Ziph area, where David hid from Saul and the Ziphites betrayed David.

Matthew Henry said of Psalm 63: “This psalm has in it as much of warmth and lively devotion as any of David’s psalms in so little a compass. As the sweetest of Paul’s epistles were those that bore date out of a prison, so some of the sweetest of David’s psalms were those that were penned, as this was, in a wilderness.” We have to agree. Among others, Psalm 3, Psalm 7, and Psalm 59 ring out with pure beauty and elegant praise for the Lord.

The superscription tells us that this is a psalm of David “when he was in the wilderness of Judah.” Most likely, it was during the time he was fleeing from Absalom rather than Saul because he appears to refer to himself as the king in verse 11. In verse one, when he speaks metaphorically of thirst and a dry land, the words would have their own meaning in relation to the desert in which he wandered. The psalm starts out as a lament, but quickly turns to a psalm of praise and quiet confidence, as seen in verses 5-7:

My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
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;
for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy

Read or listen to audio of ESV version of this selection from this link.

/Bob’s boy

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some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog.  All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Bible Reading Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com.