A manual of the book of Psalms · Martin Luther
PSALM LXIII.
_David’s thirst for God.—His manner of blessing God.—His confidence of his enemies’ destruction, and his own safety._ A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, thou _art_ 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; To see thy power and thy glory, so _as_ I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Because thy loving-kindness _is_ better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. My soul shall be satisfied as _with_ marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise _thee_ with joyful lips: When I remember thee upon my bed, _and_ meditate on thee in the _night_ watches. Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me. But those _that_ seek my soul, to destroy _it_, shall go into the lower parts of the earth. They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes. 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.
This is a prayer containing the deep feelings of an afflicted heart, thirsting after the word of God, which is the word of consolation! David called thus upon God, when he fled from the face of Saul, and lay hid in the wilderness of Judah. “My soul thirsteth for thee; my flesh longeth for thee, that I may see thee in thy sanctuary.” O how fervently does he desire to be present in the tabernacle, and before the mercy-seat in the sanctuary! And to hear the word of God, in the assembly of those who there truly worshipped him? He complains, also, bitterly against the Saulites; who so hostilely lay in wait for his life, that he could be in safety no where; and was compelled to be away from the place of the worship of God; even away from the sanctuary.—Notwithstanding all this, however, he raises himself up with a holy firmness, and magnanimity, and glories in being king, depending on the choice and promise of God; by which he comforts and sustains himself during the time of that most miserable flight and calamity. This Psalm may be used by those who are under the oppression of tyrants, who feel a hungering and thirsting after the word of God, and who can, under their calamity, glory in being the sons and heirs of God, because they have the knowledge of Christ, and love the word; and who can persevere in this confidence, until the impious Saul be destroyed, and David exalted; that is, until God raise up and comfort those that fear him.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.