So I will bless you while I live. I will lift up my hands in your name.
Parallel Translations
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So I will bless you while I live. I will lift up my hands in your name.
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Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.
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(63-5) So will I bless Thee as long as I live; in Thy name will I lift up my hands.
Cross-references (7)
Passages linked to Psalms 63:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 104:33 I will sing to Yahweh as long as I live. I will sing praise to my God while I have any being.
- Psalms 134:2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary. Praise Yahweh!
- Psalms 28:2 Hear the voice of my petitions, when I cry to you, when I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place.
- 1 Kings 8:22-66 Solomon stood before Yahweh’s altar in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven; and he said, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above, or on earth beneath; who keeps covenant and loving kindness with your servants, who walk before you with all their heart; who has kept with your servant David my father that which you promised him. Yes, you spoke with your mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is today. Now therefore, may Yahweh, the God of Israel, keep with your servant David my father that which you have promised him, saying, ‘There shall not fail from you a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children take heed to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’ “Now therefore, God of Israel, please let your word be verified, which you spoke to your servant David my father. But will God in very deed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens can’t contain you; how much less this house that I have built! Yet have respect for the prayer of your servant, and for his supplication, Yahweh my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which your servant prays before you today; that your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which you have said, ‘My name shall be there;’ to listen to the prayer which your servant prays toward this place. Listen to the supplication of your servant, and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Yes, hear in heaven, your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive. “If a man sins against his neighbor, and an oath is laid on him to cause him to swear, and he comes and swears before your altar in this house; then hear in heaven, and act, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way on his own head, and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness. “When your people Israel are struck down before the enemy, because they have sinned against you; if they turn again to you, and confess your name, and pray and make supplication to you in this house; then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them again to the land which you gave to their fathers. “When the sky is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against you; if they pray toward this place, and confess your name, and turn from their sin, when you afflict them, then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants, and of your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on your land, which you have given to your people for an inheritance. “If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight, mildew, locust or caterpillar; if their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities; whatever plague, whatever sickness there is; whatever prayer and supplication is made by any man, or by all your people Israel, who shall each know the plague of his own heart, and spread out his hands toward this house, then hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and give to every man according to all his ways, whose heart you know (for you, even you only, know the hearts of all the children of men); that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land which you gave to our fathers. “Moreover concerning the foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, when he comes out of a far country for your name’s sake (for they shall hear of your great name, and of your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm); when he comes and prays toward this house; hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you for; that all the peoples of the earth may know your name, to fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by your name. “If your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to Yahweh toward the city which you have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for your name; then hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause. If they sin against you (for there is no man who doesn’t sin), and you are angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near; yet if they repent in the land where they are carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication to you in the land of those who carried them captive, saying, ‘We have sinned, and have done perversely; we have dealt wickedly;’ if they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built for your name; then hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven, your dwelling place, and maintain their cause; and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions in which they have transgressed against you; and give them compassion before those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them (for they are your people, and your inheritance, which you brought out of Egypt, from the middle of the iron furnace); that your eyes may be open to the supplication of your servant, and to the supplication of your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they cry to you. For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth, to be your inheritance, as you spoke by Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, Lord Yahweh.” It was so, that when Solomon had finished praying all this prayer and supplication to Yahweh, he arose from before Yahweh’s altar, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread out toward heaven. He stood, and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying, “Blessed be Yahweh, who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. There has not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by Moses his servant. May Yahweh our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. Let him not leave us or forsake us; that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his ordinances, which he commanded our fathers. Let these my words, with which I have made supplication before Yahweh, be near to Yahweh our God day and night, that he may maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel, as every day requires; that all the peoples of the earth may know that Yahweh himself is God. There is no one else. “Let your heart therefore be perfect with Yahweh our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as it is today.” The king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before Yahweh. Solomon offered for the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to Yahweh, twenty two thousand head of cattle, and one hundred twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated Yahweh’s house. The same day the king made the middle of the court holy that was before Yahweh’s house; for there he offered the burnt offering, and the meal offering, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before Yahweh was too little to receive the burnt offering, the meal offering, and the fat of the peace offerings. So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of Egypt, before Yahweh our God, seven days and seven more days, even fourteen days. On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they blessed the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad in their hearts for all the goodness that Yahweh had shown to David his servant, and to Israel his people.
- Psalms 145:1-3 I will exalt you, my God, the King. I will praise your name forever and ever. Every day I will praise you. I will extol your name forever and ever. Great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised! His greatness is unsearchable.
