Psalms 143King James Version
Hear my prayer, O Lord. Enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified. Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning. Teach me to do thy will.
The last of the seven penitential psalms. Hear my prayer, O LORD; in your faithfulness answer me and in your righteousness. Do not enter into judgment with your servant: no living man is justified before you. The enemy has pursued, smitten my life to the ground, made me dwell in darkness. My spirit is overwhelmed; my heart desolate. I remember the days of old; I stretch out my hands to you; my soul is as a thirsty land. Hear me quickly; my spirit fails. Teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God.
The appeal is not to personal righteousness but to divine faithfulness and righteousness: because no living man can be justified before God, the only appeal is to the character of God himself.
verse: "And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified." The penitential basis of the entire prayer: not merit but mercy.
Superscription: 'A Psalm of David.' The seventh penitential psalm (6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143). The desolate darkness of v3 and the remembered days of old (v5) suggest exile condition, though the personal petition functions across all desolation. The closing requests (teach me, lead me, quicken me) form a triptych of renewal.
David as the overwhelmed petitioner in desolate darkness; God whose faithfulness and righteousness are the ground of the appeal; the enemy who has smitten life to the ground; the soul thirsting as a dry land.
Psalm 143 is the seventh and final penitential psalm. Paul quotes v2 in Galatians 2:16 and Romans 3:20 as part of his argument that no flesh is justified by works of the law. The psalm's total abandonment of self-justification and appeal purely to divine faithfulness is the Old Testament's closest approach to Pauline justification by faith.
For when you are utterly overwhelmed, desolate, and the only honest prayer is 'hear me, my spirit fails.' The psalm does not require you to be in a better state to pray.
1[A Psalm of David.] Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.
2And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.
3For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead.
4Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate.
5I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.
6I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah.
7Hear 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.
8Cause 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.
9Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me.
10Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.
11Quicken me, O LORD, for thy name's sake: for thy righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble.
12And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant.