Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 143:7
Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.
7. From Psa 69:17; Psa 102:2; Psa 27:9; Psa 84:2; Psa 28:1.
Hear me speedily ] R.V. Make haste to answer me.
hide not &c.] For if God withdraws the light of His Presence, he will be like the dying or the dead.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
7 12. Prayer for speedy hearing, for guidance and deliverance, for the destruction of his enemies. The language is borrowed almost entirely from older Psalms.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Hear me speedily, O Lord. Hasten to hear me; do not delay. Literally, Hasten; answer me. I am in imminent danger. Do not delay to come to my relief.
My spirit faileth – My strength is declining. I can hold out no longer. I am ready to give up and die.
Hide not thy face from me – Do not refuse or delay to look favorably upon me; to lift up the light of thy countenance upon me.
Lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit – Margin, For I am become like. The idea is, Unless thou shalt lift up the light of thy countenance – unless thou shalt interpose and help me, I shall die. The pit here refers to the grave. See the notes at Psa 28:1.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 7. Hear me speedily] maher, make haste to answer me. A few hours, and my state may be irretrievable. In a short time my unnatural son may put an end to my life.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
That are dead and buried, of whom there is no hope.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. spirit failethisexhausted.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Hear me speedily, O Lord: my spirit faileth,…. Ready to sink, swoon, and faint away, through the weight of the affliction on him, by reason of the persecution of his enemy, and for want of the divine Presence; hence the Targum renders it,
“my spirit desireth thee;”
see So 5:6; and therefore entreats that God would hear and answer him quickly; or, “make haste to answer” him, and not delay, lest he should be quite gone. Wherefore it follows,
hide not thy face from me; nothing is more desirable to a good man than the “face” or presence of God, the light of his countenance, and sensible communion with him; which may be said to be “hid” when he withdraws his gracious presence, and withholds the discoveries of his love, and the manifestations of his free grace and favour; which he sometimes does on account of sin, and is the case at times of the best of saints; and is consistent with the love of God, though very grieving to them, and therefore here deprecated: the Targum is,
“cause not thy Shechinah to remove from me;”
lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit; either the house of the grave, as the Targum; look wan and pale, become lifeless and spiritless, or like a dead man; for as in the favour of God is life, his absence is as death: or the pit of hell, the pit of destruction; that is, be in such horror and despair, and under such apprehensions of divine wrath, as the damned feel.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
In this second half the Psalm seems still more like a reproduction of the thoughts of earlier Psalms. The prayer, “answer me speedily, hide not Thy face from me,” sounds like Psa 69:18; Psa 27:9, cf. Psa 102:3. The expression of languishing longing, , is like Psa 84:3. And the apodosis, “else I should become like those who go down into the pit,” agrees word for word with Psa 28:1, cf. Psa 88:5. In connection with the words, “cause me to hear Thy loving-kindness in the early morning,” one is reminded of the similar prayer of Moses in Psa 90:14, and with the confirmatory “for in Thee do I trust” of Psa 25:2, and frequently. With the prayer that the night of affliction may have an end with the next morning’s dawn, and that God’s helping loving-kindness may make itself felt by him, is joined the prayer that God would be pleased to grant him to know the way that he has to go in order to escape the destruction into which they are anxious to ensnare him. This last prayer has its type in Exo 33:13, and in the Psalter in Psa 25:4 (cf. Psa 142:4); and its confirmation: for to Thee have I lifted up my soul, viz., in a craving after salvation and in the confidence of faith, has its type in Psa 25:1; Psa 86:4. But the words , which are added to the petition “deliver me from mine enemies” (Psa 59:2; Psa 31:16), are peculiar, and in their expression without example. The Syriac version leaves them untranslated. The lxx renders: , by which the defective mode of writing is indirectly attested, instead of which the translators read (cf. in Isa 10:3); for elsewhere not but is reproduced with . The Targum renders it , Thy Logos do I account as (my) Redeemer (i.e., regard it as such), as if the Hebrew words were to be rendered: upon Thee do I reckon or count, = , Exo 12:4. Luther closely follows the lxx: “to Thee have I fled for refuge.” Jerome, however, inasmuch as he renders: ad te protectus sum , has pointed ( ). Hitzig (on the passage before us and Pro 7:20) reads from = , to look (“towards Thee do I look”). But the Hebrew contains no trace of that verb; the full moon is called ( ), not as being “a sight or vision, species,” but from its covered orb.
