Psalms 143
Appeal to God's Faithfulness and Righteousness 1–2
Complaint of Persecution and Despair 3–4
Seeking Refuge in Meditation 5–6
Urgent Prayer for Deliverance and Guidance 7–12
Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain
Study Notes for Psalm 143
Verse 1
in thy faithfulness… and in thy righteousness — Emunah, firmness or steadfastness, and tsedaqah, rightness: the appeal rests on what the LORD is, as v.2 confirms. Dan 9:16 prays in the same way, ‘according to all thy righteousness’, and 1 John 1:9 pairs the two: ‘he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.’
Verse 2
no man living be justified — Tsadaq is to be declared right. Paul takes the verse as the law’s own verdict: ‘by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified’ (Gal 2:16; cf. Rom 3:20). The petition ‘enter not into judgment’ (mishpat) is spoken by ‘thy servant’ (ebed); Eccl 7:20 agrees, ‘there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.’
Verse 3
as those that have been long dead — Radaph is to pursue: ‘Let the enemy persecute my soul’ (Ps 7:5). ‘Smitten’ is daka, to crush, the verb of Isa 53:5, ‘he was bruised for our iniquities’. The ‘dark places’ and ‘dead of old’ (olam) recur in Lam 3:6: ‘He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old.’
Verse 5
I muse on the work of thy hands — Three verbs of recollection: zakar, to remember; hagah, to murmur or meditate, as in Ps 1:2, ‘in his law doth he meditate day and night’; and siach, to ponder aloud. Ps 77:12 joins the last two, ‘I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings’, after ‘I have considered the days of old’ (Ps 77:5).
Verse 7
hide not thy face — Sathar, to hide, with panim, the face. This is the plea of Ps 69:17, ‘hide not thy face from thy servant… hear me speedily’, and of Ps 27:9. ‘The pit’ (bor) is the grave, as in Ps 28:1, ‘lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit’. ‘Faileth’ is kalah, to come to an end.
Verse 8
thy lovingkindness in the morning — Chesed, covenant kindness, is to be heard at daybreak (boqer). Ps 90:14 asks, ‘O satisfy us early with thy mercy’, and Lam 3:23 says of the LORD’s mercies, ‘They are new every morning’. ‘I lift up my soul’ repeats Ps 25:1, and ‘cause me to know the way’ echoes Ps 25:4, ‘Shew me thy ways, O LORD’.
Verse 10
the land of uprightness — Mishor is level ground, the ‘plain path’ of Ps 27:11: ‘Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path.’ ‘Lead’ (nachah) is the verb of Ps 23:3, ‘he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness’. ‘Thy spirit is good’ recalls Neh 9:20, where Israel’s instructor is named: ‘Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them.’
Verse 11
Quicken me — Chayah, to make live, is the verb of Ps 119:25, ‘quicken thou me according to thy word’. ‘For thy name’s sake’ is the ground also of Ps 31:3 and Ps 23:3. The second plea rests on ‘thy righteousness’ (tsedaqah, the word of v.1); ‘trouble’ is tsarah, distress, and the soul is brought out (yatsa) of it.
Verse 12
I am thy servant — The psalm opens and closes on ‘thy servant’ (ebed, vv.2, 12), and the ground of the petition is ‘thy mercy’ (chesed, as in v.8). ‘Cut off’ is tsamath, to put an end to, the verb of Ps 54:5, ‘cut them off in thy truth’. Ps 116:16 has the same self-description: ‘O LORD, truly I am thy servant.’