I ntroduction: We do not know exactly when David penned Psalm 63. We are told in the inscription that he was in the wilderness of Judah, which is where he will spend much of the next several years, hiding from Saul and his army. We may most reasonably place this as the general time period that David wrote this (more on this later in the exegesis). Recall that we have studied how David went from a position of power, respect and wealth, to that of being a fugitive, without earthly resources. God was teaching David how to depend upon Him. God was causing David to focus on Him.

As we often feel in times of pressure, David at times felt as though God had abandoned him. He could not worship at the Tent of God, because Saul had wiped out the population of the city of Nob, the city of priests. One man from that city, Abiathar, came to live with David, as he had become a fugitive as well, narrowly escaping Saul’s slaughter with his life and the Ephod of God. However, this man is very young (probably his early teens) and is more dependent upon David than David is upon him.

What I have emphasized many times is that you personally need a teacher. That is, you need someone who can guide you through the Word of God. You cannot simply pick up the Bible and start reading, and get much out of it (with some exceptions).

Why You Need a Bible Teacher

This psalm is an excellent example. It is a short 11 verse psalm, but if you just read it, apart from being guided by a Bible teacher, it does not hold together. The psalm will appear to be disjointed and aimless. If you don’t doubt me, stop reading this and read the psalm to yourself. I will provide you with an accurate translation below:

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A Corrected Translation of Psalm 63

A Psalm of David while he was in the wilderness of Judah.

Elohim, You [are] my God;

I diligently seek You.

My soul has thirsted for You

[and] my flesh has longs for You

in a dry and exhausting land without water.

Thus, in the sacred [Tent] I have beheld You

to perceive Your strength and Your glory.

Because Your grace is better than life [itself],

I give praise to You [lit., my lips praise You].

So I celebrate You in my being alive

I lift my hands before Your name [or, reputation].

My soul is satiated as [with] fat and oil,

and my mouth celebrates with joyful words.

When I recall You [while] upon the couch,

I meditate on You in the [night] watches.

Because You have been a help to me

and I shout for joy in the shadow of Your wings.

My soul has clung to You

and Your right hand has taken a hold of [or, supports] me.

They seek my soul for destruction

they will enter into the depths of the earth.

They deliver him over [to] hands of the sword;

they are a portion for jackals.

The king will rejoice in Elohim

and those swearing by Him will glory [or, will be praised],

for the mouths of those speaking lies will be shut up.

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See? David first talks about thirsting for God, as if he is without God; but then he celebrates God and thinks about God. God’s right hand supports David. Then we have these guys who are seeking David’s life, but God will see that they are jackal food. Finally, there is something about a king who either glories or is praised and those who lie are shut up. Certainly, all of these things are true, more or less, but this psalm should appear to you to be unfocused. Like David just wrote down some miscellaneous thoughts and then put music to it. However, if you have studied David’s other psalms with me, then you know that David is highly organized and that his psalms reflect this characteristic of David. So, what’s the deal? The deal is, you read this on your own, and that is why it did not seem to hang together as a whole, but appeared to be a variety of thoughts written down, added together, and suddenly, it is a psalm. I hope that you recognize that maybe you did not really get from this psalm what David was teaching.

Why You Need a Bible Teacher—Part II: the Key to Psalm 63

Now let me give you the key to this psalm. If you do not understand the gist of the psalm, then it sounds like David is schizophrenic, and that his thinking appears to be scattered and disorganized. However, if there is one thing you should recognize about David’s psalms is that they are highly organized and well thought-out. David has enjoyed a real relationship with God, but it has been tied to traditional worship at the Tent of God. Now, not only does he find himself in the Judæan desert apart from the Tent of God, but the city of the priests has been destroyed, along with all of their families and that aspect of worship for David is gone, and he does not know how long this will be the case. David, however, recognizes that God’s character and God’s blessings exist with or without formal religious services related to the Tabernacle. Therefore, David brings what he knows about God to mind—he recalls those things about God which will sustain him under pressure. In other words, David is applying doctrine to his situation. As Bob Thieme would have put it, David is applying one of the problem-solving devices to his life. David knows and understands the character of God, and God’s character does not change under any circumstance; so, since God is still God, David can continue to trust in Him and to be refreshed by Him, even though he can no longer attend Tabernacle services. Since God is God, then David can further trust Him to right all wrongs, and to destroy David’s enemies. Those who depend upon God will be vindicated, and those who look to destroy David will they themselves be destroyed.

