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Psalm 143:3

For 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.

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.
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← Psalm 143:2Psalm 143:4 →
Notice

The “dark places” make David’s distress sound like burial while he is still alive, showing how severe an enemy’s harm can become.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What do you notice about David describing himself among the dead while still speaking to God?

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What, if anything, in your life resembles the darkness David describes here?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

8 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Lamentations 3:6He has made me dwell in dark places, as those who have been long dead.Both describe living in dark places through the same comparison: “as those who have been long dead.”
Psalm 40:2He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay. He set my feet on a rock, and gave me a firm place to stand.Both use ground imagery for distress; Psalm 40 recounts rescue from a pit, while Psalm 143 describes being struck down.
Psalm 7:1–2A meditation by David, which he sang to the LORD, concerning the words of Cush, the Benjamite. LORD, my God, I take refuge in you. Save me from all those who …Both prayers name pursuit by enemies as a reason David seeks help from the LORD.
Psalm 7:5let the enemy pursue my soul, and overtake it; yes, let him tread my life down to the earth, and lay my glory in the dust. Selah.Both describe an enemy pursuing the soul and bringing life down to the ground, using closely shared language.
Psalm 31:15My times are in your hand. Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me.Both bring the threat of enemies before God, with Psalm 31 asking for deliverance and Psalm 143 describing the harm.
2 Samuel 2:22Abner said again to Asahel, “Turn away from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How then could I look Joab your brother in the face?”Both connect pursuit with being struck to the ground, though Abner speaks a warning and David describes harm already suffered.
2 Samuel 18:11Both use being struck to the ground to describe violence against a person; David reports suffering, while Joab asks why violence was withheld.
Ezekiel 37:11Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost. We are completely …Both portray living people through images of death: David compares himself to the long dead, and Israel describes itself as dried bones.
Where this verse fits

Injustice and anger. fear for the future.

What the Bible says about anger →What the Bible says about fear →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Pray Psalm 143:3 aloud before bed once this week

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Encouragement

David speaks to God from a place that feels close to death. You do not have to soften your account of suffering to bring it before God.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 143:3. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 143 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

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).