Psalms 143

David prays from deep distress, with an enemy pressing him down and his spirit nearly gone. He does not claim to deserve help. He appeals to God’s faithfulness and mercy, remembers God’s past works, and asks for guidance and a new life. This is one of the traditional penitential psalms.

Psalms 143:1

David begins by asking God to listen. He does not rest his case on his own goodness. He rests it on God’s own character, His faithfulness and righteousness. God has bound Himself to His people, and David trusts that He will keep His word.

BSA: faithfulness (“loyalty, steadfastness”): David leans on God’s unshakable loyalty to His promises, not on his own record.

See also: 1 John 1:9.

Psalms 143:2

This is the heart of the psalm. David asks God not to put him on trial, because no living person could stand up to God’s perfect standard. Even the best of people need mercy. He prays as a servant who depends on grace, not as one with a claim.

BSA: judgment (“or justice, righteous verdict”): David knows a strictly just verdict would go against every human being, himself included. righteous (“just, upright, justified”): No one can be declared fully upright in God’s presence on his own merit.

See also: Romans 3:20; Galatians 2:16.

Psalms 143:3

David describes how low his enemy has brought him. He is hunted, flattened to the dirt, and left living in gloom like someone long buried. The picture is of a man who feels already half dead, shut out from light and hope.

BSA: crushing (“bruising, oppressing”): The enemy has pounded his life down like something trampled, leaving him bruised and broken. darkness (“a state of spiritual and emotional gloom, like the dead”): His suffering is inward as well as outward, a heavy gloom of the soul.

Psalms 143:4

The attack from outside has reached David’s inner life. His spirit is weak and his heart is stunned. He is honest with God about this, and does not pretend to be strong. Such honesty is itself a kind of prayer.

BSA: dismayed (“desolate, full of fear”): His heart feels emptied out and left barren by fear.

Hebrew: יִשְׁתּוֹמֵם (yishtomem, H8074) — “is stunned, left desolate.” The Hebrew word suggests a heart left numb and wasted, as if emptied and left bare.

Psalms 143:5

David turns from his trouble to what God has done. He recalls the past, thinks over God’s works, and considers what His hands have made. Remembering how God acted before gives him ground to hope that God will act again.

BSA: meditate (“muse, ponder”): He does not glance at God’s works but turns them over slowly in his mind.

See also: Psalm 77:11-12.

Psalms 143:6

With open hands raised, David reaches for God, a posture of need and prayer. His soul is as dry as cracked ground waiting for rain. Only God can satisfy such thirst. The pause marked here invites us to stop and feel it.

BSA: parched land (“the soil or ground”): Dry earth cannot water itself. It can only wait for rain from above.

See also: Psalm 63:1.

Psalms 143:7

Now the prayer grows urgent. David asks for a quick answer because his strength is nearly gone. His great dread is that God would hide His face. Without God’s nearness he would be like the dead going down to the grave.

BSA: Pit (“a place of darkness, the abyss”): The Pit is a picture of the grave, the place of the dead. face (“presence, countenance”): God’s face means His favorable, personal presence, which David needs more than rescue itself.

Psalms 143:8

David longs for morning, when night’s darkness ends, and he wants to hear God’s steadfast love then. He trusts God and asks for direction. He lifts up his whole self to God, because he needs guidance as well as relief.

BSA: loving devotion (“kindness, mercy, or pity”): This is God’s faithful covenant love, kind and tender toward the helpless. lift up (“raise, exalt”): David hands his whole life upward to God, as one placing a burden in stronger hands.

Hebrew: חֶסֶד (chesed, H2617) — “loyal, covenant love.” This word describes love that keeps its promises. It is steady and faithful, not just a passing feeling.

See also: Lamentations 3:22-23.

Psalms 143:9

David asks to be rescued from his enemies and says he runs to the LORD for shelter. Refuge here is a place to hide and be covered. He does not trust his own strength or cleverness. He goes straight to God.

BSA: refuge (“to hide, be covered”): God is pictured as a covering in which David can hide from danger.

See also: Psalm 46:1.

Psalms 143:10

David wants to know God’s will and to do it, not just to be spared. His reason is simple: You are my God. He asks that God’s good Spirit lead him on level ground, a straight and safe path, rather than on rough or crooked ways.

BSA: level ground (“in the land of uprightness, a plain area”): It pictures a smooth, safe path of right living, free of stumbling.

Hebrew: רוּחֲךָ (ruchakha, H7307) — “Your Spirit, Your breath.” The word can mean breath, wind, or spirit. Here David asks for God’s own Spirit as his guide.

See also: Romans 8:14; John 16:13.

Psalms 143:11

David asks God to revive him, to give him back life, for the sake of God’s own name. God’s reputation is tied to how He treats those who trust Him. Because of His righteousness, David asks to be brought out of distress.

BSA: revive (“quicken, give life to”): David asks for new life, not just relief, since he felt close to death.

Psalms 143:12

David ends by asking God to deal with his enemies, again resting on God’s loving devotion. Again he calls himself God’s servant. A servant belongs to his master and may count on his master’s protection. Christians read such prayers for justice as leaving vengeance in God’s hands.

BSA: servant (“slave, one who serves”): A servant belongs fully to his Lord, so he can appeal to his Lord for protection.

See also: Romans 12:19.