March 19, 2016

Tom Lowe

 

PSALM 63

Title: The Thirst of a Kingly Soul for God

A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah; that is, in the forest of Hareth.

Theme: Thirst for the Water of Life.

 

Psalm 63

 

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;

To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.

Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.

Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.

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.

Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.

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.

 

 

Introduction

Psalm 63 is a prayer of lamentation (a lament, expression of grief, dirge) written in the name of the king and for his use in the king’s Temple at Jerusalem; it is a hymn-type poem, its words addressed entirely to and not about God. It is one of the most deeply spiritual psalms of the Psalter.  One commentator has said that “the earnest yearning for God, and the insight into communion with Him on the part of a truly good man, as expressed in the Psalm, is unrivaled in the Psalter.”

 

It has been a marvelous psalm for the church.  It speaks of the thirst for the Water of Life. Chrysostom said that it was ordained and agreed upon by the primitive fathers that no day should pass without the public singing of this psalm, and in the primitive church this psalm was sung every morning or every time there was a public gathering.  They always began the morning service with it.

 

The superscription tells us that it was written in the wilderness of Judah. This wilderness stretched southwards from Jericho on the western shore of the Dead Sea.  But the word “king” (11) prevents some commentators from supposing that the Psalm was penned during Saul’s persecution of David; when Saul was king.  Others suppose it was probably written amid the events recorded in 2 Samuel 15:23-28; 16:2; 17:16, that is, during Absalom’s rebellion.  I don’t believe it is possible to pin down exactly what the circumstances were when the psalm was written, therefore, the commentary will refer to either Absalom or Saul depending upon the evidence available for each incident.

 

David was going through one of those rough times which seemed to be his lot in life.  He had been driven from the throne by Absalom, or prevented from assuming it by King Saul. He had to flee from Jerusalem, therefore he headed out across the northern edge of the wilderness of Judah, which stretched away to the arid banks of the Dead Sea, and was far from the sanctuary in Jerusalem, the sum and center of his life.  He had been strengthening his soul in God; but currently He was knocked down.  But it was going to take more than Absalom his son, and Amasa his nephew, and Ahithophel the traitor, once his counselor and friend and all the armed might of the rebels to knock him out.  His life was hid in God.  To get at him they would have to knock out God first.  That is the setting of this psalm.

 

 

Commentary

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;

 

“O God, thou art my God.” It is wonderful to hear him claiming God has his own. The words in themselves are simple and childlike, but they contain a world of meaning.  “My God”—an intimate, personal relationship.  “My god”—an abiding treasure when all else is gone.  “My God”—a sufficient resource in every crisis.  And it is humbling to notice the psalmist’s passion for God, especially when we remember how cold and indifferent we often are.

 

“Early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee.”The psalmist is harassed by enemies who are seeking his life.  He is ill; his physical being—“my flesh”—is weak, and he may be burning up with fever.  Hiding from Saul, running from Saul and trying to find food enough to feed him and his men causes him constant stress.  Though sick and in distress, he longs to worship again in the Temple, and to be king in Israel.  That is how it has been ever since he had been denied the throne by King Saul. But far greater than his desire to live is his longing for God.  [Eagerness to be with the Lord in every situation is more in view than the time of day.] His soul is thirsting for his Creator; together his physical body and his spiritual hunger cry out for God, as parched ground silently cries out for rain.  Just as we have physical senses that are satisfied by God’s creation, so we have spiritual senses [“But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil” (Hebrews 5:14).] that can be satisfied only by Christ.  He is the bread of life (John 6), and he gives us the bread of life (John 6), and He gives us the water of life by His Spirit—“The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life” (Revelation 22:17; also see John 4:1-14; 7:37-39). Those who hunger and thirst for spiritual food and drink shall be filled—“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6).  David could say with Jesus, “I have food to eat of which you do not know” (John 4:32, NKJV).

