Psalm 143 has always been a special psalm to me as verses 8
and 10 have become a morning prayer to help me begin the day declaring my need
for the LORD. “Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, For in
You do I trust; Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, For I lift up
my soul to You….Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Your Spirit is
good. Lead me in the land of uprightness.” These are two verses you might want to copy on
a card or type on paper that you can keep visible to start your devotional time
each morning.
Psalm 143 is part of a selection of David’s psalms, that whoever
compiled or organized the 150 psalms, put together just before the last five psalms
of the book. We know that David wrote at least half of the 150 psalms. We know the
names of some of the other writers by the titles but there are many psalms we
don’t have a clue who wrote them. But one thing I’m sure of is that all 150
psalms were inspired by God and He is the author of them as He is of the other
65 books of the Bible. I also personally believe that the order of the psalms,
like the rest of the Bible, was directed by God to be exactly where He wanted
them to be in the Bible for His divine purposes and for our benefit!
Another interesting thing about Psalm 143 is that it is the
last of the seven penitential psalms. The others being Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51,
102, and 130. Spurgeon commented that from his study of the psalms that he is
not sure why the church fathers included Psalm 143 in this selection but maybe
they needed one last one to make the number of them seven. Other commentators
believe it was included primarily because David felt he needed to confess sins
that were keeping him from enjoying God's help and blessing (vv. 1-2). He had
concluded that the suffering he was experiencing from the attacks of the enemy
were actually God's chastening, so he asked God for mercy. In all probability, Psalm
143 was written during the time of the Absalom rebellion.
It is true that the Lord can use painful circumstances and
difficult people to bring us to repentance, but sometimes those very things are
God's "tools" to polish and mature us, not to punish us. In this
psalm, David presents many requests to the Lord, all of which may be summarized
in two prayers: "Hear me" (vv. 1-6) and "Answer me" (vv.
7-12). This kind of praying is a good example for us to follow.
First, like David we can pray, “Hear Me”. God already
knows our situation, but I believe He wants us to acknowledge it verbally to
Him in our prayers. The basis for David's prayer was the character of God, “His
faithfulness and righteousness”, attributes that are mentioned again in
verse 11. God is righteous in all that He does because He is holy, and He is
faithful to His covenant and His promises. We plead these same attributes when
we confess our sins to the Lord and claim His forgiveness (1 John 1:9). By
calling himself God's servant (vv. 2, 12), David affirmed that he was a son of
the covenant and could plead on the basis of God's Word. He also affirmed his
own sinfulness (Psalm 130:3-4).
David acknowledges that his life is crushed to the ground,
he is in darkness like a dead man, and his spirit is overwhelmed, and his heart
is distressed (vs.3-4). But then he recalls and remembers the great works of
God recorded in the Scriptures. He meditates on the Creation ("the
works of His hands"), and possibly the other wonderful things God did
for His people like the call of Abraham, the pilgrimage of Jacob, the life of
Joseph, the exodus from Egypt and the conquest of Canaan (vs. 4-5).
In verse 6, in his despair, David still worships and lifts
up his hands and expresses his soul’s longing for the LORD, like a thirsty land
longs for refreshing rain! May the LORD help us to do the same!
God bless!
