to keep Him priority number one in our lives, Matthew 6:33 / Philippians 3:8-9.
4. Our relationship with God will become stronger when we spend some quality time with other Christians, in and outside of worship times, Psalm 95:1-2 / Hebrews 10:25.
5. Our relationship with God will become stronger when we continue to be obedient to Him and His Word, John 14:23 / 2 Timothy 2:15 / James 4:7-8.