- Psalms 146:1-2 Praise Yah! Praise Yahweh, my soul. While I live, I will praise Yahweh. I will sing praises to my God as long as I exist.
- Habakkuk 3:10 The mountains saw you, and were afraid. The storm of waters passed by. The deep roared and lifted up its hands on high.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain In the words which follow, David expresses his consequent…
In the words which follow, David expresses his consequent resolution to praise God. When we experience his goodness, we are led to open our lips in thanksgiving. His intention is intimated still more clearly in the succeeding verse, where he says that he will bless God in his life There is some difficulty, however, in ascertaining the exact sense of the words. When it is said, So will I bless thee, etc., the so may refer to the good reason which he had, as just stated, to praise God, from having felt how much better it is to live by life communicated from God, than to live of and from ourselves. Or the sense may be, so, that is, even in this calamitous and afflicted condition: for he had already intimated that, amidst the solitude of the wilderness, where he wandered, he would still direct his eye to God. The word life, again, may refer to his life as having been preserved by divine interposition; or the sense of the passage may be, that he would bless God through the course of his life. The former meaning conveys the fullest matter of instruction, and agrees with the context; he would bless God, because, by his goodness, he had been kept alive and in safety. The sentiment is similar to that which we find elsewhere,
“I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord;” — (Psalm 118:17)
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and again; —
“The dead shall not praise the Lord, neither any that go down into silence, but we who live will bless the Lord,” (Psalm 115:17, 18.)
In the lifting up of hands, in the second clause of the verse, allusion is made to praying and vowing; and he intimates, that besides giving thanks to God, he would acquire additional confidence in supplication, and be diligent in the exercise of it. Any experience we may have of the divine goodness, while it stirs us up to gratitude, should, at the same time, strengthen our hopes of the future, and lead us confidently to expect that God will perfect the grace which he has begun. Some understand by the lifting up of his hands, that he refers to praising the Lord. Others, that he speaks of encouraging himself from the divine assistance, and boldly encountering his enemies. But I prefer the interpretation which has been already given.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 63:4 Thus will I bless thee while I…
Psa 63:4 Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.
Ver. 4. Thus will I bless thee while I live] I will divide my time between praises and prayers, and so drive a holy trade between heaven and earth. See Psa 18:3.
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I will lift up my hands] i.e. Pray, as Psa 141:2 1Ti 2:8.
In thy name] i.e. Cleaving to thy goodness and mercy. Fretus tuo auxilio.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Thus, i.e. so as I have done and now…
Thus, i.e. so as I have done and now do. Or, upon that occasion, when I shall be restored. Or, for this reason, being so sensible of the sweetness of thy favour. Or, certainly; for this particle is sometimes used as a note of asseveration, as it is Psa 127:2; Isa 16:6.
I will lift up my hands towards thee in heaven, in prayers and praises.
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In thy name; according to thy command. Or, with confidence in thy name.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Thus will I bless thee while I live,.... With…
Thus will I bless thee while I live,.... With his whole heart and soul, as he had sought after him, and as under a sense of his lovingkindness; and as he now praised him with his lips, so he determined to do as long as he had life and being; by proclaiming his blessedness, by ascribing blessing and honour to him, and by giving him the glory of all mercies temporal and spiritual;
I will lift up my hands in thy name; not against his enemies, against those that fought against him, as Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it, but unto God in heaven; and that not as a gesture used in swearing, but either in blessing, as Aben Ezra observes; so the high priest lifted up his hands when he blessed the people; or in prayer, or in both, so Jarchi's note is, to pray and to praise; See Gill on Psa 28:2. The Targum is,
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"in the name of thy Word I will spread out my hands in prayer for the world to come;''
that is, in the name of the Messiah, the essential Word, in whose name prayer is to be made, and whereby it becomes prevalent and successful; see Joh 14:13. This is a prayer gesture; See Gill on Psa 28:2.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 4. I will lift up my hands in…
Verse 4. I will lift up my hands in thy name.] I will take God for my portion. I will dedicate myself to him, and will take him to witness that I am upright in what I profess and do. Pious Jews, in every place of their dispersion, in all their prayers, praises, contracts, &c., stretched out their hands towards Jerusalem, where the true God had his temple, and where he manifested his presence.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 63:4. Thus will I bless thee — That…
Psa 63:4. Thus will I bless thee — That is, so as I have done, and have now said. As I have begun, I will go on: the present devout affections shall not pass away like the morning cloud, but shine more and more like the morning sun. Or, for this reason, being so sensible of the sweetness of thy favour; or, certainly, as the particle כן, cheen, is sometimes used. While I live — I will persevere in this work of blessing and praising thee: it shall be an important part of the business of my whole life. Through thy grace I will retain a sense of thy former favours, and repeat my thanksgivings for them; and every day give thanks for the benefits with which I am daily loaded. I will lift up my hands — Toward thee, in heaven, in prayers and praises, to my duty, and against my enemies; in thy name — According to thy command, with confidence in thy name, or thy nature and attributes, and in the strength of thy Spirit and grace.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Thus will I bless thee while I live -…
Thus will I bless thee while I live - In my life; or, as long as life lasts, will I praise thee. The word “thus” refers to the sentiment in the previous verse, meaning that as the result of his deep sense of the value of the loving kindness of God, he would praise him through all the remainder of his life, or would never cease to praise him. A true purpose of serving God embraces the whole of this life, and the whole of eternity. He who loves God, and who has any proper sense of his mercy, does not anticipate a time when he will cease to praise and bless him, or when he will have any desire or wish not to be engaged in his service.
