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Psalm 63 · a question people ask

"But the king shall rejoice in God" (63:11). Who is the king, and who is "him" in "Everyone who swears by him"?

In the text

The psalm speaks of "the king" only here, in the third person, and doesn't name him. The title names David and a place, and nothing more (63:1). No New Testament verse quotes Psalm 63, so these notes don't make the king anyone the psalm doesn't name. The next words, "Everyone who swears by him will praise him" (63:11), have in Hebrew only bo, by him, and God and the king are both named in the words just before. The psalm itself doesn't say whom "him" means, and these notes don't choose.

The verses

“A Psalm by David, when he was in the desert of Judah. God, you are my God. I will earnestly seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you, in a dry and weary land, where there is no water.”
Psalm 63:1 · World English Bible
“But the king shall rejoice in God. Everyone who swears by him will praise him, for the mouth of those who speak lies shall be silenced.”
Psalm 63:11 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Psalm 63

Psalm 63: My soul thirsts for you

The soul that thirsts "in a dry and weary land" (63:1) is the soul that "shall be satisfied as with the richest food" (63:5): nafshi both times. And "better than life" (63:3) and "while I live" (63:4) are one Hebrew word: God's loving kindness is better than life, and the psalmist says he will bless him all through it.

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions