My Soul Thirsts for You (Psalm 63)

Announcements

Reminder that we meet for worship every Sunday at 10:30am at the Moshannon valley YMCA. I recommend that you park in the rear of the building because it’s handicap accessible and it’s closer to the room that we utilize. We really would love to see you all there if you’re able and willing to be there.

In addition, let me remind you that starting May 22nd and every other Saturday after that, we’ll be setting up a booth at the farmers market located in Philipsburg on Pine Street. This is going to be an opportunity for us to really just let the neighborhood know that we’re here, that we care about them, and let them know some information about the church. There is a sign-up sheet for that, which if you’re able to be at church on Sunday, it’ll be right next to the snack sheet. Let me encourage you to serve in this way as a means to evangelize the community with us.

About once a month, I encourage those of you that are regular attenders who haven’t taken the step to join us officially as members to consider doing so. Officially joining the church lets the community and the church family know that you’re committed to this local body, its growth and the people that also come together here for worship. It also gives you the ability to vote when the church needs to make decisions and it allows the church leadership more and easier opportunities to keep up to date with you. If you’d like more information about joining, please talk with me as soon as possible and I’ll give you all the information that you need.

One last reminder, part of our worship of God is by worshiping in our giving. We give to God because he first gave to us and we give in order to support the work of ministry. In order to help you give, we have multiple ways for you to do so, since we’re together this evening in a virtual format, let me encourage you to give through digital means—debit, credit, and ACH transfers by texting the number 84321 with your $[amount] or by visiting www.graceandpeacepa.com and selecting the “Giving” option in the menu bar.

Prayer of Repentance and Adoration

Sermon

Introduction

This evening’s sermon is a little different because it actually doesn’t follow our normal pattern for sermon series. Typically, we would just be continuing our normal Wednesday evening series in the Letter to the Ephesians, but I chose for this week and next week for us to focus on two different psalms rather than the Letter to the Ephesians. The reason for that, is purely practical and I hope you don’t mind, occasionally, I have seminary courses that require me to write sermons and because I’ve already taken the time to write the sermons, I don’t want to miss an opportunity to preach the fruits of my labor.

And so this week and next week, we’ll be working through two different psalms, which will give you a foretaste of our series after we finish our series in Ephesians. This week, we’re looking at one of my favorite psalms and it’s one that you may not know too well. If you have a Bible, turn it to Psalm 63 and while you’re turning there, I’ll give you some background information as we prepare to dig into God’s word.

Psalm 63 is a psalm of David and in the superscription, we’re told that it was written “when he was in the wilderness of Judah.” Now, oftentimes throughout the psalms, we don’t have much of an idea of what event precipitated the psalmist’s writing of the psalm, but in this instance, because of that superscription, “when he was in the wilderness of Judah” and because of Vs. 11, “But the king shall rejoice in God; all who swear by him shall exult, for the mouths of liars will be stopped” most theologians believe that the event that precipitated David’s writing of this psalm is from 2 Samuel 13-19 in which we’re told of David, who was the God-ordained rightful king of Israel being displaced by his son Absalom through Absalom’s lying.

And in order to understand exactly what occurred, let’s take a few minutes to talk about a brief history of Absalom before digging into this passage:

The first time we see anything in Scripture about Absalom is when Absalom takes revenge on Amnon because Amnon raped Absalom’s sister. Amnon rapes Tamar and for two years Absalom nursed a deep hatred for Amnon and through some trickery Absalom invited Amnon to his house for a party during which Absalom had his servants kill Amnon in the presence of David’s other sons.

Out of fear, Absalom ran from David and stayed in Geshur for three years. And after some work and convincing by Joab, Absolom returns to Jerusalem, but David doesn’t allow Absalom to enter into his presence or live in his house.

For two years, David and Absalom lived within Jerusalem, with David refusing to see Absalom, but Joab was finally able to get them together to sort of reconcile, but this temporary peace really doesn’t last. Absalom begins to stealthily undermine David’s reign and he essentially sets himself up as a judge and tells the people what he would do if he were king.

