1 Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and 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 hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead.
4 Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate.
5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.
6 I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah.
7 Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.
8 Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.
9 Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me.
10 Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.
11 Quicken me, O LORD, for thy name's sake: for thy righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble.
12 And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant.
1 [[A Psalm H4210 of David.]] H1732 Hear H8085 my prayer, H8605 O LORD, H3068 give ear H238 to my supplications: H8469 in thy faithfulness H530 answer H6030 me, and in thy righteousness. H6666
2 And enter H935 not into judgment H4941 with thy servant: H5650 for in thy sight H6440 shall no man living H2416 be justified. H6663
3 For the enemy H341 hath persecuted H7291 my soul; H5315 he hath smitten H1792 my life H2416 down H1792 to the ground; H776 he hath made me to dwell H3427 in darkness, H4285 as those that have been long H5769 dead. H4191
4 Therefore is my spirit H7307 overwhelmed H5848 within me; my heart H3820 within H8432 me is desolate. H8074
5 I remember H2142 the days H3117 of old; H6924 I meditate H1897 on all thy works; H6467 I muse H7878 on the work H4639 of thy hands. H3027
6 I stretch forth H6566 my hands H3027 unto thee: my soul H5315 thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty H5889 land. H776 Selah. H5542
7 Hear H6030 me speedily, H4118 O LORD: H3068 my spirit H7307 faileth: H3615 hide H5641 not thy face H6440 from me, lest I be like H4911 unto them that go down H3381 into the pit. H953
8 Cause me to hear H8085 thy lovingkindness H2617 in the morning; H1242 for in thee do I trust: H982 cause me to know H3045 the way H1870 wherein H2098 I should walk; H3212 for I lift up H5375 my soul H5315 unto thee.
9 Deliver H5337 me, O LORD, H3068 from mine enemies: H341 I flee unto thee to hide H3680 me.
10 Teach H3925 me to do H6213 thy will; H7522 for thou art my God: H430 thy spirit H7307 is good; H2896 lead H5148 me into the land H776 of uprightness. H4334
11 Quicken H2421 me, O LORD, H3068 for thy name's H8034 sake: for thy righteousness' H6666 sake bring H3318 my soul H5315 out of trouble. H6869
12 And of thy mercy H2617 cut off H6789 mine enemies, H341 and destroy H6 all them that afflict H6887 my soul: H5315 for I am thy servant. H5650
1 Hear my prayer, O Jehovah; give ear to my supplications: In thy faithfulness answer me, `and' in thy righteousness.
2 And enter not into judgment with thy servant; For in thy sight no man living is righteous.
3 For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; He hath smitten my life down to the ground: He hath made me to dwell in dark places, as those that have been long dead.
4 Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; My heart within me is desolate.
5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy doings; I muse on the work of thy hands.
6 I spread forth my hands unto thee: My soul `thirsteth' after thee, as a weary land. Selah
7 Make haste to answer me, O Jehovah; my spirit faileth: Hide not thy face from me, Lest I become like them that go down into the pit.
8 Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; For in thee do I trust: Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; For I lift up my soul unto thee.
9 Deliver me, O Jehovah, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me.
10 Teach me to do thy will; For thou art my God: Thy Spirit is good; Lead me in the land of uprightness.
11 Quicken me, O Jehovah, for thy name's sake: In thy righteousness bring my soul out of trouble.
12 And in thy lovingkindness cut off mine enemies, And destroy all them that afflict my soul; For I am thy servant. Psalm 144 `A Psalm' of David.
1 A Psalm of David. O Jehovah, hear my prayer, Give ear unto my supplications, In Thy faithfulness answer me -- in Thy righteousness.
2 And enter not into judgment with Thy servant, For no one living is justified before Thee.
3 For an enemy hath pursued my soul, He hath bruised to the earth my life, He hath caused me to dwell in dark places, As the dead of old.