The before us only admits of two interpretations: (1) Ad ( apud ) te texi = to Thee have I secretly confided it (Rashi, Aben-Ezra, Kimchi, Coccejus, J. H. Michaelis, J. D. Michalis, Rosenmller, Gesenius, and De Wette). But such a constructio praegnans , in connection with which would veer round from the signification to veil (cf. , Gen 18:17) into its opposite, and the clause have the meaning of , Jer 11:20; Jer 20:12, is hardly conceivable. (2) Ad ( apud ) te abscondidi , scil. me (Saadia, Calvin, Maurer, Ewald, and Hengstenberg), in favour of which we decide; for it is evident from Gen 38:14; Deu 22:12, cf. Jon 3:6, that can express the act of covering as an act that is referred to the person himself who covers, and so can obtain a reflexive meaning. Therefore: towards Thee, with Thee have I made a hiding = hidden myself, which according to the sense is equivalent to , as Hupfeld (with a few MSS) wishes to read; but Abulwald has already remarked that the same goal is reached with . Jahve, with whom he hides himself, is alone able to make known to him what is right and beneficial in the position in which he finds himself, in which he is exposed to temporal and spiritual dangers, and is able to teach him to carry out the recognised will of God (“the will of God, good and well-pleasing and perfect,” Rom 12:2); and this it is for which he prays to Him in Psa 143:10 ( ; another reading, ). For Jahve is indeed his God, who cannot leave him, who is assailed and tempted without and within, in error; may His good Spirit then ( for , Neh 9:20)
(Note: Properly, “Thy Spirit, , a spirit, the good one, although such irregularities may also be a negligent usage of the language, like the Arabic msjd ‘l – jam , the chief mosque, which many grammarians regard as a construct relationship, others as an ellipsis (inasmuch as they supply Arab. ‘l – mkan between the words); the former is confirmed from the Hebrew, vid., Ewald, 287, a.))
lead him in a level country, for, as it is said in Isaiah, Isa 26:7, in looking up to Jahve, “the path which the righteous man takes is smoothness; Thou makest the course of the righteous smooth.” The geographical term , Deu 4:43; Jer 48:21, is here applied spiritually. Here, too, reminiscences of Psalms already read meet us everywhere: cf. on “to do Thy will,” Psa 40:9; on “for Thou art my God,” Psa 40:6, and frequently; on “Thy good Spirit,” Psa 51:14; on “a level country,” and the whole petition, Psa 27:11 (where the expression is “a level path”), together with Psa 5:9; Psa 25:4., Psa 31:4. And the Psalm also further unrolls itself in such now well-known thoughts of the Psalms: For Thy Name’s sake, Jahve (Psa 25:11), quicken me again (Psa 71:20, and frequently); by virtue of Thy righteousness be pleased to bring my soul out of distress (Ps 142:8; Psa 25:17, and frequently); and by virtue of Thy loving-kindness cut off mine enemies (Psa 54:7). As in Psa 143:1 faithfulness and righteousness, here loving-kindness (mercy) and righteousness, are coupled together; and that so that mercy is not named beside towtsiy’, nor righteousness beside , but the reverse (vid., on Psa 143:1). It is impossible that God should suffer him who has hidden himself in Him to die and perish, and should suffer his enemies on the other hand to triumph. Therefore the poet confirms the prayer for the cutting off ( as in Psa 94:23) of his enemies and the destruction ( , elsewhere ) of the oppressors of his soul (elsewhere ) with the words: for I am Thy servant.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Prayers for Divine Grace. | |
7 Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. 8 Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee. 9 Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me. 10 Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness. 11 Quicken me, O LORD, for thy name’s sake: for thy righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble. 12 And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant.
