Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 143:7

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 143:7. Hear me speedily — מהר maher, make haste to answer me. A few hours, and my state may be irretrievable. In a short time my unnatural son may put an end to my life.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalm 140 - 143 Troubles for the godly

These four psalms are similar, and from the title of Psalms 142:0 it appears that all four belong to the time when David was fleeing from Saul. (See introductory notes to Psalms 34:0.)

Treachery and slander are the chief weapons that David’s enemies use to attack him. These men have the poison of snakes and the cunning of hunters (140:1-5). But Yahweh is David’s God, his defender in whom he trusts for victory (6-8). David’s enemies will receive a fitting punishment if they suffer the torments that they intended to inflict upon David (9-11). The righteous will praise God when they see his justice in punishing the wicked and delivering the innocent (12-13).
When a person is the victim of slanderous talk, such as David was at the time, he is tempted to use strong words and unwise speech in return. David prays that he may be kept from such sins. He does not want to follow the evil ways of the wicked (141:1-4). If a godly person ever has cause to rebuke him, David prays that he may receive it as a blessing, as if he has been anointed with oil. But he will always remain opposed to evil (5). People will be forced to take notice when God acts, for his punishments will leave the wicked completely shattered (6-7). Meanwhile, the wicked still live, and David prays that he will be saved from the traps they have set for him (8-10).

Still pursued by his enemies, David escaped from Gath and fled to the cave of Adullam, though at the time of this psalm others have not yet joined him (1 Samuel 22:1). He is overcome by a feeling of terrible loneliness. Feeling that no one cares for him, he cries out to God (142:1-4). He prays that God will deal with his enemies and so enable him to live a normal life in freedom and security again (5-7).

The frightening thought occurs to David that God might be using the enemy to punish him for his sins. He knows that he, like others, is a sinner, and there is no way of escaping punishment if God decides to act. He therefore casts himself entirely on the mercy of God for forgiveness and deliverance (143:1-2). David tells God about his troubles, how he has been pursued and is forced to live in darkness in the cave (3-4). He thinks of God’s mighty acts in the past and prays that God will save him again (5-6). He fears the hopelessness of those who die without God. He longs for a greater experience of God (7-8). He prays that God, having rescued him, will instruct and guide him in the future (9-12).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

“Make haste to answer me, O Jehovah; my spirit faileth: Hide not thy face from me, Lest I become like them that go down to the pit. Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; For in thee do I trust: Cause me to know the ways wherein I should walk; For I lift up my soul unto thee. Deliver me, O Jehovah, from mine enemies; I flee unto thee to hide me. Teach me to do thy will; For thou art my God; Thy Spirit is good; Lead me in the land of uprightness. Quicken me, O Jehovah, for thy name’s sake: In thy righteousness bring my soul out of trouble. And in thy lovingkindness cut off mine enemies, And destroy all them that afflict my soul; For I am thy servant.”

“Make haste to answer me… cause me to hear… in the morning” In this we have the seventh of the multiple grounds upon which the psalmist predicated his petition; and here the point is that unless God shall help him very soon, it will be too late.

The last four verses here are very similar to David’s usual imprecations against his enemies.

“Deliver me from mine enemies” “Teach me to do thy will” (Psalms 143:10). There is a tacit admission here that David’s strict adherence to God’s will is a necessary corollary of God’s rescuing him from the terrible mess in which he finds himself during Absalom’s rebellion.

“Quicken me, O Jehovah, for thy name’s sake; in thy righteousness bring my soul out of trouble” McCaw noted that most of us would, “Be happy to pray this prayer (Psalms 143:11), but that we might shy away from praying the next verse (Psalms 143:12).”The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 542.

“Cut off mine enemies… destroy all them that afflict my soul” Yes, there is a sophisticated type of interpreter who never fails to depreciate such a prayer as this; but, again from McCaw, “There are circumstances,” such as that in the rebellion of Absalom, “Where there can be no deliverance without destruction, and to pray for one is also to pray for the other.”Ibid.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

“Hear me speedily, O Lord.” Hasten to hear me; do not delay. Literally, “Hasten; answer me.” I am in imminent danger. Do not delay to come to my relief.

My spirit faileth - My strength is declining. I can hold out no longer. I am ready to give up and die.

Hide not thy face from me - Do not refuse or delay to look favorably upon me; to lift up the light of thy countenance upon me.

Lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit - Margin, “For I am become like.” The idea is, Unless thou shalt lift up the light of thy countenance - unless thou shalt interpose and help me, I shall die. The “pit” here refers to the grave. See the notes at Psalms 28:1.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 143:1-12 , another psalm of David.

Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in your faithfulness answer me, and in your righteousness. And enter not into judgment with your servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified ( Psalms 143:1-2 ).

God, I don't want justice for me, only for my enemies. For me I want mercy. No one living can be justified before God. Impossible! "There is none righteous, no, not one" ( Romans 3:10 ). God said, "I looked over the earth and there is none that doeth good. None that seeketh after God." You say, "That's pretty general." Yes, it is. Encompasses all.

For 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. Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate. I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands ( Psalms 143:3-5 ).

I remember, I meditate, I muse.

I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsts after thee, as a thirsty land ( Psalms 143:6 ).

Here is one of the reasons why David was referred as a man after God's own heart. Because he was thirsting always after God. Jesus said, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled" ( Matthew 5:6 ). Here David describes it. "My soul thirsteth after Thee, as a thirsty land."

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. Cause me to hear thy loving-kindness 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 ( Psalms 143:7-8 ).

And now the prayer: deliver me, teach me, lead me, quicken me.

Deliver me from my enemies: I flee unto thee to hide. Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me in the land of uprightness. And quicken me, O LORD, for thy name's sake: for thy righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble ( Psalms 143:9-11 ).

And so the prayer. How important. "God, deliver me. And then teach me to do Thy will. Lead me in the right way and quicken me."

And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant ( Psalms 143:12 ). "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 143

In this penitential psalm, David prayed for deliverance and guidance. As in the previous psalm, he called out for help against evil adversaries. This psalm, too, is an individual lament.

"The psalm sharply contrasts the righteousness of Yahweh, God’s unconditioned inclination toward Israel, and Israel’s righteousness which will carry no freight in time of trouble. The psalm understands the vast and unbridgeable distinction between the two parties." [Note: Brueggemann, p. 104.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

David requested a quick reply to his prayer, since he felt he would die if one was not forthcoming immediately. Hiding one’s face pictures making oneself inaccessible.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

2. The psalmist’s petition 143:7-12

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Hear me speedily, O Lord: my spirit faileth,.... Ready to sink, swoon, and faint away, through the weight of the affliction on him, by reason of the persecution of his enemy, and for want of the divine Presence; hence the Targum renders it,

"my spirit desireth thee;''

see Song of Solomon 5:6; and therefore entreats that God would hear and answer him quickly; or, "make haste to answer" him, and not delay, lest he should be quite gone. Wherefore it follows,

hide not thy face from me; nothing is more desirable to a good man than the "face" or presence of God, the light of his countenance, and sensible communion with him; which may be said to be "hid" when he withdraws his gracious presence, and withholds the discoveries of his love, and the manifestations of his free grace and favour; which he sometimes does on account of sin, and is the case at times of the best of saints; and is consistent with the love of God, though very grieving to them, and therefore here deprecated: the Targum is,

"cause not thy Shechinah to remove from me;''

lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit; either the house of the grave, as the Targum; look wan and pale, become lifeless and spiritless, or like a dead man; for as in the favour of God is life, his absence is as death: or the pit of hell, the pit of destruction; that is, be in such horror and despair, and under such apprehensions of divine wrath, as the damned feel.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      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.   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.   9 Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me.   10 Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.   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 here tells us what he said when he stretched forth his hands unto God; he begins not only as one in earnest, but as one in haste: "Hear me speedily, and defer no longer, for my spirit faileth. I am just ready to faint; reach the cordial--quickly, quickly, or I am gone." It was not a haste of unbelief, but of vehement desire and holy love. Make haste, O God! to help me. Three things David here prays for:--

      I. The manifestations of God's favour towards him, that God would be well pleased with him and let him know that he was so; this he prefers before any good, Psalms 4:6. 1. He dreads God's frowns: "Lord, hide not thy face from me; Lord, be not angry with me, do not turn from me, as we do from one we are displeased with; Lord, let me not be left under the apprehensions of thy anger or in doubt concerning thy favour; if I have thy favour, let it not be hidden from me." Those that have the truth of grace cannot but desire the evidence of it. He pleads the wretchedness of his case if God withdrew from him: "Lord, let me not lie under thy wrath, for then I am like those that go down to the pit, that is, down to the grave (I am a dead man, weak, and pale, and ghastly; thy frowns are worse than death), or down to hell, the bottomless pit." Even those who through grace are delivered from going down to the pit may sometimes, when the terrors of the Almighty set themselves in array against them, look like those who are going to the pit. Disconsolate saints have sometimes cried out of the wrath of God, as if they had been damned sinners, Job 6:4; Psalms 88:6. 2. He entreats God's favour (Psalms 143:8; Psalms 143:8): Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning. He cannot but think that God has a kindness for him, that he has some kind things to say to him, some good words and comfortable words; but the present hurry of his affairs, and tumult of his spirits, drowned those pleasing whispers; and therefore he begs, "Lord, do not only speak kindly to me, but cause me to hear it, to hear joy and gladness," Psalms 51:8. God speaks to us by his word and by his providence, and in both we should desire and endeavour to hear his lovingkindness (Psalms 107:43), that we may set that always before us: "Cause me to hear it in the morning, every morning; let my waking thoughts be of God's lovingkindness, that the sweet relish of that may abide upon my spirits all the day long." His plea is, "For in thee do I trust, and in thee only; I look not for comfort in any other." God's goodness is commonly wrought for those who trust in him (Psalms 31:8), who by faith draw it out.

      II. The operations of God's grace in him. Those he is as earnest for as for the tokens of God's favour to him, and so should we be. He prays,

      1. That he might be enlightened with the knowledge of God's will; and this is the first work of the Spirit, in order to his other works, for God deals with men as men, as reasonable creatures. Here are three petitions to this effect:-- (1.) Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk. Sometimes those that are much in care to walk right are in doubt, and in the dark, which is the right way. Let them come boldly to the throne of grace, and beg of God, by his word, and Spirit, and providence, to show them the way, and prevent their missing it. A good man does not ask what is the way in which he must walk, or in which is the most pleasant walking, but what is the right way, the way in which he should walk. He pleads, "I lift up my soul unto thee, to be moulded and fashioned according to thy will." He did not only importunately, but impartially, desire to know his duty; and those that do so shall be taught. (2.) "Teach me to do thy will, not only show me what thy will is, but teach me how to do it, how to turn my hand dexterously to my duty." It is the desire and endeavour of all God's faithful servants to know and to do his will, and to stand complete in it. He pleads, "Thou art my God, and therefore my oracle, by whom I may expect to be advised--my God, and therefore my ruler, whose will I desire to do." If we do in sincerity take God for our God, we may depend upon him to teach us to do his will, as a master does his servant. (3.) Lead me into the land of uprightness, into the communion of saints, that pleasant land of the upright, or into a settled course of holy living, which will lead to heaven, that land of uprightness where holiness will be in perfection, and he that is holy shall be holy still. We should desire to be led, and kept safe, to heaven, not only because it is a land of blessedness, but because it is a land of uprightness; it is the perfection of grace. We cannot find the way that will bring us to that land unless God show us, nor go in that way unless he take us by the hand and lead us, as we lead those that are weak, or lame, or timorous, or dim-sighted; so necessary is the grace of God, not only to put us into the good way, but to keep us and carry us on in it. The plea is, "Thy Spirit is good, and able to make me good," good and willing to help those that are at a loss. Those that have the Lord for their God have his Spirit for their guide; and it is both their character and their privilege that they are led by the Spirit.

      2. He prays that he might be enlivened to do his will (Psalms 143:11; Psalms 143:11): "Quicken me, O Lord!--quicken my devotions, that they may be lively; quicken me to my duty, and quicken me in it; and this for thy name's sake." The best saints often find themselves dull, and dead, and slow, and therefore pray to God to quicken them.

      III. The appearance of God's providence for him, 1. That God would, in his own way and time, give him rest from his troubles (Psalms 143:9; Psalms 143:9): "Deliver me, O Lord! from my enemies, that they may not have their will against me; for I flee unto thee to hide me; I trust to thee to defend me in my trouble, and therefore to rescue me out of it." Preservations are pledges of salvation, and those shall find God their hiding-place who by faith make him such. He explains himself (Psalms 143:11; Psalms 143:11): "For thy righteousness-sake, bring my soul out of trouble, for thy promise-sake, nay, for thy mercy-sake" (for some by righteousness understand kindness and goodness); "do not only deliver me from my outward trouble, but from the trouble of my soul, the trouble that threatens to overwhelm my spirit. Whatever trouble I am in, Lord, let not my heart be troubled," John 14:1. 2. That he would reckon with those that were the instruments of his trouble (Psalms 143:12; Psalms 143:12): "Of thy mercy to me cut off my enemies, that I may be no longer in fear of them; and destroy all those, whoever they be, how numerous, how powerful, soever, who afflict my soul, and create vexation to that; for I am thy servant, and am resolved to continue such, and therefore may expect to be owned and protected in thy service." This prayer is a prophecy of the utter destruction of all the impenitent enemies of Jesus Christ and his kingdom, who will not have him to reign over them, who grieve his Spirit, and afflict his soul, by afflicting his people, in whose afflictions he is afflicted.