4 And my spirit in me is become feeble, Within me is my heart become desolate.
5 I have remembered days of old, I have meditated on all Thine acts, On the work of Thy hand I muse.
6 I have spread forth my hands unto Thee, My soul `is' as a weary land for Thee. Selah.
7 Haste, answer me, O Jehovah, My spirit hath been consumed, Hide not Thou Thy face from me, Or I have been compared with those going down `to' the pit.
8 Cause me to hear in the morning Thy kindness, For in Thee I have trusted, Cause me to know the way that I go, For unto Thee I have lifted up my soul.
9 Deliver me from mine enemies, O Jehovah, Near Thee I am covered.
10 Teach me to do Thy good pleasure, For Thou `art' my God -- Thy Spirit `is' good, Lead me into a land of uprightness.
11 For Thy name's sake O Jehovah, Thou dost quicken me, In Thy righteousness, Thou bringest out from distress my soul,
12 And in Thy kindness cuttest off mine enemies, And hast destroyed all the adversaries of my soul, For I `am' Thy servant!
1 {A Psalm of David.} Jehovah, hear my prayer; give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, in thy righteousness.
2 And enter not into judgment with thy servant; for in thy sight no man living shall be justified.
3 For the enemy persecuteth my soul: he hath crushed my life down to the earth; he hath made me to dwell in dark places, as those that have been long dead.
4 And my spirit is overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate.
5 I remember the days of old: I meditate on all thy doing; I muse on the work of thy hands.
6 I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul, as a parched land, [thirsteth] after thee. Selah.
7 Answer me speedily, O Jehovah; my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, or I shall be like unto them that go down into the pit.
8 Cause me to hear thy loving-kindness in the morning, for in thee do I confide; make me to know the way wherein I should walk, for unto thee do I lift up my soul.
9 Deliver me, O Jehovah, from mine enemies: unto thee do I flee for refuge.
10 Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: let thy good Spirit lead me in a plain country.
11 Revive me, O Jehovah, for thy name's sake; in thy righteousness bring my soul out of trouble;
12 And in thy loving-kindness cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that oppress my soul: for I am thy servant.
1 > Hear my prayer, Yahweh. Listen to my petitions. In your faithfulness and righteousness, relieve me.
2 Don't enter into judgment with your servant, For in your sight no man living is righteous.
3 For the enemy pursues my soul. He has struck my life down to the ground. He has made me live in dark places, as those who have been long dead.
4 Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me. My heart within me is desolate.
5 I remember the days of old. I meditate on all your doings. I contemplate the work of your hands.
6 I spread forth my hands to you. My soul thirsts for you, like a parched land. Selah.
7 Hurry to answer me, Yahweh. My spirit fails. Don't hide your face from me, So that I don't become like those who go down into the pit.
8 Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning, For I trust in you. Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, For I lift up my soul to you.
9 Deliver me, Yahweh, from my enemies. I flee to you to hide me.
10 Teach me to do your will, For you are my God. Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness.
11 Revive me, Yahweh, for your name's sake. In your righteousness, bring my soul out of trouble.
12 In your loving kindness, cut off my enemies, And destroy all those who afflict my soul, For I am your servant.
1 <A Psalm. Of David.> Let my prayer come to you, O Lord; give ear to my requests for your grace; keep faith with me, and give me an answer in your righteousness;
2 Let not your servant come before you to be judged; for no man living is upright in your eyes.
3 The evil man has gone after my soul; my life is crushed down to the earth: he has put me in the dark, like those who have long been dead.
4 Because of this my spirit is overcome; and my heart is full of fear.
5 I keep in mind the early days of the past, giving thought to all your acts, even to the work of your hands.
6 My hands are stretched out to you: my soul is turned to you, like a land in need of water. (Selah.)
7 Be quick in answering me, O Lord, for the strength of my spirit is gone: let me see your face, so that I may not be like those who go down into the underworld.
8 Let the story of your mercy come to me in the morning, for my hope is in you: give me knowledge of the way in which I am to go; for my soul is lifted up to you.
