Psalms 63:1 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

O God O thou who art God, and the only living and true God, the author and end of all things, the Governor and Judge of men and angels, and the sole object of their worship; thou art my God Mine by creation, and therefore my rightful owner and ruler; mine by covenant and my own consent, and therefore the object of my highest esteem, most fervent desire, and most entire trust and confidence. Early will I seek thee Which clause is all expressed in one word in the Hebrew, אשׁחרךְ, ashacherecha, (a most significant term, from שׁחר, shachar, aurora, vel diluculum, the dawn of day, or morning twilight,) a phrase which no translation can very happily express. Buxtorf interprets it thus, Quasi aurorare, vel diluculare dicas, words which will not admit of being rendered into our language. The sense of them, however, is, I will prevent, or be as early as the first approach of light in seeking thee. Perhaps no version can better express the precise meaning and force of the original term than that of the Seventy, namely, προς σε ορθριζω, but it is equally difficult, if not impossible, to be literally translated into English. We find the same Hebrew phrase Isaiah 26:9, which our translators interpret in the same manner, namely, “With my spirit within me will I seek thee early.” The primary meaning of the word early, in both passages, is early in the morning, or before, or with the dawn of day; which implies the doing it (namely, seeking God) with the greatest speed and diligence, taking the first and best time for it. And to seek him, the reader will observe, is to covet his favour as our chief good, and to consult his glory as our highest end: it is to seek an acquaintance with him by his word, and mercy from him by prayer: it is to seek union with him, and a conformity to him by his Spirit. My soul thirsteth for thee Eagerly desires to approach thee, to have access to thee, and to enjoy communion with thee. Thirsting, in all languages, is frequently used for earnestly longing after, or passionately desiring any thing. My flesh longeth for thee Or, languisheth, or pineth away, as כמה, chamah, the word here used, seems properly to signify. R. Sal. renders it, arescit, it is dried up, withered, or wasted. In some approved lexicons it is interpreted of the eye growing dim, the colour changing, and the mind being weakened. As used here by the psalmist, the word implies the utmost intenseness and fervency of desire; as though it impaired his sight, altered the very hue of his body, and even injured his understanding; effects oftentimes produced by eager and unsatisfied desires. In a dry and thirsty land where no water is Where I have not the refreshing waters of the sanctuary, and where I thirst not so much for water to refresh my body, although I also greatly want that, as for thy presence, and the communications of thy grace to refresh my soul. He experienced the vehemence of natural thirst in a wilderness, where he could get no supply of water; and by that sensation he expresses the vehemence of his spiritual thirst, of his desire after God, and the ordinances of his worship.