8My soul clings to You;
         Your right hand upholds me.

9But those who seek my life to destroy it,
         Will go into the depths of the earth.

10They will be delivered over to the power of the sword;
         They will be a prey for foxes.

11But the king will rejoice in God;
         Everyone who swears by Him will glory,
         For the mouths of those who speak lies will be stopped.

Parallel Verses

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
For You have been my help, And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
You have been my help. In the shadow of your wings, I sing joyfully.

King James Bible
Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

Douay-Rheims Bible
because thou hast been my helper. And I will rejoice under the covert of thy wings:

Darby Bible Translation
For thou hast been my help, and in the shadow of thy wings will I sing for joy.

English Revised Version
For thou hast been my help, and in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

Webster's Bible Translation
Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

World English Bible
For you have been my help. I will rejoice in the shadow of your wings.

Young's Literal Translation
For Thou hast been a help to me, And in the shadow of Thy wings I sing.

Cross References

Ruth 2:12 "May the LORD reward your work, and your wages be full from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge."

Psalm 17:8 Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me in the shadow of Your wings

Psalm 27:9 Do not hide Your face from me, Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not abandon me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation!

Psalm 57:1 For the choir director; set to Al-tashheth. A Mikhtam of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave. Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, For my soul takes refuge in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge Until destruction passes by.

Psalm 91:4 He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

Commentary

Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary

Verses 7-11

David, having expressed his desires towards God and his praises of him, here expresses his confidence in him and his joyful expectations from him (v. 7): In the shadow of thy wings I will rejoice, alluding either to the wings of the cherubim stretched out over the ark of the covenant, between which God is said to dwell ("I will rejoice in thy oracles, and in covenant and communion with thee"), or to the wings of a fowl, under which the helpless young ones have shelter, as the eagle's young ones (Ex. 19:4, Deu. 32:11), which speaks the divine power, and the young ones of the common hen (Mt. 23:37), which speaks more of divine tenderness. It is a phrase often used in the psalms (Ps. 17:8; 36:7; 57:1; 61:4; 91:4), and no where else in this sense, except Ruth 2:12, where Ruth, when she became a proselyte, is said to trust under the wings of the God of Israel. It is our duty to rejoice in the shadow of God's wings, which denotes our recourse to him by faith and prayer, as naturally as the chickens, when they are cold or frightened, run by instinct under the wings of the hen. It intimates also our reliance upon him as able and ready to help us and our refreshment and satisfaction in his care and protection. Having committed ourselves to God, we must be easy and pleased, and quiet from the fear of evil. Now let us see further,

I. What were the supports and encouragements of David's confidence in God. Two things were as props to that hope which the word of God was the only foundation of:-

1. His former experiences of God's power in relieving him: "Because thou hast been my help when other helps and helpers failed me, therefore I will still rejoice in thy salvation, will trust in thee for the future, and will do it with delight and holy joy. Thou hast been not only my helper, but my help;" for we could never have helped ourselves, nor could any creature have been helpful to us, but by him. Here we may set up our Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto the Lord has helped us, and must therefore resolve that we will never desert him, never distrust him, nor ever droop in our walking with him.

2. The present sense he had of God's grace carrying him on in these pursuits (v. 8): My soul follows hard after thee, which speaks a very earnest desire and a serious vigorous endeavour to keep up communion with God; if we cannot always have God in our embraces, yet we must always have him in our eye, reaching forth towards him as our prize, Phil. 3:14. To press hard after God is to follow him closely, as those that are afraid of losing the sight of him, and to follow him swiftly, as those that long to be with him. This David did, and he owns, to the glory of God, Thy right hand upholds me. God upheld him, (1.) Under his afflictions, that he might not sink under them. Underneath are the everlasting arms. (2.) In his devotions. God upheld him in his holy desires and pursuits, that he might not grow weary in well-doing. Those that follow hard after God would soon fail and faint if God's right hand did not uphold them. It is he that strengthens us in the pursuit of him, quickens our good affections, and comforts us while we have not yet attained what we are in the pursuit of. It is by the power of God (that is his right hand) that we are kept from falling. Now this was a great encouragement to the psalmist to hope that he would, in due time, give him that which he so earnestly desired, because he had by his grace wrought in him those desires and kept them up.