Then we have the problem of v. 11, where David says, The king will rejoice in God. This causes most exegetes to become discombobulated, because David isn’t the king; and Saul is not the kind of king to rejoice in God. So, therefore, this can’t be written while David is out in the desert, hiding from Saul. But, their problem is, they do not understand the gist of this psalm. This psalm marks a great turning point in David’s life. We’ve discussed his application of the problem-solving devices to his situation; but in this verse, he recognizes that he will be king, that he will rule over Israel, and that human viewpoint no longer applies. This psalm marks the point in time that David accepts his commission and believes in it. We already know that this is David writing from the desert; not from the palace. He hereby accepts his commission and believes God.

Most people have no idea as to what is going on in this psalm. They see it just as a few nice thoughts thrown together. However, this is a tremendous psalm which marks a great turning point in David’s life. He recognizes God’s presence and control, even out in the desert under the most adverse of circumstances, and he accepts his commission as king as real and definite.

It is unfortunate that the psalms which we have studied are taken out of their historical context. Where David is and what he is going through is an integral part of these psalms. We understand how David changes from chapter to chapter in the narrative of Samuel by examining these psalms; and we understand what David is really saying in these psalms when we examine the narrative context.

On a personal note, when I first exegeted this psalm, I had very little by way of commentary. There just didn’t seem to be much here. However, once I understood the key to this psalm, it opened up to me as a flower in the morning, revealing great beauty and depth.

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In contrast, there are a lot of writers who spew meaningless words about this psalm. Generally, I just ignore this stuff. However, it might be important that you see what others have written about this psalm, to see how completely devoid of meaning their take is.

Meaningless Crap Written About Psalm 63

“As the whole Book of Psalms is, oleum effusum (as the spouse speaks of the name of Christ), an ointment poured out upon all sorts of sores, a cerecloth that supples all bruises, a balm that searches all wounds; so are there some certain Psalms that are imperial Psalms; that command over all our affections, and spread themselves over all occasions - catholic, universal Psalms, that apply themselves to all necessities. This is one of these; for of those constitutions which are called apostolical, one is that the church should meet every day to sing this Psalm. And, accordingly, St. Chrysostom testifies 'That it was decreed and ordained by the primitive Fathers, that no day should pass without the public singing of this Psalm.'” - J. J. Stewart Perowne.

Clauss describes this psalm as “A precious confession of a soul thirsting after God and his grace, and finding itself quickened through inward communion with him, and which knows how to commit its outward lot also into his hand.”

“Its lesson is, that the consciousness of communion with God in trouble is the sure pledge of deliverance. This is the peculiar fountain of consolation which is opened up to the sufferer in the Psalm.” E. W. Hengstenberg.

This is but a small portion of the worthless literature which is out there. I could include this kind of crap with each and every verse, but I will spare you the misery.

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What is Wrong with the Content of Biblical Commentaries?

The basic problems with commentaries on the psalms (in general) are as follows:

1. They often miss the overall thrust of the psalm.

2. They do not properly integrate it into the historical time and place, and miss the intent and reasons for the psalm. In fact, those who misplace the psalm spend so much time justifying their misplacement, that they never apprehend the reason that a psalm is written.

3. The commentaries tend to be long on devotional thoughts and short on accurate explanations and mechanics.

4. The result is, the content of many commentaries is, God is really nice and you should like Him. Even though that is an accurate thought, most psalms have a tad bit more depth than that.

There are times that I wonder, why am I examining the Scripture in such detail? Why do I do this? Then I read a commentary and realize, very few exegetes have really bothered to get it right. Very few exegetes have bothered to plumb the depths of Scripture as they should have. They have gone to a banquet and stuffed a couple of crackers and nothing else into their pockets.

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Now that you understand the glue which holds this psalm together, let me give you a general summation: David misses the formal worship of the Tabernacle services and the sacrifices made to God (vv. 1–2). Then David thinks about God’s graciousness, and he is motivated to praise God (vv. 3–4). In fact, David realizes, in musing about God’s grace, that his own soul has become satiated, causing him to praise God again (v. 5). David recognizes that he has a memory which allows him to think about God, to cling to God, and to be upheld by God (vv. 6–8). Now David applies God’s character—His graciousness and faithfulness—to his own present situation: David has enemies, but God will deal with them (vv. 9–10). Those who believe in God will be vindicated, and those who choose a lifestyle of deceit and self-service will be shut down (v. 11).

