What set David apart from others–what made him close to God’s heart?
In Psalm 63, we find some answers. Here David, an old man, near the end of his life, has come full circle: he is on the run with someone close to him, who he cares for deeply, looking to kill him. Instead of King Saul, it is would-be king Absalom, his son. This psalm reveals the continued faithfulness of God, but it also reveals the faith that David carried with him from his youth. Here, rather than sink into shame at what his mistakes have cost him, rather than be angry and spiteful at God and shut out any connection to God, David instead opens his heart to the one who always hears, the one who always wants connection to us. The one who asks us to be honest, and put God first.
Psalm 63 A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah.
You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
3 Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
4 I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
6 On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.
7 Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
8 I cling to you;
your right hand upholds me.
9 Those who want to kill me will be destroyed;
they will go down to the depths of the earth.
10 They will be given over to the sword
and become food for jackals.
11 But the king will rejoice in God;
all who swear by God will glory in him,
while the mouths of liars will be silenced.