Psalm 63

The subtitle wasn’t part of the original psalm. And the possible byline “of David,” isn’t necessarily a byline. The vague phrase could mean the song was written by David, about David, or was inspired by David. Almost half of the psalms are attributed to David in this way, 73 of 150. Ancient Jewish history tells of David playing a lyre and writing songs. For one, he wrote a song of mourning at the battlefield death of King Saul and his sons: “How have the mighty fallen!” (2 Samuel 1:19-27 New American Standard Bible). An ancient Jewish scroll from about the time of Jesus, discovered among the famous Dead Sea Scrolls, reports that David wrote 3,600 songs.

David spent time in the Judean Wilderness off and on during the time he lived as a refugee, on the run from King Saul (1 Samuel 23:15). The king had gone a bit crazy with jealously over the popularity of David the Giant Killer, who killed the Philistine champion warrior, Goliath, in mortal combat.

Literally, “sanctuary.” If David wrote this song, Jews were still worshiping in a tent worship center. David’s son Solomon built the first Jewish temple in Jerusalem.