This psalm was written by David while David was in the wilderness desert of Judah; although I have placed it at I Sam. 23:14, David may have written this psalm when he was alone and he may have written it later in this time of exile.

Like any piece of Scripture, someone questions the authorship of this psalm. The reason is, there is a reference to the king in the final verse. The argument is, how can David write favorably about the king if David is not king and the only king on the throne is Saul, who is in reversionism. Although we will cover this in greater detail when we exegete this verse, there are two basic explanations: (1) David is speaking theoretically about a king on the throne who is faithful to God, or (2) David is speaking of the King of Kings, Who will occupy this throne in the Millennium. In any case, there is no reason to doubt David’s authorship. The other reason given that David could not have been the author is that he refers to himself in the 3^rd person, if he himself is the king referred to in the final verse. Again, this argument is not valid, as David may not be referring to himself and because many authors, ancient and contemporary, have referred to themselves in the 3^rd person. That is simply a literary style, which we have observed before in Scripture. Here’s the deal: if the Bible says that David wrote it, then David wrote it. We would have to have a preponderance of evidence to the contrary before we would doubt the veracity of the inscription.

One reasonable option, presented by Barnes, is that David did not write this when he was running from Saul, but later in his life when he was running from his son Absalom, who temporarily dethroned David (II Sam. 15). Barnes suggests that these belong with Psalm 42:1-11 43:1-5 61:1-8, other psalms written (according to Barnes) during this period of time. If this is the case, then David could be the king referred to in the final verse.

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Psalm 63 Inscription

Slavishly literal:

Moderately literal:

A Psalm to David in his being in a wilderness of Judah.

Psalm

63 inscription

A Psalm of David while he was in the wilderness of Judah.

A Psalm of David written while in the wilderness of Judah.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Early translations:

The Septuagint A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Idumea.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

TEV [none]. [Footnote: Hebrew Title: A psalm by David, when he was in the desert of Judea.]

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

JPS (Tanakh) A psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah. [This is v. 1 in the JPS].

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Emphasized Bible A Melody of David. When he was in the Wilderness of Judah.

NASB A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

Young's Literal Translation A Psalm of David, in his being in the wilderness of Judah.

What is the gist of this verse? David wrote this psalm while in the desert wilderness of Judæa.

Psalm 63 inscription a
Hebrew/Pronunciation	Common English Meanings	Notes/Morphology	BDB and Strong’s Numbers
miz^emôwr (רמז ̣מ) [pronounced mizê-MOHR]	melody, song, poem, psalm	masculine singular noun	Strong’s #4210 BDB #274
lâmed (ל) [pronounced l^e]	to, for, towards, in regards to, with reference to, as to, with regards to, belonging to	preposition	No Strong’s # BDB #510
Dâvid (ד̣וָ); also Dâvîyd (די.וָ) [pronounced daw-VEED]	beloved and is transliterated David	masculine proper noun	Strong’s #1732 BDB #187

Translation: A Psalm of David... As we have discussed, this was the way that a by line was established for a psalm. David wrote this psalm, and it makes infinitely more sense when so understood.

