John Calvin Commentary Psalms 63:2

"So have I looked upon thee in the sanctuary, To see thy power and thy glory." — Psalms 63:2 (ASV)

Thus in the sanctuary, etc. It is apparent, as already hinted, that God was always in his thoughts, even though he was wandering in the wilderness under such circumstances of destitution. The word thus is emphatic. Even when so situated, in a wild and hideous solitude, where the very horrors of the place were enough to have distracted his meditations, he made it his practice to contemplate the power and glory of God, just as if he had been in the sanctuary.

Previously, when it was in his power to attend the tabernacle, he was far from neglecting that part of the instituted worship of God. He was well aware that he needed such helps to devotion. But now, when shut out from any such privilege by the providence of God, he shows by the delight he found in spiritual views of God that his was not a mind engrossed with the symbols or mere outward ceremonial of religion.

He gives evidence of how much he had profited from the devotional exercises prescribed under that dispensation. It is noticeable that ignorant and superstitious persons seem full of zeal and fervor as long as they come in contact with the ceremonies of religion, while their seriousness evaporates immediately when these are withdrawn.

David, on the contrary, when these were removed, continued to retain them in his recollection and, through their assistance, to rise to fervent aspirations after God. From this, we may learn that when we are deprived at any time of the outward means of grace, we should direct the eye of our faith to God in the worst circumstances and not forget him whenever the symbols of holy things are removed from our sight.

The great truth, for example, of our spiritual regeneration, though only once represented to us in baptism, should remain fixed in our minds throughout our lives (Titus 3:5; Ephesians 5:26). The mystical union existing between Christ and his members should be a matter of reflection, not only when we sit at the Lord’s table, but at all other times.

Or suppose that the Lord’s Supper and other means of advancing our spiritual welfare were taken from us by an exercise of tyrannical power; it does not follow that our minds should cease to be occupied with the contemplation of God. The expression, So have I beheld thee to see, etc., indicates the earnestness with which he was intent upon the object, directing his whole meditation to this, so that he might see the power and glory of God, of which there was a reflection in the sanctuary.