Tehillim 143:5

5 I remember yamim mikedem (days of old), I meditate on all Thy works; I muse on the ma’aseh (work) of Thy hands.

Tehillim 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.

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Tehillim 143:5 In-Context

3 For the oyev (enemy) hath persecuted my nefesh; he hath struck down my life to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in places of choshech (darkness), like metei olam (those long dead).

4 Therefore is my ruach become faint within me; my lev within me is desolate.

5 I remember yamim mikedem (days of old), I meditate on all Thy works; I muse on the ma’aseh (work) of Thy hands.

6 I stretch forth my hands unto Thee; my nefesh thirsteth after Thee, like an eretz ayefah (a parched, thirsty land). Selah.

7 Hear me speedily, Hashem; my ruach faileth; hide not Thy face from me, lest I be like those that go down into the bor (pit).