Discovery BoxPsalms 143:1-6
ContextA 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
143:5 I recall the old days; 11
I meditate on all you have done;
I reflect on your accomplishments. 12
[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.
[143:2] 2 tn Heb “do not enter into judgment with.”
[143:2] 3 tn Heb “for no one living is innocent before you.”
[143:3] 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).
[143:3] 6 tn Heb “he crushes on the ground my life.”
[143:3] 8 sn Dark regions refers to Sheol, which the psalmist views as a dark place located deep in the ground (see Ps 88:6).
[143:4] 9 tn Heb “my spirit grows faint.”
[143:4] 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.
[143:5] 11 tn Or “ancient times”; Heb “days from before.”
[143:5] 12 tn Heb “the work of your hands.”
[143:6] 13 tn The words “in prayer” are supplied in the translation to clarify that the psalmist is referring to a posture of prayer.
[143:6] 14 tn Heb “faint” or “weary.” See Ps 63:1.
[143:6] 15 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).
