Lessons From the Psalms - Psalm 63

[00:00:07] Welcome to Lessons From The Psalms. This is Bill Kelley and I'll be your host. On this podcast we will be going over the book of Psalms.

[00:00:19] Open and prayer. Father God, I thank you for anyone listening to the Psalms today. Lord, I pray that you would reveal to everyone listening how much you truly love each and every one of them. I ask this in Jesus name, Amen. This is Psalm 63 beginning in verse 1.

[00:00:42] Oh God, you are my God. Early will I seek you? My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.

[00:00:57] So I have looked for you in the sanctuary to see your power and your glory because your loving kindness is better than life. My lips shall praise you. Thus I will bless you while I live.

[00:01:14] I will lift up my hands in your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with moro and fatness and my mouth shall praise you with joyful lips.

[00:01:27] When I remember you on my bed, I meditate on you in the night watches because you have been my help. Therefore in the shadow of your wings I will rejoice. My soul follows close behind you. Your right hand upholds me.

[00:01:48] But those who seek my life to destroy it shall go into the lower parts of the earth. They shall fall by the sword. They shall be a portion for jackals.

[00:02:01] But the king shall rejoice in God. Everyone who swears by him shall glory. But the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stalked.

[00:02:14] Friends, Psalm 63 is yet another Psalm that is attributed to David. And when this was written, David had not yet been crowned the king of Israel.

[00:02:28] At this time he was in the wilderness of Judah. And the king of Israel at that time, King Saul was after David and David had found a place in the wilderness where he could hide from Saul.

[00:02:46] And thus that is why he wrote this. Let's look at this and break this down beginning in verse 1. Oh God, you are my God. Early will I seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you.

[00:03:06] So, friends, what I'd like for you to do is just close your eyes for just a moment. Pretend that you are David at this time. You know that you have been ordained king.

[00:03:20] You know that you are going to be the next king. And yet here you are in the desert, hiding from King Saul. He must have been beside himself. He thirsted for God.

[00:03:39] He knew that God was going to take care of him. And yet here he is all alone for the desert and he is having a difficult time.

[00:03:49] My flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land. Friends, there is no dryer or thirst to your place than the desert. And that's where David was. Where there is no water.

[00:04:04] So, I have looked for you in the sanctuary to see your power and your glory. And this pretty much is a metaphor. He's not in church now. He's not in the temple. He's hiding in the desert trying to avoid being killed by the present king. Let's go to verse 3.

[00:04:25] Because your loving kindness is better than life. My lips shall praise you. Thus I will bless you while I live. I will lift up my hands in your name.

[00:04:38] What this verse reminds me of is being in praise and worship. And when you hear delightful praise and worship, you can't help but lift your hands up and worship the one true God.

[00:04:53] My soul shall be satisfied as with morrow and fatness. And my mouth shall praise you with joyful lips. Friends, may I suggest that it doesn't matter what is going on in your life?

[00:05:10] These verses all remind us of our need for God in our life. We need to thirst for Him. We need to recognize God for who He actually is. And David is showing us how to do that. But I love verse 6,

[00:05:29] When I remember you on my bed, I meditate on you in the night watches. I want you to think about when you first go to bed at night and you're pondering the activities that you did during the day.

[00:05:45] And you're just reminding yourself of how good God truly is all of the things that He has done for you. Maybe He didn't do that much for you that day, but over the course of days and months and years, you just realize the value of having God in your life.

[00:06:08] Let's go to verse 7, because you have been my help. Therefore in the shadow of your wings, I will rejoice.

[00:06:19] Now friends, that one particular verse reminds me of Psalm 91, verse 1. Let me read that for you. It says, He who dwells in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

[00:06:38] Friends, God is our refuge. Let's go to verse 8. My soul follows close behind you. Your right hand upholds me.

[00:06:53] Oh, David understood. David is known as being a man after God's own heart. David had that special relationship with God. Let's find out what happens to those people who are against us.

[00:07:14] Listen to verses 9 and 10. But those who seek my life to destroy it shall go into the lower parts of the earth. They shall fall by the sword. They shall be a portion for jackals. Now friends in context, how can David have had that confidence?

[00:07:35] He is in the middle of the desert hiding from King Saul and his army. His army is the one who has the swords. His army is the one that seems to be in a better position.

[00:07:50] And yet David is relying on the God whom he has known. The same God that saw him through that fight against Goliath in first Samuel. Let's close with verse 11, but the King shall rejoice in God.

[00:08:12] And here we are talking about David after he has become King. He's looking into the future. Everyone who swears by him shall glory.

[00:08:26] And here David is talking about all people who put their trust in God. But the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped and friends very simply hear he is talking about unbelievers. Friends they are the ones that speak lies. We who know God and have an intimate relationship with him.

[00:08:54] Know of his goodness and that he will be on our side and see us through anything that we are going through in our life. Friends please join me again soon as we take a closer look at Psalm 64.