Psalm 143:2

2 ¹Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous ²before you.

Psalm 143:2 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 143:2

And enter not into judgment with thy servant
The house of judgment, as the Targum, or court of judicature; God is a Judge, and there is and will be a judgment, universal, righteous, and eternal; and there is a day fixed for it, and a judgment seat before which all must stand, and a law according to which all must be judged; but the psalmist knew he was but a man, and could not contend with God; and a sinful creature, and could not answer him for one of a thousand faults committed by him; and though his servant, yet an unprofitable one; his nature, his heart, his thoughts, words, and actions, would not bear examining, nor stand the test of the holy law of God; nor was he able to answer the demands of divine justice in his own person; and therefore pleads for pardon and acceptance through Christ and his righteousness, and entreats that God would not proceed against him in a judicial way, now nor hereafter; for in thy sight shall no man living be justified;
in a legal sense, so as to be acquitted in open court, and not condemned; that is, by the deeds of the law, as the apostle explains it, ( Romans 3:20 ) ; by obedience to it, by a man's own works of righteousness; because these are imperfect, are opposed to the grace of God, and would disannul the death of Christ, and encourage boasting; and much less in the sight of God; for, however men may be justified hereby in their own sight, and before men, in their esteem and account, yet not before God, the omniscient God; who sees not as man sees, and judges not according to the outward appearance, and is perfectly holy and strictly just; and none but the righteousness of Christ can make men righteous, or justify them before him; and this can and does, and presents men unblamable and irreprovable in his sight.

Psalm 143:2 In-Context

1 Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy! In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!

2 Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.

3 For the enemy has pursued my soul; he has crushed my life to the ground; he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.

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

5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands.

Cross References

• 1. 143:2 [Job 14:3]
• 2. 143:2 Ps. 130:3; 1 Kgs. 8:46; Job 9:2; 15:14; 25:4; Eccles. 7:20; Rom. 3:23; 1 Cor. 4:4