A Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah, exiled, ill at ease, hunted, exposed to danger. Yet he could sing. And some of the sweetest Psalms came out of the bitterest afflictions. God's songsters are like nightingales that reserve their sweetest music for the night. Whenever you and I come to be in the wilderness may we refresh ourselves with such a Psalm as this.
Psalms 63:1. O God, thou art my God;
Everything else has gone, but thou art my God. There are gods of the heathen, but thou, the true and real Jehovah, art my God. Oh, what a blessed thing it is to take a firm grip of God after this fashion, « O God, thou art my God.»
Psalms 63:1. Early will I seek thee:
« Oh,» says one, « why did he seek God if God was his?» Would you have him seek another man's God, then? No; it is because he is ours that we seek him and desire his company. If thou knowest God to be thy God thou will not be satisfied unless thou art living near him. « Early will I seek thee.» I will not wait. I cannot wait. I cannot tarry. I must not tarry. Early will I seek thee.
Psalms 63:1. My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;
Thirst is one of the strongest longings of our nature. Hunger you can appease for a while, but thirst is awful. There is no staying that. When it is once upon a man he must have water or die. « My soul thirsteth for thee. My flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is.» No means of grace; nothing to help me; no believers round about me; left alone thirsting for my God. And yet it is so precious a thing, so sure a mark of grace to thirst for God anywhere that one may be thankful even to be in a dry and thirsty land if one possesses a true thirst after God.
Psalms 63:2. To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.
He had seen God in his holy place, and he longs to see him again. They that never knew God do not want to know him. But they that have known him desire to know him more and more. If thou cost not long for the bread of heaven it is because thou didst never taste it. He that has once tasted it will sigh and hunger till he is satisfied with it.
Psalms 63:3. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.
« Better than life «; and surely life is better than anything else. « Skin for skin; yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.» Life is better than meat. Life is better than riches; and if the lovingkindness of God is better than life then we have a very high price set upon it, but none too high a price. Oh, that you and I may know how sweet, how precious, is the lovingkindness of God; and then we shall say that it is better than life. And because it is so my lips shall praise thee. Not only my heart, but I will do it openly. I used to speak vanity when I served vanity. Shall I not now speak out for God when I have come to serve him? My lips shall praise thee.
Psalms 63:4. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.
I will confess thee. I will rejoice in thee. I will work for thee. I will encourage myself in thee. I will lift up my hands in thy name. Are any of you cast down? Do your hands hang down? Then lift them up in God's name. Nothing else can make you strong. The name of the Lord shall be your strength.
Psalms 63:5-6. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: when I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.
God's people know what perfect satisfaction means. When God reveals his love to them and Christ draws near in the fullness of his grace, then they would not change value with the kings of the earth. Not all the richest dainties that were ever served up at royal banquets are equal to the love of God. My soul, not my body but my inmost self, my very life, shall be satisfied even as with marrow and with fatness. The Oriental's idea of luxury is to eat fat. How they will eat what we could not endure, but we, dear friends, understand the metaphor and appreciate what is meant by David. God will satisfy us with the best of the best, with marrow and fatness. He will make that satisfaction double as with marrow and fatness; and we shall be so satisfied that we shall have nothing left to do but to praise. « My mouth shall praise.» Says our poet,
«All that remains for me,
Is but to love and sing,
And wait until the angels come
To bear me to their King.»
He that wrote that verse knew what was meant by this, « My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.»
Psalms 63:7. Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.
That is God's logic. One likes to see « therefores» in scripture. They are inferences drawn with great accuracy. Thou hast been my helper. Well, then, thou wilt be my helper; and if I cannot see thy face I will rejoice in the shadow of thy wings. I know that thou art there, if I cannot see thee; and if I only know that thou art there by the shade that thou dost cast over me-that calming cooling shade which damps the ardor of my worldly spirit-if this be all that I get from thee, yet in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.
Psalms 63:8. My soul followeth hard after thee:
I am after thee, my God, hard after thee, following hard after thee longing for thee, like a dog at the heels of his master's horse, going with all his might, following hard after thee. Oh, this is a healthy condition to be in. If thou canst not yet reach thy God, yet if thou followest hard after him it is well with thee, for notice the next sentence:
Psalms 63:8. Thy right hand upholdeth me.
No man follows after God unless God helps him so to do. It comes of the grace of God. When thou art seeking God it is because God is seeking thee, and though thou knowest it not there is a vast amount of grace couched in this desire.
Psalms 63:9-10. But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth. They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes.
Or jackals, as his name did become.
Psalms 63:11. But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that sweareth by him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.
Very hard work to stop it though, for they are always breaking out in a fresh place. They have always some new falsehood. A shovelful of earth will do it, if nothing else will. Let every one here who is accustomed to slander or to speak evil of his neighbour listen to this prophetic voice: « the month of them that speak lies shall be stopped, « but the mouths that speak the praises of God shall go on singing forever and ever. May such mouths be ours.
This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 91:1. and 63.