Psalm 143

Psalm 143

We all face, or will face, various and numerous crises in our lives.

Most seem to come and go pretty quick, however some are long-term.

Things like:

illness

unemployment

disability

death of a loved one

unfaithfulness

Whatever it might be for you, those lasting trials are difficult to bear.

David wrote Psalm 143 during a time that he was trapped in this type of crisis.

Most Bible students believe that Psalm 142 and 143 are companion Psalms.

If this is true, then this Psalm was written when David was running from Saul.

For somewhere between 7-12 years David ran for his life.

Think about that!

anywhere from 2,500-4,500 days David dealt with this crisis.

This Psalm has traditionally been classified as Penitential Psalm, however David only makes one reference to sin.

He acknowledges that he is a sinner, but he doesn’t specifically attribute that sin to causing this trial, nor is there any real repentance mentioned…just the acknowledgment that everyone is a sinner.

Nevertheless, this Psalm is a very practical Psalm.

We all know what is to go through a trial…if you have been alive longer than a few years.

For the days that it seems the crisis will never end, and you don’t even have the strength to go on, God has very graciously inspired David to write this Psalm.

What do we do when we are caught in a crisis?

I. Plea to God for Deliverance

David in verses 1-4 begged God to hear his prayer and listen carefully to him.

1 Hear my prayer, O Lord, Give ear to my supplications: In thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.

2 And enter not into judgment with thy servant: For in thy sight shall no man living be justified.

3 For 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.

4 Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; My heart within me is desolate.

Why turn to the Lord in times of trial?

A. He Is Faithful

In thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.

David prayed to the God using his covenant name - Yahweh, Jehovah.

That covenant speaks to his consistency and faithfulness.

David knew that God was both faithful and righteous.

He would do the right thing…always!

When we confess our sins to God, we are doing the same thing…along the same basis…He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin.

1 John 1:9 KJV

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

We claim his faithfulness and righteousness along with David knowing that what He says, He will do!

B. He Is Just

2 And enter not into judgment with thy servant: For in thy sight shall no man living be justified.

David knew the justice of God, and he prayed that God would not enter the judges bench, but hear him as his child.

He knew that he was far from perfect!

He knew that if he were to appear before the judgement seat of Christ, he would have to answer for his sin.

He knew, along with every other human being, he was a sinner.

Psalm 130:3 KJV

3 If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?

No one can be justified or helped in God’s sight based upon their own life.

By making this point David was emphasizing a very important truth: God forgive and delivers because of His righteousness…not ours.

By Asking him not to enter into judgment, but hear him He was acknowledging that God was Just.

C. He Is the Defender

3 For 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.

David asked for help of God because he knew that is where his only true help will come.

David tells him the reason for his plea…his enemy is persecuting him.

Saul pursued him relentlessly.

He had to hide in caves, as we saw last week.

He had to run from friend to friend, and those who did help him risked death.

David was taken from his home, his own family came to him and had to seek refuge in another nation.

He was cut off from home, family and the entire society.

He was smitten, and beaten down.

And He needed help.

David knew just where to run, in verse 4 he says...

Psalm 143:4 KJV

4 Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; My heart within me is desolate.

He was overwhelmed, he said his heart inside was desolate…destroyed, disheartened and dismayed.

He was worn down from years of running from Saul.

One Commentary called this expression of despair “heart paralysis”.

During times of trials like these, especially long lasting trials…we must remember that God loves us.

He knows what we are facing, and how heavy our hearts are.

When our burdens get heavier than we can bear, He calls for us to cast them all upon Him!

Psalm 55:22 KJV

22 Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

1 Peter 5:7 KJV

7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

I have heard many times that God never gives you more than you can bear…but I wholeheartedly disagree!

God often gives us more than we can bear alone…he invites us to depend upon Him for supernatural strength to go on.

He invites us to give Him our burdens and allow Him to carry them.

We need to cry out to God for help when we feel like our crisis’ are crushing us.

We are the child of the king, and have a standing invitation to come boldly before His throne anytime we need grace!

Hebrews 4:16 KJV

16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

He is faithful and righteous to do all that He has said.

If He has given His own Son for us, how much more would He be willing to do for us, whom He loves!

Romans 8:32 KJV

32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

So we need to Plea to God for Deliverance.

II. Remember What He Has Done

David forced his eyes away from his circumstances and purposefully looked at the power and faithfulness of God.

5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.

6 I stretch forth my hands unto thee: My soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah.

David remembered the days of old - and decided to meditate on God’s great works.

A. Sit and Meditate

We would do well to just sit still and ponder and even write down all the ways that He has helped you and your family.

David did this.

He reflected on the great things that God has done for His people in the past.

David has been anointed King of Israel, He knows the nations history, and he begins to run through it.

God called a Man - Abraham and made His covenant with Him.

He Chose a Family - Israel and made them a great people

He Raised Joseph - to preserve Israel through the famine.

He brought Moses to the point of leadership to deliver Israel from Egypt

He parted the Red Sea so that they could escape while the enemy was drowned.

He provided miraculously in the wilderness for His people.

He brought them into the promised land and won the victories for them.

He had granted victories their enemies, including Goliath.

Considering all that God has done, in days of old and new alike…David remembered, meditated upon them, and mused over the works of God’s hands.

Think how God has done such great things just in the four years that I have been here:

He pointed your committee to a website

He pointed me to see your post on that website

He showed it to my wife, who encouraged me to take a look

He focused your attention on my resume

He provided for the seemingly insurmountable task of moving us here.