David here tells us what he said when he stretched forth his hands unto God; he begins not only as one in earnest, but as one in haste: “Hear me speedily, and defer no longer, for my spirit faileth. I am just ready to faint; reach the cordial–quickly, quickly, or I am gone.” It was not a haste of unbelief, but of vehement desire and holy love. Make haste, O God! to help me. Three things David here prays for:–
I. The manifestations of God’s favour towards him, that God would be well pleased with him and let him know that he was so; this he prefers before any good, Ps. iv. 6. 1. He dreads God’s frowns: “Lord, hide not thy face from me; Lord, be not angry with me, do not turn from me, as we do from one we are displeased with; Lord, let me not be left under the apprehensions of thy anger or in doubt concerning thy favour; if I have thy favour, let it not be hidden from me.” Those that have the truth of grace cannot but desire the evidence of it. He pleads the wretchedness of his case if God withdrew from him: “Lord, let me not lie under thy wrath, for then I am like those that go down to the pit, that is, down to the grave (I am a dead man, weak, and pale, and ghastly; thy frowns are worse than death), or down to hell, the bottomless pit.” Even those who through grace are delivered from going down to the pit may sometimes, when the terrors of the Almighty set themselves in array against them, look like those who are going to the pit. Disconsolate saints have sometimes cried out of the wrath of God, as if they had been damned sinners, Job 6:4; Psa 88:6. 2. He entreats God’s favour (v. 8): Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning. He cannot but think that God has a kindness for him, that he has some kind things to say to him, some good words and comfortable words; but the present hurry of his affairs, and tumult of his spirits, drowned those pleasing whispers; and therefore he begs, “Lord, do not only speak kindly to me, but cause me to hear it, to hear joy and gladness,” Ps. li. 8. God speaks to us by his word and by his providence, and in both we should desire and endeavour to hear his lovingkindness (Ps. cvii. 43), that we may set that always before us: “Cause me to hear it in the morning, every morning; let my waking thoughts be of God’s lovingkindness, that the sweet relish of that may abide upon my spirits all the day long.” His plea is, “For in thee do I trust, and in thee only; I look not for comfort in any other.” God’s goodness is commonly wrought for those who trust in him (Ps. xxxi. 8), who by faith draw it out.
II. The operations of God’s grace in him. Those he is as earnest for as for the tokens of God’s favour to him, and so should we be. He prays,
1. That he might be enlightened with the knowledge of God’s will; and this is the first work of the Spirit, in order to his other works, for God deals with men as men, as reasonable creatures. Here are three petitions to this effect:– (1.) Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk. Sometimes those that are much in care to walk right are in doubt, and in the dark, which is the right way. Let them come boldly to the throne of grace, and beg of God, by his word, and Spirit, and providence, to show them the way, and prevent their missing it. A good man does not ask what is the way in which he must walk, or in which is the most pleasant walking, but what is the right way, the way in which he should walk. He pleads, “I lift up my soul unto thee, to be moulded and fashioned according to thy will.” He did not only importunately, but impartially, desire to know his duty; and those that do so shall be taught. (2.) “Teach me to do thy will, not only show me what thy will is, but teach me how to do it, how to turn my hand dexterously to my duty.” It is the desire and endeavour of all God’s faithful servants to know and to do his will, and to stand complete in it. He pleads, “Thou art my God, and therefore my oracle, by whom I may expect to be advised–my God, and therefore my ruler, whose will I desire to do.” If we do in sincerity take God for our God, we may depend upon him to teach us to do his will, as a master does his servant. (3.) Lead me into the land of uprightness, into the communion of saints, that pleasant land of the upright, or into a settled course of holy living, which will lead to heaven, that land of uprightness where holiness will be in perfection, and he that is holy shall be holy still. We should desire to be led, and kept safe, to heaven, not only because it is a land of blessedness, but because it is a land of uprightness; it is the perfection of grace. We cannot find the way that will bring us to that land unless God show us, nor go in that way unless he take us by the hand and lead us, as we lead those that are weak, or lame, or timorous, or dim-sighted; so necessary is the grace of God, not only to put us into the good way, but to keep us and carry us on in it. The plea is, “Thy Spirit is good, and able to make me good,” good and willing to help those that are at a loss. Those that have the Lord for their God have his Spirit for their guide; and it is both their character and their privilege that they are led by the Spirit.
2. He prays that he might be enlivened to do his will (v. 11): “Quicken me, O Lord!–quicken my devotions, that they may be lively; quicken me to my duty, and quicken me in it; and this for thy name’s sake.” The best saints often find themselves dull, and dead, and slow, and therefore pray to God to quicken them.