9 O Lord, take me out of the hands of my haters; my soul is waiting for you.
10 Give me teaching so that I may do your pleasure; for you are my God: let your good Spirit be my guide into the land of righteousness.
11 Give me life, O Lord, because of your name; in your righteousness take my soul out of trouble.
12 And in your mercy put an end to my haters, and send destruction on all those who are against my soul; for I am your servant.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 143
Commentary on Psalms 143 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Longing after Mercy in the Midst of Dark Imprisonment
In some codices of the lxx this Psalm (as Euthymius also bears witness) has no inscription at all; in others, however, it has the inscription: Ψαλμὸς τῷ Δαυεὶδ ὅτε αὐτὸν ἐδίωκεν Ἀβεσσαλὼμ ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ( Cod. Sinait. οτε αυτον ο υς καταδιωκει ). Perhaps by the same poet as Psalms 142:1-7, with which it accords in Psalms 143:4, Psalms 143:8, Psalms 143:11 (cf. Psalms 142:4, 8), it is like this a modern offshoot of the Davidic Psalm-poetry, and is certainly composed as coming out of the situation of him who was persecuted by Absalom. The Psalms of this time of persecution are distinguished from those of the time of the persecution by Saul by the deep melancholy into which the mourning of the dethroned king was turned by blending with the penitential sorrowfulness of one conscious of his own guilt. On account of this fundamental feature the church has chosen Psalms 143:1-12 for the last of its seven Psalmi poenitentiales . The Sela at the close of Psalms 143:6 divides the Psalm into two halves.
The poet pleads two motives for the answering of his prayer which are to be found in God Himself, viz., God's אמוּנה , truthfulness, with which He verifies the truth of His promises, that is to say, His faithfulness to His promises; and His צדקה , righteousness, not in a recompensative legal sense, but in an evangelical sense, in accordance with His counsel, i.e., the strictness and earnestness with which He maintains the order of salvation established by His holy love, both against the ungratefully disobedient and against those who insolently despise Him. Having entered into this order of salvation, and within the sphere of it serving Jahve as his God and Lord, the poet is the servant of Jahve. And because the conduct of the God of salvation, ruled by this order of salvation, or His “righteousness” according to its fundamental manifestation, consists in His justifying the sinful man who has no righteousness that he can show corresponding to the divine holiness, but penitently confesses this disorganized relationship, and, eager for salvation, longs for it to be set right again - because of all this, the poet prays that He would not also enter into judgment ( בּוא בּמשׁפּט as in Job 9:32; Job 22:4; Job 14:3) with him, that He therefore would let mercy instead of justice have its course with him. For, apart from the fact that even the holiness of the good spirits does not coincide with God's absolute holiness, and that this defect must still be very far greater in the case of spirit-corporeal man, who has earthiness as the basis of his origin-yea, according to Psalms 51:7, man is conceived in sin, so that he is sinful from the point at which he begins to live onward - his life is indissolubly interwoven with sin, no living man possesses a righteousness that avails before God (Job 4:17; Job 9:2; Job 14:3., Job 15:14, and frequently).
(Note: Gerson observes on this point (vid., Thomasius, Dogmatik , iv. 251): I desire the righteousness of pity, which Thou bestowest in the present life, not the judgment of that righteousness which Thou wilt put into operation in the future life - the righteousness which justifies the repentant one.)
