Because Your Love Is Better Than Life Is

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Here’s another golden psalm. Every line is just perfect.

 

Psalm 63

A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
    my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
    as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
    beholding your power and glory.
3 Because your steadfast love is better than life,
    my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you as long as I live;
    in your name I will lift up my hands.

5 My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
    and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
6 when I remember you upon my bed,
    and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
7 for you have been my help,
    and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
8 My soul clings to you;
    your right hand upholds me.

9 But those who seek to destroy my life
    shall go down into the depths of the earth;
10 they shall be given over to the power of the sword;
    they shall be a portion for jackals.
11 But the king shall rejoice in God;
    all who swear by him shall exult,
    for the mouths of liars will be stopped.

 

When our English Bibles translate a word as “wilderness,” we think of a vast, virgin land. Glacier National Park, say. But Israel, of course, is a dry place; so, when you read “wilderness” in the Bible, think “desert.”

The unknown editor of the Psalms connects this psalm to David’s time in the wilderness.

No wonder, then, that David begins by saying he needs God’s presence the way a thirsty man needs water in the desert. “Don’t be far away, Lord. Be near!”

When he thinks of all of God’s goodness and faithful commitment to him—when, in the dark silence of the desert night he reflects back on his life—he feels satisfied and content, as if he’s been dining on the richest food.

It is this reflection on all that the Lord has done for him that also makes him confident that, although his enemies might appear to be getting the better of him, their time on top is just temporary.

 
 

I love this version of Psalm 63 from Shane and Shane. Just lovely.

 
“Because your love is
Better than life is”
 

Happy Sunday, friends.