Psalms 143:1-11

1 A psalm of David: ADONAI, hear my prayer; listen to my pleas for mercy. In your faithfulness, answer me, and in your righteousness.

2 Don't bring your servant to trial, since in your sight no one alive would be considered righteous.

3 For an enemy is pursuing me; he has crushed my life into the ground and left me to live in darkness, like those who have been long dead.

4 My spirit faints within me; my heart is appalled within me.

5 I remember the days of old, reflecting on all your deeds, thinking about the work of your hands.

6 I spread out my hands to you, I long for you like a thirsty land. (Selah)

7 Answer me quickly, ADONAI, because my spirit is fainting. Don't hide your face from me, or I'll be like those who drop down into a pit.

8 Make me hear of your love in the morning, because I rely on you. Make me know the way I should walk, because I entrust myself to you.

9 ADONAI, rescue me from my enemies; I have hidden myself with you.

10 Teach me to do your will, because you are my God; Let your good Spirit guide me on ground that is level.

11 For your name's sake, ADONAI, preserve my life; in your righteousness, bring me out of distress.

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.