Commentary - Psalm 63:9-11

Bird's-eye view

After the heights of devotion and desperate thirst for God expressed in the first eight verses, Psalm 63 concludes with a stark and necessary contrast. David, writing from the wilderness of Judah likely during Absalom's rebellion, shifts his focus from his soul's satisfaction in God to the ultimate fate of his enemies. This is not a jarring detour into vindictiveness; it is the logical conclusion of a worldview that takes God's justice as seriously as it takes His lovingkindness. The universe is a moral one, and the same God who is a fountain of life for the righteous is a consuming fire for the wicked. These final verses lay out the grim destiny of those who oppose God's anointed and the corresponding joy and glory of the king and his followers who trust in the Lord. It is a portrait of the great divine reversal, where those who seek to destroy are themselves destroyed, and the one who trusts in God is vindicated and gladdened.

The passage moves from the curse to the blessing, from the depths of the earth to the joy of the king. It is a clear depiction of the two ways: the way of the liar and the rebel, which ends in ruin and silence, and the way of the faithful, which ends in gladness and glory. This is not just about David's personal enemies; it is a statement about the nature of God's kingdom. Those who set themselves against the Lord and His anointed will inevitably come to nothing. Their end is destruction, graphically depicted here as death by the sword and desecration by wild animals. In contrast, the king, who represents God's chosen order, finds his ultimate joy not in the destruction of his enemies per se, but in God Himself. The conclusion of the psalm is therefore a profound statement of faith in God's final and total victory over evil.

Outline

Context In Psalms

Psalm 63 is a psalm of intense personal devotion, born out of a time of great trial. The superscription places David in the wilderness of Judah, a setting that accentuates his thirst for God. The first eight verses are a beautiful expression of longing, satisfaction, and trust in God's presence and power. The final three verses (9-11) are what we call imprecatory. This is a common feature in the Psalter. The psalms are not sentimental poetry; they are robust, earthy, and realistic. They reflect a world where evil is real, where God's people have genuine enemies, and where justice is not an abstract concept but a divine necessity.

These imprecations are not expressions of personal, sinful anger. They are prayers for God's kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. They are liturgical calls for justice, aligning the psalmist's desires with God's own revealed hatred of sin and rebellion. David, as the anointed king, is praying not just as a private individual but as the representative of God's rule. The fate of his enemies is tied to the fate of all who oppose God. Therefore, this sharp turn at the end of the psalm is theologically consistent. The same God whose lovingkindness is better than life (v. 3) is the God who righteously judges the wicked. The joy of the saints is inseparable from the justice of God.

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

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

The psalm pivots here. Having spoken of how his own soul follows hard after God, David now speaks of those who follow hard after his soul, but with a malevolent intent. They seek his life, his nephesh, to destroy it. This is not a minor disagreement; this is murderous opposition to God's anointed. And what will be their end? They will go into the "depths of the earth." This is a Hebrew way of speaking about Sheol, the grave, the place of the dead. It is a picture of utter and final defeat. They sought to cast David down, but it is they who will be brought low, into the very dust of death. This is the great reversal that God's justice brings. The pit they dug for David, they will fall into themselves. It is a prophecy of their complete and catastrophic ruin.

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

The destruction of the wicked is not described in vague terms. It is concrete and violent. First, they will be "delivered over to the power of the sword." This indicates a death in battle, a violent end at the hands of their enemies. God will use earthly means, the sword of judgment, to execute His sentence upon them. They lived by the sword of rebellion and they will perish by the sword of justice. Second, their end is one of dishonor. They will be a "portion for foxes," or more likely, jackals. This means their bodies will lie unburied on the battlefield, left to be scavenged by wild animals. In the ancient world, a proper burial was of immense importance. To be left as carrion was the ultimate sign of shame, defeat, and divine curse. This is a picture of total desecration. They sought to erase David's name from the earth, and in the end, their own bodies are treated as refuse.

v. 11 But the king will be glad in God; Everyone who swears by Him will boast, For the mouths of those who speak lies will be closed.

Here is the great "but" that separates the destiny of the righteous from the wicked. In stark contrast to the dishonorable end of his foes, "the king will be glad in God." Notice where his gladness is located. It is not simply in his victory, or in the death of his enemies, but "in God." God Himself is the source and object of his joy. The king here is David, but he is also a type of the great King to come, the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is the ultimate King who, for the joy set before Him, endured the cross and is now seated at the right hand of God. His gladness is in His Father.

This joy extends to all who are loyal to the king and his God. "Everyone who swears by Him will boast." To swear by God is to confess allegiance to Him, to identify with Him as the one true God. These are the covenant people. Their "boasting" or "glorying" is not in themselves, but in their God and in their association with His anointed king. They share in the king's vindication and joy. And why? The verse concludes with the reason for this joy: "For the mouths of those who speak lies will be closed." The rebellion was fueled by lies, slander, and deceit, perhaps like the cursing of Shimei. The final victory of God is a victory for truth. The mouths of liars are stopped, silenced by the overwhelming reality of God's righteous judgment. Justice is done, truth is vindicated, the king rejoices in God, and the people of God glory in His name. This is the end game for which all the saints yearn.

Application

This psalm, in its entirety, teaches us how to worship in the wilderness. We are to cultivate a deep, personal thirst for God, finding our satisfaction in Him alone. His lovingkindness is indeed better than life itself. But this psalm also teaches us to be morally serious. We live in a world that is at war with our King, the Lord Jesus. We have enemies, spiritual and physical, who seek to destroy the life of the church.

We must not be sentimental about this. We are to pray for the advance of Christ's kingdom, which necessarily means praying for the downfall of His enemies. This is not a matter of personal vindictiveness. We pray for our personal enemies to be converted, as God did with Saul of Tarsus. But when we pray against the enemies of God as enemies, we are asking God to vindicate His own name and His own truth. We are praying for that final day when every lie will be exposed and every lying mouth will be stopped.

Our ultimate joy, like David's, must be found "in God." We rejoice because we know that our King, Jesus, has already won the decisive victory. He has been raised from the dead, and the mouths of His accusers have been eternally silenced. We who have sworn allegiance to Him have every reason to boast and glory in Him. And we look forward to that final day when the justice described so graphically in this psalm will be fully and finally realized across the whole earth.