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Psalm 63
Legacy Standard Bible

My Soul Thirsts for You

A Psalm of David. [a]When he was in the wilderness of Judah.

63 O God, (A)You are my God; I shall seek You [b]earnestly;
My soul (B)thirsts for You, my flesh [c]yearns for You,
In a (C)dry and weary land without water.
2 Thus I have (D)beheld You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.
3 Because Your (E)lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips will laud You.
4 Thus I will bless You (F)as long as I live;
I will (G)lift up my hands in Your name.
5 My soul is (H)satisfied as with fatness and richness,
And my mouth offers (I)praises with lips of joyful songs.

6 When I remember You (J)on my bed,
I meditate on You in the (K)night watches,
7 For (L)You have been my help,
And in the (M)shadow of Your wings I sing for joy.
8 My soul (N)clings [d]to You;
Your (O)right hand upholds me.

9 But those who (P)seek my [e]life to destroy it,
Will go into the [f](Q)depths of the earth.
10 [g]They will be (R)delivered over to the power of the sword;
They will be a (S)portion for foxes.
11 But the (T)king will be glad in God;
Everyone who (U)swears by Him will boast,
For the (V)mouths of those who speak lies will be closed.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 63 Title 1 Sam 22:5; 23:14
  2. Psalm 63:1 Lit early
  3. Psalm 63:1 Lit faints
  4. Psalm 63:8 Lit after
  5. Psalm 63:9 Lit soul
  6. Psalm 63:9 Lit lowest places
  7. Psalm 63:10 Lit They will pour him out
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Psalm 63
New English Translation

Psalm 63[a]

A psalm of David, written when he was in the Judean wilderness.[b]

63 O God, you are my God. I long for you.[c]
My soul thirsts[d] for you,
my flesh yearns for you,
in a dry and parched[e] land where there is no water.
2 Yes,[f] in the sanctuary I have seen you,[g]
and witnessed[h] your power and splendor.
3 Because[i] experiencing[j] your loyal love is better than life itself,
my lips will praise you.
4 For this reason[k] I will praise you while I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.[l]
5 As with choice meat[m] you satisfy my soul.[n]
My mouth joyfully praises you,[o]
6 whenever[p] I remember you on my bed,
and think about you during the nighttime hours.
7 For you are my deliverer;[q]
under your wings[r] I rejoice.
8 My soul[s] pursues you;[t]
your right hand upholds me.
9 Enemies seek to destroy my life,[u]
but they will descend into the depths of the earth.[v]
10 Each one will be handed over to the sword;[w]
their corpses will be eaten by jackals.[x]
11 But the king[y] will rejoice in God;
everyone who takes oaths in his name[z] will boast,
for the mouths of those who speak lies will be shut up.[aa]

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 63:1 sn Psalm 63. The psalmist expresses his intense desire to be in God’s presence and confidently affirms that God will judge his enemies.
  2. Psalm 63:1 sn According to the psalm superscription David wrote the psalm while in the “wilderness of Judah.” Perhaps this refers to the period described in 1 Sam 23-24 or to the incident mentioned in 2 Sam 15:23.
  3. Psalm 63:1 tn Or “I will seek you.”
  4. Psalm 63:1 tn Or “I thirst.”
  5. Psalm 63:1 tn Heb “faint” or “weary.” This may picture the land as “faint” or “weary,” or it may allude to the effect this dry desert has on those who are forced to live in it.
  6. Psalm 63:2 tn The Hebrew particle כֵּן (ken) is used here to stress the following affirmation (see Josh 2:4).
  7. Psalm 63:2 tn The perfect verbal form is understood here as referring to a past experience which the psalmist desires to be repeated. Another option is to take the perfect as indicating the psalmist’s certitude that he will again stand in God’s presence in the sanctuary. In this case one can translate, “I will see you.”
  8. Psalm 63:2 tn Heb “seeing.” The preposition with the infinitive construct here indicates an accompanying circumstance.
  9. Psalm 63:3 tn This line is understood as giving the basis for the praise promised in the following line. Another option is to take the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) as asseverative/emphasizing, “Indeed, your loyal love is better” (cf. NEB, which leaves the particle untranslated).
  10. Psalm 63:3 tn The word “experiencing” is supplied in the translation for clarification. The psalmist does not speak here of divine loyal love in some abstract sense, but of loyal love revealed and experienced.
  11. Psalm 63:4 tn Or perhaps “then.”
  12. Psalm 63:4 sn I will lift up my hands. Lifting up one’s hands toward God was a gesture of prayer (see Ps 28:2; Lam 2:19) or respect (Ps 119:48).
  13. Psalm 63:5 tn Heb “like fat and fatness.”
  14. Psalm 63:5 tn Or “me.”
  15. Psalm 63:5 tn Heb “and [with] lips of joy my mouth praises.”
  16. Psalm 63:6 tn The Hebrew term אִם (ʾim) is used here in the sense of “when; whenever,” as in Ps 78:34.
  17. Psalm 63:7 tn Or “[source of] help.”
  18. Psalm 63:7 tn Heb “in the shadow of your wings.”
  19. Psalm 63:8 tn Or “I.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).
  20. Psalm 63:8 tn Heb “clings after.” The expression means “to pursue with determination” (see Judg 20:45; 1 Sam 14:22; 1 Chr 10:2; Jer 42:16).
  21. Psalm 63:9 tn Heb “but they for destruction seek my life.” The pronoun “they” must refer here to the psalmist’s enemies, referred to at this point for the first time in the psalm.
  22. Psalm 63:9 sn The depths of the earth refers here to the underworld dwelling place of the dead (see Ezek 26:20; 31:14, 16, 18; 32:18, 24). See L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 167.
  23. Psalm 63:10 tn Heb “they will deliver him over to the sword.” The third masculine plural subject must be indefinite (see GKC 460 §144.f) and the singular pronominal suffix either representative or distributive (emphasizing that each one will be so treated). Active verbs with indefinite subjects may be translated as passives with the object (in the Hebrew text) as subject (in the translation).
  24. Psalm 63:10 tn Heb “they will be [the] portion of jackals”; traditionally, “of foxes.”
  25. Psalm 63:11 sn The psalmist probably refers to himself in the third person here.
  26. Psalm 63:11 tn Heb “who swears [an oath] by him.”
  27. Psalm 63:11 tn The Niphal of this verb occurs only here and in Gen 8:2, where it is used of God “stopping” or “damming up” the great deep as he brought the flood to an end.
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1 Samuel 23:13-14
Legacy Standard Bible

13 Then David and his men, (A)about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went (B)wherever they could go. Now it was told to Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, so he ceased going out in pursuit. 14 And David stayed in the wilderness in the strongholds and remained in the hill country in the wilderness of (C)Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but (D)God did not give him into his hand.

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1 Samuel 23:13-14
New English Translation

13 So David and his men, who numbered about 600, set out and left Keilah; they moved around from one place to another.[a] When told that David had escaped from Keilah, Saul called a halt to his expedition. 14 David stayed in the strongholds that were in the desert and in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph. Saul looked for him all the time,[b] but God did not deliver David[c] into his hands.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 23:13 tn Heb “they went where they went.”
  2. 1 Samuel 23:14 tn Heb “all the days.”
  3. 1 Samuel 23:14 tn Heb “him”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
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