Psalm Chapter 143

A Psalm of David.

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

This is so true. We cannot justify ourselves in any way. This is why Jesus the very Son of God came to save us from sin. Only He can justify us. The just one suffered for the unjust ones. Faith in Jesus to cleanse us from sin will justify us. We cannot save ourselves.

Psalm 143:3 For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead.

Imagine being good and kind to people, risking your life for people, loving them in every way possible and having them hunt down your life. This is what David was going through. His enemies and own familiar friends turned against him.

Psalm 41:9 Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.

This is also a prophecy of the future Son of David, Jesus who is the Messiah of Israel. While Judas was sharing His table and eating of the same bread with Jesus and the other 11 disciples, Judas was getting ready to betray Him. I don't know if David knew that this was a future prophecy because he was experiencing the same thing but this is one of many prophecies that had an immediate and future meaning.

Psalm 143:4 Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate.

Not only was David hiding in a cave but his soul was troubled that King Saul who once was his friend, was now trying to take his life. Jealousy is cruel and dangerous. It not only harms the one that is the victim of jealousy but it harms the soul of the person consumed with jealousy. If we trust fully in the Lord as our source for all things, we do not have to envy any person for any reason.

I had a discussion with someone the other day about her job. She was concerned that her boss was giving all the good jobs to another co-worker and she wasn't getting the jobs she use to get. Well, I had prayer with her and encouraged her to be thankful for what she did have, be happy for her co-worker and not have bad feelings of envy toward her or recentment toward the boss. She took this advice with the help of the Lord, I'm sure. Days passed and she is now getting more work than she ever expected. Murmuring, thankfulness, envy and dissatisfaction never pleases the Lord. A thankful heart that desires well for others not only helps us but helps others to see Christ in us.

Had King Saul repented of his disobedience instead of rebelling against God's judgment, things might have been different. Instead he allowed his jealousy of David consume him. Because of Saul's disobedience, God had Samuel the prophet anoint David to be the future king. I don't know whether Saul was aware of this at this time but he was aware of David's success in battle and favor with the people. David won many battles for the Lord, the people praised David more than they use to praise Saul for his victories in battle. Had Saul truly loved his neighbor as himself, he would have been happy for David instead of being envious. Envy will consume us. It will destroy our souls. Saul ended up being killed on the battlefield and disgraced. This man who once prophesied by the Spirit of God now ended his life in disobedience and judgment. Jealousy will not profit us one iota.

Psalm 143:5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.
6 I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah.

David knew that his strength now was not in his friends but only in God. He hungered and thirsted after God's righteousness. He knew that he could never be righteous in himself.

Psalm 143:7 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.

He sought the Lord for direction and help. This is what we must do. All other help is in vain unless the Lord sends it.

Psalm 143:9 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.

This must have been the hardest part. Just waiting for God's deliverance. This is where many of us fall short. We think just because the answer does not come right away, that God is not listening. In the above incident, the answer did come at once but it doesn't always happen that way. Sometimes God's answer takes years but He does answer a prayer that is from His believers as long as we do not regard iniquity in our hearts.

Psalm 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:

Sin will hinder our prayers if we know that we have sin that we have not forsaken that sin.

1John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Jesus shed His blood and paid the price for us to be free from sin.

1John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

Sometimes our hindrance to answered prayer may be sin that is in our way. I'm sure this must not have been the case concerning this time when David was in the cave. Knowing David's character; if there was sin, he would have confessed it before God. We must guard our hearts against being envious of others and then when trouble comes, we can trust God to deliver us. God delivered Saul into David's hands a little later in the story but David refused to take away Saul's life. David refused to touch God's anointed king. If God wanted Saul removed, God would have to do it and God did later on.

This is one time when David showed compassion and could not lift up his hand against his former friend even though this friend wanted to kill him. David waited on God's timing. He knew God was going to replace Saul as king. He knew that God had chosen him (David) but he didn't try to make this happen himself by his own vengeance. He waited on God. This is what we must do in order to be fruitful. We must not get ahead of God but wait for Him to show us the way.

We are to follow Him and not demand and command Him to do what we want. It seems like we live in an instant society where we try to control God instead of the other way around and we are making a mess of things. In the cave David learned to trust God, to wait on God and not get ahead of God by acting on his own.

How much better things will work out, if we do the same? Did your co-worker get that promotion or raise and you didn't? Try being thankful for what you have, being happy for your co-worker and trust God to make things right. This isn't easy in ourselves. The flesh wants to fight back when we feel defrauded in this manner. But God has a better way of doing things. DC

Psalm 144

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