III. The appearance of God’s providence for him, 1. That God would, in his own way and time, give him rest from his troubles (v. 9): “Deliver me, O Lord! from my enemies, that they may not have their will against me; for I flee unto thee to hide me; I trust to thee to defend me in my trouble, and therefore to rescue me out of it.” Preservations are pledges of salvation, and those shall find God their hiding-place who by faith make him such. He explains himself (v. 11): “For thy righteousness-sake, bring my soul out of trouble, for thy promise-sake, nay, for thy mercy-sake” (for some by righteousness understand kindness and goodness); “do not only deliver me from my outward trouble, but from the trouble of my soul, the trouble that threatens to overwhelm my spirit. Whatever trouble I am in, Lord, let not my heart be troubled,” John xiv. 1. 2. That he would reckon with those that were the instruments of his trouble (v. 12): “Of thy mercy to me cut off my enemies, that I may be no longer in fear of them; and destroy all those, whoever they be, how numerous, how powerful, soever, who afflict my soul, and create vexation to that; for I am thy servant, and am resolved to continue such, and therefore may expect to be owned and protected in thy service.” This prayer is a prophecy of the utter destruction of all the impenitent enemies of Jesus Christ and his kingdom, who will not have him to reign over them, who grieve his Spirit, and afflict his soul, by afflicting his people, in whose afflictions he is afflicted.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
(7) With the first clause comp. Psa. 69:17, with the second, Psa. 102:2,
This dependence on former psalms does not detract from the reality of the feeling expressed by means of these ancient sobs and cries. The contrast of the present with former times (Psa. 143:5) with the recollection of Gods dealings then, joined to thoughtful contemplation of the reality of His power as displayed in His works, makes the psalmists anguish the more intense, his longing the more consuming, his supplication the more urgent.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. Hear me speedily This second half of the psalm presents many thoughts already familiar. The night is advancing, and with the dawn, comes battle, and, unless he gain the ear and aid of Jehovah, utter ruin will also come, irretrievable as a plunge into the bottomless.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
DISCOURSE: 739
GOD A REFUGE TO THE DISTRESSED
Psa 143:7-10. Hear me speedily, O Lord! my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. Cause me to hear thy loving-kindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee. Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me. Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.
THIS is the last of what are called the Penitential Psalms; and it is appointed by the Church to be read at the beginning of Lent, as being peculiarly suited to that season which is more particularly consecrated to humiliation before God. It is supposed, by many, that it was written at the time of Absaloms rebellion: but I conceive that it must rather have been penned during the persecutions which he suffered at the hands of Saul: because his trouble had evidently been of long continuance [Note: ver. 3.]; whereas that which arose from Absaloms rebellion was soon terminated. However this may be, it is plain that he was brought into great distress, and that he sought help, where alone it could be found, in the Lord his God.
That I may bring the substance of the psalm distinctly before you, I will take occasion to shew,
I.
To what a state a good man may, by accumulated troubles, be reduced
Of Davids piety, except in the matter of Uriah, we have no doubt.
But he was exposed to many and sore trials
[Even from his youth he was in continual danger, from the persecutions of Saul: and how heavily they bore upon his mind, the psalms which he composed most amply testify. Save me, O God! for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. I am weary of my crying; my throat is dried: mine eyes fail, while I wait for my God. Would we know what was the occasion of this overwhelming sorrow? He tells us; They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty [Note: Psa 69:1-4.].
Much also was that holy man exercised with spiritual affliction. His feelings were quite in accordance with those of Heman in the 88th Psalm: O Lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee: let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry; for my soul is full of troubles; and my life draweth nigh unto the grave. I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength: free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand. Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves .. Lord, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me? I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors, I am distracted. Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; thy terrors have out me off [Note: Psa 88:1-7; Psa 88:14-16.].
In the psalm before us, the affliction which pressed the more heavily on his mind seems to have been of a temporal kind: but it was very heavy, insomuch that his spirit was overwhelmed within him, and his heart within him was desolate [Note: ver. 4.]. This accounts for a degree of impatience which he manifested; which yet was the impatience of importunity only, and not of murmuring; and, consequently, was well pleasing to the Lord: Hear me speedily, O Lord! my spirit faileth. But from whatever source it flowed, it shews that]
Good men amongst ourselves may be reduced to like extremities
[No man is exempt from trouble, whether of a temporal or spiritual kind. Heavy trials, from whatever quarter they come, will still overwhelm the mind, especially if they be of long continuance. And Satan will take advantage of a season of dejection, to instil into the mind hard thoughts of God, and to sink it into utter despair. The experience of holy Job clearly shews us how powerful the devices of Satan are, and how terrible his assaults. The arrows of the Almighty are within me, says he; the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me [Note: Job 6:4.]. Let not any, then, take offence at religion, if they still find that persons of real piety be occasionally harassed with temptation, or oppressed with a dread of Gods avenging wrath. They may not immediately see wherefore God contendeth with them: but they shall be made victorious in the end, yea, and more than conquerors, through Him that loveth them.]
