1Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in your faithfulness answer me, and in your righteousness.
2And enter not into judgment with your servant: for in your sight shall no man living be justified.
3For the enemy has persecuted my soul; he has smitten my life down to the ground; he has 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 your works; I meditate on the work of your hands.
6I stretch forth my hands unto you: my soul thirsts after you, as a thirsty land. Selah.
7Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit fails: hide not your face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.
8Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning; for in you do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto you.
9Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies: I flee unto you to hide me.
10Teach me to do your will; for you are my God: your spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.
11Restore life in me, O LORD, for your name's sake: for your righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble.
12And of your mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am your servant.
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 143
This psalm, as those before, is a prayer of David, and full of complaints of the great distress and danger he was in, probably when Saul persecuted him. He did not only pray in that affliction, but he prayed very much and very often, not the same over again, but new thoughts. In this psalm, I. He complains of his…
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