 

O God, thou art my God”is how he expressed the emotion he was experiencing. “You are mine by creation and therefore my rightful owner and ruler; mine by covenant and by my own consent.”

 

What David missed most of all was God’s house.  It was not his palace he mourned, nor his throne, nor family and friends left behind, but God’s house.  He missed the place of prayer, the sanctuary of God, the place where the people of God came together in public worship.  That is what he missed—and it tells us much about the makeup of the man. 

 

David had left Jerusalem on the Jericho road.  His journey took him through some of the wildest, most barren, and discouraging scenery in the world.  He was deeply troubled by the evil behavior of his beloved Absalom and by the treachery of Ahithophel.  It broke his heart that the Hebrew people were so ungrateful for all the benefits his reign had brought them.  But it was being driven away from the sanctuary of God that hurt him most.  However, David didn’t depend on the tabernacle or its furnishings—in fact, he has sent the ark back to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 15:24-29)—but on the living God whose character and works were declared in those furnishings.

 

His entire soul “thirsteth” for God.  The desolate scenery which surrounded him only served to accent his thirst.  He describes it as “a dry and thirsty land” or, as some render it, “a dry and weary land,” which, of course, is exactly what this world should be to us.  If we haven’t found it so as yet, the day will come when we will.  David knew what it was to be thirsty.  He had hidden in caves down by the Dead Sea, and it is some of the driest land anywhere.  California, Arizona, and New Mexico haven’t anything that can touch that dry land around Engedi.  It is a place where you can get thirsty!  David’s soul thirsteth for God.  Do you feel that way about Him?  Do you have a love for Him, or has He become a burden to you?  Oh, how I wish that we would thirst for Him! 

 

The psalmist is never content when it comes to communion with God.  He constantly “seeks” to improve and increase it; and therefore, he tells the Lord, “Early will I seek thee.” “Seek” is a very revealing word.  Basically it means “longing for the first light of the dawn.”  So here our friend David gets up at first light after perhaps a sleepless night eager to “see” his Lord.  We must “seek” to know Him through His Word and “seek” mercy from Him by prayer.  We must seek him “Early” and as thoroughly as those that are afraid of missing him.  We must begin our days with Him, begin every day with Him: “Early will I seek thee.” And we must “earnestly” seek Him “My soul thirsteth for thee and my flesh longeth for thee” (that is, my whole man is involved in this pursuit).  For many people, the desire for God is a casual and occasional thing; for David, it is a matter of life and death.

Dear reader, for years I got up “early,” before anyone else, to read the Bible and Bible Commentaries, and to pray. It was a great way to start the day, and I now realize that I grew close to the Lord by dedicating this part of my day to Him. I highly recommend it.

 

Dear reader, for years I got up “early,” before anyone else, to read the Bible and Bible Commentaries, and to pray. It was a great way to start the day, and I now realize that I grew close to the Lord by dedicating this part of my day to Him. I highly recommend it.


 “My flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is.” The word David uses for “longing” can be translated “fainting” or “pineth away”—“My flesh fainteth for thee.” David’s craving for God was not just mental, emotional, or voluntary, but an actual physical craving.  It left him physically weak.

 

This world is“a dry and thirsty land;” or, you might say it’s a weary land; the worldly have invested everything they have in it, but it will yield them no true satisfaction.  The godly learn that the world is a weary place when they have to pass through it—it is a valley of Baca{1]; they can promise themselves little from it.  How weary and sad is any life without God!  Some Bible scholars say that “a dry and thirsty land,” is a description of the psalmist’s inward condition rather than of his outward circumstances (143:6; Isaiah 33:2).

 

 

To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.