In confirmation of this, I proceed to shew,
II.
What a blessed refuge yet remains open to him
To whom did David betake himself in this extremity?
[In the preceding psalm this point is answered: I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul. I cried unto thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my refuge [Note: Psa 142:4-5.]. Accordingly, in the psalm before us, we find him crying unto the Lord, and saying, I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. But let us mark how strongly he reiterates this in the words of my text: Hear me speedily, O Lord! for in thee do I trust: I lift up my soul unto thee: I flee unto thee to hide me: for thou art my God. He knew how utterly unable he was to deliver himself; whilst of Gods condescension and grace he had had ample experience: and therefore, whilst destitute of all other hope, he encouraged himself in the Lord his God.]
And is there not the same blessed refuge for us at this day?
[Yes; God is a refuge for us [Note: Psa 62:8.]: and it is the privilege of every true Believer to say, In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God [Note: Psa 62:7.]. Of whatever kind our trials be, the direction given us is this: Cast thy burthen on the Lord, and he will sustain thee [Note: Psa 55:22.]. Are we assaulted by persecutors? Davids example will shew us where to go, and how to obtain relief: Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me: fight thou against them that fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help. Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation [Note: Psa 35:1-3.]. Is our trouble rather of a spiritual kind? The Prophet Isaiah clearly directs our way: Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God [Note: Isa 50:10.]. To all, then, in the name of God himself, I would say, Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, (the perfections and the promises of thy God;) and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast [Note: Isa 26:20.].]
Not to rest in this general view, I will go on to shew,
III.
What he may hope to obtain by fervent and persevering prayer
See what the petitions of David were: Hear me speedily, O Lord! my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. Cause me to hear thy loving-kindness in the morning: cause me to know the way wherein I should go: deliver me from mine enemies: teach me to do thy will; and lead me into the land of uprightness. Now, what in these petitions he sought, we also may hope by similar importunity to obtain:
1.
The manifestations of Gods favour
[An upright soul cannot but earnestly desire these: for in His favour is life, and His loving-kindness is better than life itself [Note: Psa 63:3.]. In comparison of this, there is nothing good, nothing desirable, in the whole universe: Who will shew us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us [Note: Psa 4:6.]! If a sense of Gods favour be withdrawn, and his face be hid from an upright soul, it is as the precincts of hell itself [Note: Psa 80:3-5.]. Seek then, in the first place, to be reconciled to God through the Son of his love: and cease not to importune him, till the morning arise upon you, and a sense of his loving-kindness be shed abroad in your hearts.]
2.
The interpositions of his providence
[In arduous circumstances, our way is made exceeding difficult; so that oftentimes we know not what to do: we seem indeed to be shut up in the very hands of our enemies, and to have no way of escape open to us. But it is never in vain to call upon God, who in the very hour of extremity will appear for us, and will rescue us, like Peter, from our prison, when, to all human appearance, there is no longer any hope of escape [Note: Act 12:6-9.]. Still is that proverb realized, In the mount, the mount of difficulty, shall the Lord be seen [Note: Gen 22:14.]. Only cry out, like Jonah, from the very belly of hell; and from thence shalt thou be delivered [Note: Jon 2:2.]; and thine enemies, who sought thy life, shall all be turned back [Note: 2Ch 18:31.]. The whole people of Israel, at the Red Sea, appeared to be already, as it were, swallowed up by their powerful and blood-thirsty enemies: but a way was opened through the mighty waters, which became a path to Israel, and a grave to Egypt. And to us also will God still be known, as the God who maketh the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over [Note: Isa 51:10.].]
3.
The influences of his grace
[To the latest hour of our lives we shall need the sanctifying and saving operations of Gods Holy Spirit: and guide us he will in all our ways, till he bring us finally to the possession of his glory [Note: Psa 73:24.]. His blessed Spirit is still as good and gracious and condescending as ever. He will teach us to do Gods will, as well as to know it; and will make all our tribulation a way to his kingdom [Note: Act 14:22 and Rev 7:14.], and our sufferings the means of fitting us for the enjoyment of it [Note: 2Co 4:17. Rom 8:28.].]
Let us then learn, from this subject,
1.
