Skip to main content
Psalmlog Logo

Psalm 143

Psalm 143 joins an overwhelmed servant’s plea for mercy and rescue with his desire to learn and do God’s will.

Pursued by an enemy and overwhelmed within, David pleads with God to hear him. The title names David, though the psalm does not identify the crisis. He asks for mercy before God’s judgment, recalls God’s past works, and stretches out his hands like dry ground waiting for water. His prayer moves toward urgent requests for rescue and guidance by God’s good Spirit. It ends with a plea for God to destroy those who afflict him.

anxiety or panicfeeling distant from Godinjustice and anger
Read
1A Psalm by David. Hear my prayer, LORD. Listen to my petitions. In your faithfulness and righteousness, relieve me.
2Don’t enter into judgment with your servant, for in your sight no man living is righteous.
3For the enemy pursues my soul. He has struck my life down to the ground. He has made me live in dark places, as those who have been long dead.
4Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me. My heart within me is desolate.
5I remember the days of old. I meditate on all your doings. I contemplate the work of your hands.
6I spread out my hands to you. My soul thirsts for you, like a parched land. Selah.
7Hurry to answer me, LORD. My spirit fails. Don’t hide your face from me, so that I don’t become like those who go down into the pit.
8Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning, for I trust in you. Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to you.
9Deliver me, LORD, from my enemies. I flee to you to hide me.
10Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness.
11Revive me, LORD, for your name’s sake. In your righteousness, bring my soul out of trouble.
12In your loving kindness, cut off my enemies, and destroy all those who afflict my soul, for I am your servant.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected. Tap a number for its page.
Key verses
Psalm 143:8David’s longing for morning joins trust in God’s loving kindness with a request to know the way ahead.
Psalm 143:10Amid pleas for rescue, David asks God’s good Spirit to lead him into a life that does God’s will.
Psalm 143:6The image of parched land makes David’s thirst for God tangible, following his remembrance of God’s past works.
Where this chapter reaches

Romans and Job share the psalm’s concern with human righteousness before God, while Isaiah shares its imagery of thirst and its theme of guidance by God’s Spirit. John also speaks of the Spirit’s guidance, and Lamentations shares the appeal to God’s mercy amid desolation.

Psalm 143's chapter linksAll strongest linksHover or tap a book
Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What stands out when David remembers God’s works while his heart remains desolate?

Write on this

How might David’s request to learn obedience shape what you ask for in a crisis?

Write on this

Questions people ask about Psalm 143

What does Psalm 143:2 mean by saying no one living is righteous?

David asks God not to enter into judgment with him because no living person is righteous in God’s sight. He includes himself as God’s servant rather than claiming exemption. The plea places his hope for an answer in God’s faithfulness and righteousness, with no claim that his own conduct earns rescue.

Why does Psalm 143 ask God to destroy David’s enemies?

The enemies have crushed David’s life and left him overwhelmed. His final request asks God to end their assault through judgment, appealing to God’s loving kindness and his own place as God’s servant. The language seeks their destruction. It is a plea addressed to God; the psalm gives no command for readers to take revenge.

Read it. Now write it.

Start an entry on Psalm 143. Your words go beside the text, and you get one next step for the week.

Psalms · 150 chapters
123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133134135136137138139140141142143144145146147148149150
What the Bible says about anxiety →What the Bible says about doubt →What the Bible says about anger →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).