He did this for four years, after which Absalom secretly arranged to have himself proclaimed king and the number of Absalom’s followers grew steadily so much that David feared for his own life, gathered his servants, and ran from Jerusalem.

Absalom then took the palace, he took control of the country, and did everything he could to destroy David’s reign in Jerusalem including the building up of a military force to go and find David and kill him.

This is the setting for the psalm that we’re studying this evening, David’s own son stole his throne, dishonored him, and is now preparing to hunt for David in order to kill him and David composes this psalm. Let’s read it together and I’ll explain how we’ll divide up the text for further study, after which, we’ll pray and dig into the Word of God.

Psalm 63 ESV

A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. 1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. 2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. 3 Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. 4 So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. 5 My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, 6 when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; 7 for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. 8 My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. 9 But those who seek to destroy my life shall go down into the depths of the earth; 10 they shall be given over to the power of the sword; they shall be a portion for jackals. 11 But the king shall rejoice in God; all who swear by him shall exult, for the mouths of liars will be stopped.

As we study this passage this evening, we’re going to look at it in three parts, which all show us David’s relationship with God and how he viewed God: (1) Vs. 1-4, God my Desire, starts this psalm with David longing after God through which he utilizes imagery from the wilderness to show us how intense his longing is; (2) Vs. 5-8, God my Delight, then shows us David’s satisfaction in God’s satiating of David’s need for God again utilizing imagery from the wilderness to describe the sort of delight that David will have because of God; and (3) Vs. 9-11, God my Defense, ends the psalm with David’s confidence in the LORD to protect him from his enemies and restore him as king over Israel. This psalm should compel us long for God, delight in God, and seek our refuge in him alone.

Prayer for Illumination

God my Desire (1-4)

David starts this psalm by expressing his desire for God and in doing so he provides beautiful imagery that reflects the time that he has spent hiding in the wilderness. Let’s re-read verses 1-4 again as we dig into the passage:

Psalm 63:1–4 ESV

1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. 2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. 3 Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. 4 So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.

David starts his psalm by writing, “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is not water.”

He starts by calling out to God and in doing so, he explains his relationship with God--”O God, you are my God.”

This is more than just a poetic way to call out to the one that he’s speaking of, this relates to how he views God.

David isn’t just crying out in frustration and he isn’t just crying out to a random person, he’s crying out to a being that he understands is God and he’s crying out to God because he has a personal relationship with him.

The phrase “you are my God” denotes a personal, intimate relationship not like a relationship between strangers, but a relationship of close friendship.

It is this close relationship that is actually the heart of what he says in the following verses: because “you are my God” and we have a relationship like this, “earnestly I seek you; [I] thirst for you; [I] faint for you.”

It is David’s prior relationship with the LORD that compels him to seek the LORD and thirst for the LORD and faint for the LORD, but it’s actually these phrases that describe what the relationship between David and God is and what it is like:

To earnestly seek after something gives the connotation of seeking that person or seeking that thing diligently. It’s what you do when you desperately want something—a parent desperately wants to provide the best for their child so they earnestly work to provide; a student desperately wants to graduate so they earnestly work to pass; a young child desperately wants to please her parents, so she earnestly works to be obedient.

David desperately wants God, so he earnestly works to seek the LORD—this implies that the relationship requires David to actively pursue God rather than to passively wait to see what happens.

In addition, David’s soul thirsts for God and his flesh faints for God—there is some level of imagery in this:

David in Psalm 36 writes of the fountain of life being from God and that God gives people drink from the river of his delights. Later prophets write of the fountain of life being from God

But not only this, remember that David is in the wilderness of Judah. Typically, when we think of the wilderness, we think of a forest or the woods because that’s what surrounds us in Central Pennsylvania. When we think of people getting lost in the wilderness perhaps on the Appalachian trail, we think of a mountainous terrain where there is shade from trees and water from rivers, but Judah is not like Central Pennsylvania.

