Psalm 143:5

5 Ich gedenke an die vorigen Zeiten; ich rede von allen deinen Taten und sage von den Werken deiner Hände.

Psalm 143:5 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 143:5

I remember the days of old
Former times he had read and heard of, in which the Lord appeared for his people that trusted in him; or the former part of his own life, his younger days, when the Lord delivered him from the lion and bear, and from the uncircumcised Philistine, whom he slew; and made him victorious in battles, and preserved him from the rage and malice of Saul. If this was written on account of Absalom, those times of deliverance he called to mind, in order to encourage his faith and hope, and cheer his drooping spirits;

I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands;
the works of creation and providence, in order to observe the instances of divine power, wisdom, and goodness in them; and from thence fetch arguments, to engage his trust and confidence in the Lord: he both thought of these things within himself, and he "talked" ^F23 of them to his friends that were with him, as the last of these words used may signify; and all this he did to cheer his own spirit, and the spirits of the men that were with him, in the time of distress and danger.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F23 (xxwva) "loquor", Piscator; "sermocinatus sum", Cocceius; "aut colloquor", Gejerus, Michaelis.

Psalm 143:5 In-Context

3 Denn der Feind verfolgt meine Seele und schlägt mein Leben zu Boden; er legt mich ins Finstere wie die, so längst tot sind.

4 Und mein Geist ist in mir geängstet; mein Herz ist mir in meinem Leibe verzehrt.

5 Ich gedenke an die vorigen Zeiten; ich rede von allen deinen Taten und sage von den Werken deiner Hände.

6 Ich breite meine Hände aus zu dir; meine Seele dürstet nach dir wie ein dürres Land. (Sela.)

7 HERR, erhöre mich bald, mein Geist vergeht; verbirg dein Antlitz nicht von mir, daß ich nicht gleich werde denen, die in die Grube fahren.