PM July 24th Psa 63

July 24^th            Psalm 63

 

A Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judea

Yearning for God

1: O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; 2: To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. 3: Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. 4: Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. 5: My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: 6: When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. 7: Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. 8: My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me. 9: But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth. 10: They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes. 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.

To the chief musician

 

Psalm 64

 

A Psalm of David

A Prayer for protection

1: Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer: preserve my life from fear of the enemy. 2: Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity: 3: Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words: 4: That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not. 5: They encourage themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who shall see them? 6: They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep. 7: But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded. 8: So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves: all that see them shall flee away. 9: And all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; for they shall wisely consider of his doing. 10: The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and shall trust in him; and all the upright in heart shall glory.

To the chief musician

Today we have two more Psalms of David. Psalm 63 was composed when David was in the wilderness of Judea. David begins saying O God you are my God. This is David’s purpose of heart to make the Lord his God. He says I will seek your face - as first priority. Because my soul is thirsty for you and even my body longs for the Lord like a desert longs for rain. It longs to see your power demonstrated and your glory like I have seen in the Tabernacle. David says, your loving kindness to me is better then even life itself. Therefore I will sing your praises. I will bless your name while I have life and I will honour your name. In the night hours my soul will be satisfied as if it were feeding of the very fattest of nourishment. I will praise you with lips full of joy, I will think about you while I lie awake. You have been a help to me and I will rejoice under the shadow of your wings. My soul chases after you Oh Lord and your right hand supports me. Those who wish to murder me will die and be buried in hell itself. They will die in battle and foxes will eat them. By I will rejoice in God and all those who are allied to him will glory in him. The liars will have their mouths shut. In Psalm 64 David calls on the Lord to listen to his prayer and deliver his life from his enemies. He says, hide me from the plots of the wicked who seek to rebel against me. They sharpen their tongues to cut me and they bend their bows to shoot bitter words at me. They have no fear at shooting at those who walk perfectly before the Lord. They encourage each other to do evil. They set snares in secret saying to themselves nobody will know. They search for new ways of doing evil things – from the depth in their sinful hearts. The Lord will shoot them down and wound them. Their own tongues will condemn themselves and everyone will see them run for their lives. In that day all men will fear the Lord and speak of his deeds because in wisdom they will think about what God is doing. The righteous (those who keep the Mosaic Law) will be glad in the Lord and they will trust, and glory in Him.