The wilderness of Judah is a desert, which means that there aren’t trees to find shade under and there aren’t rivers to supply water. If you were to compare the Judean wilderness to Central Pennsylvania you’d find that it rains under a quarter of how much it rains in Pennsylvania, the average temperature in 85-90º and the land is barren.

And before you think, 85-90 isn’t that bad of a temperature, that’s an average, so there are days when it is much hotter and much colder, and even in the US, if you were outside in the sun in 90º weather without water, it wouldn’t take much for you to find yourself dehydrated and physically drained.

David writes that his flesh faints for God and part of that imagery would come from being dehydrated, but the other part of that is simply that in the desert, there is no food.

Anyone who has ever been in a situation where they can’t eat for an extended amount of time recognizes how quickly the body becomes weak from lack of nourishment.

Lack of nourishment and lack of water seriously hinders the human body, which, as a side-note, possibly explains why Satan waits until Jesus is fasting in the same desert that David is in to attempt to tempt Jesus.

David writes of his soul thirsting for God and his flesh fainting for God “as in a dry and weary land where there is no water”

Which expresses the sheer amount of desire that he has for God—that his whole being thirsts and faints for God

Just like his body thirsts and hungers in a situation in which there is no water or food.

David continues this psalm in Vs. 2, “So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary beholding your power and glory”

In this verse, David reflects back to his worship of God in happier or better days, the sanctuary would refer to the tabernacle not the temple because God did not allow David to build a temple for him—the temple wasn’t built until Solomon built it later.

The point however, is not in the location of the sanctuary, but the fact that David is reflecting on what worship of Yahweh was like prior to the difficulties of life that he’s facing in the desert with Absalom.

And David is reflecting on God’s power and his glory, which is a worthy reflection for us to make as well. Often times when we pray and we reflect, we treat God almost as a magic genie and present all of these wishes that we hope that God will fulfill for us.

Many times, it would be better for us to simply behold God and who he is. We serve a good and gracious king that has all power and all authority who deserves all glory. We need to reflect on these truths in order to properly view God. And that’s what David is doing in Vs. 2, he’s reflecting on his worship of God prior to this point in time and he’s reflecting on God’s power and glory.

But he doesn’t stop at simply reflecting and reminding himself of these things. Vs. 3-4, “Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.”

David doesn’t stop at reflecting on God’s power and glory. He moves from simple acknowledgement of who God is to praise, which is the proper response to understanding who God is.

When David says, “Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.” David is actually referring to something in particular. The KJV and NASB call it God’s lovingkindness, the NLT calls it his unfailing love and in all of these cases, our English words don’t quite get the full meaning of the Hebrew word.

The Hebrew word here is hessed, which is referring to God’s loyal love based on his covenant or put differently David is speaking about God’s covenant-love and he defines this covenant-love as being better than life.

And David can rightly say that God’s covenant-love is better than life because it is God’s covenant-love that assures us of our salvation. How do we know that God will truly save us? Because he has loved us in a manner that resulted in a covenant with those who believe and because God keeps his covenant, we can be assured that his love based on his covenant is better than life itself.

In many ways, David is making the statement that even if he were to die in that desert, it’s alright because he has God’s covenant-love and that’s far better than being alive.

And it is God’s covenant-love that compels David to praise God with his lips and it is God’s covenant-love that compels David to bless God as long as he does live and “lift up [his] hands.”

All of which shows us that David’s desire for God—his earnestly seeking God, his thirst for God results in his praise and worship of God.

True desire for God results in the worship and the praise of God.

And the beauty of true worship and praise of God is that it does satisfy the soul. It provides sustenance and satiates those who hunger and thirst after God. And this is the result of David’s praise and worship as seen in Vs. 5-8. Read with me Vs. 5-8.

God my Delight (5-8)

Psalm 63:5–8 ESV

5 My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, 6 when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; 7 for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. 8 My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.

