Wilderness Worship – Psalm 63
The anguish of a soul who trusts in the Lord provides an occasion to showcase the attributes and power of the covenant keeping God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David. The beauty and grace of David's writing in his darkest hour is testimony to its divine inspiration. Psalms of particular elegance in theme and structure have served the church as unifying anthems through the ages. The ancient church father: Chrysostom recognizes this of Psalm 63 when he writes: “...it was decreed and ordained by the primitive fathers that no day should pass without the public singing of this Psalm (Ps 63)”. Several weeks ago we explored the 'Hallel' Psalms (113-118) which provided the worshipful finale of Passover. We noted how fitting these were as prelude to Christ's work of redemption presumably having sung them before exiting the upper room Passover for the Mount of Olives in Mat 26:30. The parallels are striking in this Psalm 63 as well as we compare David's experience with the Son of David himself. Consider how Ps 63 is perfectly suited for the events that immediately follow in the Gospel including Gethsemane and Calvary...