How to judge of our state before God
[It is not by our occasional feelings that we are to judge, but by our abiding taste. You may be fainting, and, in your own apprehension, ready to perish; and yet be in a state of safety before God: for Heman, Asaph, David, and Job, were all under great distress of mind, and were brought, for a season, to the very brink of despair. But if you are longing for a sense of Gods favour as your supreme good, and are desirous to know, in order that you may do, his will, you have nothing to fear. You may be in darkness; but light is sown for you; and it shall spring up in due season. Your weeping may endure for a night; but joy shall come in the morning [Note: Psa 30:5.].]
2.
How to act under overwhelming calamities
[Go not from God, but to him: and the greater sense you have of your necessities, be only so much the more urgent in your application to him. That you may be overwhelmed for a season, the prophet acknowledges: for even the youths may faint and be weary, and the young men may utterly fall: but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint [Note: Isa 40:29-31.]. Only follow on to know the Lord; and you shall as surely behold the light of his countenance, as the sun shall return after the darkest night [Note: Hos 6:3.]. The vision, it is true, may tarry: but at its appointed season it shall come, and not disappoint the expectations of any creature in the universe who waiteth for it [Note: Heb 2:3.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Here are the same hopes, the same confidences, and the same acts of faith, which all the other parts of the believer’s supplications carry with them, that the issue shall be prosperous. And to those who view Christ as the foundation on which those hopes are built, the issue will never be doubtful. Jesus hath said, heaven and earth shall pass away; but my word shall not pass away, Mat 24:35 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 143:7 Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.
Ver. 7. Hear me speedily ] A very pathetic prayer uttered in many words to like purpose; as the manner is, in extreme danger.
My spirit faileth
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 143:7-9
7Answer me quickly, O Lord, my spirit fails;
Do not hide Your face from me,
Or I will become like those who go down to the pit.
8Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning;
For I trust in You;
Teach me the way in which I should walk;
For to You I lift up my soul.
9Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies;
I take refuge in You.
Psa 143:7 my spirit fails The verb (BDB 477, KB 476, Qal perfect) means to be complete or to be finished. It is used of a person in
1. Job 33:21, flesh fails
2. Psa 71:9, strength fails
3. Psa 73:26, flesh and heart fail
4. Pro 5:11, flesh and body fail
The psalmist feels he is about to die and go to Sheol (i.e., the pit, Psa 143:7 c).
hide Your face from me This is idiomatic, anthropomorphic language of (1) God being silent and not responding to the psalmist’s prayers or (2) God rejecting the psalmist; only context or parallelism can determine (cf. Psa 10:11; Psa 13:1; Psa 27:9; Psa 30:7; Psa 51:9; Psa 69:17; Psa 88:14; Psa 102:2). It expresses a sense of hopeless helplessness (cf. Psa 142:4).
Psa 143:8 c Teach me the way in which I should walk This verb (BDB 393, KB 390, Hiphil imperative) basically means to know. The NASB translates it as
1. make known – 1Ch 17:19; Job 26:3; Psa 89:1; Psa 98:2; Psa 106:8; Psa 145:12; Isa 64:1; Hab 3:2
2. teach – Exo 18:20; Jer 31:19; and here
Walk is often used as a metaphor for daily living (i.e., Psa 1:1; Pro 1:15; Pro 4:14; Isa 48:17; Jer 42:3; in the NT also, i.e., Rom 14:15; Eph 4:1; Eph 4:17; Eph 5:2; Eph 5:15).
Psa 143:8 d to You I lift up my soul This could be imagery, used only three times with YHWH as the object (cf. Psa 25:1; Psa 86:4) related to
1. praying (i.e., lift up my hands/palms)
2. sacrifice (i.e., wave offering or the imagery of the horns of the sacrificial altar)
Psa 143:9
NASBI take refuge in You
NKJVIn You I take shelter
NJBsince in you I find protection
JPSOAto You I look for cover
REBwith you I seek refuge
LXX, Vulgateto You I flee
The participle (BDB 491, KB 487, Piel participle) basically means to cover or to hide. It is a very common root in the OT.
The AB (p. 325) translates this line of poetry as my God (El), truly am I being submerged. Dahood connects it to a reference to Sheol by using Job 22:11.
The UBS Handbook (p. 1153) mentions two Hebrew MSS which translate the MT differently.
