Psalm 143/Commentary

Psalm 143 “My Spirit Fails”

“In this psalm the thought of David’s spirit fainting (vv. 4,7) is developed from the previous psalm (142:3). Psalm 143 is a prayer for deliverance and guidance.

When the psalmist prayed for merciful relief from the wicked who oppressed him, he acknowledged that no living man is righteous. He desired deliverance and guidance and found encouragement from remembering God’s ways” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 894).

143:1 “God’s faithfulness and righteousness are often appealed to in the Old Testament as being on the side of those who pray, just as the integrity of a judge would be welcomed by those who brought a case to court” (Kidner p. 475).

“Both qualities connote the absolute fidelity and perfection of God in keeping His covenant with His covenant children. The ground for answered prayer is the Lord’s commitment to His people” (Gaebelein p. 851). Are we thankful that God is faithful? People at times ignorantly resent God’s consistency and unbending stance on moral issues but that same consistency gives the righteous man or woman hope and comfort. Be grateful that God isn’t fickle, moody, or always changing His requirements. “The size of our prayers will depend upon the size of our God” (Williams p. 502).

“Once again the psalmist is in crisis. He is persecuted, crushed, in death’s darkness, overwhelmed, and distressed (vv. 3-4). He is thirsty for God (6). His spirit fails (7). Hounded by enemies, he needs deliverance (9). His soul is in trouble and afflicted (11-12). In the context of all of this catastrophe, how should he pray? The answer is that since he has a big God, he prays big prayers. He is no stoic simply asking for the strength to endure. He is a biblical man. He wants God to act on his behalf. He wants answers (7). He wants deliverance (9)” (Williams p. 502).

143:2 David is fully aware of God’s purity and his own unworthiness. David isn’t self-righteous, and he does not pray “Hear my prayer because I am so good or worthy”. David remembers that since he is praying to a righteous God, he needs to forsake and repent of his own sins. To pray to God while holding onto sin is an abomination to God. David is counting on God’s mercy, but in so doing David knows that he must humble himself and repent to receive such mercy (Psalm 51). “If justice were the basis of their relationship, he would only be condemned, since no one is righteous before God” (Williams p. 503).

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143:2 “For in Thy sight no man living is righteous”: David isn’t saying that people are inherently depraved, rather, all men eventually sin (Romans 5:12; 3:23). “How can we appeal to God for mercy on the basis of God’s righteousness, when it is God’s righteousness and our lack of it that is the problem? The answer is in the word “faithfulness”, which throws us back on God’s promise of salvation. We can appeal to mercy because God has promised to be merciful to those who repent and seek salvation” (Boice p. 1238).

Point to Note: Boice notes that many of the religious errors of the Middle Ages, errors which men like Martin Luther fought, are noticeable now in what claims to be Christianity.

1. Repentance has increasingly been seen as a single act, severed from a lifelong process of godliness. 2. The rule for Christian living has increasingly been sought in some supposed “Spirit-inspired” voice within the church rather than in the Spirit’s voice heard in Scripture. 3. The worship of God is increasingly presented as a spectator event of visual and sensory power. 4. Success is measured by crowds and the size of “church” buildings rather than by the preaching of the cross, by the quality of Christian’s lives, and by faithfulness. (p. 1237).

143:3 “Every phrase here is so heavy with distress, that no sufferer need feel unique in what he experiences. And the similarity of these terms to those that describe our Lord’s emotions (Matthew 26:37f; Hebrews 4:15f.) remind us that none need feel himself alone, or less than fully understood” (Kidner p. 475).

David feels hunted down so that he feels as if he lives in darkness, i.e., in Sheol, like those who have been dead for a long time.

143:4 As a result, his spirit was overwhelmed. Compare with Matthew 26:38, which reminds us that Jesus experienced all that we experience and is therefore qualified to help us when we go through similarly tough times (Hebrews 4:1516). “He is broken as a total man, soul, spirit, and heart. What can he do? His response is given in verses 5-6” (Williams p. 504). David appears to be greatly depressed and discouraged to the point of despair, and yet he turns to God for help.

