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Gustave Doré’s engraving of David standing crowned and bowed as he mourns Absalom

Psalm 63

What St Athanasius said to pray when you’ve been driven out and you’re on your own, in a letter from the 300s.

  • 11Verses
  • 1Situation

St Athanasius, Letter to Marcellinus

When to pray it

In the 300s, St Athanasius of Alexandria wrote a letter to his friend Marcellinus about praying the Psalms. In it he matched psalms to what people go through. This is what he gave this one for.

People set against you have driven you out, and now you're on your own.

If persecution drives you out into the wilderness, don't be afraid as though you were alone there. God is with you there: rise early to Him and sing Psalm 63.

Letter to Marcellinus

11 verses, Berean Standard Bible

The whole psalm

Psalm 63

Its own heading A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah.

  1. 1O God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You. My body yearns for You in a dry and weary land without water.
  2. 2So I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and glory.
  3. 3Because Your loving devotion is better than life, my lips will glorify You.
  4. 4So I will bless You as long as I live; in Your name I will lift my hands.
  5. 5My soul is satisfied as with the richest of foods; with joyful lips my mouth will praise You.
  6. 6When I remember You on my bed, I think of You through the watches of the night.
  7. 7For You are my help; I will sing for joy in the shadow of Your wings.
  8. 8My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.
  9. 9But those who seek my life to destroy it will go into the depths of the earth.
  10. 10They will fall to the power of the sword; they will become a portion for foxes.
  11. 11But the king will rejoice in God; all who swear by Him will exult, for the mouths of liars will be shut.

Psalm 63 is 62 in the Greek numbering Athanasius used, which Orthodox Bibles and some older Catholic ones still follow.

When people turn against you

Close to this

All 53 situations, in one guide.

Your turn

Which Psalm are you living right now?

A few honest taps about your life right now, and the psalm an early Church Father gave for exactly that.

  • 3 min
  • 7 questions
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Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Athanasius’s advice is paraphrased from his Greek.