David continues this psalm by transitioning from his desire for God to the satisfaction and the delight that he finds in and through God. David writes that “[his] soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips.”

Or put another way, David compares the satisfaction that his soul will experience from the worship and praise of God to that of eating fat and rich food.

In our modern vernacular, we typically don’t refer to eating fat and rich food, in fact, in some health-conscious settings talking about eating fatty food is not a good thing and yet, David speaks of his soul being satisfied as if he ate fat and rich food.

And the meaning of this is that his soul will be satisfied like his body would be satisfied after eating a great feast—think of how you feel after eating a large Thanksgiving meal—someone slaves away all day cooking this feast and you sit down and eat and eat and eat. After which, you sit down and continue watching the Thanksgiving Day parade or you sit down to watch football and your body is full and content and you get lulled into an afternoon nap.

That feeling of satisfaction is like how your soul is satisfied by God.

And that satisfaction results in more praise with joyful lips even as Vs. 6 says, “when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night;” Even at night, when he’s laying in bed and he meditates on God, he’ll be satisfied as with fat and rich food and his mouth will praise God.

What is the purpose of David’s praise of God? In addition to the satisfaction that his soul receives through his worship and praise of God, Vs. 7-8, “Because [God has] been [his] help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy” and then in Vs. 8, “My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.

David states that the purpose of his praise of God is because God has helped him.

Thinking about the present situation that David is facing, hiding in the desert because his son has betrayed him and stolen the throne from him, you might be tempted to ask, “How has God helped him?”

Just looking back at David’s life, we can actually see the hand of God working throughout his life and I’m sure David realized this as well. As David meditates on God throughout the night and remembers what God has done as he lays in bed, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine David reflecting on the times throughout his life where God has helped him—being anointed as king in the first place was God’s doing, slaying Goliath, and even just in God’s providential leading of David when David was running from Saul. There are several examples of how God has helped him.

David reflects on this and gives praise and worship to God. In addition, David makes the statement that in the shadow of your wings he will sing for joy—now we know that God doesn’t actually have wings, we’re told that God is a spirit and thus, doesn’t have a body, which tells us that this is a anthropomorphic statement. An anthropomorphic statement is when human attributes or behaviors are attributed to non-human beings.

In other words, this verse isn’t saying that God has wings that David intends to hide under and sing for joy, but it’s a figurative statement.

What does it mean to be under someone’s wings? It means to be looked after, to be cared for by that person, to be protected by that person.

What David is saying is that he praises God and sings for joy because God has helped him and because God protects him.

Which gives us insight into what David thought of his present situation—that despite being in the desert, despite his son stealing his throne and at that moment seeking to kill David, and despite suffering with hunger and dehydration

David still sings for joy and praises God for God’s help and protection, which reflects his statement from Vs. 3, God’s steadfast love is better than life.

David in his response to his suffering shows us what it means that God’s love is better than life—despite the tremendous suffering that he’s facing, he can still praise and worship God.

As David ends his psalm, it almost seems as if he changes gears or switches topics because he goes from praising and worshiping God; and from depending and relying on God, to essentially praying for the destruction of his enemies and actually giving thanks for God’s judgment upon his enemies. In many ways, this is almost what we call a prayer of imprecation. Let’s read the last three verses and I’ll explain what exactly David’s saying:

God my Defense (9-11)

Psalm 63:9–11 ESV

9 But those who seek to destroy my life shall go down into the depths of the earth; 10 they shall be given over to the power of the sword; they shall be a portion for jackals. 11 But the king shall rejoice in God; all who swear by him shall exult, for the mouths of liars will be stopped.

David’s statements here bring up an excellent question that concerns whether its appropriate to make statements like this—in other words, some Christians today neglect passages like this because it seems so counter-gospel. Or it seems to contradict what we’ve been taught to do in the New Testament.

And let me start by clarifying something, this technically isn’t a prayer of imprecation because David isn’t praying for these things to happen, rather he’s simply stating that these things are going to happen to his enemies.

