Psalm 63, “O God, my God, to thee do I watch at break of day. For thee my soul hath thirsted,” is the Church’s great morning psalm. Written, its title says, when David was in the desert, it expresses a longing for God stronger than thirst in a dry land, and a love that finds God’s mercy “better than lives.” In the Douay-Rheims it is numbered Psalm 62. Below is the full Catholic text, what the psalm means, how the Church uses it, and a prayer.
Psalm 63 in the Douay-Rheims Bible
A psalm of David when he was in the desert of Edom.
O God, my God, to thee do I watch at break of day. For thee my soul hath thirsted; for thee my flesh, O how many ways!
In a desert land, and where there is no way, and no water: so in the sanctuary have I come before thee, to see thy power and thy glory.
For thy mercy is better than lives: thee my lips shall praise.
Thus will I bless thee all my life long: and in thy name I will lift up my hands.
Let my soul be filled as with marrow and fatness: and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.
If I have remembered thee upon my bed, I will meditate on thee in the morning:
Because thou hast been my helper. And I will rejoice under the covert of thy wings:
My soul hath stuck close to thee: thy right hand hath received me.
But they have sought my soul in vain, they shall go into the lower parts of the earth:
They shall be delivered into the hands of the sword, they shall be the portions of foxes.
But the king shall rejoice in God, all they shall be praised that swear by him: because the mouth is stopped of them that speak wicked things.
Psalm 63 or Psalm 62?
The Douay-Rheims Bible follows the numbering of the Latin Vulgate and the Greek Septuagint, while most modern Bibles follow the Hebrew. So the Douay’s Psalm 62 is Psalm 63 in the New American Bible and other modern translations. In Latin the psalm begins Deus, Deus meus, ad te de luce vigilo. See how many psalms are there?
What the psalm means
- Seeking God at dawn: the first thought of the day belongs to God.
- Thirst in the desert: “In a desert land, and where there is no way, and no water,” the soul longs for God as the body longs for water.
- “Thy mercy is better than lives”: God’s love is worth more than life itself.
- Praise with lifted hands: “in thy name I will lift up my hands.”
- Under the shadow of his wings: “My soul hath stuck close to thee: thy right hand hath received me.”
How the Church uses Psalm 63
- At Morning Prayer (Lauds) on Sundays of Week I and on feasts and solemnities. See Lauds.
- From the early centuries, Christians sang it at dawn as the morning psalm.
- At Mass, for example on the Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) and the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C), with the response “My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.”
- At funerals, as one of the responsorial psalms.
A prayer with Psalm 63
Written for this page:
O God, you are my God; at break of day I seek you.
My soul thirsts for you like a dry and weary land.
Your mercy is better than life: my lips will praise you.
Keep me close to you today, under the shadow of your wings. Amen.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Psalm 63 a morning psalm?
Because it begins, in the Latin and Greek, “to thee do I watch at break of day,” and Christians have prayed it at dawn since the early centuries.
What does “thy mercy is better than lives” mean?
That God’s faithful love is worth more than life itself.
More psalms and prayers
- Lauds (Morning Prayer)
- Psalm 42
- Catholic morning prayers
- The Morning Offering
- How many psalms are there?
Texts and sources
- Scripture: Psalm 62 (63), Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner), public domain.
- The prayer was written for this page.