Psalms 143:3-12

3 For the enemy has persecuted my soul; He has crushed my life ¹to the ground; He ²has made me dwell in dark places, like those who have long been dead.

4 Therefore ³my spirit is overwhelmed within me; My heart is ⁴appalled within me.

5 I ⁵remember the days of old; I ⁶meditate on all Your doings; I ⁷muse on the work of Your hands.

6 I ⁸stretch out my hands to You; My ⁹soul longs for You, as a parched land. Selah.

7 ¹⁰Answer me quickly, O LORD, my ¹¹spirit fails; ¹²Do not hide Your face from me, Or I will become like ¹³those who go down to the pit.

8 Let me hear Your ¹⁴lovingkindness ¹⁵in the morning; For I trust ¹⁶in You; Teach me the ¹⁷way in which I should walk; For to You I ¹⁸lift up my soul.

9 ¹⁹Deliver me, O LORD, from my enemies; I take refuge in You.

10 ²⁰Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Let ²¹Your good Spirit ²²lead me on level ground.

11 ²³For the sake of Your name, O LORD, ²⁴revive me. ²⁵In Your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble.

12 And in Your lovingkindness, ²⁶cut off my enemies And ²⁷destroy all those who afflict my soul, For ²⁸I am Your servant.

Psalms 143:3-12 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.

Cross References

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