For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Psalm 63

1 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 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.

A. Find Out:

1. What is conveyed in verse 1?
2. What has David experienced and known? v.2,3a
3. What does that create in him? 3b-5
4. When does he find himself thinking of God? v.6
5. Why does he cling to the Lord? v.7,8
6. What confidence does it create in him? v.9,10

B. Think:

1. From this Psalm, how do we know David had a close relationship with the Lord?
2. What were the three consequences of that relationship?
3. How does knowledge of God affect all the other areas of our lives?

C. Comment:

David knows God. He has encountered Him in the meeting place with God (v.2) and knows something of His wonderful power and His wonderful glory. Now everything else in this Psalm flows out of this. First the knowledge of God in a small way, creates a GREATER YEARNING to know Him more and more (v.1). If we don’t have that, perhaps it is because we have allowed the things of the world the smother our vision.

Second, it RELEASES PRAISE (v.3,4). Now when we praise someone it is because they have done something to be commended for, and with the Lord that is always so, because of who He is and what He has done, He is ALWAYS worthy of our praise (v.4). If we do not praise Him it is perhaps, because the world has smothered our vision.

Third, it brings a SENSE OF SECURITY in respect of those who are against us (v.9). The Lord WILL deal with them, whether it be in this life or after death. We don’t have to get worked up with words like “justice” or “revenge”, for the Lord will deal with them in His time, and it will PROBABLY be in this lifetime and will CERTAINLY be after death. Leave them to Him!

D. Application?

1. Knowing God brings consequences. If it doesn’t we should question the  relationship we think we have.
2. A greater yearning for Him, and security in Him, come with this.