January 4
Reading: Psalm 63
A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
1 O 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.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
3 Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
6 when I remember you upon my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
7 for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
8 My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.
9 But those who seek to destroy my life
shall go down into the depths of the earth;
10 they shall be given over to the power of the sword;
they shall be a portion for jackals.
11 But the king shall rejoice in God;
all who swear by him shall exult,
for the mouths of liars will be stopped.
David spent years in the wilderness fleeing from Saul and others who wanted to kill him. After he had been king for years, his own son Absalom drove him from Jerusalem and into the wilderness again. Because David speaks of himself as king in verse 11, it is likely that this second time in the wilderness is the setting for Psalm 63.
As we have seen before, often the worst times bring out David’s best psalms.
The opening phrase is three words in Hebrew, “O God, you are my God.” This statement captures the meaning of the entire psalm. When God is your God, this is how you pray, this is what you want, this is what you know, this is what you do.
Read through this psalm and think about what it means for you to have God as your God.
I love what the commentator Derek Kidner does with this psalm:
vss. 1-4 God is my desire.
vss. 5-8 God is my delight.
vss. 9-11 God is my defense.
This psalm makes me think of David as he lies on the hard ground at night, thinking. (vs. 6) There he is remembering God and what God has done. He smiles, thinking of God’s goodness even though he is in a difficult place. He sings and clings to God.
Then I think of David as the sun rises. The word in verse 1 is translated “earnestly,” but it could also be translated “early I will seek You.” This is how the KJV reads. Here is David as he rises, out in the wilderness, alone. He wakes and the first thing he says is, “I long for You. Your love is better than life. I will bless you as long as I live.”