With כּי (Psalms 143:3) the poet introduces the ground of his petition for an answer, and more particularly for the forgiveness of his guilt. He is persecuted by deadly foes and is already nigh unto death, and that not without transgression of his own, so that consequently his deliverance depends upon the forgiveness of his sins, and will coincide with this. “The enemy persecuteth my soul” is a variation of language taken from Psalms 7:6 ( חיּה for חיּים , as in Psalms 78:50, and frequently in the Book of Job, more particularly in the speeches of Elihu). Psalms 143:3 also recalls Psalms 7:6, but as to the words it sounds like Lamentations 3:6 (cf. Psalms 88:7). מתי עולם (lxx νεκροὺς αἰῶνος ) are either those for ever dead (the Syriac), after שׁנת עולם in Jeremiah 51:39, cf. בּית עולמו in Ecclesiastes 12:5, or those dead time out of mind (Jerome), after עם עולם in Ezekiel 26:20. The genitive construction admits both senses; the former, however, is rendered more natural by the consideration that הושׁיבני glances back to the beginning that seems to have no end: the poet seems to himself like one who is buried alive for ever. In consequence of this hostility which aims at his destruction, the poet feels his spirit within him, and consequently his inmost life, veil itself (the expression is the same as Psalms 142:4; Psalms 77:4); and in his inward part his heart falls into a state of disturbance ( ישׁתּומם , a Hithpo . peculiar to the later language), so that it almost ceases to beat. He calls to mind the former days, in which Jahve was manifestly with him; he reflects upon the great redemptive work of God, with all the deeds of might and mercy in which it has hitherto been unfolded; he meditates upon the doing ( בּמעשׂה , Ben-Naphtali בּמעשׂה ) of His hands, i.e., the hitherto so wondrously moulded history of himself and of his people. They are echoes out of Psalms 77:4-7, Psalms 77:12. The contrast which presents itself to the Psalmist in connection with this comparison of his present circumsntaces with the past opens his wounds still deeper, and makes his prayer for help all the more urgent. He stretches forth his hands to God that He may protect and assist him (vid., Hölemann, Bibelstudien , i. 150f.). Like parched land is his soul turned towards Him, - language in which we recognise a bending round of the primary passage Psalms 63:2. Instead of לך it would be לך , if סלה (Targum לעלמין ) were not, as it always is, taken up and included in the sequence of the accents.
In this second half the Psalm seems still more like a reproduction of the thoughts of earlier Psalms. The prayer, “answer me speedily, hide not Thy face from me,” sounds like Psalms 69:18; Psalms 27:9, cf. Psalms 102:3. The expression of languishing longing, כּלתה רוּחי , is like Psalms 84:3. And the apodosis, “else I should become like those who go down into the pit,” agrees word for word with Psalms 28:1, cf. Psalms 88:5. In connection with the words, “cause me to hear Thy loving-kindness in the early morning,” one is reminded of the similar prayer of Moses in Psalms 90:14, and with the confirmatory “for in Thee do I trust” of Psalms 25:2, and frequently. With the prayer that the night of affliction may have an end with the next morning's dawn, and that God's helping loving-kindness may make itself felt by him, is joined the prayer that God would be pleased to grant him to know the way that he has to go in order to escape the destruction into which they are anxious to ensnare him. This last prayer has its type in Exodus 33:13, and in the Psalter in Psalms 25:4 (cf. Psalms 142:4); and its confirmation: for to Thee have I lifted up my soul, viz., in a craving after salvation and in the confidence of faith, has its type in Psalms 25:1; Psalms 86:4. But the words אליך כסּיתי , which are added to the petition “deliver me from mine enemies” (Psalms 59:2; Psalms 31:16), are peculiar, and in their expression without example. The Syriac version leaves them untranslated. The lxx renders: ὅτι πρὸς σὲ κατέφυγον , by which the defective mode of writing כסתי is indirectly attested, instead of which the translators read נסתי (cf. נוּס על in Isaiah 10:3); for elsewhere not חסה but נוּס is reproduced with καταφυγεῖν . The Targum renders it מימרך מנּתי לפריק , Thy Logos do I account as (my) Redeemer (i.e., regard it as such), as if the Hebrew words were to be rendered: upon Thee do I reckon or count, כסּיתי = כּסתּי , Exodus 12:4. Luther closely follows the lxx: “to Thee have I fled for refuge.” Jerome, however, inasmuch as he renders: ad te protectus sum , has pointed כסּיתי ( כסּיתי ). Hitzig (on the passage before us and Proverbs 7:20) reads כסתי from כּסא = סכא , to look (“towards Thee do I look”). But the Hebrew contains no trace of that verb; the full moon is called כסא ( כסה ), not as being “a sight or vision, species ,” but from its covered orb.
