Psalm 143 New International Version (NIV)1 Lord, hear my prayer,
listen to my cry for mercy;
in your faithfulness and righteousness
come to my relief.
2 Do not bring your servant into judgment,
for no one living is righteous before you.
3 The enemy pursues me,
he crushes me to the ground;
he makes me dwell in the darkness
like those long dead.
4 So my spirit grows faint within me;
my heart within me is dismayed.
5 I remember the days of long ago;
I meditate on all your works
and consider what your hands have done.
6 I spread out my hands to you;
I thirst for you like a parched land.[a]7 Answer me quickly, Lord;
my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me
or I will be like those who go down to the pit.
8 Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
for to you I entrust my life.
9 Rescue me from my enemies, Lord,
for I hide myself in you.
10 Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God;
may your good Spirit
lead me on level ground.11 For your name’s sake, Lord, preserve my life;
in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble.
12 In your unfailing love, silence my enemies;
destroy all my foes,
for I am your servant.
Footnotes:
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Psalm 143:6 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.
Our thoughts today come from the blog of Ruth Graham, daughter of Ruth and Billy Graham. This appeared a week ago under the title Honest Prayer.
Friday I went to Dallas to speak to the Christian Women in Media conference. Neat ladies. I had a message all ready but then last Wednesday it was as if I heard the Lord tell me it was not His message!He asked me to change it. I hate when He does that!
He seeemed to want me to speak from Psalm 143. That Psalm is a desperate cry for deliverance and guidance – and who doesn’t need that? Those of us in ministry (mothers, dads, workers, teachers… every believer) feel often under attack and need to know how to respond, where to turn, who to trust…all the things King David was feeling. I love his honesty.
David faced perilous times…as do we. He didn’t turn to friends, shopping, drink, pornography… He didn’t try to find a temporary escape. David needed deliverance – so do we. Not usually from guns and swords…but from fear, pride, anger, jealousy, self-righteousness. The Bible teacher, Jill Briscoe, calls them “snakes in my garden”. King Solomon called them “little foxes that spoil the vines”. What are your “snakes”, “little foxes? We all have those things that wear us down. Weaken us. Defeat and discourage us.
I love the way David approaches the Lord – not with a particular posture or fancy, spiritual words he just says, “Hear me! Pay attention, Lord! Lend me you ear. And answer me!” He reminds himself of God’s character…”Be true to yourself, God, in your faithfulness and righteousness”. We dare to reach out for God because of His character. We have nothing in ourselves.
But then David sort of backs away from God’s righteousness because David knows he deserves judgment…so he appeals to God’s mercy!
He tells God what is going on…he has an enemy that has gotten inside him persecuting his soul. It had gotten under his skin and was eating him alive. David is really low. He feels like he is living in a tomb – gloom and unhappiness surround him. He’s overwhelmed, barely hanging on. He’s not in a good place. Where are you?
If you look at the Psalm you can see the 3 steps down: he is focused on 1.) the enemy, 2.) the darkness, 3.) his emotions. That focus will defeat you every time!
When you get overwhelmed you can’t get out by yourself. David had been there before. What had he learned? “Be still and know that I am God.” Turn our focus on to God and His unchanging character. And then David remembers what God has done for him in the past. The times He delivered David. The comfort and encouragement from God. It it is important to remember what God has done for us in the past. And if you are like me, I tend to forget so I keep a journal. And I review it periodically.
David physically appeals to God with outstretched arms. A posture of desperation and surrender. Are you weary and desperate?
David tells God to answer him quickly. I love that! He needs God NOW! He doesn’t want God to hide from him.
Have you ever felt like God was absent? Heaven’s doors were locked from the inside? You feel like you are suffocating. You are not alone. Many saints have experienced that from time to time. It is such a valuable – but hard – learning time.
David speaks to God as a friend. He is our friend, too. We can be honest with Him. He can sort through the anger and 4-letter words. He is so much bigger than all of that!
David wants to hear God’s loving-kindness in the morning. Does God have your ear in the morning? Or are you distracted by the television news, your day’s schedule? Do you read your email before you hear from God?
David declares His trust in God…How ’bout doing that first thing in the morning while you are still in bed? Just say, “Lord I trust you today.” David trusts God’s unchanging character. We can too. But we have to know what His character is. I challenge you to make a list of God’s characteristics…holy, just, faithful, redeemer, help, near…
Then David asks God to teach him ow to walk and where to go. David wants to move forward but needs God’s help. How many of us as parents love to have our children look to us for help and advice! God loves us to acknowledge our dependence on Him. And why should God do that? David say he offers “all his heart” to God. That delights God. And David asks for deliverance because his refuge is God Himself. David has learned that the only basis for life is God.
He asks to do God’s will, to lead a balanced life and to be revived. Not for his sake but for God’s name’s sake. Is that our motivation?
David appeals now to God’s righteousness. He now sees it as his only way. His hope. His refuge. The way through the situation.
David asks that his enemies be silenced and destroyed. David is specific.
What enemies in your life need to be destroyed? Silenced? Negative self-talk? Self-importance? Pride? Comparison? Insecurity?
Are you nearing burn out? Are you desperate for God to answer? Do you need direction?
Follow David’s example by pouring your heart out to God, being honest with Him, declaring your trust in Him. He will deliver you. Maybe not in your time or way. But in His perfect time and way.
Christianity 201 
Ruth gets a lot out of this psalm – a psalm speaking of emptiness, depression of spirit and hunger for the deliverance of YHWH. IT is the feeling you have in a tearing, stressful situation that is not turning out the way you want and you are at the end of your rope and have run out of hope.
1. Honesty is one key. David is absolutely vulnerable and open before YHWH – the Great I am.
2. Directness is a second key. David clearly directs his plea to God he knows and loves and learned to sing to in his lonely years in the fields with the sheep as his father’s youngest and least esteemed son; the one almost forgotten when Samuel came to his father to anoint a king.
3. David has emotional intelligence. He understands and is touch with himself and he understands and relates to YHWH as a person – perhaps the One who stepped in to fill the hole in his heart when his own father failed to acknowledge and affirm David. (Perhaps David did not fit his father’s stereotype of the masculine type. He was musical and sensitive in nature. Perhaps he was small of stature?)
. David gives a vivid description of depression – for that is what he is feeling here. And with great discernment he recognizes that depression is a condition of his own inner man – his human spirit.
How well and accurately he describes his condition: “So my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed.” If we do not understand heart and spirit that is our loss. David knew what he was talking about and used the appropriate biblical-psychological terms for his condition.
We might call this a prayer. David experienced it as a plea for his life. Listen as the man after God’s own heart speaks the language that God understands.
Comment by g. Hartwell — May 8, 2013 @ 12:58 pm |