II. What it was that David triumphed in the hopes of.

1. That his enemies should be ruined, v. 9, 10. There were those that sought his soul to destroy it, not only his life (which they struck at, both to prevent his coming to the crown and because they envied and hated him for his wisdom, piety, and usefulness), but his soul, which they sought to destroy by banishing him from God's ordinances, which are the nourishment and support of the soul (so doing what they could to starve it), and by sending him to serve other gods, so doing what they could to poison it, 1 Sa. 26:19. But he foresees and foretels, (1.) That they shall go into the lower parts of the earth, to the grave, to hell; their enmity to David would be their death and their damnation, their ruin, their eternal ruin. (2.) That they shall fall by the sword, by the sword of God's wrath and his justice, by the sword of man, Job 19:28, 29. They shall die a violent death, Rev. 13:10. This was fulfilled in Saul, who fell by the sword, his own sword; David foretold this, yet he would not execute it when it was in the power of his hand, once and again; for precepts, not prophecies, are our rule. (3.) That they shall be a portion for foxes; either their dead bodies shall be a prey to ravenous beasts (Saul lay a good while unburied) or their houses and estates shall be a habitation for wild beasts, Isa. 34:14. Such as this will be the doom of Christ's enemies, that oppose his kingdom and interest in the world; Bring them forth and slay them before me, Lu. 19:27.

2. That he himself should gain his point at last (v. 11), that he should be advanced to the throne to which he had been anointed: The king shall rejoice in God. (1.) He calls himself the king, because he knew himself to be so in the divine purpose and designation; thus Paul, while yet in the conflict, writes himself more than a conqueror, Rom. 8:37. Believers are made kings, though they are not to have the dominion till the morning of the resurrection. (2.) He doubts not but that though he was now sowing in tears he should reap in joy. The king shall rejoice. (3.) He resolves to make God the Alpha and Omega of all his joys. He shall rejoice in God. Now this is applicable to the glories and joys of the exalted Redeemer. Messiah the Prince shall rejoice in God; he has already entered into the joy set before him, and his glory will be completed at his second coming. Two things would be the good effect of David's advancement:-[1.] It would be the consolation of his friends. Every one that swears to him (that is, to David), that comes into his interest and takes an oath of allegiance to him, shall glory in his success; or every one that swears by him (that is, by the blessed name of God, and not by any idol, Deu. 6:13), and then it means all good people, that make a sincere and open profession of God's name; they shall glory in God; they shall glory in David's advancement. Those that fear thee will be glad when they see me. Those that heartily espouse the cause of Christ shall glory in its victory at last. If we suffer with him, we shall reign with him. [2.] It would be the confutation of his enemies: The mouth of those that speak lies, of Saul, and Doeg, and others that misrepresented David and insulted over him, as if his cause was desperate, shall be quite stopped; they shall not have one word more to say against him, but will be for ever silenced and shamed. Apply this to Christ's enemies, to those that speak lies to him, as all hypocrites do, that tell him they love him while their hearts are not with him; their mouth shall be stopped with that word, I know you not whence you are; they shall be for ever speechless, Mt. 22:12. The mouths of those also that speak lies against him, that pervert the right ways of the Lord and speak ill of his holy religion, will be stopped in that day when the Lord shall come to reckon for all the hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. Christ's second coming will be the everlasting triumph of all his faithful friends and followers, who may therefore now triumph in the believing hopes of it.

Calvin's Commentary

5. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips. 6. I shall surely [432] remember thee upon my couch: I will meditate upon thee in the night watches, [433] 7. Because thou hast been my help: and I will rejoice in the shadow of thy wings. 8. My soul has cleaved hard after thee: thy right hand will uphold me.

5. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow, etc. In accordance with what was said in the foregoing verse, David expresses his assured persuasion of obtaining a rich and abundant measure of every blessing that could call for thanksgiving and praise. At the period of composing this psalm, he may have been already in the enjoyment of ease and plenty; but there is reason to believe that he cherished the persuasion referred to, even when wandering in the wilderness in a state of poverty and destitution. If we would evidence a strong faith, we must anticipate the divine favor before it has been actually manifested, and when there is no present appearance of its forthcoming. From the instance here set before us, we must learn to be on our guard against despondency, in circumstances when we may see the wicked wallowing and rioting in the abundance of the things of this world, while we ourselves are left to pine under the want of them. David, in the present pressure to which he was exposed, might have given way to despair, but he knew that God was able to fill the hungry soul, and that he could want for nothing so long as he possessed an interest in his favor. It is God's will to try our patience in this life, by afflictions of various kinds. Let us bear the wrongs which may be done us with meekness, till the time come when all our desires shall be abundantly satisfied. It may be proper to observe, that David, when he speaks in figurative language of being filled with marrow and fatness, does not contemplate that intemperate and excessive indulgence to which ungodly men surrender themselves, and by which they brutify their minds. He looks forward to that moderate measure of enjoyment which would only quicken him to more alacrity in the praises of God.

