6/19/2024
Elijah McSwain, Sr.
Psalm 63:3-5 (NKJV) — Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You. Thus, I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.
Among humanity, each person has an inward void that cannot be truly satisfied apart from God. The nature of this void deals with the spiritual condition of mankind. The souls of mankind long for something or someone that can provide a sense of inward fulfillment. In order to fill this God-shaped void, people attempt to attach success, material possessions, wealth, accolades, accomplishments, economic status, adventure, and relationship intimacy to their spiritual emptiness and destitution. In doing so, the temporal things that are sought after never provide the lasting filling needed to satisfy their inward longing. This void cannot be satisfied with anything of temporal value, but it must be filled with the eternal purpose of God.
John Piper recognized “the deepest longing of the human heart is to know and enjoy the glory of God. We were made for this.” 1
We were divinely fashioned inwardly with a God-shaped vacuum to know Him. By knowing Him this signifies knowing Him through a saving relationship and fellowship with Him. The psalmist David understood this reality and longed for God as the “Satisfier” of his soul. The pursuit of God should be every person’s ultimate aim in life. As we survey the life of David, it is imperative that we take note of how we should persistently long for God.
The Essence of God’s Love
David claimed that the lovingkindness of God was better than life itself in verse three. David understood that to dwell in the loving presence of God was more favorable than the value of his life. Albert Barnes clarified that “life is the most valued and valuable thing pertaining to this world which we can possess. But, above this, David valued the favor and friendship of God. If one or the other was to be sacrificed, he preferred that it should be his life; he would be willing to exchange that for the favor of God. Life was not desirable; life furnished no comforts – no joys – without the divine favor. “My life itself, without Thy love,
no taste of pleasure could afford; ‘would but a tiresome burden proves, if I were banished from the Lord.” 2
The consensus involves the idea that life apart from God is confined to a state of misery.
David knew that God was his life, thus, he resorted to experience the unfailing love of the Lord. The Apostle Paul lived by this same mindset as David. In Acts 20:24 (ESV) Paul surmised that “I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” Neither David nor Paul placed stock on the value of their own lives, but they placed a greater value on being connected to God. They both operated by a divine value system. As humans, most people’s value system focuses on the temporal things of life as opposed to the eternal. However, this was not their case. They would rather choose the eternal over the temporal.
The notion of understanding that the love of God transcends time, space, and matter into eternity is far better than living a life without God that vanishes away quickly as a vapor (cf. James 4:14).
John Gill conceded for life without the love of God is nothing else than death: a man that has no share in the love of God is dead while he lives; all the enjoyments of life, health, riches, honor, and friends are nothing without the love of God. The love of God lasts longer than life, and therefore must be better. Death cannot separate us from it because it continues throughout all eternity. 3
This frame of thinking should be our disposition toward life. We should not be handcuffed to the temporal things of life and miss out on the lovingkindness of God. Rather we should have a binding connection with the Lord, whereby, we highly esteem His love more that the value of our own lives.
William MacDonald asserted “the lovingkindness of the Lord is better than anything that life can afford.” 4
As a result, we should not allow anything to separate us from the love of God. But unfortunately, we do allow things to hinder our connectivity with God. At times we may loosen our grip of God, but He will never loosen His grip on us. Yet in our moments of being detoured, God’s love is constant and unchanging. When we understand this, we should persistently pursue the love of God above all else. Upon grasping that the lovingkindness of God is better than life, we would live by the words of Romans 8:35-39 and come to the realization that His inseparable love keeps us.
Romans 8:35-39 (NKJV) insists on the idea "who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
The inseparable love of Christ should move us to forever long for the essence of His love.
Possess Adoration for God
In the latter portion of verse three and the entirety of verse four, David showed his adoration for God. David gave remarks that his lips shall praise the Lord and he would bless God as long as he lived with lifted hands. The psalmist declared that his life would be devoted to praising God. The praise of David would be a continuous commitment of extolling and magnifying Elohim. All the days of his existence, David would open his mouth to verbally commend the Lord for His mighty acts, excellent greatness, and deity.
His lips would resound the echo of praise as a result of his reverence for God. The inward expression of David toward God would manifest itself outwardly through worship and praise.
His worship and praise are directly tied to his longing for God. Hence, what was bound in his heart would flow through his lips. Our longing for God should spur within us a sense of admiration for Him. With the fruit of our lips, we should praise Him and testify of Him. Hebrews 13:15 (NKJV) advises “therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.” As believers we are called to regularly praise God as a sacrificial offering through the vocalization of our lips. Psalm 54:6 (NKJV) acknowledges "I will freely sacrifice to You; I will praise Your name, O LORD, for it is good." Albert Barnes resolved that “the Hebrew word rendered “freely,” mean with “willingness, voluntariness, and spontaneousness.” The idea is, that he would do it of a free or willing mind, without constraint or compulsion. He would do it voluntarily. The idea is, that as the result of the divine interposition which he prayed for, he would bring voluntary offerings to God in acknowledgment of His goodness and mercy. David acclaimed that he would express his sense of God’s goodness by offering Him praise.” 5
Do we possess the same inward vibrancy, enthusiasm, devotion, determination, excitement, and eagerness to praise God out of our longing for Him?