 

“To see” may be rendered as “to enjoy,” which is how seeing is often taken. Now David prayed that the time would come when he might again become caught up in an ecstasy of sacred contemplation, and see that “power and Glory” as he had seen it in the sanctuary in the past.  He wanted to be restored to his kingdom so that the kingdom and the power and the glory might be united visibly again. He is eager to see, and yearning to experience, the power and the glory of God—“To see it here in this wilderness as I have seen it in the tabernacle, to see it in secret as I have seen it in the solemn assembly.” David’s desire for God is intensified because he knows what he is missing.  Now his soul cannot be satisfied with anything less than a new unveiling of the Lord in splendor and might.  Some call it the beatific vision—this view of God in His divine Glory.  Whatever it is called, it is an experience that makes all other glory seem lifeless and dull.

 

David wanted, more than anything, to see the Lord.  He wanted to see the Glory of the Lord and to be changed into an image of Him—“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18). 

 

That I may “see thy power and thy glory.” He does not say, as I have seen them, but “as I have seen Thee.” We cannot see the essence of God, but we see Him by faith in His attributes and perfections. The sites David sees here please him by bringing to mind those precious minutes which he spent in communion with God; he loved to think about them, although such thoughts brought a feeling of great loss, and he longs for their restoration.

 

How did David acquire this wonderful spiritual appetite?  Answer. By worshipping God at the sanctuary—“One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple” (27:4; also see 84:1-2). 

 

He had erected the tent on Mount Zion and returned the ark to its rightful place, and he had found great delight in going there and contemplating God (36:8-9; 46:4).  David’s yearning for God was intensified by his keen sense of exclusion from the sanctuary in Jerusalem and his separation from the ark, the symbol of the divine presence (2 Samuel 15:25, 26).  What life does to us depends on what life finds in us, and David had in him a deep love for the Lord and a desire to please him.

 

Note: Verses 4, 5, and 3, in that order, is a little song of thanksgiving, complete in itself.

 

Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:

Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.

 

Note: Verses 4, 5, and 3, in that order, is a little song of thanksgiving, complete in itself.

Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:

Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.

 


Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.

 

“Because thy lovingkindness is better than life.” David’s life was threatened and he was in extreme peril.  He walked in the valley of the shadow of death.  But all thought of danger faded before the thought of God’s grace, and His “loving-kindness.”  It is a favorite word in the psalms.  God offers us not just kindness, but “loving-kindness;” not just mercy, but tender mercy.

 

To him the spiritual blessings of God’s lovingkindness are of greater value even than life itself, better than anything life can provide.  The psalmist’s words become more significant when we sense how precious life appears to him at the present moment when he is in grave danger. As precious as life is, life is a desert without the grace and loving-kindness of God.  Loving-kindness is “better than life” because it secures for us the life to come, life in a new dimension of eternal bless. If this verse is not David’s statement of faith, it should be—I declare that“Thy lovingkindness is better than life.”

 

“My lips shall praise thee.”“My lips” are the “lips” of a person made in the image of God, who uses his “lips” (The O T would never dare to say this.) to speak to God.  Praising God is the natural expression of a heart that meditates on God, a heart that thinks of Him “through . . .  The night.”

 

 

Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.

 

“Thus will I bless thee while I live.” “Thus” means “truly.” The word “bless” is used here for “praise.” There are two ways we can “lift up our hands” for God; we can lift them in prayer and we can lift them in service.  Doubtless David had both thoughts in mind. The king, already feeling a strong sense of security, sings in anticipation his thanksgiving for the Lord’s answer to his prayer.  He vows to praise God throughout his life, lifting up his “hands” to Him, not in the manner of appeal, but in a glad gesture of grateful joy.

 

Take my hands and let them move

          At the impulse of Thy love.

 

“I will lift up my hands in thy name.”Raising the hands and worship is often connected in the psalms—“Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord. (134:2). To lift the hands to the Lord is an Old Testament posture of prayer, the upheld hands pictured both the ascent of prayer and the readiness two receive every good gift which comes from God—“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17).  It was, thus, a posture of trust in God alone.  It expresses dependence on Him, coupled with an acknowledgment of His power, wonder, and majesty—“When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands, and I would not be comforted” (77:2).

