Psalm 63:5 (ESV)

Bible Commentary

Psalm 63:5 is a Bible verse where King David describes the feeling of having his soul satisfied by the Lord, triggering joyful praise from his lips. It is difficult to explain to someone who has never personally experienced the sweetness of the Lord’s presence what it is like. David does that for us here. We can more easily relate to the analogy he uses in the first part of Psalm 63:5 about fat and rich food.

All of us have a favorite food, and the enjoyment we experience as we first catch a hint of the aroma as it’s cooking makes us hungry for the real thing. Then we see with our eyes the appealing colors and textures.

And then finally, with pleasure we savor each bite as it passes through our lips. When we’re finished, both the belly and the mouth are quite happy and satisfied.

That’s what David says our soul can feel like as we experience the aroma, beauty and taste of the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you ever experienced Him like that?

Divine Influence

First of all, let’s look more closely at what David means in Psalm 63:5 by “my soul.” We might assume he is talking about the mind and emotions, but here are some of the Hebrew meanings: a breathing creature, vitality, appetite, body, desire, mind, pleasure.

We all need Divine influence upon our desires, our minds, vitality, bodies and pleasures. That’s how we live in righteousness—righteous thoughts, desires, etc.

Do you attempt to go about fulfilling your own desires and creating your own pleasure, or are you practicing letting go of control and trusting God to fulfill you? Only God can fully satisfy our souls.

The word “satisfied” in Webster’s dictionary means: to gratify to the full. Fat and rich food in Psalm 63:5 pertains to the choicest parts and abundance of it. In other words: a continual flow of the best we can imagine.

Sound of Praise

It is interesting that David uses food for the analogy to describe God’s goodness, activating the sense we use to taste. The last part of Psalm 63:5 says, “and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips.”

Maybe God’s soul is also satisfied as we use our mouth to offer Him sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, as David does here. Joyful lips are beautiful to God because they offer the sound of His praise.

That’s how we love God back. Thanksgiving is an art form. It takes practice to get your mind trained to zero in on things to be thankful for in any situation, even the difficult ones.

That’s how we find God, how we see God. And that’s where we find the brightness of His beauty.

The Sight of Jesus

Think about the sight of Jesus Christ hanging on the cross–bloody and broken—a horrific scene. But the bigger picture was gentle and beautiful, wrapped in the amazing grace of God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son.

Don’t settle for what you see on the surface. There is so much more than that. Look for God, and you will find Him. Then it will be easy to offer praise with joyful lips.

Study the Bible verse of Psalm 63:5, practice letting go so He can fulfill the desires of your soul, and then offer back to Him the beautiful sound of joyful lips with the delicious taste of praise to God the Father.