Psalms 63:1

A psalm of David, written when he was in the Judean wilderness. ²  O God, you are my God! I long for you! ³  My soul thirsts ⁴  for you, my flesh yearns for you, in a dry and parched ⁵  land where there is no water.

Ex 15:2; Ex 17:3; 1Sa 22:5; 1Sa 23:14-16,23-25; 1Sa 26:1-3; 2Sa 15:28; Job 8:5; Ps 5:3; Ps 31:14; Ps 42:1,2; Ps 42:11; Ps 78:34; Ps 84:2; Ps 91:2; Ps 102:3-5; Ps 118:28; Ps 119:81; Ps 143:6; Ps 143:10; Pr 1:27,28; Pr 8:17; So 3:1-3; So 5:8; Isa 32:2; Isa 35:7; Isa 41:18; Jer 31:1,33; Ho 5:15; Zec 13:9; Mt 6:33; Mt 12:43; Joh 7:37; Joh 20:17; Re 7:16,17

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 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 tn Or “I will seek you.”

⁴ tn Or “I thirst.”

⁵ 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.