I will lift up my hands in thy name - In solemn prayer and praise. See the notes at Psa 28:2.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Thus--literally, "Truly."
Thus--literally, "Truly."
will I bless--praise Thee (Psa 34:1).
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lift up my hands--in worship (compare Psa 28:2).
in thy name--in praise of Thy perfections.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 4. I will lift up my hands—In solemn posture…
4. I will lift up my hands—In solemn posture of prayer. In thy name— Depending only on thee for such deliverance as thou canst sanction.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 4. Thus] So, as in Psa_63:2 : cp. Psa_61:8…
4. Thus] So, as in Psa_63:2 : cp. Psa_61:8 : so fervently; in such a spirit of loving gratitude.
while I live] Cp. Psa_104:33; Psa_146:2.
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I will lift up my hands] The attitude of prayer (Psa_28:2; Psa_141:2; 1Ti_2:8), the outward symbol of an uplifted heart (Psa_25:1).
in thy name] Relying upon all that Thou hast revealed Thyself to be. Cp. Psa_44:5; Joh_14:13, &c.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Thus will I bless thee while I live: I…
Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy Name. (comp. Psa_104:33 Psa_146:2) The purpose of man"s creation, the end of his being, his main employment throughout eternity, is the praise of God.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 4. Thus will I bless thee while I…
Ver. 4. Thus will I bless thee while I live. As I now bless thee so will I ever do; or rather, so as thou shalt reveal thy lovingkindness to me, I will in return continue to extol thee. While we live we will love. If we see no cause to rejoice in our estate, we shall always have reason for rejoicing in the Lord. If none others bless God, yet his people will; his very nature, as being the infinitely good God, is a sufficient argument for our praising him as long as we exist.
I will lift up my hands in thy name. For worship the hands were uplifted, as also in joy, in thanksgiving, in labour, in confidence; in all these senses we would lift up our hands in Jehovah's name alone. No hands need hang down when God draws near in love. The name of Jesus has often made lame men leap as a hart, and it has made sad men clap their hands for joy.
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Ver. 4. Thus will I bless thee. There are two ways especially in which God is blest of his creatures. The one is objectively, by way of representation; and the other is significatively, by way of publication. According to the first sense, so all the creatures bless him: "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork." Ps 19:1. "Sun and moon, and fire and hail, and snow and vapours." Ps 148:3, 7-8. All these they so bless him thus. But according to the second sense, so he is blest only by angels and men, who are therefore to do it with so much the greater intension. "All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord; and thy saints shall bless thee. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power, "etc. Ps 145:10-11. Thomas Horton.
Ver. 4. I will lift up my hands. The practice of lifting up the hands in prayer towards heaven, the supposed residence of the object to which prayer is addressed, was anciently used both by believers, as appears from various passages in the Old Testament; and by the heathen, agreeably to numerous instances in the classical writers. Parkhurst, considering the "hand" to be the chief organ or instrument of man's power and operations, and properly supposing the word to be thence used very extensively by the Hebrews for power, agency, dominion, assistance, and the like, regards the lifting up of men's hands in prayer, as an emblematical acknowledging of the power, and imploring of the assistance, of their respective gods. Is it not, however, the natural and unstudied gesture of earnest supplication? Richard Mant.
None.
Psalms 63:5*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Thus will I bless Thee while I live; I…
Psa_63:4-7
Thus will I bless Thee while I live; I will lift up mine hand in Thy Name.
