Psalms 63:2

_TO SEE THY POWER AND THY GLORY, SO AS I HAVE SEEN THEE IN THE SANCTUARY._ To see thy power and thy glory, so (as) I have seen thee in the sanctuary - literally, 'so in the sanctuary I have beheld thee, that I may see thy power and thy glory.' Thus "to see," or 'that I may see thy power,' follows "my soul thirsteth for thee," etc.; 'so in the sanctuary I have beheld thee,' is a parenthesis. What I 'thirst for' is, "to see thy power and thy glory," as once I saw it. The abruptness of the interrupted clauses accords with his excitement. The "so" is beautifully forcible; so lovable and so fully satisfying to thy people did I formerly behold thee, my soul therefore now thirsts for thee (cf. Psalms 27:4; Psalms 27:13). David's desire in this psalm, and in the parallel psalm,...

2._Thus in the sanctuary, etc. _It is apparent, as already hinted, that God was ever in his thoughts, though wandering in the wilderness under such circumstances of destitution. The particle _thus _is emphatic. Even when so situated, in a wild and hideous solitude, where the very horrors of the place were enough to have distracted his meditations, he exercised himself in beholding the power and glory of God, just as if he had been in the sanctuary. Formerly, when it was in his power to wait upon the tabernacle, he was far from neglecting that part of the instituted worship of God. He was well aware that he needed such helps to devotion. But now, when shut out, in the providence of God, from any such privilege, he shows, by the delight which he took in spiritual views of God, that his was not a mind engrossed with the symbols, or mere outward ceremonial of religion. He gives evidence how...

1,2 Early will I seek thee. The true Christian devotes to God the morning hour. He opens the eyes of his understanding with those of his body, and awakes each morning to righteousness. He arises with a thirst after those comforts which the world cannot give, and has immediate recourse by prayer to the Fountain of the water of life. The true believer is convinced, that nothing in this sinful world can satisfy the wants and desires of his immortal soul; he expects his happiness from God, as his portion. When faith and hope are most in exercise, the world appears a weary desert, and the believer longs for the joys of heaven, of which he has some foretastes in the ordinances of God upon earth....

Verse Psalms 63:2. _TO SEE THY POWER AND THY GLORY - IN THE SANCTUARY._] In his public ordinances God had often showed his _power_ in the judgments he executed, in the terror he impressed, and in awakening the sinful; and his glory in delivering the tempted, succouring the distressed, and diffusing peace and pardon through the hearts of his followers. God shows his _power_ and _glory_ in his _ordinances_; therefore _public worship_ should never be neglected. _We must see God_, says the old Psalter, _that he may see us_. In his temple he dispenses his choicest blessings....

TO SEE THY POWER AND THY GLORY - The reference here is to what was manifested of the presence and the power of God in the services of public worship; the praises, the prayers, the rejoicings, the evidences of the divine presence. SO AS I HAVE SEEN THEE IN THE SANCTUARY - At the tabernacle, amidst the solenm services of divine worship. There seems to be no reason for supposing that he here refers to the mere external pomp and splendor of public worship, but he doubtless includes the power of the divine presence which he had felt in such services on his own soul. As applied now to a place of Christian worship, it may be observed that there are nowhere more striking exhibitions of the Tower of God on earth than those which occur in such a place, especially in a revival of religion. The scene on the day of Pentecost was as striking an exhibition of the power of God as that which goes forth i...

EXPOSITION A PSALM of one absent from the sanctuary, and longing to return to it (Psalms 63:1, Psalms 63:2), pursued by enemies who seek his life (Psalms 63:9), but confident in God's protection (Psalms 63:7, Psalms 63:8), and, indeed, full of joy and praise and thankfulness (Psalms 63:3 and Psalms 63:11). Near the close he lets fall a word, which shows him to be a ki

TO SEE THY POWER AND THY GLORY,.... Either the ark, as the Jewish writers generally interpret it; the symbol of God's presence and glory, and which is called his strength and his glory; see Psalms 78:61; or rather the Lord Christ, who is the power of God, as well as the wisdom of God; by whom he made the world, and upholds it; by whom he has redeemed his people, and keeps and preserves them; and whose power is seen in the efficacy of the word and ordinances: and who is also the glory of God; he is the brightness of his Father's glory; his glory is the glory as of the only begotten of the Father; he has the same glorious nature, perfections, names, homage, and worship; and the glory of all the divine attributes is displayed in the work of salvation and redemption he has wrought out; and this glory is to be seen, through the glass of the word and ordinances, in the house of God. H

This is said to be «A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.» I suppose, therefore, that it was composed when he fled from Jerusalem because of the cruel treachery of his son Absalom. He must have been heart-broken, and stricken with the greatest possible sorrow as he fled away with his faithful followers into the wilderness of Judah. But even there he praised his God; and he did not sing unto him with old and stale Psalms, but with a new song. How restful and calm he must have been, in his great sorrow, to sit down even in the wilderness of Judah, and make a new hymn of praise unto the Lord! How gloriously he begins! Psalms 63:1. _O God, thou art my God;_ The psalmist has no doubt about this great fact, he does not hesitate or falter, but he makes the positive assertion, «O God, thou art my El, my mighty God, strong to deliver me.» In the sixty-second P

Psalms 63 Heart Longings _ 1. To see Thy power and glory (Psalms 63:1)_ 2. Satisfied longings (Psalms 63:5) A Psalm of David when he was an outcast in the wilderness of Judah. Thus it fits in well with the outcast remnant, thirsting after God, longing to see His power and His glory displayed. And these longings are created in their hearts by the Holy Spirit, as in our hearts also. These longings will be satisfied in the coming day of His manifestation, when His people shall praise and worship Him....

LXIII. Written by one who has seen God's glory in the Temple and resolved to praise Him all his life. He is confident his enemies will perish. Psalms 63:11 refers to a Hebrew king, possibly Maccabean. The language of the Ps. is late. PSALMS 63:1. Follow _mg._ IN A DRY: read, as a dry. As the parched soil pines for rain, so the Psalmist for union with God. Psalms 63:2. So: read as. Place Psalms 63:4 immediately after Psalms 63:2....