In the Wilderness of Judah

Well over two-thirds of the Bible’s 150 psalms have titles or introductory notes that scholars refer to as superscriptions. These provide information about authorship, usage, musical directions and sometimes even the circumstances in which the psalm was written. From the late 1800s until relatively recently, a majority of Bible scholars questioned the value of these superscriptions, believing Hebrew scribes likely added them centuries later than the original text. It may be for this reason that not all modern translations include them.

At least one expert on Old Testament studies has reconsidered that view.

A 2021 article in Bible Study Magazine argues against the conventional wisdom about psalm superscriptions. Its author, Peter Gentry, believes they are indeed part of the original (inspired) text, and makes several compelling arguments in favor of recognizing them as the word of God.

Food for Thought

Whatever the age(s) of the superscriptions may be, their writers lived millennia closer to the dates of the original psalms than we do. These men had insights we don’t, and that we cannot access any other way. I have always found a superscription useful in establishing the context of the psalms that follow them, and I’m glad they are there. Sometimes they provide real food for thought.

The superscription over Psalm 63 reads, “A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.” David kept sheep for his father in the wilderness as a boy, but he wrote this particular psalm quite a bit later during a period when his life was at serious risk, as the last few verses indicate. A quick scan through 1 Samuel strongly suggests chapter 23 is the best fit for times and circumstances. Anointed king of Israel on God’s instructions, in that chapter David flees for his life from his father-in-law, King Saul, who is disinclined to give up his throne and has decided to kill off any potential competition for his family line. David runs to the wilderness of Ziph in the hill country of southern Judah, as the superscription over Psalm 63 says.

My Soul Thirsts

With that in mind, here’s the full text of the psalm:

“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.

My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.

But those who seek to destroy my life shall go down into the depths of the earth; they shall be given over to the power of the sword; they shall be a portion for jackals. But the king shall rejoice in God; all who swear by him shall exult, for the mouths of liars will be stopped.”

Amen to that.

Who Is This King?

Amidst all the turmoil of trying to preserve his own life while leading approximately 400 hard-bitten men who had chosen to follow him through the rugged, arid terrain near Ziph, David rejoices in God. He fondly remembers being able to worship in the sanctuary, a joy now denied to him, and promises to praise and bless the Lord as long as life remains in his body. He feels a strong sense of God’s presence and help in his time of need, and writes of wakeful nights when his heart is full of thoughts of God.

However, it seems to me there’s probably more to the psalm than just David’s experience. If we have the context of the psalm correct, and I believe we do, then David was probably almost a decade from sitting on Israel’s throne. He was anointed king, sure, but he was a long way away from enjoying the benefits and challenges that came with his anointing. Yet he writes in verse 11, “But the king shall rejoice in God; all who swear by him shall exult, for the mouths of liars will be stopped.”

Who then is this king? He’s manifestly not Saul. At that point in his life King Saul was far from rejoicing in God. He was bound and determined to go his own way. Even David isn’t a perfect fit, as we will see.

More Than David’s Experience

Well, most Psalms work on multiple levels. We can often see in their wording references to the psalmist’s original circumstances, as we do in many places here. However, the Bible’s psalmists were prophets as well as poets, and they composed their lyrics with other times and places in view as well as their own circumstances. My father used to refer to the Psalms as “the hymnbook of the remnant of Israel”, pointing out that many of them speak with one voice for a believing subset of future Israelites living through the Great Tribulation or rejoicing in the millennial reign of Christ. Other psalms, as we probably all know, speak prophetically of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus during the first century and of the glories that have followed and are still to come.

Whenever we come to a psalm, our first question ought to be the one asked by the Ethiopian eunuch to Philip concerning Isaiah 53: “About whom does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” For that, we need to examine the text for clues.

Now, certainly, we could speculate that David saw his own crown and kingdom as sure things. Perhaps that’s all he meant when he wrote, “The king shall rejoice in God.” It might just be an expression of his confidence in the future and his trust in the Lord. God had promised. God would deliver.

Another King

Indeed, it might, but I can’t help but see in these words another anointed King during his incarnation.

First century Israel, to which the Lord Jesus came, was truly “a dry and weary land” with no water, a spiritual desert in which the Son of God longed for the continuous fellowship he always experienced with his Father. Surrounded by the desiccated spirits of the religious dead, our Lord’s flesh fainted and his soul thirsted. “O faithless and twisted generation,” he cried, “how long am I to be with you?”

Unlike David, who could only “look upon” the Lord in the sanctuary metaphorically or aspirationally, Jesus had experienced the true sanctuary in heaven, beholding the power and glory of the Father enthroned. Confronted with the corrupted shadow of that glory in Jerusalem, he made a whip of cords and drove out the moneychangers. The Father’s house was not just a place he contemplated. It was where he belonged.

David speaks of a soul satisfied with communion with God as with fat and rich food. The Lord Jesus could tell his disciples, “I have food to eat that you do not know about. My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.” What could his disciples possibly bring him for lunch that would compare to that feast?

A Sword That Cuts Both Ways

David meditated on the Lord in the watches of the night. Jesus would rise early in the morning while it was still dark and go out to pray. And yes, like David, he did it in a “desolate place”. David could write about God’s right hand upholding him. Our Lord Jesus would shortly sit at the right hand of the Father.

We can certainly see that David’s personal experience would fulfill in some measure the final few verses of the psalm. His enemies would be given over to the sword; many who set themselves against David would go down into the depths of the earth, Saul most prominently. But David was a fallen man, and these would be temporary victories. When he sinned with Bathsheba, he would find the sword of God’s justice turned against him. As an older man he ran once again, this time not from Saul but from his own rebellious son. In contrast, the kingdom of the Lord Jesus will be eternal, his enemies will be his footstool, and not only will the mouths of liars be stopped, but every tongue will confess him as Lord.

Jesus in the Wilderness

Like David, the Lord Jesus experienced the wilderness of Judah. Like David, he could say many of the same things. In the midst of rejection, hostility and the threat of death, he could experience the joy of the Lord and the promise of his future reign. The difference, of course, is that there will be no blemishes on his rule, no enemies left to rise up against him, and no end to his reign.