INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 63 A PSALM OF DAVID, WHEN HE WAS IN THE WILDERNESS OF JUDAH. This psalm was composed by David, either when he was persecuted by Saul, and obliged to hide himself in desert places, as in the forest of Hareth, the wildernesses of Ziph, Maon, and Engedi, 1 Samuel 22:5; all which... [ Continue Reading ]
O GOD, THOU [ART] MY GOD,.... Not by nature only, or by birth; not merely as an Israelite and son of Abraham; but by grace through Christ, and in virtue of an everlasting covenant, the blessings and promises of which were applied unto him; and he, by faith, could now claim his interest in them, and... [ Continue Reading ]
TO SEE THY POWER AND THY GLORY,.... Either the ark, as the Jewish writers generally interpret it; the symbol of God's presence and glory, and which is called his strength and his glory; see Psalms 78:61; or rather the Lord Christ, who is the power of God, as well as the wisdom of God; by whom he ma... [ Continue Reading ]
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, c. are nothing without the love of God the meanest tempor... [ Continue Reading ]
THUS WILL I BLESS THEE WHILE I LIVE,.... With his whole heart and soul, as he had sought after him, and as under a sense of his lovingkindness; and as he now praised him with his lips, so he determined to do as long as he had life and being; by proclaiming his blessedness, by ascribing blessing and... [ Continue Reading ]
MY SOUL SHALL BE SATISFIED AS [WITH] MARROW AND FATNESS,.... When he should return to the house of the Lord, and partake of the provisions of it, called the fatness of his house, Psalms 36:8. The phrase denotes the abundance of spiritual refreshment and delight in the word and ordinances, and the g... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN I REMEMBER THEE UPON MY BED,.... Or "beds" q; seeing he lay in many, as Kimchi observes, being obliged to flee from place to place. The sense is, that when he was on his bed in the night season, when alone, and free from worldly cares and fatigues, and called to mind the love of God to him, the... [ Continue Reading ]
BECAUSE THOU HAST BEEN MY HELP,.... Or, "that thou hast been my help" s; and so the words may be considered as the subject of his meditation in the night watches, at least as a part of it; and as what gave him a great deal of pleasure to reflect upon, how the Lord had been in times past a present he... [ Continue Reading ]
MY SOUL FOLLOWETH HARD AFTER THEE,.... In a way of duty, and in the use of means; as prayer, meditation, c. though at a distance from the house of God, and worship of it that he might not lose sight of him; that he might know more of him, and have more communion with him; being drawn after him with... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THOSE [THAT] SEEK MY SOUL TO DESTROY IT,.... Meaning his life; for as for his soul, that was immaterial and immortal, and could never be destroyed by man: but as for his natural life, his enemies laid snares for that, and sought to take it away, and nothing less would satisfy them; SHALL GO INT... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SHALL FALL BY THE SWORD,.... As Saul, his sons, and mighty men, did, 1 Samuel 31:4; or, "they shall make him pour out" u; that is, his blood, "by the hands" or "[means] of the sword"; meaning either some principal enemy, as Saul in particular, or everyone of his enemies; who should be thrust wi... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THE KING SHALL REJOICE IN GOD,.... Not Saul, as R. Obadiah; as if David wished him well, and that he might have reason to rejoice in God, though he sought his hurt; which sense is rejected by Abea Ezra: but either David, who speaks of himself as king, being anointed by Samuel, and who, upon the... [ Continue Reading ]