Deeper Commentary
Psa 143:1
A Psalm by David-
We have here another example of the pairing of Psalms, for Ps. 143
has many points of contact with David's prayer when hemmed in within the
cave of Ps. 142.
Hear my prayer, Yahweh. Listen to my petitions. In Your
faithfulness and righteousness, relieve me-
David trapped within the cave apparently faced certain death. But he
pleads with God to be faithful- to His prophetic word that David would be
king and Saul would be deposed. In this sense, faith came by hearing the
word of God (Rom. 10:17).
Psa 143:2
Don’t enter into judgment with Your servant, for in Your sight no
man living is righteous-
facing apparent death, and in great panic and psychological crisis
(see on :7), David assumed that the prophetic word that he would live to
become king wasn't going to be fulfilled because he had sinned. The Lord
Jesus passed through a similar crisis on the cross when He felt forsaken
by God. And so David asks for every grace to be shown to him. Closer, more
rational analysis however reveals a weakness in his argument; he seems to
be saying that because all men sin, and none are justified, therefore God
shouldn't judge David for his sins. That doesn't follow, but we can put
this down to his understandable panic in extremity.
Psa 143:3
For the enemy pursues my soul; he has struck my life down to the
ground-
"Struck" is s.w. "broken". This is clearly relevant to the actions of
the Babylonians (s.w. Lam. 3:34). But it was true also of David's enemies
within Israel
He has made me live in dark places, as those who have been long
dead-
David in the dark cave, which he understood as a kind of tomb hewn in
the rock, felt as if he were already dead, so apparently certain was it
that Saul would find and slay him.
Psa 143:4
Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me. My heart within me
is desolate-
Here we have an exact repetition of David's prayer in the cave
recorded in Ps. 142:3. I suggested on :1 that Ps. 143 is paired with Ps.
142 and refers to the same time. His spirit failed, he was mentally broken
down, 'I gush out my babbling', he remembered (Ps. 142:2). He was so
frightened and emotionally broken down that his spirit or mind was
overwhelmed (Ps. 142:3). The relevance to the exiles is that the land was
left "desolate" whilst they were in exile (s.w. Lev. 26:34; 2 Chron. 36:21
etc.), as was the temple (2 Chron. 7:21) and the heart of the exiles
themselves, just like David at this time (Jer. 4:9 s.w.). But God could
save them from such extremity, if they had David's faith, and restore them
according to His prophetic word and intention with them. Jeremiah uses the
same word translated "overwhelmed" to describe what happened to God's
people under the hand of the Babylonians (Lam. 2:11,12,19).
Psa 143:5
I remember the days of old, I meditate on all Your doings, I
contemplate the work of Your hands-
David recalls in his own life "of old", in his youth and childhood,
how God had saved him by grace; and asks for this to be continued. We
should never therefore disregard God's hand at work in our childhood and
youth. But as in Ps. 77:12, the Divine work and doings being considered are
also His
historical grace to His people. For all His work for Israel was by grace,
seeing that for the most part they didn't strongly believe in Him and were
unfaithful to His covenant; and yet He had still worked for them so
mightily, towards their salvation.
Psa 143:6
I spread forth my hands to You. My soul thirsts for You, like a
parched land. Selah-
In the cave that night, David would have likely been unable to drink.
He was thirsty, dry as the parched land outside the cave. And in the
silence of the cave that night, he spread forth his hands to God.
And again these things look forward to the experience of the Lord Jesus. The thirsty land surrounding Him on the cross represented spiritually barren Israel (Is. 53:1; Ps. 42:1-3); but the Lord Jesus so took His people upon Him, into His very soul, that His soul became a thirsty land (Ps. 143:6); He felt as spiritually barren as they were, so close was His representation of us, so close was He to sinful man, so fully did He enter into the feelings of the sinner. In the same way as Christ really did feel forsaken as Israel were because of their sins, so He suffered thirst, both literally and spiritually, which was a punishment for Israel's sins.
Psa 143:7
Hurry to answer me, Yahweh. My spirit fails-
David in the cave that night (see on :1) needed immediate answers and
deliverance. His spirit failed, he was mentally broken down, 'I gush out
my babbling', he remembered (Ps. 142:2). He was so frightened and
emotionally broken down that his spirit or mind was overwhelmed (Ps.
142:3).
