<div class="version vid107 iso6393eng" data-vid="107" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkPSA">
 <div class="chapter ch143" data-usfm="PSA.143">
 <div class="label">143</div><div class="s1">Psalm 143#sn Psalm 143. As in the previous psalm, the psalmist laments his persecuted state and asks the Lord to deliver him from his enemies.</div><div class="s2">A psalm of David.</div><div class="p">1 O Lord, hear my prayer!</div><div class="p">Pay attention to my plea for help!</div><div class="p">Because of your faithfulness and justice, answer me!</div><div class="p">2 Do not sit in judgment on#tn Heb &#8220;do not enter into judgment with.&#8221; your servant,</div><div class="p">for no one alive is innocent before you.#tn Heb &#8220;for no one living is innocent before you.&#8221;</div><div class="p">3 Certainly#tn Or &#8220;for.&#8221; my enemies#tn Heb &#8220;an enemy.&#8221; The singular is used in a representative sense to describe a typical member of the larger group of enemies (note the plural &#8220;enemies&#8221; in vv. 9, 12). chase me.</div><div class="p">They smash me into the ground.#tn Heb &#8220;he crushes on the ground my life.&#8221;</div><div class="p">They force me to live#tn Or &#8220;sit.&#8221; in dark regions,#sn Dark regions refers to Sheol, which the psalmist views as a dark place located deep in the ground (see Ps 88:6).</div><div class="p">like those who have been dead for ages.</div><div class="p">4 My strength leaves me;#tn Heb &#8220;my spirit grows faint.&#8221;</div><div class="p">I am absolutely shocked.#tn Heb &#8220;in my midst my heart is shocked.&#8221; For a similar use of the Hitpolel of &#1513;&#1473;&#1464;&#1502;&#1461;&#1501; (shamem), see Isa 59:16; 63:5.</div><div class="p">5 I recall the old days;#tn Or &#8220;ancient times&#8221;; Heb &#8220;days from before.&#8221;</div><div class="p">I meditate on all you have done;</div><div class="p">I reflect on your accomplishments.#tn Heb &#8220;the work of your hands.&#8221;</div><div class="p">6 I spread my hands out to you in prayer;#tn The words &#8220;in prayer&#8221; are supplied in the translation to clarify that the psalmist is referring to a posture of prayer.</div><div class="p">my soul thirsts for you in a parched#tn Heb &#8220;faint&#8221; or &#8220;weary.&#8221; See Ps 63:1. land.#tc Heb &#8220;my soul like a faint land for you.&#8221; A verb (perhaps &#8220;thirsts&#8221;) is implied (see Ps 63:1). The translation assumes an emendation of the preposition -&#1499;&#1468;&#1456; (k&#255;, &#8220;like&#8221;) to -&#1489;&#1468;&#1456; (b&#255;, &#8220;in,&#8221; see Ps 63:1; cf. NEB &#8220;athirst for thee in a thirsty land&#8221;). If the MT is retained, one might translate, &#8220;my soul thirsts for you, as a parched land does for water/rain&#8221; (cf. NIV, NRSV).</div><div class="p">7 Answer me quickly, Lord!</div><div class="p">My strength is fading.#tn Heb &#8220;my spirit is failing.&#8221;</div><div class="p">Do not reject me,#tn Heb &#8220;do not hide your face from me.&#8221; The idiom &#8220;hide the face&#8221; (1) can mean &#8220;ignore&#8221; (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or (2) can carry the stronger idea of &#8220;reject&#8221; (see Pss 30:7; 88:14).</div><div class="p">or I will join#tn Heb &#8220;I will be equal with.&#8221; those descending into the grave.#tn Heb &#8220;the pit.&#8221; The Hebrew noun &#1489;&#1468;&#1493;&#1465;&#1512; (bor, &#8220;pit; cistern&#8221;) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead. See Ps 28:1.</div><div class="p">8 May I hear about your loyal love in the morning,#tn Heb &#8220;cause me to hear in the morning your loyal love.&#8221; Here &#8220;loyal love&#8221; probably stands metonymically for an oracle of assurance promising God&#8217;s intervention as an expression of his loyal love.sn The morning is sometimes viewed as the time of divine intervention (see Pss 30:5; 59:16; 90:14).</div><div class="p">for I trust in you.