Psalm 63:1-11 NKJV
63 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.
The superscription tells us that David wrote this psalm “when he was in the wilderness of Judah.” David was in the wilderness of Judah because king Saul was pursing him (1 Samuel 23:14; 24:2). In the wilderness, where shade is scarce and water is in want, David sees the landscape as a picture of his spirit. “My soul thirsts for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water” (1). Previously he had seen God’s power and glory in the sacrifices made in the tabernacle. But now he is far from there. He is cut off from his fellow Israelites, wandering the wilderness as a fugitive. He feels cut off from the LORD, thirsting for Him.
Despise both afflictions, David does not succumb to the temptation to think God has abandoned him. He confesses of God, “Your loving kindness is better than life.” David confesses that as long as he has God’s loving kindness and mercy, he has all he needs and can bear any affliction of body or spirit. He does not dwell on what he lacks, nor does he ruminate on his spiritual thirst. He directs his mind to remain fixed on the LORD and His promises, saying: “When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches. Because You have been my help, Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me” (6-8). He trusts that the LORD will deal justly with Saul and himself.
Christians face affliction in this life. Sometimes it is God’s will that we bear the cross on account of the gospel. There are times we may feel cut off from others and from God. When our soul thirsts for God and the desert landscape resembles our spirit, David’s example encourages us to fix our thoughts, not on what we lack, but on what God has given us already. By faith we have His loving kindness. By faith we hide ourselves in the shadow of His wings, by faith we follow after Him because we know that His right hand upholds us through every affliction so that we may bear them patiently until He grants deliverance.
Let us pray: Satisfy our souls with Your loving kindness, O LORD, so that in our afflictions of body and spirit we may rejoice in the fact that we have all we need. Amen.