An imprecatory prayer would be a prayer in which the person asks God to bring judgment on his enemies and that actually does occur several times throughout the book of psalms—Psalms 7, 35, 55, 58, 59, 69, 79, 109, 137, and 139 are all imprecatory in nature, they’re psalms through which the psalmist is openly praying for judgment on their enemies.

And if you read through these psalms, you’ll see phrases like, “May their path be dark and slippery, with the angel of the LORD pursuing them” or “God, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions.”

So that’s not entirely what’s happening in Psalm 63, rather David is simply stating that these things would happen.

But it does cause us to wonder why there would be prayers and psalms like this when Jesus very clearly teaches us to pray for our enemies and he doesn’t teach us to pray for their death or destruction but rather for their salvation.

Let me help you understand these psalms and prayers a little bit and I think you will understand that what’s occurring in these imprecatory psalms aren’t exactly what we’re thinking.

The issue for many of us is that if Jesus teaches us to love our enemies and to pray for their salvation, how can David write about his enemies like this in Psalm 63? If God wants us to love our enemies, how can David write about the destruction of his enemies?

And I think the best way for us to understand this is by taking time to understand what these psalms are actually doing. We tend to read them and think that David is praying for cursing and destruction on his enemies, but that’s not actually what he’s praying for.

Yes, he does call them “his enemies” and those who “seek to destroy [his] life,” because they are very much his enemies and those who seek to destroy his life, but ultimately, they aren’t David’s enemies—they’re the LORD’s enemies.

David doesn’t pray for the destruction of people who are just his enemies, he prays for the destruction of people who are the LORD’s enemies.

And in each of the psalms through which David prays for the destruction of his enemies, he’s actually praying for the the judgment of the LORD to come upon his enemies.

Which means that David isn’t praying vindictively, he doesn’t have a personal vendetta against these people, he simply wants the LORD to act in his righteousness and judge the enemies of the LORD. Or put another way, he isn’t praying for their destruction because he hates them, he’s praying for their destruction because he knows that what they’re doing is sinful and wicked and he wants the LORD to judge them appropriately.

I don’t know if you’ve ever thought of this, but when we pray for the LORD to return quickly, we’re doing essentially the same thing that David does in his imprecatory psalms.

When we pray, “Lord, don’t tarry, but come quickly,” we’re asking the LORD to come to earth sooner rather than later and part of the Lord’s return is the judging of sin and of the wicked. In essence, whether we mean to or not, we’re essentially praying imprecatory prayers when we pray for the LORD to return soon.

I think when we pray these prayers when we ask Jesus to come soon, we don’t mean that we’re so angry at someone that we want the LORD to judge them immediately. I don’t think that we mean that we want God to smite our enemies simply because we don’t like them. And quite honestly, any true Christian would be ecstatic if someone that they weren’t quite fond of, that was living in sin, would simply repent from their sins and believe in Jesus Christ.

In a similar manner, I don’t think David is praying for the destruction of his enemies simply because he doesn’t like them. He’s praying for their destruction because he’s hoping for God’s righteous judgment to be made known.

And in a similar manner, David would be ecstatic if someone he wasn’t very fond of, that was living in sin, would simply repent from their sins and believe in God.

Now remember, in Psalm 63:9-11, this technically isn’t an imprecatory prayer but it does seem like something similar to an imprecatory prayer. David makes the firm statement that, “those who seek to destroy [his] life shall go down into the depths of the earth; they shall be given over to the power of the sword; they shall be a portion for jackals.”

While David isn’t praying for this to happen, he explains that this is what is going to happen to his enemies. He states that those who seek to destroy his life will go down into the depths of the earth.

Which is simply a euphemism of their deaths and destruction. And then he says that “they will be given over to the power of the sword and they shall be a portion for jackals.”

Which gives us insight into how they’re going to die and how they’re going to be destroyed. They will be given over to the power of the sword gives us the idea that they’re going to die in some sort of battle

And then the statement that they shall be a portion for jackals tells us the extent of their destruction. Jackals are wolf-like animals that scavenge dead animals and bodies.

