Text -- Psalms 143:1-7 (NET)

Psalm 143

143:1 A psalm of David. O Lord, hear my prayer! Pay attention to my plea for help! Because of your faithfulness and justice, answer me! 143:2 Do not sit in judgment on your servant, for no one alive is innocent before you. 143:3 Certainly my enemies chase me. They smash me into the ground. They force me to live in dark regions, like those who have been dead for ages. 143:4 My strength leaves me; I am absolutely shocked. 143:5 I recall the old days; I meditate on all you have done; I reflect on your accomplishments. 143:6 I spread my hands out to you in prayer; my soul thirsts for you in a parched land. 143:7 Answer me quickly, Lord! My strength is fading. Do not reject me, or I will join those descending into the grave.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Psa 143:1

¹ sn Psalm 143. As in the previous psalm, the psalmist laments his persecuted state and asks the Lord to deliver him from his enemies.

NET Notes: Psa 143:2

¹ tn Heb “do not enter into judgment with.”

² tn Heb “for no one living is innocent before you.”

NET Notes: Psa 143:3

¹ tn Or “for.”

² tn Heb “an enemy.” The singular is used in a representative sense to describe a typical member of the larger group of enemies (note the plural “enemies” in vv. 9, 12).

³ tn Heb “he crushes on the ground my life.”

⁴ tn Or “sit.”

⁵ sn Dark regions refers to Sheol, which the psalmist views as a dark place located deep in the ground (see Ps 88:6).

NET Notes: Psa 143:4

¹ tn Heb “my spirit grows faint.”

² tn Heb “in my midst my heart is shocked.” For a similar use of the Hitpolel of שָׁמֵם (shamem), see Isa 59:16; 63:5.

NET Notes: Psa 143:5

¹ tn Or “ancient times”; Heb “days from before.”

² tn Heb “the work of your hands.”

NET Notes: Psa 143:6

¹ tn The words “in prayer” are supplied in the translation to clarify that the psalmist is referring to a posture of prayer.

² tn Heb “faint” or “weary.” See Ps 63:1.

³ tc Heb “my soul like a faint land for you.” A verb (perhaps “thirsts”) is implied (see Ps 63:1). The translation assumes an emendation of the preposition -כְּ (kÿ, “like”) to -בְּ (bÿ, “in,” see Ps 63:1; cf. NEB “athirst for thee in a thirsty land”). If the MT is retained, one might translate, “my soul thirsts for you, as a parched land does for water/rain” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

NET Notes: Psa 143:7

¹ tn Heb “my spirit is failing.”

² tn Heb “do not hide your face from me.” The idiom “hide the face” (1) can mean “ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or (2) can carry the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 30:7; 88:14).

³ tn Heb “I will be equal with.”

⁴ tn Heb “the pit.” The Hebrew noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit; cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead. See Ps 28:1.