Don’t hide Your
face from me-
Recognizing the existence of the new and old men within him, Paul can
speak in Rom. 7 as if he is two different people; “I myself serve the law
of God”, but “my flesh” serves sin. Likewise David asked God not to hide
his face from him, David personally, (Ps. 27:9; 69:17; 102:2; 143:7), but
to hide His face from David’s sins (Ps. 51:9). And one wonders whether the
way the records of the Lord’s temptations are written implies some similar
recognition by the Spirit of the two ‘men’ within the Lord.
So that I don’t become like those who go down into the pit-
There in the cave it would have seemed as if David was alive in the
pit or tomb of the grave. He was earnestly begging for his life to be
saved.
Psa 143:8
Cause me to hear Your grace 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-
This has obvious reference to David lying silent and unable to move
that night in the cave (see on :1). He begged for deliverance in the
morning, by grace alone. For he had no human way out. And now, as he
writes up his experience in this Psalm, he makes this his prayer every
night, as it had been that desperate night in the cave.
David expected to be caused to hear God's lovingkindness every morning, and to be taught the way he should take- all because he would every morning 'lift up his soul unto God'. All this was the pattern of daily life for the Lord Himself, who was noted for rising up early and praying (Mk. 1:35). Is. 50:4 prophesies of the Lord Jesus that morning by morning, God awoke His ear "to learn as a disciple". That last phrase is surely to signal the intended similarities between the Lord's path of growth, and that of all disciples.
Just as is true today, and as is often mentioned in Ps. 119, God is willing to operate directly on the hearts of men in a way over and above His written word. David realized this, and asked to be taught and shown God's ways (Ps. 25:4; 143:8). "Cause" is the usual word for 'to know'. Knowledge in its ultimate, spiritual sense is not attained simply by reading or hearing the text of the Bible; not that I am at all decrying that. But there is a higher, Divine hand at work in making us know Divine knowledge. Moses had prayed the same words in Ex. 33:13: "Show me [make me to know] Your way, that I may know [s.w. "show"] You [and] find grace in Your sight". The gift of knowledge, in the Hebraic sense of relationship, is related to God's grace. That knowledge which is in view is not the same as technical, theological knowledge. Moses' prayer was answered; the same words are used in saying that God "made known His ways to Moses" (Ps. 103:7).
Psa 143:9
Deliver me, Yahweh, from my enemies. I flee to You to hide me-
David had fled into the cave for deliverance and hiding, but it had
turned out to be his snare and prison (see on :1). And so he desperately
flees, in his mind, to Yahweh as his true hiding place, begging to be
hidden from Saul, sleeping only a short distance away from him.
David responded to their seeking of him by seeking God more. He uses the language of the hunt and chase to describe how he was drawing closer to God: "My soul followeth hard after thee" (Ps. 63:8; Ps. 63 is a wilderness psalm, see title). “Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul... let all those that seek thee rejoice" (Ps. 40:14,16). In this sense, David felt he wasn't fleeing from his enemies as much as fleeing to God: "Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies (from whom he was running): I flee unto thee to hide me" (Ps. 143:9 AV). Both David and Jesus had a real sense of direction, they could see that their mental, emotional and physical sufferings were leading them towards an altogether higher relationship with the Father. They took those sufferings as an almost welcome push towards the Father. They had a sure sense of spiritual direction in all their afflictions; this accounts for the human loneliness which they both felt.
Psa 143:10
Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God-
David's begging for deliverance was because he vowed to use his
subsequent life to do God's will, and he asks God to teach him this.
Your Spirit is
good; lead me in the land of uprightness-
David asked: “Let thy good spirit / Angel lead me in the plain country”
(Ps. 143:10 RVmg.)- as if he realized that there were Angels / spirits of
evil, as well as of good. Thus we too pray not to be lead into temptation-
but rather, lead in the way of life. Angels do lead us in life, but they
can lead us in either the downward or the upward spiral. In the immediate
context, David trapped in the cave (see on :1) longed to be outside of it,
in the open country again.
Psa 143:11
Revive me, Yahweh, for Your name’s sake. In Your righteousness,
bring my soul out of trouble-
David in the cave had no way of being 'brought out' (see on :1),
apart from by God's direct intervention. He asks for this not because of
his own righteousness, but throws himself upon God's grace.
Psa 143:12
In Your loving kindness, cut off my enemies, and destroy all
those who afflict my soul, for I am Your servant-
We are bidden praise God for smiting David's enemies, and also for
smiting the firstborn babies of Egypt,
because this is a sign of His eternal mercy (Ps. 138:10 cp. 143:12). This
is proof enough that His view of mercy and ours are quite different.
Previous Chapter