He ushered us through the COVID pandemic, without losing any members, like so many other churches across the nation.

He has helped us see growth in attendance every year since.

He has helped us remodel much of the church building.

He has helped us raise money to send kids to Camp, have VBS each year (despite not having the regular donation we used to receive), Begin live streaming and keep it going with almost as many views as we have in attendance in person.

And so much more!

Considering what God has done in the past will encourage us to step out in faith, even in the midst of trials, and Trust that God will continue to provide, aid, and guide.

After we have spent some time sitting and meditating on What God has done in the past, it is time to...

B. Lift Your Hands and Pray

6 I stretch forth my hands unto thee: My soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah.

David, very naturally, went form meditating to worship!

David went from praying for God’s Help to praying for God Himself.

My soul thirsteth after thee…not for thy help.

David thirsted for God himself, like a dry and thirsty land craves water.

His soul is parched and cracked, and He knows only God can fulfill His true need.

David concludes this first six verses with Selah.

Often thought to be a musical notation to have a musical interlude to allow the people to meditate on what was just sung.

When we are caught in a crisis, we need to force ourselves to take our eyes off our circumstances and remember God’s power and faithfulness…Pause and think about Him and Hear the voice of God.

Nothing is too hard for the Lord.

Jeremiah 32:27 KJV

27 Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?

We just need to depend upon Him!

So we need to Plea to God for Deliverance

We need to Remember what He has Done

Then in the following verses I see...

III. Five Specific Requests We can Pray

After expressing his thirst for God, David continues praying about his crisis.

He makes five specific requests of the Lord, and then closes his prayer as he began…he appealed to God’s faithfulness and righteousness.

A. Answer Quickly

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.

David asks him to hear (Anah) a different word than was used in verse 1.

This means to answer.

So he is asking for a speedy answer to his prayer.

He confesses that his spirit is failing…He is at a breaking point.

He begged God not to hide His face from him…he wanted to feel God’s presence in the situation.

B. Speak to Me

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.

David asks God to speak to him as he worshipped in the morning.

He especially wanted to hear his lovingkindness.

Overwhelmed, David wants God’s reassurance.

He reaffirmed his trust in God and asked God to show him the way he should walk.

Sometimes in these situation that we face, every step we take is fraught with dangers.

We need to hear from God so we don’t make any mistakes.

David was putting his entire soul into God’s hands… “For I lift up my soul unto thee.”

C. Deliver Me

Again David asks for God’s deliverance from his enemies.

9 Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me.

David wanted to stay a step ahead of Saul and his men.

He was counting on God to protect him.

He new that only God could truly hide David from his enemies.

A few years ago I read a story about a Christian who was fleeing from his enemies during a persecution in North Africa. His enemies were close on his heels as he tried to get away from them. He was pursued over a hill and through a valley until he was near exhaustion. In desperation he spotted a small cave and climbed into it exhausted. But he suspected that he would be caught because the entrance to the cave was visible, even from a distance. Awaiting his pursuers, he prayed that the Lord would protect him. Not long after he spotted a spider weaving a web. In just a few minutes the spider had woven its web right across the mouth of the cave. Just then the man’s pursuers arrived, but seeing the web across the mouth of the small cave, they assumed it was impossible for him to have entered it. They moved on and the man managed to escape from them. Later the believer is reported to have said, “Where God is, a spider's web is like a wall. Where God is not, a wall is like a spider's web.”

David prayed for a quick answer, he prayed for God to speak to him, he prayed for God to deliver and hide him.

Then He prayed:

D. Teach Me

10 Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: Thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.

Specifically Teach me to do God’s Will.

He affirmed that God is His God..and he wanted to do His will.

David understood that God’s Spirit could lead him to do right.

We need to pray this prayer often!

Especially during these trials, we often want our will…to get out of this trial!

But David focused on what God wanted from this situation.

What was God trying to teach him?

We will need to allow God’s Holy Spirit to guide us through these trying times, and yield to Him every step of the way, if we are going to learn what we ought to learn from it.

E. Honor Your Name

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 knew that He was God’s Servant.

He was God’s anointed.

And he asked God to deliver him for His name’s sake.

He prayed that God would quicken him, or keep him alive through all of Saul’s efforts to kill him.

David appealed to God’s mercy, and by his mercy on His servant, take care of his enemies.

We often do not find answers to our prayers because we do not pray specifically.

Rather than asking in general terms for God to help you, ask for exactly what you want to see…but be sure to yield to His will in the process.

David Prayed for quick deliverance.

He prayed for God to speak to him during his devotional worship time.

He prayed for his deliverance from his situation....and yet

he praye for the Holy Spirit to teach Him God’s Will in all of this.

And he prayed that God would be honored and glorified in all that happened.

Jesus taught us to pray specifically.

In one teaching Jesus told about a man who came at midnight to his friends house specifically to borrow three loaves of bread…this was in the context of teaching on prayer.

Another time he talked about a son asking his father ofr bread and fish…again when illustrating the willingness to ask God the Father for our needs.

James used the illustration of Elijah who prayed specifically that the rain would stop, and God withheld the rain for three and a half years…he prayed again and the Lord sent rain.

James 5:17–18 KJV

17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

General prayers are not effective because if we don’t even know what we are praying for exactly…why should God answer.

When we are faced with a situation and trial, specifically pray that God will deliver you from that particular situation, yielding to His will…knowing that often it is God’s grace that is given so that we might endure.

But Specific prayers often get specific graces.