H4/4 G J 1,2. Prayer.
K 3,4. Enemy. Action.
H 5. Conduct. Past. Remembrance.
H 6. Conduct. Present. Desire.
G J 7-11. Prayer.
K 12. Enemies. Excision.
Psalm 143)
1 Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications:
In Your faithfulness answer me, and in Your righteousness.
2 And enter not (as in Job 9:32; 22:4) into judgment with Your servant:
For in Your sight (cp. 1 Sam. 16:7. Isa. 55:8. Job 14:3) shall no one living be stand (or appear) [before You] just.
3 For the enemy has pursued me;
He has smitten my life down to the ground;
He has made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead.
4 Therefore is me (put for the whole person for emphasis) overwhelmed within me;
My heart within me is desolate.
5 I remember the days of old;
I meditate on all Your works;
I talk with myself on the work of Your hands.
6 I stretch forth my hands to You:
My soul thirsts after You, as a thirsty land. Selah. (Connecting and returning to prayer [7-11] as the consequence of the reflection [5,6]. This is the last Selah [of 71] in the Psalms.)
7 Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit fails:
Hide not Your face from me,
Lest I be like unto them that go down into a grave. (A sepulcher, as hewn out of the rock. Hence rendered cistern, or dry pit. Cp. Gen. 37:20. See Gen. 21:19.)
8 Cause me to hear Your loving-kindness (or grace) in the morning;
For in You do I confide:
Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk;
For I lift up my soul to You.
9 Pluck me [out of the hands of], O LORD, from my enemies:
I flee to You to hide me.
10 Teach me to do Your good pleasure; for You are my God:
Your spirit is good; it will lead me into the path of uprightness.
11 Preserve me in life, O LORD, for Your name's sake:
For Your righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble.
12 And of Your loving-kindness (or grace) cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul:
For I am Your servant.