143:5 “The mood is not nostalgia, that fruitless yearning for other times and places, but recollection of what God can do” (Kidner p. 475). David remembers what God has done for him and the acts of God in history and creation. Psalms such as 106 and 107 would be examples of such musing. Memory builds faith.

As we see what God has done, our hearts cry out, “Do it again!”. In Psalm 136, for example, the poet recalls God’s power in creating the heavens and the earth, the sun, the moon, and the stars. He reflects on the exodus from Egypt and 2

remembers how God brought Israel through the desert into her own land.

Psalms 18, 68, 89, 104, and 105 are additional examples. Why does David do this? It is in order to work through his painful distress and fear of enemies. He remembers how God had been with him previously; he meditates on that deliverance; then he considers, or reasons, from that past experience to the present. If God helped him in the past, why should God fail to help him in the present? He is the same God. “The sacred Scriptures list a vast array of mighty works that God did, works of power and deeds of deliverance….That is an effective way of getting one’s bearings. God does not change” (Boice p. 1239).

143:6 “Still more to the point, he reaches out towards God Himself, not only to the things He can be asked to do” (Kidner p. 476). “Praying with his hands outstretched places him in the position of a supplicant coming with requests to a mighty king…The longing for his heart, however, is not just for relief from his distress. His longing is for God Himself” (Williams p. 504). Note, the answer to such depression is to reach out for God Himself---such is in itself the key to recovery.

“This sentence shows that David was not merely looking for what God could do for him in his trouble, though he clearly needed help. More than that, he is thirsting for God himself, which is far better. Do you thirst for God himself?

Shouldn’t we repent for not thirsting after God as we should?” (Boice p. 1239).

Stirrings Of The Will 143:7 Out of the depth of despair the psalmist calls on the Lord to deliver him speedily (40:13; 69:17; 102:2). In recording this cry of David, God is telling us that He knows that there are times when His people need His help right now!

143:8 “Teach me”: Three times in verses 8-10 David prays for guidance. The expression, “teach me”, settles the priorities, making the goal not self-fulfillment but pleasing God and finishing His work. The words lead me (10) speak of the humility of one who knows his need of shepherding, not merely of having the right way pointed out to him. As Christians we understand that God teaches us through His revelation, i.e., the Scriptures (John 6:44-45). And in the Scriptures we find everything we need to know for any given situation (2 Peter 1:3; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). Notice the key of knowing God’s will. It comes as a result of complete surrender, lifting up his soul in prayer, letting go of his plans and his self-will. He waits for God’s deliverance as a watchman waits for the dawn of day.

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143:9 We need to realize that only God can really deliver us from our enemies.

How sad to be someone who doesn’t believe in God---where does such an individual turn for help?

143:10 “Teach me to do Thy will”: Is this our attitude? David earnestly desires to remain in God’s favor! He realizes that deliverance will mean nothing unless he is doing the will of God. If we really believe that God is our God then we will just naturally want to do His will. “The plea for a level path, or more accurately, level land, implies the admission that one is prone to stumble, not only to stray” (Kidner p. 476).

143:11-12 David asks for deliverance, not merely for his own sake, but for the sake of God’s reputation. David wants to see God’s name glorified. David then returns to the pressing issue of his enemies, asking that in God’s mercy (lovingkindness), they be cut-off. Notice, for God to be merciful and faithful to His people, at times He must condemn and judge the wicked. God’s mercy to us often means condemnation for the world. “If God cared nothing for His name, for the cause of right, or for His covenant, we might have doubts of His salvation” (Kidner pp. 476-477).

143:12 “For I am Thy servant”: “The relationship is still true, even in adversity and despair. His confidence lies not in himself, but in the one who promised.

He is true, faithful, and righteous” (Gaebelein p. 856). Is our attitude?

Regardless of what we must endure are we willing to be God’s servant even if such brings upon us persecution, distress, hardship, and trials?

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