A psalm of David, written when he was in the Judean wilderness. 2
63:1 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.
68:6 God settles those who have been deserted in their own homes; 6
he frees prisoners and grants them prosperity. 7
But sinful rebels live in the desert. 8
2:3 Otherwise, I will strip her naked,
and expose her like she was when she was born.
I will turn her land into a wilderness
and make her country a parched land,
so that I might kill 9 her with thirst.
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.
6 tn Heb “God causes the solitary ones to dwell in a house.” The participle suggests this is what God typically does.
7 tn Heb “he brings out prisoners into prosperity.” Another option is to translate, “he brings out prisoners with singing” (cf. NIV). The participle suggests this is what God typically does.
8 tn Or “in a parched [land].”
9 tn Heb “and kill her with thirst.” The vav prefixed to the verb (וַהֲמִתִּיהָ, vahamittiha) introduces a purpose/result clause: “in order to make her die of thirst” (purpose) or “and thus make her die of thirst” (result).