 

God’s “name” is His essential being.  The psalmist has discovered, through the experience of membership in the Covenant people, that that “name” is Love.

 

There is much that needs to be done in this world of sin.  There are doors to be knocked on, tracts to be given out, deeds of love and kindness to be done for those in need.  God has no hands but our “hands” to do His work today.  There are mission fields on a hundred shores where God’s servants are crying out for help, for someone to come and lend a “hand.”  God’s work needs carpenters and bricklayers, doctors and nurses, typists, cooks, and deck hands.  David lived for God by working for Him.

 

 

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:

 

“My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness.” Satisfaction and song!  Such were the ingredients in David’s witness. Think again for a moment of David’s situation. He had been forced to leave behind him everything he possessed in this world.  He was now a beggar, dependent for his next meal on the kindness and generosity of such friends as were left to him.  Did he feel sorry for himself?  Not David! That was his witness.  He had God so what did it matter if he lost all else!  Note, the saints have a contentment with God; they desire no more than his favor to make them happy.

 

“Marrow and fatness(fat)of a sacrificial animal were the best bits of the flesh.  These were offered to God in love and gratitude—“The priest shall burn them on the altar as a food offering, a pleasing aroma. All the fat is the Lord’s. (Leviticus 3:16).  “Marrow and fatness” typify the very finest of food (81:16; 147:14; Deuteronomy 32:14; Isaiah 25:6).

 

“And my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.” To sing with his own lips songs of joyful praise of his God will satisfy his spiritual nature as truly as fat; the finest food, dispels his physical hunger.  He will praise Him in two ways: (1) “Openly.”  His mouth and lips shall praise God.  When with the heart man believes and is thankful, with the mouth confession must be made of both, to the glory of God; not that the words of the mouth are accepted without the heart’s approval,—“These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Matthew 15:8)—but out of the abundance of the heart the mouth must speak [“The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good” (14:1)], both to fan the flames of our own devout affections and for the edification of others.  (2) Cheerfully.  We must praise God with joyful lips; we must address ourselves to that and other duties of religion with great cheerfulness, and proclaim the praises of God from a principle of holy joy. Praising lips must be joyful lips.

 

 

When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.

 

“When I remember thee upon my bed.”David was now wandering and unsettled, but, wherever he went, he brought his religion along with him.  “Upon my bed”: being hunted by Saul, he seldom slept in the same bed two nights in a row; but wherever he slept, even if he slept like Jacob upon the cold ground and with a stone for his pillow, good thoughts of God lay down with him, and comforted him. Dear reader, meditating upon God’s goodness is a lot better than counting sheep! Perhaps an hour’s pious meditation will do us more good than an hour’s sleep would have done. (Psalm 16:7; 17:3; 14:4; 119:62). Many of David’s most delightful experiences with God seemed to have been at night.  In all these Psalms there is imagery borrowed from the “night-watch”{3] in the camp.

 

The phrase “remember Thee” means to recall what He has said and done in the past and apply it to our present situation (42:6; 77:1-11; 105:1-5; 119:55).  It was because Israel forgot what God did that they rebelled and disobeyed Him (78:40-43; 106:6).

 

“And meditate on thee in the night watches.” Our poet suggests that he experiences God’s friendship as deeply as God enjoys man’s offerings!  So that is why he (a) praises God, (b) meditates, thinks through the meaning of things, (c) ever recognizing that everything he thinks, knows and experiences is already a gift from God. His is a total experience, one that he maintains both by day and by night.  So all he can do in response to God’s friendship is to shout for joy.

 

This is one of the lamentations “which were occasionally sung in the Temple at “night” to the accompaniment of stringed instruments.” Moreover, the Hebrews felt that in sleep the soul was freed from the body and so could soar into spiritual regions and commune with God.  Through dreams the soul was influenced by God and led in the direction desired by Him.

