Psalms 143:1-11

1 Lord, hear my prayer; listen to my cry for mercy. Answer me because you are loyal and good.

2 Don't judge me, your servant, because no one alive is right before you.

3 My enemies are chasing me; they crushed me to the ground. They made me live in darkness like those long dead.

4 I am afraid; my courage is gone.

5 I remember what happened long ago; I consider everything you have done. I think about all you have made.

6 I lift my hands to you in prayer. As a dry land needs rain, I thirst for you. Selah

7 Lord, answer me quickly, because I am getting weak. Don't turn away from me, or I will be like those who are dead.

8 Tell me in the morning about your love, because I trust you. Show me what I should do, because my prayers go up to you.

9 Lord, save me from my enemies; I hide in you.

10 Teach me to do what you want, because you are my God. lead me on level ground.

11 Lord, let me live so people will praise you. In your goodness save me from my troubles.

Psalms 143:1-11 Meaning and Commentary

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.