Derek Kidner, states that “they are the final scavengers, consuming the remains of the kill rejected by the larger beasts. The wicked are, in other words, the very leavings of mankind.”

So while David isn’t exactly praying for this to happen, he is explaining that this is going to happen to his enemies and now we have to ask ourselves some questions concerning this—who is David referring to and how can David state these things?

Who is David referring to? Think with me all the way back to the beginning of this sermon. King David while composing this psalm is hiding in the desert of Judah because his son Absalom stole his throne and is seeking to kill David.

Absalom, the very son of David is seeking to kill him, which is a level of betrayal that most people today have never experienced and yet, David isn’t saying these things out of his own anger and for his own honor, he’s actually saying these things because by usurping David, Absalom rejected God’s chosen king.

How can David say these things? Because Absalom isn’t just an enemy of David, Absalom has made himself an enemy of God himself and we know this from Vs. 11.

Vs. 11, “But the king shall rejoice in God.” The reason that David can make these imprecatory statements against Absalom is because God chose David to be the rightful king of Israel and by usurping David, Absalom is rejecting God and rejecting God’s authority. David can say these things without being vindictive because Absalom didn’t just become his enemy, Absalom became God’s enemy.

David can say these things because in the end, David still loves Absalom, but he also knows that Absalom has rejected God and God’s righteousness demands justice.

You might ask, how do we know that David still loved Absalom? In 2nd Samuel, Absalom finally musters up a large enough army to try and find David to kill him. And in a place called the Wood of Ephraim, Absalom’s army and David’s army battle together.

Absalom’s army is obliterated by David’s army and David had told his people to deal gently with Absalom, however Absalom met with the servants of David. And 2 Samuel 18:9 says, “Absalom rode upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth; and the mule that was under him went away.”

The Bible says that in some sort of freak accident, Absalom was hanged in an oak tree, but he wasn’t dead yet, so Joab stabbed him through the heart and the people cast him into a great pit in the woods and laid a “very great heap of stones upon him.”

And Joab sends a messenger to David and when David sees the message, his first question is, “Is Absalom safe?”

And we know that David still loved Absalom because David hears that his son died, “And [he] was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!”

David loved Absalom and yet he was still able to make these imprecatory statements against Absalom because he knew that Absalom had made himself an enemy of God.

David loved Absalom and yet realized that because of God’s righteousness and justness, what happened to Absalom was right—not because David hated Absalom, but because Absalom hated God.

David could say these imprecatory prayers because as Vs. 11 reminds us, David is the king who was chosen by God.

And “all who swear by him shall exult, for the mouths of liars will be stopped.” Or put differently, those who have accepted David as God’s chosen king for Israel and have sworn allegiance to David and thus to God, will exult. They will rejoice and they will praise

Because those who lied and subverted David’s reign will be stopped by God.

As we wrap up this evening, let’s take a few minutes for specific application:

Application

God, my Desire (1-4)—starts the psalm with David focusing on his thirst and hunger for God. David relates his hunger and thirst to someone who thirsts for water and hungers for food in a land with no water or food. He sings praise to the LORD because of God’s steadfast covenant-love and worships the LORD for who he is.

The primary application point for this section, is really potent in question form—do you desire God like David desired God?

David faints and thirsts after God like a starving, dehydrated person desires water and food. Maybe we don’t appreciate this as much as we ought to because we live blessed lives surrounded by an abundance of food and water. But if you’ve ever experienced a time in life where you haven’t had food or haven’t had water, perhaps you can catch a glimpse of what David is saying here.

David desires God in a way that shows that his life depends on God—in fact, he makes the statement that God’s steadfast love is better than life.

Do you think the same way that David does about God? In addition, do you live as if you desire God? Someone who is starving or thirsty, when presented with the opportunity to eat or drink water immediately, without hesitation does.

