Psalm 143

1 O Lord, attend to my prayer: hearken to my supplication in thy truth; hear me in thy righteousness.

2 And enter not into judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.

3 For the enemy has persecuted my soul; he has brought my life down to the ground; he has made me to dwell in a dark place, as those that have been long dead.

4 Therefore my spirit was grieved in me; my heart was troubled within me.

5 I remembered the days of old; and I meditated on all thy doings: yea, I meditated on the works of thine hands.

6 I spread forth my hands to thee; my soul thirsts for thee, as a dry land. Pause.

7 Hear me speedily, O Lord; my spirit has failed; turn not away thy face from me, else I shall be like to them that go down to the pit.

8 Cause me to hear thy mercy in the morning; for I have hoped in thee; make known to me, O Lord, the way wherein I should walk; for I have lifted up my soul to thee.

9 Deliver me from mine enemies, O Lord; for I have fled to thee for refuge.

10 Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God; thy good Spirit shall guide me in the straight way.

11 Thou shalt quicken me, O Lord, for thy name’s sake; in thy righteousness thou shalt bring my soul out of affliction.

12 And in thy mercy thou wilt destroy mine enemies, and wilt destroy all those that afflict my soul; for I am thy servant.

Psalm 143 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.