John Gill Commentary Psalms 63

O God, you [are] my God
Not by nature only, or by birth; not merely as an Israelite and son of Abraham; but by grace through Christ, and in virtue of an everlasting covenant, the blessings and promises of which were applied unto him; and he, by faith, could now claim his interest in them, and in his God as his covenant God; who is a God at hand and afar off, was his God in the wilderness of Judea, as in his palace at Jerusalem. The Targum is, "you are my strength;"

early will I seek thee; or "I will morning thee" ^F15 ; I will seek you as soon as the morning appears; and so the Targum, ``I will arise in the morning before you;'' it has respect to prayer in the morning, and to seeking God early, and in the first place; see (Psalms 5:3) (55:17) ; or "diligently" ^F16 ; as a merchant seeks for goodly pearls, or other commodities suitable for him; so Aben Ezra suggests, as if the word was to be derived, not from (rxv) , "the morning", but from (rxo) , "merchandise"; and those who seek the Lord both early and diligently shall find him, and not lose their labour, (Proverbs 2:4Proverbs 2:5) (8:17) (Hebrews 11:6) ;

my soul thirsteth for thee ;
after his word, worship, and ordinances; after greater knowledge of him, communion with him, and more grace from him; particularly after pardoning grace and justifying righteousness; see (Psalms 42:1Psalms 42:2) (Matthew 5:6) ; My flesh longeth for thee; which is expressive of the same thing in different words; and denotes, that he most earnestly desired, with his whole self, his heart, soul, and strength, that he might enjoy the presence of God;

in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is ;
such was the wilderness of Judea, where he now was, and where he was destitute of the means of grace, of the ordinances of God's house, and wanted comfort and refreshment for his soul, which he thirsted and longed after, as a thirsty man after water in a desert place.

FOOTNOTES:

• F15: (Krxva) "sub auroram quaero te", Piscator.
• F16: "Studiosissime", Gejerus, Michaelis.

To see thy power and thy glory
Either the ark, as the Jewish writers generally interpret it; the symbol of God's presence and glory, and which is called his strength and his glory; see (Psalms 78:61) (132:8) ; or rather the Lord Christ, who is the power of God, as well as the wisdom of God; by whom he made the world, and upholds it; by whom he has redeemed his people, and keeps and preserves them; and whose power is seen in the efficacy of the word and ordinances: and who is also the glory of God; he is the brightness of his Father's glory; his glory is the glory as of the only begotten of the Father; he has the same glorious nature, perfections, names, homage, and worship; and the glory of all the divine attributes is displayed in the work of salvation and redemption he has wrought out; and this glory is to be seen, through the glass of the word and ordinances, in the house of God. Hence it follows;

so [as] I have seen thee in the sanctuary ;
where he comes and blesses his people, and manifests himself unto them, as he does not unto the world; where his goings are seen, and his footsteps traced, (Psalms 68:24) . The psalmist calls to mind former experiences in the sanctuary; and these stimulate him to an eager desire of fresh tastes of the grace of God, and clearer views of his power and glory. Or, as in a dry and thirsty land my soul longed and thirsted for time, so have I desired to see thee in the sanctuary; or so I see thee there as if in the sanctuary.

Because your lovingkindness [is] better than life For life without the love of God is nothing else than death: a man that has no share in the love of God is dead while he lives; all the enjoyments of life, health, riches, honour, friends are nothing without the love of God; the meanest temporal blessings with it are preferable to the greatest without it, (Proverbs 15:17); it lasts longer than life, and therefore must be better than that; death cannot separate from it; it continues to all eternity.

And that the saints prefer it to this natural life appears by their readiness to lay it down for the sake of Christ and his Gospel, in which the lovingkindness of God is so richly manifested unto them; to which may be added, that it is the love of God which gives to his people spiritual life, and which issues in eternal life, and therefore must be better than a temporal one.

The Targum is: "for better is your kindness, which you will do for the righteous in the world to come, than the life which you give the wicked in this world;"

my lips shall praise you; that is, for your lovingkindness, and because it is better than life, and any enjoyment of it.

Thus will I bless thee while I live
With his whole heart and soul, as he has sought after him, and as under a sense of his lovingkindness; and as he now praised him with his lips, so he determined to do as long as he had life and being; by proclaiming his blessedness, by ascribing blessing and honour to him, and by giving him the glory of all mercies temporal and spiritual;

I will lift up my hands in your name ;
not against his enemies, against those that fought against him, as Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it, but unto God in heaven; and that not as a gesture used in swearing, but either in blessing, as Aben Ezra observes; so the high priest lifted up his hands when he blessed the people; or in prayer, or in both, so Jarchi's note is, to pray and to praise; (See Gill on Psalms 28:2). The Targum is, "in the name of your Word I will spread out my hands in prayer for the world to come;" that is, in the name of the Messiah, the essential Word, in whose name prayer is to be made, and whereby it becomes prevalent and successful; see (John 14:13John 14:14) (John 16:23John 16:24John 16:26) . This is a prayer gesture; (See Gill on Psalms 28:2).

My soul shall be satisfied as [with] marrow and fatness
When he should return to the house of the Lord, and partake of the provisions of it, called the fatness of his house, (See Gill on Psalms 36:8). The phrase denotes the abundance of spiritual refreshment and delight in the word and ordinances, and the great satisfaction had in them; and may have some regard to benefits arising from prayer, as well as other ordinances.

Fat was not to be eaten under the legal dispensation, and therefore not to be literally taken; but in the typical and spiritual sense which David understood, and therefore respects that, or otherwise he would speak contrary to the law of God: he refers to those spiritual good things which they typified, and give spiritual pleasure and satisfaction;

and my mouth shall praise [thee] with joyful lips ;
such a full meal, such a rich entertainment, calls for abundant thankfulness; which is here signified by the mouth praising the Lord, and doing this with lips of shouting, expressions of joy, songs of praise, jubilee songs. The allusion is to the use of music and singing at festivals; see (Isaiah 5:12) .