 

 

Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

 

“Because thou hast been my help.”Absalom was waving the red rag and the strong bulls of Bashan{2] were preparing to charge.  David had been in peril before, and God had delivered him.  He trusts God to sustain him now, just as He had done throughout the psalmist’s lifetime. 

 

“Therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.”When insomnia drove sleep from his eyes he had one sure remedy.  Instead of brooding over his troubles he would think, instead, about God.  He would think of the times God had helped him in the past. He would think of the fledgling bird that found warmth, comfort, security, and rest beneath its mother’s wings.  He would think what wide, wonderful wings God spread over him—doubtless thinking again of that ark with the overshadowing wings of the cherubim. And he would think of the nights he meditated in the Temple and called upon God, as he lies near the ark and the sheltering wings of the cherubim. The result; David crept closer to God. He feels himself clinging close to Him, resting in the shadow of God’s wings and aware of His sustaining protection. 

 

“In the shadow of Thy wings” is one of David’s favorite phrases, since it so beautifully and concisely expresses his sense of relationship with, security in, and submission to the Lord.  This sense of personal intimacy is meaningfully emphasized by the statement “my soul followeth hard after thee” (or my soul clings to thee) (v. 8)—which is the same phrase used to express the bond between husband and wife—That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24).

 

 

My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.

 

“My soul followeth hard after thee” is evidence of a very earnest desire and a serious vigorous effort to keep up communion with God. We cannot always have God in our embraces; therefore, we must always have him in our eye, reaching out to Him as our prize—“I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14).  To “follow hard after God” means to follow him closely, like those that are afraid of losing sight of Him, and to follow him swiftly, like those that long to be with him.  Those that follow hard after God would soon fail, if God’s right hand did not uphold them.  It is He that strengthens us and comforts us.  The psalmist believes that though he is now sowing tears, he will reap joy.  David’s consistency following the Lord is a tribute to the Lord’s strength, not David’s ability.

 

 

“Thy right hand upholdeth me.” God’s mighty “right hand” came down to uphold him.  He is the One that strengthens us in the pursuit of Him, increases our love for Him, and comforts us while we are trying to attain that which we are in pursuit of.  The same power of God that delivered Israel from Egypt (Exodus 15:6) would support David—and all other believers in their daily life (74:11). David lived for God by walking with God.

 

 

But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth.

 

“To destroy it,” means to take away my life.  Ultimately, David is confident that “those that seek” his life will be defeated by the Lord (v. 9).  His hope is evident in the sudden reference to the King (v. 11), reminding us of the Torah’s mention of this King, who would come from Judah and rule the nation’s (Genesis 49:8-12; Numbers 24:7, 17).

 

“Into the lower parts of the earth,” means either (1) into hell, or (2) into their grave, as this phrase is used in Ezekiel 31:14, 18).  But how can it be true, when they are supposed to be devoured by foxes (v. 10)?  Answer.  This may be understood either, (1) of happening to various persons.  Some of their slain might be buried, and others lie unburied; or, (2) of the same persons; that is, they did go into the earth, but not immediately, they were first devoured by foxes, and their remains were buried, as is frequently done in such cases.  Or this phrase may denote not so much the place as the state of the dead; this being universally said of those that die, whether they are buried or unburied, that they return to the earth or dust—“For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7; also see Job 1:21).

 

These curses (vs. 9, 10, 11) spoken by the king seek the banishment of his lying enemies to the most gruesome place in the underworld, the realm of the dead (Sheol).  The classic examples in David’s own experience were King Saul, Absalom, and Ahithophel.  It was a dangerous thing to oppose the Lord’s anointed.  It still is.

