Today's Featured Psalm
Psalm 143

Read this Psalm

A Psalm of David.

1 Hear my prayer, O LORD;
   give ear to my pleas for mercy!
   In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!
2 Enter not into judgment with your servant,
   for no one living is righteous before you.

3 For the enemy has pursued my soul;
   he has crushed my life to the ground;
   he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.
4 Therefore my spirit faints within me;
   my heart within me is appalled.

5 I remember the days of old;
   I meditate on all that you have done;
   I ponder the work of your hands.
6 I stretch out my hands to you;
   my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah

7 Answer me quickly, O LORD!
   My spirit fails!
Hide not your face from me,
   lest I be like those who go down to the pit.
8 Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,
   for in you I trust.
Make me know the way I should go,
   for to you I lift up my soul.

9 Deliver me from my enemies, O LORD!
   I have fled to you for refuge.
10 Teach me to do your will,
   for you are my God!
Let your good Spirit lead me
   on level ground!

11 For your name’s sake, O LORD, preserve my life!
   In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble!
12 And in your steadfast love you will cut off my enemies,
   and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul,
   for I am your servant.

Scripture taken from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Psalm Devotional
The Way of Escape

Paul assures us that the Lord will always provide a way of escape out of temptation (1 Cor. 10:13). We have this because Christ accomplished it for us in His perfect obedience in which He overcame all of Satan’s schemes to cause Him to stumble. Similarly, in Christ, we have deliverance from sin in His death and entrance into life in His righteousness. Therefore, only those who are in covenant with God through Christ (Lord, vv. 1, 7, 11; lovingkindness, vv. 8, 12) are entitled to pray this prayer and sing this praise. Yet everyone is called and invited to enter into covenant with the Lord by turning from their sin to God’s grace (Mark 1:15; Rom. 10:11, 13). To pray and sing this psalm, we must be able to call the Lord “my God” (v. 10) and to confess ourselves to be His servants (v. 12).

In Psalm 143, the Spirit (v. 10) gives us courage to pray for deliverance from those who seek to destroy us in both spirit and body (vv. 3–4, 7). We are led to seek God earnestly (hear, answer; v. 1) and urgently (quickly, morning; vv. 7–8). All this reflects our experience and instructs our prayers.

Listen to this Psalm

Trust album art Lord, Listen to My Prayer (Psalm 143A)
The Book of Psalms for Worship | Trust
Trust album art O Lord, My Spirit Fails (Psalm 143B)
The Book of Psalms for Worship | Trust
Justice album art LORD, Listen to My Prayer (Psalm 143C)
The Book of Psalms for Worship | Justice
Justice album art LORD, Quickly Answer Me (Psalm 143D)
The Book of Psalms for Worship | Justice