Psalms 143:6-12

6 I have spread forth my hands unto Thee, My soul [is] as a weary land for Thee. Selah.

7 Haste, answer me, O Jehovah, My spirit hath been consumed, Hide not Thou Thy face from me, Or I have been compared with those going down [to] the pit.

8 Cause me to hear in the morning Thy kindness, For in Thee I have trusted, Cause me to know the way that I go, For unto Thee I have lifted up my soul.

9 Deliver me from mine enemies, O Jehovah, Near Thee I am covered.

10 Teach me to do Thy good pleasure, For Thou [art] my God -- Thy Spirit [is] good, Lead me into a land of uprightness.

11 For Thy name's sake O Jehovah, Thou dost quicken me, In Thy righteousness, Thou bringest out from distress my soul,

12 And in Thy kindness cuttest off mine enemies, And hast destroyed all the adversaries of my soul, For I [am] Thy servant!

Psalms 143:6-12 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.