Psalm 63sn Psalm 63. The psalmist expresses his intense desire to be in God’s presence and confidently affirms that God will judge his enemies.
A psalm of David, written when he was in the Judean wilderness.sn According to the psalm superscription David wrote the psalm while in the “wilderness of Judah.” Perhaps this refers to the period described in 1 Sam 23-24 or to the incident mentioned in 2 Sam 15:23.
1 O God, you are my God! I long for you!tn Or “I will seek you.”
My soul thirststn Or “I thirst.” for you,
my flesh yearns for you,
in a dry and parchedtn Heb “faint” or “weary.” This may picture the land as “faint” or “weary,” or it may allude to the effect this dry desert has on those who are forced to live in it. land where there is no water.
2 Yes,tn The Hebrew particle כֵּן (ken) is used here to stress the following affirmation (see Josh 2:4). in the sanctuary I have seen you,tn The perfect verbal form is understood here as referring to a past experience which the psalmist desires to be repeated. Another option is to take the perfect as indicating the psalmist’s certitude that he will again stand in God’s presence in the sanctuary. In this case one can translate, “I will see you.”
and witnessedtn Heb “seeing.” The preposition with the infinitive construct here indicates an accompanying circumstance. your power and splendor.
3 Becausetn This line is understood as giving the basis for the praise promised in the following line. Another option is to take the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) as asseverative/emphasizing, “Indeed, your loyal love is better” (cf. NEB, which leaves the particle untranslated). experiencingtn The word “experiencing” is supplied in the translation for clarification. The psalmist does not speak here of divine loyal love in some abstract sense, but of loyal love revealed and experienced. your loyal love is better than life itself,
my lips will praise you.
4 For this reasontn Or perhaps “then.” I will praise you while I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.sn I will lift up my hands. Lifting up one’s hands toward God was a gesture of prayer (see Ps 28:2; Lam 2:19) or respect (Ps 119:48).
My mouth joyfully praises you,tn Heb “and [with] lips of joy my mouth praises.”
6 whenevertn The Hebrew term אִם (’im) is used here in the sense of “when; whenever,” as in Ps 78:34. I remember you on my bed,
and think about you during the nighttime hours.
7 For you are my deliverer;tn Or “[source of] help.”
under your wingstn Heb “in the shadow of your wings.” I rejoice.
8 My soultn Or “I.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a). pursues you;tn Heb “clings after.” The expression means “to pursue with determination” (see Judg 20:45; 1 Sam 14:22; 1 Chr 10:2; Jer 42:16).
your right hand upholds me.
9 Enemies seek to destroy my life,tn Heb “but they for destruction seek my life.” The pronoun “they” must refer here to the psalmist’s enemies, referred to at this point for the first time in the psalm.
but they will descend into the depths of the earth.sn The depths of the earth refers here to the underworld dwelling place of the dead (see Ezek 26:20; 31:14, 16, 18; 32:18, 24). See L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 167.
10 Each one will be handed over to the sword;tn Heb “they will deliver him over to the sword.” The third masculine plural subject must be indefinite (see GKC 460 §144.f) and the singular pronominal suffix either representative or distributive (emphasizing that each one will be so treated). Active verbs with indefinite subjects may be translated as passives with the object (in the Hebrew text) as subject (in the translation).
their corpses will be eaten by jackals.tn Heb “they will be [the] portion of jackals”; traditionally, “of foxes.”
11 But the kingsn The psalmist probably refers to himself in the third person here. will rejoice in God;
everyone who takes oaths in his nametn Heb “who swears [an oath] by him.” will boast,
for the mouths of those who speak lies will be shut up.tn The Niphal of this verb occurs only here and in Gen 8:2, where it is used of God “stopping” or “damming up” the great deep as he brought the flood to an end.
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