1. I seek refuge in You
2. to You I flee
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
the pit = a grave. Hebrew. bor. A sepulchre, as hewn out of the rock. Hence rendered cistern, or dry pit. Compare Gen 37:20. See note on Gen 21:19.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 143:7-12
Psa 143:7-12
“Make haste to answer me, O Jehovah; my spirit faileth:
Hide not thy face from me,
Lest I become like them that go down to the pit.
Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning;
For in thee do I trust:
Cause me to know the ways wherein I should walk;
For I lift up my soul unto thee.
Deliver me, O Jehovah, from mine enemies;
I flee unto thee to hide me.
Teach me to do thy will;
For thou art my God;
Thy Spirit is good;
Lead me in the land of uprightness.
Quicken me, O Jehovah, for thy name’s sake:
In thy righteousness bring my soul out of trouble.
And in thy lovingkindness cut off mine enemies,
And destroy all them that afflict my soul;
For I am thy servant.”
“Make haste to answer me … cause me to hear … in the morning” (Psa 143:7-8). In this we have the seventh of the multiple grounds upon which the psalmist predicated his petition; and here the point is that unless God shall help him very soon, it will be too late.
The last four verses here are very similar to David’s usual imprecations against his enemies.
“Deliver me from mine enemies” (Psa 143:9) … “Teach me to do thy will” (Psa 143:10). There is a tacit admission here that David’s strict adherence to God’s will is a necessary corollary of God’s rescuing him from the terrible mess in which he finds himself during Absalom’s rebellion.
“Quicken me, O Jehovah, for thy name’s sake; in thy righteousness bring my soul out of trouble” (Psa 143:11). McCaw noted that most of us would, “Be happy to pray this prayer (Psa 143:11), but that we might shy away from praying the next verse (Psa 143:12).
“Cut off mine enemies … destroy all them that afflict my soul” (Psa 143:12). Yes, there is a sophisticated type of interpreter who never fails to depreciate such a prayer as this; but, again from McCaw, “There are circumstances,” such as that in the rebellion of Absalom, “Where there can be no deliverance without destruction, and to pray for one is also to pray for the other.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 143:7. Pit is from a word that sometimes means forgetfulness. To hear speedily means to hear promptly and favorably and grant the favor requested.
Psa 143:8. The significance of hearing in the morning is that it would start out the day under the care of the Lord. It is genuine kindness for the Lord to show a man how he should walk. Without divine guidance he might wander into crooked and dangerous paths and be lost.
Psa 143:9. The Psalmist thought of God as a place of refuge to which he would flee for protection from the threatening dangers at the hands of his enemies.
Psa 143:10. David was an inspired man when writing his part of the Bible. But the sacred document had not been completed as yet, and a man in the official position of king and counselor of a great people was confronted with various conditions of life. At such times he needed specific instruction concerning the will of the Lord. That was to be given to him by the spirit of God for his infallible guidance.
Psa 143:11. To quicken means to enliven and encourage. For thy righteousness’ sake meant it would be righteous for God to deliver David’s soul (his whole being) from the troubles thrust upon him by his enemies.
Psa 143:12. Severe treatment of his enemies would be regarded an act of mercy for David. The motive for such an action was the fact that he was a servant of God
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Hear me: Psa 13:1-4, Psa 40:13, Psa 40:17, Psa 70:5, Psa 71:12
my spirit: Psa 40:12, Psa 69:3, Isa 57:16, Luk 21:26
hide not: Psa 22:24, Psa 27:9, Psa 69:17, Isa 8:17
lest I be like: etc. or, for I am become like, etc
unto them: Psa 28:1, Psa 88:4-6, Psa 88:10, Psa 88:11, Isa 38:18
Reciprocal: Gen 4:14 – from thy Num 16:33 – into the 2Ch 9:4 – there was Job 6:4 – drinketh up Job 17:16 – the bars of the pit Job 34:29 – when he hideth Psa 30:7 – thou Psa 30:10 – Hear Psa 31:2 – deliver Psa 42:1 – so panteth Psa 54:2 – General Psa 55:1 – hide Psa 63:8 – followeth Psa 70:1 – O God Psa 101:2 – O when Psa 102:1 – Hear Psa 102:2 – Hide Psa 119:123 – General Psa 141:1 – make haste Psa 142:6 – for I am Pro 1:12 – whole Pro 13:12 – Hope Isa 38:14 – I am Lam 3:6 – in dark Jon 2:6 – corruption Luk 18:8 – he will Luk 22:44 – being
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
REST AND SERVICE
Hear me, O Lord, and that soon. For Thy righteousness sake bring my soul out of trouble.
