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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0;"/><title>Psalm 63 Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</title><link rel="canonical" href="https://biblehub.com/commentaries/expositors/psalms/63.htm" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/psalms/63.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="//biblehu.com/bmcom/psalms/63-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="/commentaries/">Commentary</a> > <a href="../">Ellicott</a> > <a href="../psalms/">Psalm</a></div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../psalms/62.htm" title="Psalm 62">◄</a> Psalm 63 <a href="../psalms/64.htm" title="Psalm 64">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</div><div class="chap"><span class= "bld">LXIII.</span><p>The figure of the first verse misunderstood (see Note) led to the inscription referring this psalm to the wandering period of David’s life, a reference entirely out of keeping with the contents of the poem, even if it were Davidic. The conjecture is far more probable which makes it the sigh of an exile for restoration to the sacred scenes and institutions of his country, now cherished in memory; and so truly does it express the sentiments which would be common to all the pious community of Israel, that we need not vex ourselves with an enquiry, for which the data are so insufficient, into the precise individual or even the precise time to which it first refers. The last verse seems to carry us back to the troubled times immediately before the destruction of Jerusalem, when the existence of monarchy was trembling in the balance, and when some of those already in exile might be supposed to be watching its fortunes with feelings in which hope contended with misgiving, and faith with fear. The poetical form is irregular.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/63-1.htm">Psalm 63:1</a></div><div class="verse">A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, thou <i>art</i> my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;</div>(1) <span class= "bld">Early will I seek thee.</span>—LXX. and Vulgate, “to thee I wake early,” <span class= "ital">i.e., </span>my <span class= "ital">waking </span>thoughts are toward thee, and this was certainly in the Hebrew, since the verb here used has for its cognate noun the <span class= "ital">dawn. </span>The <span class= "ital">expectancy </span>which even in inanimate nature seems to await the first streak of morning is itself enough to show the connection of thought. (Comp. the use of the same verb in <a href="/songs/7-12.htm" title="Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give you my loves.">Song of Solomon 7:12</a>; and comp. <a href="/luke/21-28.htm" title="And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draws near.">Luke 21:28</a>, <span class= "ital">New Testament Commentary.</span>)<p><span class= "bld">Soul . . . flesh.</span>—Or, as we say, <span class= "ital">body and soul. </span>(Comp. <a href="/psalms/84-2.htm" title="My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh cries out for the living God.">Psalm 84:2</a>, “my heart and my flesh.”)<p><span class= "bld">Longeth.</span>—Heb., <span class= "ital">khâmah, </span>a word only occurring here, but explained as cognate with an Arabic root meaning <span class= "ital">to be black </span>as with <span class= "ital">hunger </span>and <span class= "ital">faintness.</span><p><span class= "bld">In.</span>—Rather, <span class= "ital">as. </span>(Comp. <a href="/psalms/143-6.htm" title="I stretch forth my hands to you: my soul thirsts after you, as a thirsty land. Selah.">Psalm 143:6</a>.) This is the rendering of one of the Greek versions quoted by Origen, and Symmachus has “<span class= "ital">as </span>in,” &c<p><span class= "bld">Thirsty.</span>—See margin. <span class= "ital">Fainting </span>is perhaps more exactly the meaning. (See <a href="/context/genesis/25-29.htm" title="And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint:">Genesis 25:29-30</a>, where it describes Esau’s condition when returning from his hunt.) Here the land is imagined to be <span class= "ital">faint </span>for want of water. The LXX. and Vulgate have “pathless.” The parched land thirsting for rain was a natural image, especially to an Oriental, for a devout religious soul eager for communion with heaven.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/63-2.htm">Psalm 63:2</a></div><div class="verse">To see thy power and thy glory, so <i>as</i> I have seen thee in the sanctuary.</div>(2) <span class= "bld">To see thy power . . .</span>—The transposition of the clauses in the Authorised Version weakens the sense. Render, <span class= "ital">So </span>(<span class= "ital">i.e., in this state of religious fervour</span>)<span class= "ital"> in the sanctuary have I had vision of thee in seeing thy might and glory. </span>The psalmist means, that while he saw with his eyes the outward signs of Divine glory, he had a spiritual vision (the Hebrew word is that generally used of prophetic vision) of God.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/63-3.htm">Psalm 63:3</a></div><div class="verse">Because thy lovingkindness <i>is</i> better than life, my lips shall praise thee.</div>(3) <span class= "bld">Because.</span>—Such a sense of the blessedness of Divine favour—here in its peculiar sense of covenant favour—that it is better than life itself, calls for gratitude displayed all through life. “Love is the ever-springing fountain” from which all goodness proceeds, and a sense of it is even more than the happy sense of being alive. The following lines convey in a modern dress the feeling of this part of the psalm:—<p>“So gazing up in my youth at love,<p>As seen through power, ever above<p>All modes which make it manifest,<p>My soul brought all to a single test—<p>That He, the Eternal, First and Last,<p>Who in His power had so surpassed<p>All man conceives of what is might,<p>Whose wisdom too showed infinite—<p>Would prove as infinitely good.”<p>R. BROWNING: <span class= "ital">Christmas Eve.</span><p><span class= "bld">Thus</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e.</span>, in the spirit in which he now speaks. For the attitude of the uplifted hands, see Note, <a href="/psalms/28-2.htm" title="Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry to you, when I lift up my hands toward your holy oracle.">Psalm 28:2</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/63-5.htm">Psalm 63:5</a></div><div class="verse">My soul shall be satisfied as <i>with</i> marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise <i>thee</i> with joyful lips:</div>(5) <span class= "bld">Satisfied.