Reflections on Psalms 143

 Psalms 143(Contemporary English Version)

1. (A psalm by David.) Listen, LORD, as I pray! You are faithful and honest and will answer my prayer.
   
2. I am your servant. Don't try me in your court, because no one is innocent by your standards.
   
3. My enemies are chasing me, crushing me in the ground. I am in total darkness, like someone long dead.
   
4. I have given up all hope, and I feel numb all over.
   
5. I remember to think about the many things you did in years gone by.
   
6. Then I lift my hands in prayer, because my soul is a desert, thirsty for water from you.
   
7. Please hurry, LORD, and answer my prayer. I feel hopeless. Don't turn away and leave me here to die.
   
8. Each morning let me learn more about your love because I trust you. I come to you in prayer, asking for your guidance.
   
9. Please rescue me from my enemies, LORD! I come to you for safety.
   
10. You are my God. Show me what you want me to do, and let your gentle Spirit lead me in the right path.
    
11. Be true to your name, LORD, and keep my life safe. Use your saving power to protect me from trouble.
    
12. I am your servant. Show how much you love me by destroying my enemies.

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David was desperate for God's help and pleaded for God to deliver him from his enemies based not on his own merit but on God's faithfulness and righteousness. He knew that if God were to deal with him justly he was doomed for "no one alive is righteous in Your sight." (143:2)

David was crushed by the enemy, his heart "overcome with dismay." He felt that if God did not rescue him quickly he would "be like those going down to the Pit." But his plea to God was not only to be resuced but to be renewed in his relationship with God. Maybe he realized his current situation was a result of having drifted away from God and His counsel. In verses 7-12 David made four specific requests of the Lord:

• That God would lead him in the way he should go.
  
• That God would rescue him from his enemies.
  
• That God would teach him by His Spirit.
  
• And, that God would let him live, delivered by His righteousness.
  

His petition to the Lord, therefore, was not only to be delivered from his enemies, but to be delivered to a life in which he was led by God and taught by His spirit. What about us. Are we as interested in being directed by God and taught by His Spirt as we are being rescued from our difficulties?