6 I shall surely remember thee, etc. It may be read also, when, or, as often as I remember thee, I will pray in the night watches. But as the Hebrew particle here used is occasionally taken for an adverb of affirmation, as well as of time, I have adhered to the commonly received translation, In this case, his remembering God is to be understood as the same thing with his meditating upon him; and the one clause contains just a repetition of the sentiment expressed in the other. If the particle be taken in the different sense formerly mentioned, the words intimate, that as often as the name of God recurred to his mind, he would dwell upon it with pleasure, and speak of his goodness. He particularly mentions the night watches, as, when retired from the sight of our fellow-creatures, we not only revert to what may have given us anxiety, but feel our thoughts drawn out more freely to different subjects. We have next the reason assigned for the engagement or declaration he has just made, which is, that he owed to God his preservation. The experience of the divine goodness should dispose us to prayer as well as praise. "I will come into thy house," says the Psalmist in another place, "in the multitude of thy mercy," (Psalm 5:7.) The second part of the seventh verse is expressive of the lively hope with which he was animated. He was resolved to rejoice and triumph under the shadow of God's wings, as feeling the same peace and satisfaction in reliance upon his protection as he could have done had no danger existed.

8 My soul has cleaved hard after thee The Hebrew verb means also to apprehend, or follow, especially when in construction with the preposition which is here joined to it, and therefore we might very properly render the words, -- My soul shall press or follow after thee. [434] But even should the other translation be retained, the sense is, that David's heart was devoted to God with steadfast perseverance. The phrase, after thee, is emphatical, and denotes that he would follow with unwearied constancy, long as the way might be, and full of hardships, and beset with obstacles, and however sovereignly God might himself seem to withdraw his presence. The latter clause of the verse may be taken as referring simply to the deliverance which he had previously mentioned as having been received. He had good reason to persevere, without fainting, in following after God, when he considered that he had been preserved in safety, up to this time, by the divine hand. But I would understand the words as having a more extensive application, and consider that David here speaks of the grace of perseverance, which would be bestowed upon him by the Spirit. To say that he would cleave to God, with an unwavering purpose, at all hazards, might have sounded like the language of vain boasting, had he not qualified the assertion by adding, that he would do this in so far as he was sustained by the hand of God.

Footnotes:

[432] "Ou, quand," etc. -- Fr. marg. "Or, when I shall remember thee."

[433] Among the Hebrews the night was divided into portions of three or four hours each, which were denominated vigils or watches.

[434] Dr Adam Clarke renders, "My soul cleaves, or is glued after thee." "This phrase," says he, "not only shows the diligence of the pursuit, and the nearness of the attainment, but also the fast hold he had got of the mercy of his God."

Links

Psalm 63 Commentaries: Barnes • Calvin • Clarke • Darby • Gill • Geneva • Guzik • JFB • Keil / Delitzsch • KJV Translators' • Henry's Concise • Matthew Henry • Scofield • TSK • Treasury of David • Wesley

NIV / NLT / ESV / GWT / KJV / ASV / DRB

Jump to Previous Occurrence
Help Joy Rejoice Shade Shadow Sing Wings

Jump to Next Occurrence
Help Joy Rejoice Shade Shadow Sing Wings

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org.

GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Quotations are used by permission. Copyright 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved.

Alphabetical: And are Because been For have help I in joy my of shadow sing the wings you your

Bible Browser

1877-1879. "They Helped Every one his Neighbour" --Miss Child, a Fellow-Labourer --The Work in Ratcliff Highway --Strangers' Rest for Sailors --"Welcome Home" --"Bridge of Hope" --Miss
"They helped every one his neighbour"--Miss Child, a fellow-labourer --The work in Ratcliff Highway--Strangers' Rest for Sailors--"Welcome Home"--"Bridge of Hope"--Miss Macpherson's twenty-first voyage to Canada--Explosion on board the "Sardinian"--Child life in the Galt Home--The Galt Home now devoted to children from London, Knowlton to those from Liverpool, and Marchmont to Scottish Emigrants. "They helped every one his neighbour, and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage" (margin, …
Clara M. S. Lowe—God's Answers

Whether Oaths are Desirable and to be Used Frequently as Something Useful and Good?
Objection 1: It would seem that oaths are desirable and to be used frequently as something useful and good. Just as a vow is an act of religion, so is an oath. Now it is commendable and more meritorious to do a thing by vow, because a vow is an act of religion, as stated above ([3078]Q[88], A[5]). Therefore for the same reason, to do or say a thing with an oath is more commendable, and consequently oaths are desirable as being good essentially. Objection 2: Further, Jerome, commenting on Mat. 5:34, …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Out of the Deep of Death.
My heart is disquieted within me, and the fear of death has fallen upon me.--Ps. iv. 4. My flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart.--Ps. lxiii. 25. Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.--Ps. xxiii. 4. Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.--Ps. cxvi. 8. What will become of us after we die? What will the next world be like? What is heaven like? Shall I be able …
Charles Kingsley—Out of the Deep