Psa 143:7-11 (Prayer Book Version)
There you have the transition of a soul from the rest which it needed in long conflict and many failures, from the rest, to the energy of a new service. Show me the way that I should walk in. Quicken me, O Lord, according to Thy Word. We need rest and may claim it at various times (e.g. in Lent). If men will but taste deeply of the fountain of that rest they will, before they know it, be roused up in new strength to the new service, and so it would be quite well to think of the promises of rest, and the duty of leaning all our weight upon God.
I. The nature of the rest.First, then, about the rest itself, which is not a rest of sloth, a rest from toil. It is a rest from the strain of poverty, or the strain of covetousness and ambition. Found in pleasure, in the satisfaction of our desires? No; found in the spirit of contentment. We rest from struggle or from ambition in contentment; we rest from adversity and strife and contention in patience, not by Gods taking away the causes of our unrest, not by His blunting the weapons of our accusers and oppressors, but by the spirit of patience in our hearts, the spirit of Jesus Christ, by which He submitted to the unjust judge, and for us bore our stripes and hung upon the tree. It is our rest from injustice, from tyranny, from adversity, from conflict. Our rest from anxiety, debate, discussion, and doubt is not in the clearing up of the atmosphere in which we view all things, but it is in taking into our hearts the great treasure of a trustful reliance on God, though we see Him not, though He seem to smite us. Rest from distraction is not found in being able to comprise and manage all the objects of our desire, so as to be able to husband our time and forces and gain them all, it is found in returning to the single eye, in submitting every desire to the yoke of Jesus Christ. We shall have no rest by forgetting moral distinctions or thinking our way right because it is ours. Rest from sin is in a deep penitence. We take the peace of God, Christs own peace which He enjoyed on the Cross and in the Garden, Christs own peace which is so deeply rooted in earthly sorrow that no man can take it away. That is the peace we come to.
II. Peace and warfare.We find our joy in conflict; the kingdom we come into is no land of milk and honey, no Sabbath place of rest. It is called a kingdom because it is the sphere of activity and influence of a King on His march. We have a peace, but it is the peace of soldiers under the banner of a King in arms. Never be afraid of coming into Christs rest because you think you will avoid difficulty and strife. It seems to me it is the doubters, the clever debaters, it is those who escape from trouble and toil, those who are always waiting in the uneventful ante-chambers of doubt, where nothing happens, where the doors of the arena are always closed, and men are always wondering whether they shall put on the armour or not, talking of the strife and strain of doubt, talking of the wonderful adventure of free thought, and all the while abiding where the same controversies are turned over and over again, where the narrowed soul is self-satisfied with its own stale contribution to worn discussions. There is indeed a strife and a strain in that for some who are longing to enter in; but I assert, without much fear of contradiction from those who really know themselves in that room, that on the whole that life of doubt, debate, and question is a life which shirks the true issues of life. It is the man who believes and takes the plunge, who finds himself in the deep waters of difficulty and amidst the real problems of the life of faith, who is under the vast truth of God. No man liveth to himself but to the Lord, Who needs him for His service. He must live, he must be strong in the Lord, for the needs of others; he must rest for them, he must be revived for them, he must find strength for them, and, dying for them unto sin, he shall live again for them unto righteousness. He shall fight well because he hath rested well for them.
Just take that one word, rest, and find energy; rest, and in your peace find war; rest for others that you may fight for others. It is the corporate nature of your life which makes your rest necessary, which makes your weariness necessary, for it is to teach you to bring your single note into the great chord of life.
Rev. P. N. Waggett.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Psa 143:7-9. Hear me speedily Defer no longer; for my spirit faileth I am just ready to faint. Hide not thy face Be not angry with me; do not turn from me as one displeased with me, nor deprive me of the light of thy countenance: if I have thy favour let me know that I have it; lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit That are dead and buried, of whom there is no hope; or, lest I be discouraged, dejected, and disconsolate. Cause me to hear thy loving-kindness in the morning Early, seasonable, and speedily, as this phrase is taken Psa 90:14. Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk So as to please thee and to secure myself; I flee unto thee to hide me Without whose care these caves, and rocks, and human helps can give me no protection.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2. The psalmist’s petition 143:7-12
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
David requested a quick reply to his prayer, since he felt he would die if one was not forthcoming immediately. Hiding one’s face pictures making oneself inaccessible.