Psalm 63 inscription b
Hebrew/Pronunciation	Common English Meanings	Notes/Morphology	BDB and Strong’s Numbers
b^e (׃) [pronounced b^eh]	in, into, at, by, near, on, with, before, in the presence of, upon, against, by means of, among, within	a preposition of proximity	Strong’s# none BDB #88
When verbs in the infinitive construct are preceded by the bêyth preposition, b^e acts as a temporal conjunction; that is, in their being created = when they were created (Gen. 2:4); in their being in the field = when they were in the field (Gen. 4:8).
hâyâh (ה ָי ָה) [pronounced haw-YAW]	to be, is, was, are; to become, to come into being; to come to pass	Qal infinitive construct with the 3^rd person masculine singular suffix	Strong's #1961 BDB #224
b^e (׃) [pronounced b^eh]	in, into, at, by, near, on, with, before, in the presence of, upon, against, by means of, among, within	a preposition of proximity	Strong’s# none BDB #88
mid^ebâr (רָ ׃ד ̣מ) [pronounced mid^e-BAWR]	wilderness, unpopulated wilderness, desert wilderness	masculine singular construct	Strong’s #4057 BDB #184
Y^ehûwdâh (הָדהי) [pronounced y^ehoo-DAW]	possibly means to praise, to be praised; and is transliterated Judah	masculine proper noun/location	Strong’s #3063 BDB #397
Clarke: Instead of Judea, the Vulgate, Septuagint, Ethiopic, Arabic, several of the ancient Latin Psalters, and several of the Latin fathers, read Idumea, or Edom; still there is no evidence that David had ever taken refuge in the deserts of Idumea. The Hebrew text is that which should be preferred; and all the manuscripts are in its favor.
The Syriac has, “Of David, when he said to the king of Moab, My father and mother fled to thee from the face of Saul; and I also take refuge with thee.” We have no evidence that David took refuge himself with the king of Moab. In fact, this would be counterintuitive, as there were 400 men in Judah who depended upon David at this time. Again, the Hebrew manuscript is to be preferred.

Translation: ...while he was in the wilderness of Judah. This is actually a fairly open time frame, as David spend perhaps a year or three moving about in this general area (the desert wilderness of Judæa). Clarke suggests that David wrote this in the forest of Hereto in the wilderness of Ziph, after having left the presence of Achish. However, could have been written even as much as a year or three later.

Many suggest that this psalm was written much later in David’s life—when Absalom has him on the run. The point to the use of the word king in the final verse, saying that David would only use this word if he were already king. However, that makes little sense, because Absalom is king over Israel during this time, not David. So we would encounter essentially the same problem in either case. However, when this psalm is carefully examined, so that it’s meaning is clearly understood, then we better understand that its context demands that this be written before David actually becomes king over Israel. The proper interpretation can be found back in Why You Need a Bible Teacher—Part II: the Key to Psalm 63.

J. P. Lange tells us: The term “wilderness” (רָ ׃ד ̣מ, as distinguished from הָבָרֲע, a steppe) was given to a district which was not regularly cultivated and inhabited, but used for pasturage, being generally without wood and defective in water, but not entirely destitute of vegetation.

I want you to notice something else: David is under pressure right now—his life is in danger. Furthermore, he has no access to the Tent of God. Yet he still has a spiritual life. His relationship with God has not been hampered. In fact, it is because of this situation that David will grow closer to God.

What we have here is possibly a parallel situation. David is in the wilderness of Judæa speaking about the coming King (v. 10), just as John the Baptizer was the forerunner of the Messiah in Matt. 3:1. David is also a type of Christ, being forced to hide in the wilderness, just as the infant Jesus was forced to be hidden from the political power of His day (Matt. 2:13–15, 19–23).

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David Yearns for God

Slavishly literal:

Moderately literal:

Elohim my God, You;

I diligently seek You.

Has thirsted for You my soul;

has longed for You my flesh,

in a land dry and weary without waters.

Psalm

63:1

Elohim, You [are] my God;

I diligently seek You [or, I seek You early].

My soul thirsts for You

[and] my flesh longs for You

in a dry and exhausting land without water.

Elohim, You are my God Whom I diligently seek.

My soul thirsts for you and my flesh longs for You

in this dry and exhausting land of no water.

In the Hebrew, this is v. 2.

Here is how others have handled this verse:

Early translations:

The Peshitta O God, You are my God; on You I wait; my soul thirsts for You, my flesh longs for You as in a dry and thirsty land where no water is.

The Septuagint O God, my God, I cry to You early; my soul has thirsted for You; how often has my flesh [longed] after You, in a barren and trackless and dry land!

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV You are my God, I worship you.

In my heart, I long for you,

as I would long for a stream in a scorching desert.

NLT O God, you are my God;

I earnestly search for you.

My soul thirsts for you;

my whole body longs for you

in this parched and weary land

where there is no water.

REB God, you are my God; I seek you eagerly

with a heart that thirsts for you

and a body wasted with longing for you,

like a dry land, parched and devoid of water.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™ O God, you are my God.

At dawn I search for you.

My soul thirsts for you.

My body longs for you

In a dry, parched land where there is no water.

