Psalm 63 is the 63rd psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee". In the slightly different numbering system of the Greek Septuagint version of the Bible and the Latin Vulgate, this psalm is Psalm 62. In Latin, it is known as "Deus Deus meus".[1][2] It is attributed to King David, set when he was in the wilderness of Judah, and its theme concerns being stranded in the wilderness away from one's family.[3]
Secondly, the psalmist's wishes of vengeance are then formulated in the third person in the last three verses.
The first part, more developed, evokes desire, praise and then trust in God. The image of the arid earth in verse 1 does not express the absence of God as in other psalms, but rather the aspiration to meet.[according to whom?] Confidence is then expressed by the symbolism of the protective bird. Perhaps also the wings recall the wings of the kerubim on the ark of the covenant, these representing the Lord.
The change is evident in verse 10. There is now talk of vengeance towards the enemies of the psalmist, and some may evade this disconcerting psalm end. It is a question of a king in the last verse. Perhaps it is the psalmist himself, or a way of extending his prayer to the community. There is such a cry of vengeance in the Book of Jeremiah11:20.
The ancient church up to about 400 AD had the practice of beginning the singing of the Psalms at each Sunday service with Psalm 63, called "the morning hymn".[5][6]John Chrysostom wrote that "it was decreed and ordained by the primitive [church] fathers, that no day should pass without the public singing of this Psalm". He also observed that "the spirit and soul of the whole Book of Psalms is contracted into this Psalm".[7][6]
Catholicism
This psalm was already chosen by St Benedict of Nursia around 530, as the fourth and last psalm during the solemn office at the Sunday laudes (Rule of St. Benedict, chapter XI).[8]
Psalm 63 is still recited every Sunday at the Lauds by priests and religious communities, according to the liturgy of the Hours. In the triennial cycle of the Sunday Mass, it is read on the 22nd and 32nd Sundays of the ordinary time of the year A, and the 12th Sunday of the ordinary time of the year C.
Heinrich Schütz set the psalm in a metred version in German, "O Gott, du mein getreuer Gott", SWV 160, as part of the Becker Psalter, first published in 1628. At the end of the 17th century, Michel-Richard de Lalande wrote a work in Latin according to this psalm (S.20). It is one of the great motets to celebrate the services at the royal chapel of the Château de Versailles, for the Sun King Louis XIV.
The following table shows the Hebrew text[12][13] of the Psalm with vowels, alongside the Koine Greek text in the Septuagint[14] and the English translation from the King James Version. Note that the meaning can slightly differ between these versions, as the Septuagint and the Masoretic text come from different textual traditions.[note 1] In the Septuagint, this psalm is numbered Psalm 62.
Biblical commentator Cyril Rodd notes that the phrase "'When he was in the Wilderness of Judah' may refer to David's flight from Absalom (2 Samuel 15–16), but the time when Saul was pursuing David (1 Samuel 23:14; 24:2) has also been suggested".[15]
Verse 10
They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes.[16]
Other translations refer to jackals rather than foxes.[17] "It is the jackal rather than the fox which preys on dead bodies, and which assembles in troops on the battle-fields, to feast on the slain."[18]
↑ In the Jewish verse numbering, the ascription of this psalm is verse 1, and the rest of the psalm begins from verse 2. However, the Christian verse numbering does not count the ascription.
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