</span>—This image of a banquet, which repeats itself so frequently in Scripture, need not be connected with the sacrificial feasts.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/63-6.htm">Psalm 63:6</a></div><div class="verse">When I remember thee upon my bed, <i>and</i> meditate on thee in the <i>night</i> watches.</div>(6) <span class= "bld">Remember.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">remembered.</span><p><span class= "bld">Bed.</span>—Literally, <span class= "ital">beds.</span><p><span class= "bld">Night watches.</span>—According to the Jewish reckoning, the night was divided into three watches: the “beginning,” or head (<span class= "ital">rôsh</span>)<span class= "ital">; </span>the “middle” (<span class= "ital">tikhôn, </span><a href="/judges/7-19.htm" title="So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came to the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and broke the pitchers that were in their hands.">Judges 7:19</a>); and the “morning” (<span class= "ital">boker, </span><a href="/exodus/14-24.htm" title="And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked to the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians,">Exodus 14:24</a>).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/63-7.htm">Psalm 63:7</a></div><div class="verse">Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.</div>(7) <span class= "bld">Because . . .</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">For thou hast been my helper; and under the shadow, </span>&c. (For the image see <a href="/psalms/17-8.htm" title="Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of your wings,">Psalm 17:8</a>; <a href="/psalms/36-7.htm" title="How excellent is your loving kindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of your wings.">Psalm 36:7</a>; <a href="/psalms/57-1.htm" title="Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me: for my soul trusts in you: yes, in the shadow of your wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be over.">Psalm 57:1</a>; <a href="/psalms/61-4.htm" title="I will abide in your tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of your wings. Selah.">Psalm 61:4</a>.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/63-8.htm">Psalm 63:8</a></div><div class="verse">My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.</div>(8) <span class= "bld">My soul . . .</span>—Literally, <span class= "ital">my soul cleaved after thee, </span>combining two ideas. (Comp. <a href="/jeremiah/42-16.htm" title="Then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which you feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof you were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there you shall die.">Jeremiah 42:16</a>.) The English phrase, “hung upon thee” (comp. Prayer-Book version), exactly expresses it.<p>For “depths,” or “abysses of the earth,” comp. <a href="/psalms/139-15.htm" title="My substance was not hid from you, when I was made in secret, and curiously worked in the lowest parts of the earth.">Psalm 139:15</a>; <a href="/ephesians/4-9.htm" title="(Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?">Ephesians 4:9</a>. It means the under world of the dead.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/63-10.htm">Psalm 63:10</a></div><div class="verse">They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes.</div>(10) <span class= "bld">Shall fall.</span>—See margin. But more literally, <span class= "ital">they shall pour him on to the hands of the sword, </span>where the suffix <span class= "ital">him </span>is collective of the enemy, and the meaning is, “they shall be given over to the power of the sword.” (Comp. <a href="/jeremiah/18-21.htm" title="Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle.">Jeremiah 18:21</a>; <a href="/ezekiel/35-5.htm" title="Because you have had a perpetual hatred, and have shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end:">Ezekiel 35:5</a>.)<p><span class= "bld">Foxes</span> <span class= "bld">. . .</span>—Rather, <span class= "ital">jackals. </span>Heb., <span class= "ital">shualîm. </span>(See Note, <a href="/songs/2-15.htm" title="Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.">Song of Solomon 2:15</a>.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/63-11.htm">Psalm 63:11</a></div><div class="verse">But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that sweareth by him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.</div>(11) <span class= "bld">Sweareth by him.</span>—This is explained as meaning, “swear allegiance to him as the king,” on the analogy of <a href="/zephaniah/1-5.htm" title="And them that worship the host of heaven on the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the LORD, and that swear by Malcham;">Zephaniah 1:5</a>. And this suits the context. On the other hand, the natural way to understand the phrase, “swear by” or “in him,” is to refer it to the only oath allowed to the Israelite,” by the name of Jehovah” (<a href="/deuteronomy/6-13.htm" title="You shall fear the LORD your God, and serve him, and shall swear by his name.">Deuteronomy 6:13</a>; <a href="/isaiah/65-16.htm" title="That he who blesses himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he that swears in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from my eyes.">Isaiah 65:16</a>; comp. <a href="/amos/8-14.htm" title="They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Your god, O Dan, lives; and, The manner of Beersheba lives; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.">Amos 8:14</a>), in which case we must explain by <a href="/context/deuteronomy/10-20.htm" title="You shall fear the LORD your God; him shall you serve, and to him shall you hold, and swear by his name.">Deuteronomy 10:20-21</a>, “Swear by his (Jehovah’s) name; He is thy praise.” Those who are loyal to Jehovah, who appeal to Him in all troubles, will find this promise true, “They shall glory,” while the unfaithful and false, not daring to make the solemn appeal, will have their mouth stopped. (Comp. <a href="/romans/3-19.htm" title="Now we know that what things soever the law said, it said to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.">Romans 3:19</a>.)<p><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers<br /><br />Text Courtesy of <a href="//biblesupport.com" target="_top">BibleSupport.com</a>. 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