As a believer in Jesus Christ, do you go to Jesus like someone who actually desires Jesus? Or is Jesus simply an afterthought to you?

Let me encourage you that if you think of Jesus as more of an afterthought or if you live in such a manner—repent, call out to Jesus, and pray that the LORD increase your desire of him. Pray that you stop desiring anything more than him.

The second application point is related to the first, God’s power and glory, his steadfast love ought to compel you to praise him, worship him, and desire him.

When life is difficult, we tend to get distracted from our worship of God. Work is busy, life is hard, the family just bickers and fights.

David was literally in a desert concerned that he was about to die and his response was to reflect on the power and glory of God and to meditate on God’s steadfast love

David was being hunted by his son and he chose to praise God, worship God, and desire God rather than to treat God as an afterthought in the midst of difficulties.

Do you praise God, worship God, and desire God like David does? Let me encourage you to consider how often your heart is drawn to worship and praise God. If it isn’t very often, let me encourage you to consider if you’re living in sin.

If you’ve truly repented and believed in Jesus Christ, then the grace that you’ve experienced because of God’s steadfast love ought to compel you to praise him.

If you don’t regularly praise, worship, and desire him, you probably aren’t actually a believer in Jesus Christ.

Seek to grow in your spiritual desire for God and then praise and worship him.

God, my Delight (5-8)—the mid-point of the psalm transitions from David’s desire to the satisfaction that David finds in the LORD. David describes this satisfaction as similar to how one feels after feasting on delicious food. He states that he thinks and reflects on the LORD and his soul clings to God.

In our modern-day world we live lives in which we can utilize different substances to try and satiate our desires, but the reality of it is that there is a desire within us that longs after God and no substance nor person can satisfy that desire.

David considers the satisfaction that he experiences from God as something like when you feast on a large meal

And his satisfaction in the LORD drives him to meditate on God and sing for joy.

Have you sought your spiritual satisfaction in Jesus Christ? Or are you seeking spiritual satisfaction elsewhere?

What I mean by this is, are you looking towards Jesus to fulfill your needs or are you looking towards alcohol, drugs, even relationships with other people to fulfill you?

Let me remind you that alcohol, drugs, and relationships weren’t meant to fulfill you the way that Jesus Christ fulfills you.

Seek your spiritual fulfillment in Jesus Christ alone.

God, my Defense (9-11)—And finally, the psalm ends by David expressing confidence in what is to come for his enemies with God’s chosen king being put back into his position of authority and with those who lied stopped.

We spent quite a bit of time discussing what it means to say the sorts of things that David said in the final portion of this psalm. So, here’s some application concerning imprecatory prayers before I give you the actual application for the passage:

Is it alright to pray imprecatory prayer? Yes, but not as a regular occurrence and not for any other reason than for God to do what he has said he already will do.

In other words, if someone cuts you off as you drive home, that’s not a time for you to pray for their judgment.

If the restaurant burns your food, that’s not a time for you to pray that the restaurant burns down.

When is it alright to pray imprecatory prayers? When it is clear that God abhors what you’re praying for and judgment and destruction is right for that situation.

An example would be to pray imprecatory prayers against human trafficking

Another example would be to pray imprecatory prayers against dictators who do unspeakable acts against their people.

But let me remind you, the New Testament teaches that we must also pray for our enemies.

So while it would be right to pray for the judgment of those who commit atrocities

It would be far greater for them to repent and believe in Jesus Christ.

Imprecatory prayers can be utilized, but sparingly and cautiously.

As for the application for the actual passage, our lives will be filled with people who want to do Christians harm.

The proper response is to cry out to God and seek refuge in him

And to rejoice because God has chosen you as his own.

Despite great difficulties in life, God will still hold you as his own.

Put simply, Psalm 63 teaches us to (1) seek to grow in your spiritual desire for God; (2) seek spiritual satisfaction in Jesus Christ alone; and (3) know that even in the midst of difficulties, we can rejoice in God because God is in control.

Pastoral Prayer

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