The totality of our lives should be known by worship and praise of God.
If we truly understood this then like David, we would engage in blessing the Lord as long as we live. Remember the circumstance that David found himself in. He was isolated in the wilderness because of his enemies but he did not allow his circumstance to dictate his praise of God. Instead of succumbing to his current dilemma, he knew that God was still worthy of his praise, so he turned to God for worship. David wrote in Psalm 34:1-3 (NKJV) “I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the LORD; the humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together.” The psalmist would recount the goodness of the almighty and bless Him throughout the days of his life.
Worship is a lifetime commitment to God. It should not be confined to circumstantial moments. The basis of genuine worship involves acknowledging God at all times whether a person is undergoing an adverse situation or experiencing a state of prosperous times. David would bless God and glorify Him all the days of his appointed life.
Like David, “wholehearted praise and worship should spring forth from the depths of our souls to worship the name of God that projects forth His divinity, righteousness, holiness, truthfulness, purity, lovingkindness, tender mercies, His faithfulness, love, benevolence, and many other things that entails of who He is.” 6 As David blessed the Lord, it showed in the outward expression of lifted hands. The symbolism of lifted hands was a posture of worship in biblical times. The act of lifting hands was a sign of surrender to God’s will and acknowledging a person’s reliance upon Him. The act of lifting hands was a bodily gesture of adoration, admiration, reverence, worship and praise of God. It was an outward expression of a mind filled with awe for God.
Also, lifted hands are a physical indication of seeking God for aid, guidance, and support. David relied upon the divine intervention and enablement of God which was demonstrated through the proper act of reverent honor being directed toward the Lord. Are our lives aligned with worshipping God as a result of our adoration for Him? If not, we should strive to live by Psalm 145:1-5 (NKJV) where it is written “I will extol You, my God, O King; and I will bless Your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise Your works to another and shall declare Your mighty acts. I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and on Your wondrous works."
Seek Satisfaction in God
David sought the Lord as he realized that true satisfaction is found in God. In verse five, he used the metaphorical description of fatness and marrow which is fat and rich food to express his soul’s fulfillment and satisfaction in God. Physical food provides the body with the proper nutrients that it needs to be sustained and satisfied. Likewise, the presence of God’s goodness satisfies the soul of mankind. Psalm 103:5 (NKJV) speaks of blessing the Lord “who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”
Matthew Henry implied that "it is only the favor and grace of God that can give satisfaction to a soul, can suit its capacities, supply its needs, and answer to its desires. Nothing but divine wisdom can undertake to fill its treasures (Proverbs 8:21); other things will surfeit, but not satiate." 7
During seasons of spiritual drought people attempt to find other means of satisfaction but those things will never satisfy them. Only God satisfies completely and fully. David comprehended that the true sense of spiritual satisfaction was found in God. Psalm 145:16 (NKJV) conveys the reality that God opens His hand to satisfy the desire of every living thing. We are provided everything that we need by the hand of our Master. The realization that we are recipients of divine blessings of heavenly satisfaction should cause us to continually praise God. David conferred upon God the praise that is due unto Him with joyful lips.
Charles Spurgeon recorded that “soul-satisfaction loudly calls for soul-praise, and when the mouth is filled with good it is bound to speak good of Him who filled it. Our good Lord bestows really good things, not vain toys and idle pleasures; and these He is always giving, so that from moment to moment He is satisfying our soul with good: shall we not be still praising Him? If we never cease to bless Him till, He ceases to bless us, our employment will be eternal.” 8
What is our response relating to the goodness of Jehovah Jireh, our provider? Every believer should analyze his or her life to see where the source of their satisfaction is attempted to be drawn from. If it is not found in God, then we need to shift our focus on the Lord so that we can be the beneficiaries of His divine satisfaction. The end result will cause joy to be our anthem of praise toward God. Our lives will be defined by joyful expressions of praise and worship in knowing the source of our satisfaction, the Lord.
References
https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/whats-the-deepest-desire-of-my-heart
Barnes, Albert. “Commentary on Psalms 63:3”. “Barnes’ Notes on the Whole Bible”.
Gill, John. “Commentary on Psalms 63:3”. “Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible”.
William MacDonald. The Believer’s Bible Commentary
Barnes, Albert. “Commentary on Psalms 54:6”. “Barnes’ Notes on the Whole Bible”.
https://www.thechristianinquiry.org/post/bless-the-name-of-the-lord
Henry, Matthew. “Complete Commentary on Psalms 103:5”. “Henry’s Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible”.
The Treasury of David Volume 4, Psalms 88-110