kindness · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
better
ט֣וֹבTov
H2896
good (as an adjective) in the widest sense · adjective, masculine singular absolute
life
מֵֽחַיִּ֗יםme.chai.Yim
H2416
alive · preposition + noun, common masculine plural absolute
lips
שְׂפָתַ֥יse.fa.Tai
H8193
the lip (as a natural boundary) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
praise
יְשַׁבְּחֽוּנְךָye.sha.be.Chu.ne.kha
H7623
properly · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Philippians 1:23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
Psalms 51:15 O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
Psalms 69:16 Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.
Psalms 30:5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
Hebrews 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
1 Corinthians 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which i…
Psalms 30:12 To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 63:3-6
How soon are David's complaints and prayers turned into praises and thanksgivings! After two verses that express his desire in seeking God, here are some that express his joy and satisfaction in having found him. Faithful prayers may quickly be turned into joyful praises, if it be not our own fault. Let the hearts of those rejoice that seek the Lord (Psa 105:3), and let them praise him for working those desires in them, and giving them assurance that he will satisfy them. David was now in a wilderness, and yet had his heart much enlarged in blessing God. Even in affliction we need not want matter for praise, if we have but a heart to it. Observe,
I. What David will praise God for (Psa 63:3):…
Experiencing God's mercy, which exceeds all the blessings of life, his lips will be opened for his praise (Psa 51:15).
John Gill on Psalms 63:3
Because thy lovingkindness is better than life,.... 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, honour, friends, &c. are nothing without the love of God; the meanest temporal blessings with it are preferable to the greatest without it, Proverbs 15:17; it lasts longer than life, and therefore must be better than that; death cannot separate from it; it continues to all eternity. And that the saints prefer it to this natural life appears by their readiness to lay it down for the sake of Christ and his Gospel, in which the lovingkindness of God is so richly manifested u…
Psalm 63:1-4
1. O God! thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul has thirsted for thee, my flesh has longed for thee in [425] a desert and thirsty [426] land, where no water Isaiah 2. Thus have I beheld thee in the sanctuary, to see thy power and thy glory. 3. Because thy mercy is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. 4. Thus will I bless thee while I:live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.
1. O God! thou art my God. The wilderness of Judah, spoken of in the title, can be no other than that of Ziph, where David wandered so long in a state of concealment. We may rely upon the truth of the record he gives us of his exercise when under his trials; and it is apparent that he n…
The Church Fathers
"Thus in a holy thing I have appeared to You, that I might see Your power and Your glory" [Psalm 63:3]....Unless a man first thirst in that desert, that is in the evil wherein he is, he never arrives at the good, which is God. But "I have appeared to You," he says, "in a holy thing." Now in a holy thing is there great consolation. "I have appeared to You," is what? In order that You might see me: and for this reason You have seen me, in order that I might see You. "I have appeared to You, that I might see." He has not said, "I have appeared to You, that You might see:" but, "I have appeared to You, that I might see Your power and Your glory." Whence also the Apostle, "But now," he says, "knowing God, nay, having been known of God." [Galatians 4:9] For first you have appeared to God, in order that to you God might be able to appear. "That I might see Your power and Your glory." In truth in that forsaken place, that is, in that desert, if as though from the desert a man strives to obtain enough for his sustenance, he will never see the power of the Lord, and the glory of the Lord, but he will remain to die of thirst, and will find neither way, nor consolation, nor water, whereby he may endure in the desert. But when he shall have lifted up himself to God, so as to say to Him out of all his inward parts, "My soul has thirsted for You; how manifoldly for You also my flesh!" lest perchance even the things necessary for the flesh of others he ask, and not of God, or else long not for that resurrection of the flesh, which God has promised to us: when, I say, he shall have lifted up himself, he will have no small consolations.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Life, Natural · God’s loving-kindness better than — God’s loving-kindness better than
Loving-Kindness Of God, The · Described as: Better than life — Described as: Better than life
Praise · Should be offered: With the lips — Should be offered: With the lips
Seekers · 5:8;8:5,6; — 5:8;8:5,6;
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
If the words in Psa 63:2 were אלהים אתּה אשׁחרך, then we would render it, with Bצttcher, after Gen 49:8 : Elohim, Thee do I seek, even Thee! But אלי forbids this construction; and the assertion that otherwise it ought to be, "Jahve, my God art Thou" (Psa 140:7), rests upon a non-recognition of the Elohimic style. Elohim alone by itself is a vocative, and accordingly has Mehupach legarme. The verb שׁחר signifies earnest, importunate seeking and inquiring (e.g., Psa 78:34), and in itself has nothing to do with שׁחר, the dawn; but since Psa 63:7 looks back upon the night, it appears to be chosen with reference to the dawning morning, just as in Isa 26:9 also, שׁחר stands by the side of אוּה בלּ…
better than life itself: The highest quality of life is found in relationship with God (see 4:7; 63:5; Prov 16:8).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 63:3
Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.
Because thy lovingkindness is better than life. A reason for that which went before, as well as for that which follows. Life is dear, but God's love is dearer. To dwell with God is better than life at its best; life at ease, in a palace, in health, in honour, in wealth, in pleasure; yea, a thousand lives are not equal to the eternal life which abides in Jehovah's smile. In him we truly live, and move, and have our being; the withdrawal of the light of his countenance is as the shadow of death to us: hence we cannot but long after the Lord's gracious appearing. Life is to many men a doubtful good: lovingkindness is an…
