Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 143:4
Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate.
4. And my spirit has fainted upon me;
My heart within me is appalled.
my spirit &c.] Cp. Psa 142:3, note.
is desolate ] Rather, is appalled, stupefied and paralysed at the apparent hopelessness of my position. Cp. Dan 8:27. “The root-idea of the word seems to have been to be motionless, sometimes in the stillness of desolation, sometimes through amazement” (Driver on Dan 4:19).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me – See the notes at Psa 77:3. Compare Psa 42:5-7. His spirit was broken and crushed. He was in a state of despair as to any human help.
My heart within me is desolate – I have no comfort; no cheerfulness; no hope. My soul is like the waste desert where there is no water; where nothing grows; where there are only rocks and sands.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 143:4
My heart within me is desolate.
Trouble of soul
He spake before of his external calamities; now he confesseth the infirmities of his mind, that he was wonderfully cast down in heart and troubled in his soul, so that his strength was almost gone (not like the strength of a whale fish, or of a rock), but being ready to drown with sorrow, he was sustained by faith and Gods Spirit, he swam under these evils. Our Saviour Himself confessed of Himself, My soul is troubled to the death. God knoweth our mould, we are not stocks without passions or perturbations; we are not like lepers, whose flesh is senseless; but we are sensible of evils, that we may run to God for help and comfort. Had not Job his own perturbations and griefs, which made him utter hard speeches, for which God rebuked him, and he afterwards repented? yet God affirmed that he spake better of him than all his friends did. Can a ship sail along with such a constant and direct course in stormy weather as it were calm and before the wind? it is enough that it directeth the course ever towards the port, albeit it be forced to cast board twenty times. So God careth not albeit we be troubled in our course to heaven. Let us ever aim at the port of eternal glory, howsoever we be disquieted with contrary winds and tempests, God will pass by all those our frailties and imperfections, and will at last deliver us from them all, if in the midst of those our extremities our heart set itself toward heaven. (A. Symson.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 4. Therefore is my spirit] I am deeply depressed in spirit, and greatly afflicted in body.
My heart within me is desolate.] It has no companion of its sorrows, no sympathetic friend. I am utterly destitute of comfort.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
My spirit overwhelmed within me. See Poole “Psa 61:2” See Poole “Psa 142:3“.
Is desolate; deprived of all hope and comfort. Or, is astonished.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me,…. Covered over with grief, borne down with sorrow, ready to sink and fail;
[See comments on Ps 142:3];
my heart within me is desolate; destitute of the spirit and presence of God, and with respect to the exercise of grace, and filled with fears and misgivings; or “astonished” u, at the providence he was under, like one stunned and filled with sore amazement, not knowing what to make of things, or what the issue of them would be; so David’s antitype was “sore amazed” in the garden, when his troubles and agonies came upon him, Mr 14:33.
u “attonitum est”, Vatablus; “stupuit”, Tigurine version; “stupet”, Cocceius, Michaelis; “obstupuit”, Gejerus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
4. And my spirit, etc. Hitherto he has spoken of the troubles that were without, now he acknowledges the feebleness of his spirits, from which it is evident that his strength, vas not like that of the rock, imperturbable or without feeling, but that, while overwhelmed with grief as to the feeling of the flesh, he owed his support entirely to faith and the grace of the Spirit,. We are taught by his example not to throw up the conflict in despair, however much we may be weakened, and even exanimated by afflictions, as God will enable us to surmount them, if we only rise to him with our hearts amidst all our anxieties.
In the next verse David mentions that he had diligently sought means whereby to mitigate his grief. It is not to be wondered at, that many who spontaneously give themselves up to inaction, should sink under their trials, not using means to invigorate themselves by calling to remembrance the grace of God. Sometimes, it is true, our trials are only more keenly felt when we recall the former kindness which God may have shown to us, the comparison tending to awaken our feelings, and render them more acute; but David proposed a different end than this to himself, and gathered confidence from the past mercies of God. The very best method in order to obtain relief in trouble, when we are about to faint under it, is to call to mind the former loving-kindness of the Lord. Nor does David mean such as he had experienced from childhood, as some have thought, adopting in my judgment too restricted a sense; for the word קדם, kedem, has a more extensive signification. I have no doubt, therefore, that he includes past history, as well as his own personal experience, it being easy to discover proofs there of God’s continued goodness to his people. We should ourselves learn by his example, in reflecting upon personal favors received from God, to remember also how often he has assisted those that served him, and improve the truth for our own benefit. Should this not immediately or at once abate the bitterness of our grief, yet the advantage of it will afterwards appear. In the passage before us, David complains that he did not get relief from his anxieties and cares from this consolatory source, but he prosecuted his meditations in expectation of finding the good result in due time. The verb שוה, suach, I have elsewhere observed, may mean either to declare with the tongue, or to revolve in the mind. Some accordingly read — “I have discoursed of thy works.” But as the verb הגה, hagah, means to meditate, I consider that the Psalmist repeats the same thing twice, and this in token of earnestness. We will often upon a slight exercise of the thoughts upon God’s works, start aside from them almost immediately; nor is it matter of surprise, that, in this case, there results no solid comfort. That our knowledge may be abiding we must call in the aid of constant attention.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(4) See Psa. 142:3, and Notes.
Is desolate.Or, more literally, as in Isa. 59:16; Isa. 63:5, &c, wondered; literally, fills itself with astonishment.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. My heart is desolate A physical allusion signifying, “Is failing to beat,” “is getting torpid.” In sorrow the nervous currents diminish, and organic activity of the body declines.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 143:4 Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate.
Ver. 4. Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed ] God’s dearest children have their passions; against that stoic apathy. A sheep bitten by a dog is no less sensible of the pain thereof than a swine is; though he make not such an outcry.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
my spirit = me. Hebrew. ruach. App-9. Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Part), App-6, put for the whole person, for emphasis.
overwhelmed. Same word as Psa 77:3; Psa 107:5; Psa 142:3.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
is my spirit: Psa 55:5, Psa 61:2, Psa 77:3, Psa 102:1, *title Psa 124:4, Psa 142:3, Job 6:27
my heart: Psa 25:16, Psa 102:3, Psa 102:4, Psa 119:81-83, Luk 22:44
Reciprocal: Ezr 9:3 – sat Psa 6:6 – I am Psa 13:2 – exalted Psa 38:10 – heart Psa 42:5 – Why art thou cast down Psa 57:6 – my soul Psa 88:3 – soul Psa 88:8 – put Psa 141:8 – leave not my soul destitute Rom 8:26 – with
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
143:4 Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my {e} heart within me is desolate.
(e) So that only by faith and by the grace of God’s Spirit was he upheld.