Psalms 63:1

Psalm 63 ¹ 

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.

Matthew 12:43

The Return of the Unclean Spirit

12:43 “When ⁶  an unclean spirit ⁷  goes out of a person, ⁸  it passes through waterless places ⁹  looking for rest but ¹⁰  does not find it.

[63:1]  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.

[63:1]  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.

[63:1]  ³ tn Or “I will seek you.”

[63:1]  ⁴ tn Or “I thirst.”

[63:1]  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.

[12:43]  ⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[12:43]  ⁷ sn Unclean spirit refers to an evil spirit.

[12:43]  ⁸ tn Grk “man.” This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo"), referring to both males and females. This same use occurs in v. 45.

[12:43]  ⁹ sn The background for the reference to waterless places is not entirely clear, though some Jewish texts suggest spirits must have a place to dwell, but not with water (Luke 8:29-31; Tob 8:3). Some suggest that the image of the desert or deserted cities as the places demons dwell is where this idea started (Isa 13:21; 34:14).

[12:43]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.