 

 

10 They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes.

 

“They shall fall by the sword,” that is, die in battle, as David foretold,—“Surely the Lord will strike Saul down someday, or he will die of old age or in battle” (1 Samuel 26:10)—and was realized in Saul and his followers, who were David’s greatest enemies (1Samuel 31).The battle was not yet fought when David penned these words.  David did not even have the makings of an army.  All he had was a general or two and a few members of his bodyguard.  But he had God.  Those that “fall by the sword,” fall by the sword of God’s wrath and His justice, and by the sword of man (Job 19:28-29).  They shall die a violent death—“Anyone who is destined for prison will be taken to prison. Anyone destined to die by the sword will die by the sword. This means that God’s holy people must endure persecution patiently and remain faithful” (Revelation 13:10). This was fulfilled in Saul who fell by the sword, his own sword. But in actual fact, the forest slew more people than the sword when finally the battle was joined (2 Samuel 18:1-8).  That was God’s way of vindicating His servant and honoring his trust.

 

“They shall be a portion for foxes.”David prays that they may meet their death on the field of battle or by execution, and that their dead bodies may become food for jackals that assemble in troops on the battlefield to feast on the slain. No worse fate could be conceived by a Hebrew than for his body to remain unburied and become food for scavenger beasts and birds.  God’s contempt for Jezebel, for instance, was expressed both through Elijah and Elisha: “The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel” (1 Kings 21:23; 24:9-10).  Jezreel was the very place where Naboth was murdered by order of Jezebel so that Ahab could take possession of his coveted vineyard.  The fulfillment of this ominous prophesy is recorded at 2 Kings 9:34-37.  In like manner, the prophets foretold that dogs would lick Ahab’s blood (1 Kings 21:19; 22:37-38).  To drive David permanently off the throne Absalom would first have to drive God off His throne.  That is why David believed that he would be victorious.

 

 

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.

 

“But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that sweareth by him shall glory.” In sharp contrast to the deep spiritual quality of the psalm comes the passionate wish that misfortune may fall upon those who are perpetrating evil upon the king. David knew that God would vindicate him.  The character of God was involved in that. Thus the destructive influence of his enemies will be stopped at its source! And so it came to pass.  Those that heartily advocate the cause of Christ shall glory in its victory at last.  If we suffer with him, we shall reign with him.  “By Him,” refers of course, not to the king, but to God.“Every one that sweareth by him” would be everyone “who believes in the Lord”; they never have reason to fear.

 

“But the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.” David could well imagine what was said about him in Jerusalem—the propaganda campaign which was waged, the lies that were told.  His character was tarnished by the lying tongues of men.  True, he had done wrong things, some very wrong things, but these were now under the blood.  God had forgiven him; he had Nathan’s word for it: “God also hath put away thy sin.” It is the devil’s business to attack a believer by resurrecting sins which have been confessed and forgiven.  But David was confident that the devil would not succeed in his case, because he “shall be stopped” by God. His enemies shall not have one word more to say against him, but will be silenced and shamed forever.  Apply this to Christ’s enemies, to those that tell lies about Him, as all hypocrites do, that tell Him they love Him while their hearts are not with him; their mouths shall be stopped with the words nobody wants to hear, “I know you not whence you are”; they shall be eternally speechless (Matthew 22:12).

 

Matthew Henry wrote, “Blessed Lord, let our desire towards Thee increase every hour; let our love be always upon Thee; let all our enjoyment be in Thee, and all our satisfaction from Thee.  Be Thou all in all to us while we remain in the present wilderness state, and bring us home to the everlasting enjoyment of Thee forever.”

 

 

 

Special Notes

 

{1] Baca (the valley of Baca), mentioned in the Bible, is located by the Mediterranean Sea in ancient Israel. According to Easton's Bible Dictionary, it was one of the valleys through which pilgrims had to pass on their way to the sanctuary of Jehovah on Zion, and may be figuratively "a valley of weeping."

{2]  The bulls of Bashan are here alluded to as remarkable for their size, their strength, and their fierceness; and are designed to represent men that were fierce, savage, and violent. Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round” (Psalm 22:12).

{3] There were three“night watches:” the first, sunset to 10 o’clock; the middle, 10 to 2 o’clock; the morning watch, 2 o’clock to sunrise.