Psalms 143

Prayer for Deliverance and Guidance.

1 Hear my prayer, O LORD, ¹Give ear to my supplications! Answer me in Your ²faithfulness, in Your ³righteousness!

2 And ⁴do not enter into judgment with Your servant, For in Your sight ⁵no man living is righteous.

3 For the enemy has persecuted my soul; He has crushed my life ⁶to the ground; He ⁷has made me dwell in dark places, like those who have long been dead.

4 Therefore ⁸my spirit is overwhelmed within me; My heart is ⁹appalled within me.

5 I ¹⁰remember the days of old; I ¹¹meditate on all Your doings; I ¹²muse on the work of Your hands.

6 I ¹³stretch out my hands to You; My ¹⁴soul longs for You, as a parched land. Selah.

7 ¹⁵Answer me quickly, O LORD, my ¹⁶spirit fails; ¹⁷Do not hide Your face from me, Or I will become like ¹⁸those who go down to the pit.

8 Let me hear Your ¹⁹lovingkindness ²⁰in the morning; For I trust ²¹in You; Teach me the ²²way in which I should walk; For to You I ²³lift up my soul.

9 ²⁴Deliver me, O LORD, from my enemies; I take refuge in You.

10 ²⁵Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Let ²⁶Your good Spirit ²⁷lead me on level ground.

11 ²⁸For the sake of Your name, O LORD, ²⁹revive me. ³⁰In Your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble.

12 And in Your lovingkindness, ³¹cut off my enemies And ³²destroy all those who afflict my soul, For ³³I am Your servant.

Psalms 143 Commentary

Chapter 143

David complains of his enemies and distresses. (1-6) He prays for comfort, guidance, and deliverance. (7-12)

Verses 1-6 We have no righteousness of our own to plead, therefore must plead God's righteousness, and the word of promise which he has freely given us, and caused us to hope in. David, before he prays for the removal of his trouble, prays for the pardon of his sin, and depends upon mercy alone for it. He bemoans the weight upon his mind from outward troubles. But he looks back, and remembers God's former appearance for his afflicted people, and for him in particular. He looks round, and notices the works of God. The more we consider the power of God, the less we shall fear the face or force of man. He looks up with earnest desires towards God and his favour. This is the best course we can take, when our spirits are overwhelmed. The believer will not forget, that in his best actions he is a sinner. Meditation and prayer will recover us from distresses; and then the mourning soul strives to return to the Lord as the infant stretches out its hands to the indulgent mother, and thirsts for his consolations as the parched ground for refreshing rain.

Verses 7-12 David prays that God would be well pleased with him, and let him know that he was so. He pleads the wretchedness of his case, if God withdrew from him. But the night of distress and discouragement shall end in a morning of consolation and praise. He prays that he might be enlightened with the knowledge of God's will; and this is the first work of the Spirit. A good man does not ask the way in which is the most pleasant walking, but what is the right way. Not only show me what thy will is, but teach me how to do it. Those who have the Lord for their God, have his Spirit for their Guide; they are led by the Spirit. He prays that he might be enlivened to do God's will. But we should especially seek the destruction of our sins, our worst enemies, that we may be devotedly God's servants.

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 140:6
• 2. Psalms 89:1, 2
• 3. Psalms 71:2
• 4. Job 14:3; Job 22:4
• 5. 1 Kings 8:46; Job 4:17; Job 9:2; Job 25:4; Psalms 130:3; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:10, 20; Galatians 2:16
• 6. Psalms 44:25
• 7. Psalms 88:6; Lamentations 3:6
• 8. Psalms 77:3; Psalms 142:3
• 9. Lamentations 3:11
• 10. Ps 77:5, 10, 11
• 11. Psalms 77:12
• 12. Psalms 105:2
• 13. Job 11:13; Psalms 88:9
• 14. Psalms 42:2; Psalms 63:1
• 15. Psalms 69:17
• 16. Psalms 73:26; Psalms 84:2; Jeremiah 8:18; Lamentations 1:22
• 17. Psalms 27:9; Psalms 69:17; Psalms 102:2
• 18. Psalms 28:1; Psalms 88:4
• 19. Psalms 90:14
• 20. Psalms 46:5
• 21. Psalms 25:2
• 22. Psalms 27:11; Psalms 32:8; Psalms 86:11
• 23. Psalms 25:1; Psalms 86:4
• 24. Psalms 31:15; Psalms 59:1
• 25. Psalms 25:4, 5; Psalms 119:12
• 26. Nehemiah 9:20
• 27. Psalms 23:3
• 28. Psalms 25:11
• 29. Psalms 119:25
• 30. Psalms 31:1; Psalms 71:2
• 31. Psalms 54:5
• 32. Psalms 52:5
• 33. Psalms 116:16

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "faints"
• [b]. Or "desolate"
• [c]. Lit "weary"
• [d]. "Selah" may mean: "Pause, Crescendo" or "Musical interlude"
• [e]. Lit "To You have I hidden"
• [f]. Lit "land"
• [g]. Or "silence"

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 143

\\<>\\. This psalm was composed by David when he fled from Absalom his son, according to the title of it in Apollinarius, the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Ethiopic, and Arabic versions; so R. Obadiah Gaon: and of the same opinion is Theodoret and others. The sense he had of his sins, and his deprecating God's entering into judgment with him for them, seems to confirm it; affliction from his own family for them being threatened him, 2Sa 12:9-11; though Kimchi thinks it was written on the same account as the former, and at the same time, namely, when he was persecuted by Saul; and what is said in Ps 142:2,4, seems to agree with it. The Syriac inscription is, ``when the Edomites came against him;'' which is very foreign, since these were subdued by him.