Psalm 63 was written by David while
he was in the Judean wilderness. There were two periods of his life when he was
leading a fugitive life. One was during the reign of Saul, who felt threatened
by David’s popularity and so sought to kill him. He was forced to flee for his
life. This account could be found in 1 Samuel 23. The second time, found in 2
Samuel 15, was when his son, Absalom, rebelled against him in seeking to usurp
his throne. This Psalm was more likely written when he was running away from
Absalom.
The uniqueness of this Psalm is
that David did not petition God like his other Psalms. Instead, he talked about
his yearning for God and his confidence in Him. We see him overflowing with
thanksgiving despite the fact that he was in dire situation. Here we see the expression
of longing for renewal; expression of trust; and gratitude, and expression of
hope. His enemies were only mentioned cursorily in passing.
He started off by
seeking God in the arid desert of Judea. Having been driven from his palace, David
could have lamented and wallowed in self-pity. Isn’t this what a lesser person would
do? But not David. He chose to look beyond the desert land to the God of
wonders. To him the desert was a perfect place for solitude and silence. It
became his sanctuary. Taking the advantage of the quiet surrounding, David set
his heart to focus on God. Instead of thinking about his condition, he thought
about God. In the quietness of the wilderness, he actively sought to connect
with God. He sought God. He sought to experience His power and glory. He was
assured of God’s loving-kindness, and concluded that to experience it would be much
better than life itself. What is life without the nearness of God? It’s so true
that without God, life is devoid of meaning, as St. Augustine had said, “Lord Thou
has created us for Thyself, and my heart is restless, till it finds its rest in
Thee” So in God’s presence, David was richly nourished in his soul, such that
joyful praise for God just would not cease.
David thought about
God all the time, even in his bedtime. His mind just gravitated toward Him. “The
watches of the night” is a reference to the three periods of four hours each,
when watchmen would be assigned to go about the city guarding it. He, like the
watchmen, vigilantly watched for God and what He wants to say to Him. He thought
about God the whole night, and recall his goodness and help, and thus experienced
absolute security. As he abandoned himself totally to God, he anticipated God’s
judgement on his enemies. Graphically, he saw their tragic end. He saw how they
would fall by the sword or be hunted by foxes. And their malicious mischiefs brought
to a halt.
This Psalm points
us to the important disciplines of silence and solitude. If we long to hear God
more clearly there is a necessity to cultivate a listening ear and an attentive
heart. The world is full of noise. The curse of our day is hurry, busyness and boisterous
sound
from the furry of activities. They often cloud out our ability to hear God’s
voice. This song appropriately calls us to a retreat, to come before God in quietness,
silence and solitude. As we wait in quietness, we will find strength in His
perfect peace. Here’s how Isaiah 30:15 puts it, “In repentance and rest you
will be saved, in quietness and trust is your strength.”
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