The biblical theme of wilderness describes the pain and suffering we often experience as sojourners and exiles (e.g., 1 Pet 2:11). At times, God may purposely lead us into the wilderness to jolt us from complacency. The wilderness prompts us to thirst for God afresh as we depend on him. In Psalm 63, David hides “in the wilderness of Judah” as he flees from Absalom, his son (2 Sam 15-19).[1] Yet although David’s enemies seek to kill him, he remains confident in the Lord. He longs to know and enjoy God’s glory as the very reason for his existence (Isa 43:6-7). Psalm 63 draws the entirety of our being into relationship with God as the wilderness lays bare our soul.[2]
God is Our Soul’s Desire (vv. 1-4)
David begins by expressing his soul’s desire for the Lord: “O God, you are my God” (v. 1). No matter what else is going on in life, David belongs to his God and his God belongs to him. His soul thirsts for God and his body yearns. His spiritual plight feels like “a dry and weary land where there is no water” as he earnestly seeks for every drop of God. Yet he needs more than just a tiny sip each morning. He must drink of God throughout the day, for the soul cannot live apart from God any more than the body can live without water.
The psalmist feels empty from not being able to worship. So, he envisions the tabernacle where he once beheld God’s power and glory (v. 2; 27:4). Sadly, God’s tent has since been captured by the enemy (78:60-61). The ark of the covenant has fallen into pagan hands (1 Sam 4:1-11). Thus, the psalmist can only delight in mere memories: “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” (Ps 63:3-4). God’s covenant love means more to David than his earthly life, for God’s promises include a future bodily resurrection and the eternal glories of heaven. Even in the wilderness, then, David worships God with his life, his lips, and his hands uplifted.
Every person cultivates their heart’s desires for money, possessions, comfort, relationships. Yet few can say, “My soul desires God.” Too many thirst after the trappings of the world. We drink from the wells of public approval, social media, or carnal pleasures. Yet such empty cisterns cannot satisfy like Jesus (Jer 2:13). Only Christ, the Living Water, can satisfy our soul (John 4:13-14; 7:37-38). And once we drink of Christ, the world will never slake our thirst again. So, in the wilderness, God tests our heart’s desire (e.g., Matt 4:8-10). Then, the wilderness becomes a place of blessing as it reveals our thirst for God.
God is Our Soul’s Delight (vv. 5-8)
David’s desire for God then leads to his delight: “My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips” (Ps 63:5). David’s soul, once fainting in the wilderness, now delights in God as at a banquet. In those days, fat was a delicacy celebrating the richness of the feast. So, God satisfies his people more than money, power, pleasure, comfort, popularity, or even life itself. And though David is surrounded by the wilderness, there is no wilderness in David’s heart. For his meditation on the knowledge of God has stirred his heart to worship (1:2). He thinks about God all the time, especially at night: “When I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy” (63:6-7). The Lord is David’s Helper, sheltering him like a mother hen with chicks beneath her wing.
So, David declares how he will worship God: “My lips will praise you” (v. 3b); “I will bless you as long as I live” (v. 4a); “In your name I will lift up my hands” (v. 4b); “My mouth will praise you with joyful lips” (v. 5b); “I will sing for joy” (v. 7b). Like a newlywed, David gushes, “My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me” (v. 8; see Gen 2:24). David leans on God as his strength and support—his very joy in life (Deut 30:19-20). He makes a faith-filled choice to cling to his Creator—not his army, nor his riches, nor the favor of his people. David’s hope remains in God alone. For when we cling to God, it is really God who clings to us. He holds us tight and never lets us go: “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isa 43:10). Therefore, God is greater to us than life, for in him alone is life (Phil 3:8-14). In God’s presence, there is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore (Ps 16:11).
The Holy Spirit led Jesus into this same wilderness at the beginning of his ministry (Matt 3:1, 13; 4:1-2). There, Jesus also fasted before Satan came to tempt him. Thus, like David, our Lord was hungry, thirsty, and alone during his wilderness experience. Yet like David, his heart was also set on God. So, in Psalm 63, we hear the song of David’s Greater Son—the joyful love of Jesus for his Father. And as the Son of God, Christ lived out this psalm more perfectly than David. He modeled for us a life of steadfast love and satisfaction in the Lord.
