Psalm 63

Psalm 63

Prayer and Insights

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God wants to use this psalm

to guide us into a closer relationship with him.

Verses 1-2

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;

2 To see thy power and thy glory,

so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.

 Verse 1

David is yearning for more of God.

David has a close relationship with God

yet

he is ever wanting a closer relationship.

David's strong emotions

have emerged

from the strong bond

that David has with God. 

It is natural for a person to want

what someone else has.

In this psalm, God wants us

to want

the kind of relationship

that David has with God.

~

Which means:

God wants us to yearn for a closer relationship with him.

Psalm 63

verses 1 - 2

God wants to show us the

BEAUTY

of a close relationship with him.

The song below

seeks to capture the

deep emotion

of

Psalm 63.

Below is one of my favorite songs.

It is

inspired by Psalm 63.

Verse 3

3 Because thy lovingkindness

is better than life,

my lips shall praise thee.

Psalm 63 - Verse 3

David proclaims that his love for God is so great

that he truly realizes that the

lovingkindness of God is better than anything else

in this world.

See Psalm 84:10

We can be captivated by the world.

Or

We can be captivated by the Lord.

When we are

captivated

  - by all the details and challenges of life - 

we do not comprehend

the lovingkindness of God

in it proper depth.

See Psalm 136 for more about God's amazing lovingkindness.

Verse 4

4 Thus will I bless thee while I live:

I will lift up my hands in thy name.

David concludes his first three verses of thoughts

with the

crescendo

of verse four.

Verse 4 declares

that the only worthy response

to all these wondrous thoughts

of God

is to

Bless the Lord!

Psalm 64 verse 4b says:

I will lift up my hands in thy name.

When I started going to a church that

raised their hands

in worship,

I felt uneasy at first. 

That was a new thing for me.

Yet, Psalm 63 tells us that

God encourages us to honor him by raising our hands

in praise to him.

Below is a sweet story

about how a little child can lead us.

~

It happened at my church

many years ago:

Years ago when my son was in kindergarten,

there was a little girl named

Jennifer

in his class.

Jennifer's mom once told me 

that Jennifer wanted to marry my son!

One night, our church was having a special service for children. We invited Jennifer to go with us.

When we got to church, I stayed with the kids.

We began the children's service by singing songs to God. 

As we were all having a great time singing, I looked down and saw Jennifer with her hands up in the air singing to God.

Keep in mind that this was years ago,

and Jennifer went to a very conservative

Methodist church

that would not have held up hands

while worshipping at church.

My first thought was that surely she was copying some other child.

(Sometimes people in our church did hold up their hands but not often in children's church. And I had not seen the children holding up their hands in this service.)

I quickly looked around and saw no other child

nor any adult holding up his hands.

Then I realized that what happened was

that her love for God had overwhelmed her,

and

she felt compelled to raise her hands.

~

I will never forget that precious picture

of a little child loving God

in the best way she knew how.

Worship

Worship

Worship is a time when we show our love for God.

Sometimes it is just with our words,

and then sometimes

we feel drawn

to position our body in a reverent way.

I encourage you to worship God in your home today

- in whatever way you decide -

in order to show your love to God.

Verse 5

5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness;

and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:

Below is

Prayer and Praising

inspired by Psalm 63

done with

 Joyful Lips!

Dear Lord,

I will glorify you.

I will give YOU glory and honor with my mouth.

I will give YOU glory and honor with my actions.

In Jesus' Mighty Name I pray,

Amen

Dear Lord,

I love you, and I want to glorify you.

I want to follow you in every way.

Today, I will thank you for your blessings to me.

Today, my mind will think on godly, righteous things. 

And today, my mouth will sing praise to you.

Amen

Copyright 2014 Beth McLendon of Inspirational-Prayers.com

Here is...

Music to introduce the next section.

It is inspired by

Psalm 63:6-8.

Verses 6-7

5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness;

and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:

6 When I remember thee upon my bed,

and meditate on thee in the night watches.

7 Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the

shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

Verses 6-7 create a beautiful picture of a person who has a close relationship with God.

I like the way The Living Bible gives these verses:

I lie awake at night thinking of you

- of how much you have helped me -

and how I rejoice through the night

beneath the protecting shadow of your wings.

Psalm 63:6-7  TLB

Verse 8

8 My soul followeth hard after thee:

thy right hand upholdeth me.

The Hebrew word translated

"hard"

has the meaning of cleaving to, sticking to,

closely* pursuing,

joining together, abiding. 

-

* In The Living Bible translation, it uses the word "close".

I follow close behind you,

protected by your strong right arm. 

Psalm 63:8 TLB

David is showing

his deep passionate love for God.

Verse 8 "b" section says:
thy right hand upholdeth me.

In verse 8b, David is praising God

for holding him up and protecting him.

Below are Bible verses that relate to

Psalm 63:8b

O sing unto the Lord a new song;

for he hath done marvellous things:

his right hand, and his holy arm,

hath gotten him the victory.

Psalm 98:1 KJV

 Thou hast a mighty arm:

strong is thy hand,

and high is thy right hand.

Psalm 89:13 KJV

Also see:

Psalm 18:35, Psalm 20:6, Psalm 16:11, Psalm 118:15,

Exodus 15:6,

Isaiah 41:10, and Isaiah 62:8.

Verses 9 - 10

9 But those that seek my soul,

to destroy it,

shall go into the lower parts of the earth.

10 They shall fall by the sword:

they shall be a portion for foxes.

The Destroyer is the Devil.

God tells us

in the New Testament

that we need to focus

on

the evil demonic forces

when we think about our "enemies."

Ephesians tells us:

Put on the whole armor of God,

that ye may be able

to stand

against the wiles of the devil.

 For we wrestle not

against flesh and blood,

but against principalities, against powers,

against the rulers of the darkness of this world,

against spiritual wickedness

in high places.

Ephesians 6:11-12 KJV

So when we think about

those who are

our true enemies,

it is helpful to focus on the

spiritual demonic forces - not focus on people.

Note that we have a page called: Who is the Devil

And we have many  Armor of God Prayers

Verse 11

11 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.

There are blessings

for those who rejoice in God and give him glory.

Those who are against God and speak lies

shall be eventually silenced.

God wants to use

Psalm 63

to guide us

into a closer relationship with him.

God wants us to

choose

continual communion

with Him...

even during our wilderness times.

It is believed that David wrote this psalm

during a wilderness time in his life.

Psalm 63 encourages

me

to

draw near to God...

even during my wilderness experiences.

Below is a

Psalm 63 Worship Song

for the Wilderness

For more insights into David,

click: David

Lyrics to the second video:

Even in the wilderness
God, You are my God
Earnestly I search for You
With everything I've got

For I have seen You in Your glory
I have seen You in Your power
Your unfailing love is with me
Day after day
Hour after hour

CHORUS:
I will honor You as long as I live
And I will lift up my hands in Your name
My thirsting soul will be satisfied in You
Satisfied in You

Even as I lie awake
My thoughts are all on You
You've helped and protected me
In everything I do
And You are holding me securely
With a greater love than life
You will be my sanctuary
Day after day
Night after night

Repeat CHORUS

I will sing in the shadow of your protecting wings
And seek after you in all things
In all things

I will honor You as long as I live
And I will lift up my hands in Your name
My thirsting soul will be satisfied in You
I'll be Satisfied in You

REPEAT CHORUS

Satisfied in You, Satisfied in You
I'm so satisfied

We have lots of pages on the Psalms.

They are listed on our Bible Devotion page.

JUMP to the top of Psalm 63