JPS (Tanakh) God, You are my God;

I search for You,

my soul thirsts for You,

my body yearns for You,

as a parched and thirsty land that has no water.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

Updated Emphasized Bible O God, <my God> You are,

Earnestly I do desire You, —

My soul thirsts for You,

My flesh faints for You,

In [Syriac has like] a land—dry and wary for want of water,—...

NASB O God, Thou art my God; I shall seek Thee earnestly [lit., early];

My soul thirst for Thee, my flesh years for Thee

In a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Young's Updated LT O God, You are my God, earnestly do I seek You,

My soul has thirsted for You,

My flesh has longed for You,

In a land dry and weary, without waters.

What is the gist of this verse? David lacks the relationship with God as he once knew it to be. He desires to have that relationship back.

Psalm 63:1a
Hebrew/Pronunciation	Common English Meanings	Notes/Morphology	BDB and Strong’s Numbers
ělôhîym (מי ̣הֹלֱא) [pronounced el-o-HEEM]	gods or God; transliterated Elohim	masculine plural noun	Strong's #430 BDB #43
êl (ל ֵא) [pronounced ALE]	God, God, mighty one, strong, hero	masculine singular noun with the 1^st person singular suffix	Strong’s #410 BDB #42
attâh (הָ-א) [pronounced aht-TAW]	you (often, the verb to be is implied)	2^nd person masculine singular, personal pronoun	Strong’s #859 BDB #61
shâchar (רַחָש) [pronounced shaw-KHAHR]	to diligently seek, to look for diligently, to seek early; to long after; to turn towards	1^st person singular, Piel imperfect, with the 2^nd person masculine singular suffix	Strong’s #7836 BDB #1007

Translation: Elohim, You [are] my God; I diligently seek You [or, I seek You early]. Elohim is the name for the Trinity. It is a plural noun which is plural because it is plural, and not just emphatic (it is alleged that this noun is the emphatic plural, meaning that it is not plural, but simply emphatic). Being the plural noun, and referring to the Trinity, this means that David is speaking to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Now, whether or not David had himself a concept of the Trinity is unknown. We do know that very early on, the Trinity was alluded to (Gen. 1:26, which reads: Then Elohim said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over...all the earth.”) and that the Trinity was also made known to Isaiah (Isa. 48:16, which reads: “Come near to Me, listen to this. From the first, I have not spoken in secret. From the time it took place, I was there. And now the Lord Jehovah has sent Me and His Spirit.”). For more information on this, please refer back to the Doctrine of the Trinity in Deut. 5:11.

There are actually two thoughts here: David addresses this psalm to the Godhead and then he says that he diligently seeks God; he looks for God. This could also mean that David seeks God early. Even though I attended church, I found that the best time for me to study was early in the morning (I’m a morning person); this is when my head was most clear, and I could absorb the most information. It could be that David himself, saddled with the responsibility that he was, took this time out in the morning, before his 400 refugees were up, to commune with God. Memory would be a part of this (see v. 6); and writing down these psalms would also be a part of David’s communion with God.

Application: Diligently seeking God may involve attending almost every church in your city and in the adjacent cities until you find a church where the Word of God is carefully taught. Although seeing books taught verse by verse often suggests that a church is doing their job, this is not always the case. I attended one church where classes were taught on books of the Bible regularly and had high hopes for this church. However, the church was infested with legalism. The fact that their main teachers were women should have been a dead giveaway (after a class, a tape of a woman who taught, and her teaching was riddled with legalism and incorrect doctrine ). If a church cannot be found where God’s Word is taught correctly, there are many sights now on the internet where there are accurate, doctrinal teachers who post their teachings as MP3 files.

Psalm 63:1b
Hebrew/Pronunciation	Common English Meanings	Notes/Morphology	BDB and Strong’s Numbers
tzâmê (א ֵמָצ) [pronounced tzaw-MAY]	to thirst, to be thirsty; [metaphorically] to desire, to strongly desire, to desire eagerly	3^rd person feminine singular, Qal perfect	Strong’s #6770 BDB #854
lâmed (ל) [pronounced l^e]	to, for, towards, in regards to	preposition with the 2^nd person masculine singular suffix	No Strong’s # BDB #510
nephesh (ש∵פ ∵נ) [pronounced NEH-fesh]	soul, life, living being, desire