vs. 1: O God, You are my God...
The man who can say that from the heart, has the victory.
"If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31)
Our discouragements and defeats come when we forget God, or when, if we remember Him, we forget that He is our God.
vs. 1: My soul thirsts for You, my flesh longs for You, in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is. "[God is] the fountain of living waters." (Jeremiah 2:13)
The water which proceeds from His throne is the water of life, for: "With You is the fountain of life. His promise is:" (Psalm 36:9) "I will pour water upon him that is thirsty." (Isaiah 44:3) "When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue fails for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys." (Isaiah 41:17-18)
This He literally did once, (See Exodus 17:1-6; Psalm 105:41) and will again as literally do the same thing. But all this is to teach us how easily He can satisfy with righteousness the soul that thirsts for it.
vs. 2: To see your power and your glory, so as I have seen You in the sanctuary.
Some people think that it is only in the place of meeting that they can see the Lord. That is a mistake. We are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together; but the soul who does not see the glory and power of God, except when he is in meeting, will have a hard life. God's eternal power is manifested in the things that He has made, and "the whole earth is full of His glory." (Isaiah 6:3)
Therefore not only in the house of prayer, but everywhere, may the earnestly-seeking soul feast his eyes upon the glory of God, and be changed by it into the Divine image.
vs. 3: Because your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You?
Such language could come only from one who could say, "Whom have I in heaven but You? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside You." (Psalm 73:25) "In His favor is life." (Psalm 30:5) "The Lord has appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn you." (Jeremiah 31:3)
Because His kindness is everlasting, ( Isaiah 54:8) we may well say, "I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever." (Psalm 89:1)
vs. 5: My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips;
vs. 6: When I remember You upon my bed, and meditate on You in the night watches.
And why? Because Christ who is the Word of God, and the life of the written word, in whom is all the fullness of God, is the Bread of God. He who rightly meditates in the word, feeds upon Christ, whose flesh is true food. "The flesh profits nothing." (John 6:63)
If bread could become the actual flesh of the Son of God, it would be of no value; but His words are Spirit and life. So the prophet says: "Your words were found, and I did eat them; and your word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart." (Jeremiah 15:16)
As cold water and good food cause a famished person to revive, and produce a feeling of joy and satisfaction; so the words of God, when one feeds upon them, must produce praise and thanksgiving. Those who have no words of praise, are the ones who do not feed upon the word.
Let those who refuse to sing,
Who never knew our God;
But children of the Heavenly King
Must speak their joys abroad.
vs. 7: Because You have been my help, therefore in the shadow of your wings will I rejoice.
"For You have been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall." (Isaiah 25:4) "He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. ... He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings shall you trust." (Psalm 91:1,4)
That is a place of safety where one may rejoice when trouble is raging. What tenderness is represented in the idea of God protecting His children as a hen broods over her young. "As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you." (Isaiah 66:13) "[He is] the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort." (2 Corinthians 1:3)
vs. 8: My soul follows hard after You; your right hand upholds me.
That is the reason for rejoicing, because at the right hand of God, "there are pleasures for evermore." (Psalm 16:11)
The right hand of the Lord brings salvation. "Shew your marvelous lovingkindness, O You that save by your right hand them which put their trust in You from those that rise up against them." (Psalm 17:7) "The right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly." (Psalm 118:16) "His right hand and His holy arm have gotten Him the victory." (Psalm 98:1) "You have also given me the shield of your salvation; and your right hand has held me up, and your gentleness has made me great." (Psalm 18:35)
He who is upheld by the right hand of the Lord, has a sure support. "Now unto Him that isable to guard you from stumbling, and to set you before the presence of His glory without blemish in exceeding joy, To the only God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, the glory and majesty, dominion and power, before all time, and now, and for evermore. Amen." (Jude 1:24-25)--Present Truth, May 3, 1894--Original title: Moments with Psalm 63--Psalm 63:1-8