How is Christ, as the Life, to be Applied by a Soul that Misseth God's Favour and Countenance.
The sixth case, that we shall speak a little to, is a deadness, occasioned by the Lord's hiding of himself, who is their life, and "the fountain of life," Ps. xxxvi. 9, and "whose loving-kindness is better than life," Ps. lxiii. 3, and "in whose favour is their life," Ps. xxx. 5. A case, which the frequent complaints of the saints manifest to be rife enough, concerning which we shall, 1. Shew some of the consequences of the Lord's hiding his face, whereby the soul's case will appear. 2. Shew the …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

The Joint Heirs and their Divine Portion
I would invite you, my brethren in Christ Jesus, this morning, to do three things; first, let us consider the terms of the will--"joint heirs with Christ;" secondly, let us go forth and view the estates--what it is of which we are joint heirs; and when we have done so, let us proceed at once to administer, for God hath made his children administrators as web as heirs. I. First, then, there is A LEGAL TERM IN THE WILL UPON WHICH THE WHOLE MATTER WILL HINGE. We are called "joint heirs with Christ"--what …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 7: 1861

By all Things' is Meant the Redemptive Attributes and Power of Christ.
Thus, then, we may understand all things to have been delivered to the Saviour, and, if it be necessary to follow up understanding by explanation, that hath been delivered unto Him which He did not previously possess. For He was not man previously, but became man for the sake of saving man. And the Word was not in the beginning flesh, but has been made flesh subsequently (cf. Joh. i. 1 sqq.), in which Flesh, as the Apostle says, He reconciled the enmity which was against us (Col. i. 20, ii. 14, Eph. …
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius

Spiritual Hunger Shall be Satisfied
They shall be filled. Matthew 5:6 I proceed now to the second part of the text. A promise annexed. They shall be filled'. A Christian fighting with sin is not like one that beats the air' (1 Corinthians 9:26), and his hungering after righteousness is not like one that sucks in only air, Blessed are they that hunger, for they shall be filled.' Those that hunger after righteousness shall be filled. God never bids us seek him in vain' (Isaiah 45:19). Here is an honeycomb dropping into the mouths of …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Introduction. Chapter i. --The Life and Writings of St. Hilary of Poitiers.
St. Hilary of Poitiers is one of the greatest, yet least studied, of the Fathers of the Western Church. He has suffered thus, partly from a certain obscurity in his style of writing, partly from the difficulty of the thoughts which he attempted to convey. But there are other reasons for the comparative neglect into which he has fallen. He learnt his theology, as we shall see, from Eastern authorities, and was not content to carry on and develop the traditional teaching of the West; and the disciple …
St. Hilary of Poitiers—The Life and Writings of St. Hilary of Poitiers

The Secret Walk with God (ii).
He that would to others give Let him take from Jesus still; They who deepest in Him live Flow furthest at His will. I resume the rich subject of Secret Devotion, Secret Communion with God. Not that I wish to enter in detail on either the theory or the practice of prayer in secret; as I have attempted to do already in a little book which I may venture here to mention, Secret Prayer. My aim at present, as I talk to my younger Brethren in the Ministry, is far rather to lay all possible stress on …
Handley C. G. Moule—To My Younger Brethren

Appendix 2 Extracts from the Babylon Talmud
Massecheth Berachoth, or Tractate on Benedictions [76] Mishnah--From what time is the "Shema" said in the evening? From the hour that the priests entered to eat of their therumah [77] until the end of the first night watch. [78] These are the words of Rabbi Eliezer. But the sages say: Till midnight. Rabban Gamaliel says: Until the column of the morning (the dawn) rises. It happened, that his sons came back from a banquet. They said to him: "We have not said the Shema.'" He said to them, "If the column …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

Covenanting Confers Obligation.
As it has been shown that all duty, and that alone, ought to be vowed to God in covenant, it is manifest that what is lawfully engaged to in swearing by the name of God is enjoined in the moral law, and, because of the authority of that law, ought to be performed as a duty. But it is now to be proved that what is promised to God by vow or oath, ought to be performed also because of the act of Covenanting. The performance of that exercise is commanded, and the same law which enjoins that the duties …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

The Marks of the New Birth
"So is every one that is born of the Spirit." John 3:8. 1. How is every one that is "born of the Spirit," -- that is, born again, -- born of God? What is meant by the being born again, the being born of God, or being born of the Spirit? What is implied in the being a son or a child of God, or having the Spirit of adoption? That these privileges, by the free mercy of God, are ordinarily annexed to baptism (which is thence termed by our Lord in a preceding verse, the being "born of water and of the …
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

Concerning Salutations and Recreations, &C.
Concerning Salutations and Recreations, &c. [1273] Seeing the chief end of all religion is to redeem men from the spirit and vain conversation of this world and to lead into inward communion with God, before whom if we fear always we are accounted happy; therefore all the vain customs and habits thereof, both in word and deed, are to be rejected and forsaken by those who come to this fear; such as taking off the hat to a man, the bowings and cringings of the body, and such other salutations of that …
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament