◄ Psalm 63:7 ►
For You are my help; I will sing for joy in the shadow of Your wings.
Study Bible
For You are my help
This phrase acknowledges God as the ultimate source of assistance and support. The Hebrew word for "help" is "עֵזֶר" (ezer), which conveys the idea of aid or support. In the Old Testament, this term is often used to describe God's providential care and intervention in the lives of His people. Historically, the Israelites frequently experienced God's help in battles and personal struggles, reinforcing their dependence on Him. This phrase invites believers to trust in God's unwavering support, recognizing that He is always present to assist in times of need.

I will sing for joy
The act of singing for joy is a response of worship and gratitude. The Hebrew root "רָנַן" (ranan) means to shout for joy or to sing aloud. This expression of joy is not merely an emotional response but a deliberate act of worship, acknowledging God's goodness and faithfulness. Throughout the Psalms, singing is a common way to express praise and thanksgiving to God. This phrase encourages believers to cultivate a heart of joy and gratitude, regardless of circumstances, as a testament to God's enduring presence and help.

in the shadow of Your wings
This metaphorical phrase evokes the image of a bird sheltering its young under its wings, symbolizing protection and refuge. The Hebrew word "כָּנָף" (kanaph) refers to a wing or an edge, often used in Scripture to depict God's protective care. In ancient Near Eastern culture, the imagery of wings was associated with divine protection and sanctuary. This phrase reassures believers of God's protective embrace, offering a place of safety and peace amidst life's challenges. It invites Christians to find solace and security in God's presence, much like a chick finds safety under the wings of its mother.

Persons / Places / Events
1. David
The author of this psalm, traditionally believed to be King David, who often wrote during times of distress and seeking refuge in God.

2. Wilderness of Judah
The setting where David is believed to have composed this psalm, possibly during his flight from Absalom or Saul, representing a place of physical and spiritual desolation.

3. God
The central figure in the psalm, depicted as a source of help and protection for David.

4. Shadow of Your Wings
A metaphorical expression used by David to describe God's protective presence, drawing imagery from a mother bird sheltering her young.
Teaching Points
God as Our Help
Recognize that God is our ultimate source of help in times of trouble. Just as David found solace in God's presence, we too can rely on Him for support and guidance.

Joy in God's Protection
Embrace the joy that comes from knowing we are under God's protective care. This joy is not dependent on circumstances but on the assurance of His presence.

Metaphor of Wings
Understand the significance of the "wings" metaphor, which conveys intimacy, protection, and care. Reflect on how God shelters us in His love.

Singing as Worship
Consider the role of singing and worship in expressing our trust and joy in God. Worship can be a powerful response to His faithfulness.

Seeking Refuge in God
In times of distress, actively seek refuge in God rather than relying solely on human solutions. This involves prayer, meditation on Scripture, and trust in His promises.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the imagery of "the shadow of Your wings" enhance your understanding of God's protection in your life?

2. In what ways can you relate to David's experience of seeking refuge in God during difficult times?

3. How can you incorporate singing and worship into your daily routine as a response to God's help and protection?

4. What other biblical examples can you find where individuals sought refuge under God's wings, and what can you learn from their experiences?

5. How can you practically seek God's help and protection in a current situation you are facing, and what steps can you take to trust Him more fully?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Psalm 91:4
This verse also uses the imagery of God's wings as a place of refuge, emphasizing His faithfulness and protection.

Deuteronomy 32:11
Describes God as an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, illustrating His care and guidance.

Ruth 2:12
Boaz speaks of Ruth finding refuge under the wings of the God of Israel, highlighting the theme of divine protection and reward.

Matthew 23:37
Jesus laments over Jerusalem, expressing His desire to gather its children as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, showing His protective love.
Sermons
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
David Blessing God and Praying to HimT. Horton, D. D.Psalm 63:4-7
Praising God While We CanPsalm 63:4-7
A Joyful SyllogismHomilistPsalm 63:7-8
David's Experience of God's HelpT. Horton, D. D.Psalm 63:7-8
Experience and AssurancePsalm 63:7-8
The Argument from ExperienceW. M. Statham.Psalm 63:7-8
The Remembrance of Past Mercies an Inducement to Present Confidence in GodC. Bradley, M. A.Psalm 63:7-8
The Saint Rejoicing in Divine HelpA. Shanks.Psalm 63:7-8
The Sheltering WingW. Birch.Psalm 63:7-8
Ways in Which God Helps UsF. R. Williams.Psalm 63:7-8
What the Lord is to His PeopleA. Shanks.Psalm 63:7-8
People
David, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Hast, Joy, Rejoice, Shade, Shadow, Sing, Wings
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 63:7

     4690   wings
     4846   shadow

Psalm 63:1-8

     5832   desire
     8618   prayerfulness

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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