Context No. 2414 of 4322 · Psalms

Psalms 143:1-12: in context

1Hear my prayer, LORD. Listen to my petitions. In your faithfulness and righteousness, relieve me. 2Don’t enter into judgment with your servant, for in your sight no man living is righteous. 3For the enemy pursues my soul. He has struck my life down to the ground. He has made me live in dark places, as those who have been long dead. 4Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me. My heart within me is desolate. 5I remember the days of old. I meditate on all your doings. I contemplate the work of your hands. 6I spread out my hands to you. My soul thirsts for you, like a parched land. Selah. 7Hurry to answer me, LORD. My spirit fails. Don’t hide your face from me, so that I don’t become like those who go down into the pit. 8Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning, for I trust in you. Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to you. 9Deliver me, LORD, from my enemies. I flee to you to hide me. 10Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness. 11Revive me, LORD, for your name’s sake. In your righteousness, bring my soul out of trouble. 12In your loving kindness, cut off my enemies, and destroy all those who afflict my soul, for I am your servant.

This is a prayer from the floor. The enemy has crushed David's life to the ground, his spirit faints, and he begins by asking God not to enter into judgment with him, since no one alive is righteous in God's sight. He is not pleading his merit; he throws himself on mercy. Then, out of that low place, he asks for two things: cause me to hear your love in the morning, and teach me to do your will.

The turn is telling. Overwhelmed and pursued, David does not ask merely to be rescued and left alone; he asks to be taught. Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; your Spirit is good, lead me on level ground. Even at the bottom, his desire is not just relief but direction, to be led by God rather than to escape and run his own way. Mercy and instruction come together: he comes with empty hands and asks to be shown how to walk.

In my low places, do I only beg to be rescued, or do I also ask God to teach me his will and lead me?

Sources

Psalm 143:2: Don't enter into judgment with your servant, for in your sight no man living is righteous.
Psalm 143:10: Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness.
Psalm 143:8: Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning, for I trust in you.