A psalm of David.
143:1 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 2 your servant,
for no one alive is innocent before you. 3
143:3 Certainly 4 my enemies 5 chase me.
They smash me into the ground. 6
They force me to live 7 in dark regions, 8
like those who have been dead for ages.
143:4 My strength leaves me; 9
I am absolutely shocked. 10
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.
2 tn Heb “do not enter into judgment with.”
3 tn Heb “for no one living is innocent before you.”
4 tn Or “for.”
5 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).
6 tn Heb “he crushes on the ground my life.”
7 tn Or “sit.”
8 sn Dark regions refers to Sheol, which the psalmist views as a dark place located deep in the ground (see Ps 88:6).
9 tn Heb “my spirit grows faint.”
10 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.