The כסּתי before us only admits of two interpretations: (1) Ad ( apud ) te texi = to Thee have I secretly confided it (Rashi, Aben-Ezra, Kimchi, Coccejus, J. H. Michaelis, J. D. Michalis, Rosenmüller, Gesenius, and De Wette). But such a constructio praegnans , in connection with which כּסּה would veer round from the signification to veil (cf. כסה מן , Genesis 18:17) into its opposite, and the clause have the meaning of כּי אליך גּלּיתי , Jeremiah 11:20; Jeremiah 20:12, is hardly conceivable. (2) Ad ( apud ) te abscondidi , scil. me (Saadia, Calvin, Maurer, Ewald, and Hengstenberg), in favour of which we decide; for it is evident from Genesis 38:14; Deuteronomy 22:12, cf. Jonah 3:6, that כּסּה can express the act of covering as an act that is referred to the person himself who covers, and so can obtain a reflexive meaning. Therefore: towards Thee, with Thee have I made a hiding = hidden myself, which according to the sense is equivalent to חסיתּי , as Hupfeld (with a few MSS) wishes to read; but Abulwalîd has already remarked that the same goal is reached with כסּתי . Jahve, with whom he hides himself, is alone able to make known to him what is right and beneficial in the position in which he finds himself, in which he is exposed to temporal and spiritual dangers, and is able to teach him to carry out the recognised will of God (“the will of God, good and well-pleasing and perfect,” Romans 12:2); and this it is for which he prays to Him in Psalms 143:10 ( רצונך ; another reading, רצונך ). For Jahve is indeed his God, who cannot leave him, who is assailed and tempted without and within, in error; may His good Spirit then ( רוּחך טובה for הטּובה , Nehemiah 9:20)
(Note: Properly, “Thy Spirit, רוּח הטּובה , a spirit, the good one, although such irregularities may also be a negligent usage of the language, like the Arabic msjd 'l - jâm‛ , the chief mosque, which many grammarians regard as a construct relationship, others as an ellipsis (inasmuch as they supply Arab. 'l - mkân between the words); the former is confirmed from the Hebrew, vid., Ewald, §287, a .))
lead him in a level country, for, as it is said in Isaiah, Isaiah 26:7, in looking up to Jahve, “the path which the righteous man takes is smoothness; Thou makest the course of the righteous smooth.” The geographical term ארץ מישׁור , Deuteronomy 4:43; Jeremiah 48:21, is here applied spiritually. Here, too, reminiscences of Psalms already read meet us everywhere: cf. on “to do Thy will,” Psalms 40:9; on “for Thou art my God,” Psalms 40:6, and frequently; on “Thy good Spirit,” Psalms 51:14; on “a level country,” and the whole petition, Psalms 27:11 (where the expression is “a level path”), together with Psalms 5:9; Psalms 25:4., Psalms 31:4. And the Psalm also further unrolls itself in such now well-known thoughts of the Psalms: For Thy Name's sake, Jahve (Psalms 25:11), quicken me again (Psalms 71:20, and frequently); by virtue of Thy righteousness be pleased to bring my soul out of distress (Ps 142:8; Psalms 25:17, and frequently); and by virtue of Thy loving-kindness cut off mine enemies (Psalms 54:7). As in Psalms 143:1 faithfulness and righteousness, here loving-kindness (mercy) and righteousness, are coupled together; and that so that mercy is not named beside towtsiy', nor righteousness beside תּצמית , but the reverse (vid., on Psalms 143:1). It is impossible that God should suffer him who has hidden himself in Him to die and perish, and should suffer his enemies on the other hand to triumph. Therefore the poet confirms the prayer for the cutting off ( הצמית as in Psalms 94:23) of his enemies and the destruction ( האביד , elsewhere אבּד ) of the oppressors of his soul (elsewhere צררי ) with the words: for I am Thy servant .