Psalm 63:4

The heading of Psalm 63 says David wrote it “when he was in the wilderness of Judah”. That is the dry, rugged country stretching east of Jerusalem towards the Dead Sea, a land of caves and rocks with very little water, and David took refuge there more than once. The psalm may come from the years when he hid from Saul, as he did in the wilderness of Ziph (1 Samuel 23:14–15), or from the day he fled Jerusalem when his son Absalom rebelled (2 Samuel 15:23). On either occasion he was a fugitive, short of water, food and shelter, and in danger of being caught.

The psalm opens with that thirst. David’s soul longs for God in “a dry and thirsty land, where no water is”, and he remembers seeing God’s power and glory in the sanctuary (Psalm 63:1–2). Verses 3 to 8 move from that longing to satisfaction and trust, and the closing verses turn to confidence that God will deal with those who seek David’s life (Psalm 63:9–11). The bare land makes everything in these verses stand out. David has almost nothing apart from God, and he says that God is enough.

“Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.” The word for lovingkindness is cheçed, from the root châçad, and it is one of the richest words in the Old Testament. It is translated “steadfast love”, “mercy”, “faithfulness” and “covenant loyalty”, and it describes God’s active, loyal and lasting love for the people bound to him by his covenant. It shows itself in deeds of rescue, provision and forgiveness. For a man on the run, whose friends and circumstances had failed him, this love was the one thing he could depend on.

“Better” is ṭôwb, the ordinary word for good, pleasant or excellent, used here to compare. Life is the most basic thing a person has, and David sets God’s lovingkindness above it. The same scale of values runs through other psalms. One calls God the strength of the heart and its portion for ever (Psalm 73:25–26), and another marvels at how precious God’s lovingkindness is (Psalm 36:7). This love keeps coming to his people, for his mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22–23), and God looks for steadfast love in his people above their sacrifices (Hosea 6:6).

“Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.” “Thus” looks back to verse 3. Since God’s lovingkindness is better than life, David pledges to bless him for the rest of his life. “While I live” makes the vow lifelong and binds it to every circumstance, the wilderness as much as the sanctuary. Another psalm makes the same pledge to bless God every day (Psalm 145:2).

“My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.” A man in a dry land, with little to eat, speaks of a feast. The word for soul, nephesh, comes from a root meaning to breathe, and it means a living creature, life, the self, the person, and also the appetite. So the whole of David, his hungers included, is filled. The verb sâbaʻ means to fill to satisfaction, to have enough and be full, which is the opposite of hunger only partly eased.

“Marrow” translates cheleb, fat, and by extension the richest or choicest part, and “fatness” is deshen. In Israel these were the richest and most nourishing parts of an animal. The fat was counted the best part and was given to God in the offerings (Leviticus 3:16). “Marrow and fatness” therefore means the very best food there is, and David says that God fills his soul like that. He speaks with confidence about what is coming: his soul “shall be” satisfied. This is the same trust in God’s provision that the shepherd psalm expresses (Psalm 23:1).

Scripture speaks often of this fullness. In God’s presence is fulness of joy (Psalm 16:11), his people are abundantly satisfied with the fatness of his house (Psalm 36:8), and he promises to satisfy the weary soul (Jeremiah 31:25). Isaiah asks why people spend money on what is not bread (Isaiah 55:2), and he calls them to God, who gives what truly satisfies.

“When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.” Verse 6 tells when this satisfaction and praise come to David: in the dark, lying down, with the danger of the wilderness all around. The night is when a person is most alone with his thoughts and when fears grow, and David turns those hours to God.

The verb zâkar means to remember, to call to mind. David calls God to mind on purpose, recalling his past faithfulness, his promises and his character, and that remembering strengthens his trust. The bed is yâtsûwaʻ, something spread out, a bed or couch, the place of rest and of being least guarded. “Night watches” is ʼashmurâh, a watch, one of the periods of guard duty into which the night was divided, three or four of them from sunset to sunrise. The plural gives the sense of hour after hour of a long night.

To meditate, hâgâh, is to murmur and to ponder. The word is used of a low sound, even of a lion growling over its prey, and of thinking that may be spoken half aloud. It describes a steady, repeated dwelling on a truth, which here is God himself. The two halves of the verse say the same thing in two ways: remembering and meditating, the bed and the night watches. The blessed man of the first psalm meditates in God’s law “day and night” (Psalm 1:2). Isaiah speaks of desiring God in the night (Isaiah 26:9) and of the perfect peace God keeps for the mind stayed on him (Isaiah 26:3), and Paul tells believers to think on whatever is true, honest, just, pure and lovely (Philippians 4:8).

“Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.” David looks back before he looks forward. The word for help, ʻezrâh, means aid or succour, and he has known God’s help in earlier trials. His confidence in the wilderness rests on what God has already done for him. God is “a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).

The word for shadow, tsêl, means shade, and figuratively shelter and protection. In a land of heat and glare, shade is a mercy. The word for wings, kânâph, is the wing of a bird, and it can also mean an edge or extremity, a skirt or a corner. Together they give the picture of a bird spreading its wings over its young, which speaks of nearness, tenderness and safety. Another psalm says that God will cover his people with his feathers and that under his wings they will trust (Psalm 91:4). Moses sang of the LORD caring for Israel as an eagle cares for its young (Deuteronomy 32:11), and David speaks elsewhere of God hiding him in his shelter in the time of trouble (Psalm 27:5).

David says he will rejoice there, in the shelter, while he is still in danger. His joy comes from God’s character and his proven care, and it is real joy in the middle of a hard place. Paul describes the same gift when he says that believers who bring everything to God in prayer receive a peace that passes understanding (Philippians 4:6–7).

“My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.” The verb behind “followeth hard” is dâbaq, which means to cling, to cleave or to stick. It can also be used of following close and pursuing hard, which is how the KJV renders it here. The picture is of a soul (nephesh again, the whole self) that keeps close to God and holds on to him. The same verb is used when a man cleaves to his wife (Genesis 2:24) and when Israel is told to cleave to the LORD (Deuteronomy 10:20). The longing of Psalm 42:1–2, the soul that pants after God as the hart after the water brooks, has the same desire.

The second half of the verse gives God’s part. The right hand, yâmîyn, means the right hand or right side, and in Israel the right hand stood for strength, authority and protection. To uphold, tâmak, is to sustain, hold up, keep fast and help. God’s hand holds David up so that he does not fall under the weight of his trials. Scripture says this of God again and again: he upholds his servant with his right hand (Isaiah 41:10), his right hand holds up the one he saves (Psalm 18:35), and of the righteous man, “Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down” (Psalm 37:24). His strength is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).

God’s lovingkindness has been shown to us most fully in Jesus Christ. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth (John 1:14), and God commends his love toward us in that Christ died for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:6–8). Jesus came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly (John 10:10), which is life that is truly better than life as we know it. In him God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3–6), and that is why our lips praise him.

Jesus lived out the vow of verse 4, always doing what pleased his Father (John 8:29). Through him we come to the Father (John 14:6), so we now worship in his name and do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus (Colossians 3:17), “for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

The satisfaction of verse 5 is found in Christ, the bread of life, who promises that those who come to him will never hunger or thirst (John 6:35), and who gives living water springing up into everlasting life (John 4:14). He is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30), the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

Jesus also sought his Father in the night and in solitary places. He rose a great while before day to pray (Mark 1:35), and he continued all night in prayer before choosing the twelve (Luke 6:12). In Gethsemane he asked his disciples to watch with him while he prayed (Mark 14:34–38), and he gave himself to his Father’s will: “nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39, Luke 22:42). He gives rest to all who labour and are heavy laden (Matthew 11:28), and he is the light of the world for our darkest hours (John 8:12).

The wings of verse 7 come to life in Jesus’ own words over Jerusalem: “how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings” (Matthew 23:37). Believers abide in him (John 15:4), and the joy he gives no one can take away (John 16:22), because he is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).

Verse 8 too is fulfilled in him. The Son clung to the Father in perfect obedience, even unto death on the cross (Philippians 2:8). Now he is at the right hand of God, where he makes intercession for us (Romans 8:34). He upholds all things by the word of his power (Hebrews 1:3), and by him all things consist (Colossians 1:17). He is both the one our souls follow hard after and the one who holds us fast.

These verses were sung in a dry land by a hunted man, and they show who God is to his people in such a place. His lovingkindness is worth more than life, and it can fill a soul in a desert as richly as a feast. He is near enough to be remembered on a bed in the dark, and he has helped before, so his past help becomes a reason for joy now. His wings give shade, and his right hand holds up the one who clings to him.

David’s answer is praise from the lips, hands lifted in God’s name, and a soul that keeps close to him, and that answer is open to every believer. The God who upheld David in the wilderness of Judah is the God who has shown his love in Christ, and his hand still holds those who follow hard after him.