</div><div class="p">Show me the way I should go,#sn The way probably refers here to God&#8217;s moral and ethical standards and requirements (see v. 10).</div><div class="p">because I long for you.#tn Heb &#8220;for to you I lift up my life.&#8221; The Hebrew expression &#1504;&#1464;&#1488;&#1464;&#1513;&#1474; &#1504;&#1462;&#1508;&#1462;&#1513;&#1473; (na&#8217;as nefesh, &#8220;to lift up [one&#8217;s] life&#8221;) means &#8220;to desire; to long for&#8221; (see Deut 24:15; Prov 19:18; Jer 22:27; 44:14; Hos 4:8, as well as H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 16).</div><div class="p">9 Rescue me from my enemies, O Lord!</div><div class="p">I run to you for protection.#tn Heb &#8220;to you I cover,&#8221; which makes no sense. The translation assumes an emendation to &#1504;&#1463;&#1505;&#1456;&#1514;&#1468;&#1460;&#1497; (nastiy, &#8220;I flee,&#8221; a Qal perfect, first singular form from &#1504;&#1493;&#1468;&#1505;, nos). Confusion of kaf (&#1499;) and nun (&#1504;) is attested elsewhere (see P. K. McCarter, Textual Criticism [GBS], 48). The collocation of &#1504;&#1493;&#1468;&#1505; (&#8220;flee&#8221;) with &#1488;&#1462;&#1500; (&#8217;el, &#8220;to&#8221;) is well-attested.</div><div class="p">10 Teach me to do what pleases you,#tn Or &#8220;your will.&#8221; See Ps 40:8.</div><div class="p">for you are my God.</div><div class="p">May your kind presence#tn Heb &#8220;your good spirit.&#8221; God&#8217;s &#8220;spirit&#8221; may refer here to his presence (see the note on the word &#8220;presence&#8221; in Ps 139:7) or to his personal Spirit (see Ps 51:10).</div><div class="p">lead me#tn The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive. Taking the statement as a prayer fits well with the petitionary tone of vv. 7-10a. into a level land.#sn A level land (where one can walk free of obstacles) here symbolizes divine blessing and protection. See Pss 26:12 and 27:11 for similar imagery.</div><div class="p">11 O Lord, for the sake of your reputation,#tn Heb &#8220;name,&#8221; which here stands metonymically for God&#8217;s reputation. revive me!#tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 11-12a are understood as expressing the psalmist&#8217;s desire. Note the petitionary tone of vv. 7-10a.</div><div class="p">Because of your justice, rescue me from trouble!#tn Heb &#8220;by your justice bring out my life from trouble.&#8221;</div><div class="p">12 As a demonstration of your loyal love,#tn Heb &#8220;in [or &#8220;by&#8221;] your faithfulness.&#8221; destroy my enemies!</div><div class="p">Annihilate#tn The perfect with vav (&#1493;) consecutive carries on the mood of the preceding imperfect. all who threaten my life,#tn Heb &#8220;all the enemies of my life.&#8221;</div><div class="p">for I am your servant.</div>
 </div>
 </div>
</div>

1996 - 2007 by Biblical Studies Press, LLC

O LORD, hear my prayer!
Pay attention to my plea for help!
Because of your faithfulness and justice, answer me!
Do not sit in judgment on your servant,
for no one alive is innocent before you.
Certainly my enemies chase me.
They smash me into the ground.
They force me to live in dark regions,
like those who have been dead for ages.
My strength leaves me;
I am absolutely shocked.
I recall the old days;
I meditate on all you have done;
I reflect on your accomplishments.
I spread my hands out to you in prayer;
my soul thirsts for you in a parched land.
Answer me quickly, LORD!
My strength is fading.
Do not reject me,
or I will join those descending into the grave.
May I hear about your loyal love in the morning,
for I trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
because I long for you.
Rescue me from my enemies, O LORD!
I run to you for protection.
Teach me to do what pleases you,
for you are my God.
May your kind presence
lead me into a level land.
O LORD, for the sake of your reputation, revive me!
Because of your justice, rescue me from trouble!
As a demonstration of your loyal love, destroy my enemies!
Annihilate all who threaten my life,
for I am your servant.

සවන් දෙන්න Psalms 143