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David blessing God and praying to Him
In this verse we have David engaging himself to God in two particulars. First, to the blessing of God, Thus will I bless Thee while I live. And secondly, to praying to Him, I will lift up my hands, etc.
I. Davids engaging himself to blessing, Thus will I bless Thee, etc.
1. The thing itself promised is blessing; David promises to bless God. This at the first hearing may seem to carry some kind of difficulty in it. The apostles rule (Heb_7:7) is, that without contradiction the less is blessed of the greater; if so, how can we be said to be blessers of God, who is so infinitely superior to us? For this we must, therefore, know that there is a double kind of blessing; the one imperative, or by way of authority; the other declarative, end by way of publication. According to the first sense, so God blesses man, namely by making him blessed. According to the second sense, so man blesses God, namely, by declaring Him blessed, and by acknowledging that blessedness which is in Him. This is that which ties upon us all as a duty to be performed by us, and accordingly we shall find often mention made of it in Scripture, in sundry places--as for instance Psa_103:1,
2. It is exquisite upon a twofold ground. First, the goodness which is in Himself. And secondly, the overflowing and communications of this goodness to us; each of these call for this our blessing, and do engage us thereunto. There are two ways especially in which God is blest of His creatures. The one is objectively by way of representation; and the other is significatively by way of publication. According to the first sense, so all His creatures bless Him (Psa_19:1; Psa_147:3). But according to the second sense, so He is blest only by angels and men, who are, therefore, to do it with so much the greater intention.
2. What is it to bless God thus? We may take it in these explications.
(1) Sincerely, in the uprightness and integrity of our hearts.
(2) Affectionately, as having our hearts much enlarged in us. As God loves a cheerful giver, so He loves a cheerful thanksgiver; that is, such an one as is thoroughly apprehensive of the greatness of the mercy itself, and which accordingly has his spirit much advanced and enlarged about it.
(3) Spiritually. This is another thing which belongs to this thus; when we bless God by the assistance of His Spirit, and in the name of His Son, that is, to bless Him as we should do for the mariner of it.
3. The extent, and that is in these words, While I live; whereby he signifies that it was not only a sudden fit or mood in him, but an habitual frame and disposition of spirit. This is thanksgiving in those which are Gods servants, it is a constant and settled thing in them; that mercy which they receive but once, yet they are thankful for always, and they do more or less remember it all their lives long. This there is very good ground and reason for, if we examine it, and search into it.
(1) Gods dealing with us In regard of His mercies, which He does extend unto us all our lives long. His goodness runs through the whole course of our lives, and every moment of them we have some touch and sprinkling of it; therefore it is but requisite that our praises should be so likewise.
(2) If we consider the nature of Gods mercies in themselves, not only for the continuance, but the quality, they are such as nothing less than a life is sufficient for the celebrating of them; a few days, or years, are too little and scanty for such a performance; especially if we speak of the great mercies of all, which is the love of God in Christ, and those spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Him; they are such as call for a life indeed for the publishing of them.
(3) Do but consider how much we provoke God by our sins. We offend Him while we live, and therefore while we live we should praise Him, that so we may in some measure make amends for those offences. So, then, every day will I praise Thee, because every day I sin against Thee.
II. Davids engaging himself to prayer. I will lift up my hands, etc.
1. The duty itself.
(1) An expression of homage and obedience to God. They hereby signify that they are at His disposing, and stand in need of His owning of them.
(2) An opportunity of converse and communion with Him.
(3) A means for the diverting of evils from us, and the obtaining of blessings.
2. The manner or carriage of it. In Thy Name. This does include divers things in it.
(1) The Person to whom the prayer is made, and that is God, and He alone.
(2) It shows the manner in which it is done, and that is according to the will of God, with His allowance and approbation of us; we must not ask anything of God loosely and carelessly, we do not care how, but with reverence and awfulness, and humility, and submission to His good pleasure.
(3) By Thy assistance, by Thy Spirit helping of me (Jud_1:20; Rom_8:26-27). It must be the voice of Gods Spirit in us, this is to pray in His Name. (T. Horton, D. D.)
Praising God while we can
I went one day with Billy Bray, says the Rev. F.W. Bourne, to see a dying saint whose character had been unblemished for many years, but whose natural disposition was modest and retiring almost to a fault. His face wore a look of ineffable dignity and repose, lit up with a strange unearthly radiance and glory. He was just on the verge of heaven. He could only speak in a whisper. He said, I wish I had a voice, so that I might praise the Lord. You should have praised Him, my brother, when you had one, was Billys quiet but slightly satirical comment.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.