God is Our Soul’s Deliverance (vv. 9-11)
Lastly, David prays for deliverance from his enemies: “But those who seek to destroy my 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” (Ps 63:9-10). He prays that those who seek his soul will be cast into Sheol. He prays they face a violent death and their corpses eaten in the wilderness. He calls out for justice against those who hate him. For while seeking to destroy his soul, they will lose their souls. Instead of being satiated at the feast of God, they will be feasted on by jackals. Instead of beholding God’s power and glory, their bellies will spill out on the power of the sword. Instead of being upheld by God’s right hand, they will surely go down to death. “But the king shall rejoice in God; all who swear by him shall exult, for the mouths of liars will be stopped” (v. 11).[3] Those who stay loyal to the king will rejoice in God, but those who have slandered David will be silenced by God.
Thus, David meditates on the character and deeds of God. His God is holy, powerful, glorious, and faithful. His God satisfies, strengthens, protects, delivers, and rules in righteousness. David meditates on God as he worships in the wilderness. For all those who honor God and God’s Anointed will be blessed (2:1-12). All those who take refuge in Christ Jesus will be delivered.
Life Application Study:
- Describe your personal wilderness using word pictures. What portion of your life is dry and weary, prompting your soul to thirst for God?
- What do you seek after in the wilderness of life? To whom do you cling for strength and protection? Do you ever long for worldly desires more than God?
- On a blank sheet of paper, draw seven squares and label them with the days of the week. Then, write in your daily activities, appointments, and regular work hours. How much time have you set apart each week to be silent before God?
- Look upon and behold God’s presence, power, glory, and steadfast love. In what ways can you worship God with your entire life, your lips, and your hands uplifted?
- Listen to John Piper’s sermon, “Your Love Is Better Than Life,” September 13, 1987, accessed at https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/your-love-is-better-than-life or read his book, Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001).
- For counselors, meditate on Susan Heck, “Thirsting for God in the Wilderness,” ACBC (blog), March 16, 2023, accessed at https://biblicalcounseling.com/resource-library/articles/thirsting-for-god-in-the-wilderness.
- For further application ideas, see Wesley Tubel and Jacklyn Tubel, “When You’re in the Wilderness, God Clings to You (Psalm 63),” Journal of Biblical Counseling 34.3 (2020), 81-90.
- Keep a Psalm 63 journal to help you trust in God as you journey through the wilderness.[4]
- Describe the “wilderness” troubles you face today. What’s hard about your present situation? Include both the ordinary and the extraordinary—the routine and the arid. Be specific about your thirst and threats. Put your suffering into words just like David did in the psalms.
- Seek God using the language and passion of Psalm 63:1. Reflect on whatever you desire more than God and turn those desires over to God.
- Envision God’s power and glory as you once beheld him (v. 2). Meditate on his person and works as described in Scripture (v. 6). Search for the truth about God’s character and his deeds in your daily Bible study. Ask of each day’s reading, “What does this passage show me about who God is and how he works?” Then, throughout the day, set your mind on remembering God’s character and deeds as revealed to you in his Word.
- Which promises in Psalm 63 stand out to you? How else does God reveal himself in Scripture? Remember the many evidences of God’s faithfulness in the past. Raise these up before your eyes as “stones of help” (e.g., 1 Sam 7:12).
- Then, choose to praise the name of God as you meditate on the truths of God (Ps 119:48; Heb 13:15-16).
- Pray Psalm 63 back to God:
- O God, I earnestly thirst for you alone (v. 1).
- I long to worship you—to look once more upon your power and your glory (v. 2).
- Your love is better to me than life itself (v. 3a).
- Therefore, I praise you with my lips, my hands, and my entire life (vv. 3b-5).
- Day and night, I meditate on your protection and provision (vv. 6-8).
- Lord, I rejoice in all your righteous judgments (vv. 9-11).
[1] The Judean wilderness is bordered on the east by the towering Dead Sea cliffs, while the hill country of Ephraim marks the north, the Negeb desert the south, and the Judean highlands the west.
[2] Each section of Psalm 63 begins with a different nuance of the Hebrew word nephesh (“soul” or “life”).
[3] David refers to himself as king to remember God’s covenantal promises.
[4] Adapted from Jeff Newman, “Dependence in the Wilderness: Living Out of Psalm 63,” Journal of Biblical Counseling 22.1 (2003), 11-19.
