◄ Psalm 63:2 ►
So I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and glory.
Study Bible
So I have seen You in the sanctuary
So
The word "so" in this context serves as a bridge, connecting the psalmist's current longing for God with a past experience of divine encounter. It implies a continuity of desire and experience, suggesting that the psalmist's yearning is not new but rooted in a history of seeking and finding God. This word invites us to reflect on our own spiritual journeys, recognizing that our present thirst for God is often fueled by past moments of divine presence.

I have seen You
The phrase "I have seen You" is deeply personal and experiential. In Hebrew, the verb "seen" (רָאָה, ra'ah) implies more than just physical sight; it encompasses understanding and perceiving with the heart. This suggests that the psalmist has had a profound encounter with God, one that transcends mere observation and enters the realm of intimate knowledge. It challenges us to seek not just to know about God, but to truly see Him in our lives.

in the sanctuary
The "sanctuary" refers to the holy place where God's presence dwells, likely the tabernacle or temple in ancient Israel. In the Hebrew context, the sanctuary was the center of worship and a symbol of God's dwelling among His people. This phrase underscores the importance of communal worship and the sacred spaces where believers gather to encounter God. It reminds us of the value of setting apart places and times for worship, where we can experience God's presence in a tangible way.

Persons / Places / Events
1. David
The author of Psalm 63, traditionally believed to be King David, who wrote this psalm during a time of distress, possibly while in the wilderness of Judah.

2. Sanctuary
Refers to the holy place where God's presence dwells. In the context of David's time, this would be the tabernacle or the temple, symbolizing a place of worship and divine encounter.

3. Wilderness of Judah
The likely setting for this psalm, representing a place of physical and spiritual desolation where David seeks God's presence.
Teaching Points
Desire for God's Presence
David's longing to see God in the sanctuary reflects a deep desire for intimacy with God. Believers are encouraged to cultivate a similar yearning for God's presence in their lives.

Power and Glory of God
Recognizing God's power and glory is central to worship. Believers should seek to understand and experience God's majesty in their personal and communal worship.

Worship in Spirit and Truth
While the physical sanctuary was significant in David's time, Jesus teaches that true worshipers will worship in spirit and truth, emphasizing the heart's posture over physical location.

Spiritual Desolation and Seeking God
Just as David sought God in the wilderness, believers are encouraged to seek God earnestly during times of spiritual dryness or life challenges.

Access to God through Christ
The New Testament reveals that through Christ, believers have direct access to God's presence, encouraging a life of bold and confident worship.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does David's experience in the wilderness influence his desire to see God in the sanctuary, and how can this apply to our own spiritual "wilderness" experiences?

2. In what ways can we cultivate a deeper longing for God's presence in our daily lives, similar to David's desire in Psalm 63:2?

3. How does the concept of God's power and glory in the sanctuary relate to our understanding of worship today?

4. What are some practical ways we can worship God in spirit and truth, as Jesus described, in our personal and communal worship settings?

5. How does the New Testament teaching on access to God through Christ enhance our understanding of the sanctuary and our approach to worship?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Exodus 25:8
This verse speaks of God instructing the Israelites to build a sanctuary so He may dwell among them, highlighting the importance of a designated holy place for encountering God.

Isaiah 6:1-3
Isaiah's vision of the Lord in the temple, emphasizing the majesty and glory of God, similar to David's desire to behold God's power and glory.

Hebrews 10:19-22
Discusses the confidence believers have to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, connecting the Old Testament sanctuary to the New Testament understanding of access to God's presence.
Sermons
God Sought in the SanctuaryPsalm 63:2
Sanctuary LongingsW. Jay.Psalm 63:2
The Christian Longing to See God in His TempleC. Bradley.Psalm 63:2
The Desire to See God's Power and Glory in Thy SanctuaryT. Horton, D. D.Psalm 63:2
The DutyJ. A. James.Psalm 63:2
The Power and Glory of GodW. Jay.Psalm 63:2
The Saint Longing to See God in the SanctuaryA. Shanks.Psalm 63:2
Sublime ThingsC. Short Psalm 63:1-8
A Wilderness CryPsalm 63:1-11
Ancient PietyJames Sutcliffe, M. A.Psalm 63:1-11
David's Desire for God's PresenceR. Glover.Psalm 63:1-11
David's Owning Of, and Application To, GodT. Horton, D. D.Psalm 63:1-11
God and the SoulCanon Liddon.Psalm 63:1-11
Passionate DevotionJ. Cranbrook.Psalm 63:1-11
Seeking GodW. W. Wythe.Psalm 63:1-11
Soul ThirstW. Forsyth Psalm 63:1-11
Soul-ThirstA. Maclaren, D. D.Psalm 63:1-11
The Christian's LongingR. J. Rowton, M. A.Psalm 63:1-11
The Greatest Things of the SoulHomilistPsalm 63:1-11
The Paramount NeedEdwin Hatch, D. D.Psalm 63:1-11
The Saint Claiming God as His GodA. Shanks.Psalm 63:1-11
The Saint Resolving to Seek His GodA. Shanks.Psalm 63:1-11
The Saint Thirsting for GodA. Shanks.Psalm 63:1-11
The Soul's Thirst and SatisfactionA. Maclaren, D. D.Psalm 63:1-11
People
David, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Beheld, Behold, Beholding, Glory, Holy, Honour, Power, Sanctuary, Strength, Thus, Watching
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 63:2

     7438   sanctuary

Psalm 63:1-5

     5939   satisfaction

Psalm 63:1-8

     5832   desire
     8618   prayerfulness

Psalm 63:2-5

     8632   adoration

Library
Thirst and Satisfaction
'My soul thirsteth for Thee.... 5. My soul shall be satisfied.... 8. My soul followeth hard after Thee.'--PSALM lxiii. 1, 5, 8. It is a wise advice which bids us regard rather what is said than who says it, and there are few regions in which the counsel is more salutary than at present in the study of the Old Testament, and especially the Psalms. This authorship has become a burning question which is only too apt to shut out far more important things. Whoever poured out this sweet meditation in the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

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

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