Psalm 63— A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
"'A Psalm of David when he was an outcast in the wilderness of Judah.' Thus it fits in well with the outcast remnant, thirsting after God, longing to see His power and His glory displayed. And these longings are created in their hearts by the Holy Spirit, as in our hearts also.” (Arno Gaebelein)
1 O God, You are my God; early 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 Hou 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.
“‘O God, You are my God; early 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. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding Your power and glory.”— But now he sought Him upon his bed at night. He had no altar but he had remembrance of the precepts of the faith. These were his meditation. David's soul thirsts after God, while absent from the sanctuary, and longs to be restored to the Divine ordinances." (Adam Clarke)
“‘Because thy lovingkindness is better than life,’ for life without the love of God is nothing else than death: a man that has no share in the love of God is dead while he lives; all the enjoyments of life, health, riches, honour, friends, etc. are nothing without the love of God.” (John Gill)
“‘So will I lift up my hands in thy name.’ This was swearing fidelity to the Lord… David’s generals did the same, when they swore fidelity to Solomon. 1 Chronicles 29:24.” (Jospeh Sutcliffe)
“‘My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness.’ David had his sweetmeats and heavenly junkets in the night, when the eyes of others were closed, and saw not the charger which was sent from above for his spiritual refreshment.... Communion with God in secret is a heaven upon earth. What food can compare with the hidden manna?” (George Swinnock) "My soul shall be satisfied as if I had received all that is intimated by the rich pieces of the peace offering.” (Andrew A. Bonar)
"'And my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night.’ There were night watches kept in the tabernacle, for praising God ( Ps134:1 ), which it is probable David, when he had liberty, joined with the Levites in: but now he could not keep place with them, he kept time with them “ (Matthew Henry) “The mention of night-watches, of which there were three, at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of the night ( Exod 14:24; Judg 7:19; Lam 2:19), shows that the remembrance of God with the Psalmist was not a transient occurrence, but called forth repeated earnest meditation during the whole night, Psalm 139:17.” (Lange)— “for you have been my help. And in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand”— your Messiah— “hand upholds me.”
“The meditation of anything hath more sweetness in it than bare remembrance. The memory is the chest to lay up a truth, but meditation is the palate to feed upon it. The memory is like the ark in which the manna was laid up; meditation is like Israel's eating of the manna. When David began to meditate upon God, it was sweet to him as marrow. There is as much difference between a truth remembered and a truth meditated, as between a cordial in the glass and a cordial drunk down.” (John Wells (1668), in "Sabbath Holiness.”)
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.
“’But those who seek to destroy my life shall go down into the depths of the earth;’ etc. They “will instead find that they themselves will go to the grave. While he, in his inner heart, goes upwards to God, they will go downwards into the grave world, swallowed up like Korah and his fellow-rebels who sought to usurp God’s anointed priests (Numbers 16:31-33). Whilst his life is given over to God, their lives will given over to the sword. Whilst he is God’s portion, they will be portions for scavengers, who will eat their dead bodies. Their future is bleak indeed.
Such is the portion of those who ill-treat God’s people.—‘They will be given over to the power of the sword.’ This is literally ‘they will pour him out to the power of the sword’, with the ‘they’ being God’s mysterious instruments of justice.— ‘They will be a portion for jackals.’ The fate of those who rebel against God is often depicted in such terms. Compare Ezekiel 39:4; Ezekiel 39:17-20; Revelation 19:17-18….. — ‘But the king”— speaking of himself in the third person— will rejoice in God, every one who swears by him will glory, for the mouth of those who speak lies, will be stopped.’ David has confidence that God will deliver him, with the consequence that he will rejoice in God. Similarly those who have made their oaths of loyalty to him in God’s Name, and have abided by them, will have cause to glory, for they will see him vindicated. In contrast, rather than rejoicing and glorying, the mouths of those who speak lies and deceive others will be stopped. They will have no cause to rejoice and glory. The whole Psalm is a reminder of God’s loyalty to those who are loyal to Him. And it is a reminder that just as David’s followers were to be loyal to their anointed king [of Israel], so are we to be loyal to great David’s Greater Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ.” (Peter Pett)