Psalms 143:11

143:7-12 David prays that God would be well pleased with him, and let him know that he was so. He pleads the wretchedness of his case, if God withdrew from him. But the night of distress and discouragement shall end in a morning of consolation and praise. He prays that he might be enlightened with the knowledge of God's will; and this is the first work of the Spirit. A good man does not ask the way in which is the most pleasant walking, but what is the right way. Not only show me what thy will is, but teach me how to do it. Those who have the Lord for their God, have his Spirit for their Guide; they are led by the Spirit. He prays that he might be enlivened to do God's will. But we should especially seek the destruction of our sins, our worst enemies, that we may be devotedly God's servants.

Quicken me, O Lord, for thy name's sake,.... Being like one dead, Psalm 143:3 ; that is, revive and cheer his drooping spirit, ready to fail, being overwhelmed within him, Psalm 143:4 ; as well as revive the work of grace in him; and quicken his soul to the exercise of grace, and discharge of duty; and this he desires not only for his own soul's good, but for the glory of God, that his name might be hououred, and not blasphemed; for thy righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble; for as he had his bodily troubles and other outward affliction, he had soul troubles, through the corruptions of his nature, the temptations of Satan, and the hidings of God's face; which beset him around, and greatly straitened and afflicted him, and filled him with doubts and fears; from all which he desires deliverance, for the sake of the righteousness of God, or his faithfulness to his promise, that he would deliver his people in distress when they called upon him; See Gill on Psalm 143:1. This interprets the meaning of the petition in Psalm 142:7.

(11, 12) The last two verses are made of reminiscences of former psalm experiences. The verbs should be in the future, not the imperative. For thy name’s sake.—Comp. Psalm 23:3, &c. (11) Quicken me, O Lord.—Comp. Psalm 138:7 and Psalms 119 frequently. Out of trouble.—Comp. Psalm 34:17; Psalm 142:7.

Quicken me, O Lord - Give me life. Compare the notes at Ephesians 2:1 . Make me equal to my circumstances, for I am ready to sink and to yield. For thy name's sake - For thine honor. Compare the notes at Daniel 9:17-18. It is in thy cause. Thou wilt thus show thy power, thy faithfulness, thy goodness. Thou wilt thus get honor to thyself. This is the highest motive which can influence us - that God may be glorified. For thy righteousness' sake - Thy justice; thy truth; thy faithfulness in performing thy promises and pledges. Bring my soul out of trouble - Out of this trouble and distress. See the notes at Psalm 25:17.

In this second half the Psalm seems still more like a reproduction of the thoughts of earlier Psalms. The prayer, "answer me speedily, hide not Thy face from me," sounds like Psalm 69:18 ; Psalm 27:9 , cf. Psalm 102:3 . The expression of languishing longing, כּלתה רוּחי, is like Psalm 84:3 . And the apodosis, "else I should become like those who go down into the pit," agrees word for word with Psalm 28:1 , cf. Psalm 88:5 . In connection with the words, "cause me to hear Thy loving-kindness in the early morning," one is reminded of the similar prayer of Moses in Psalm 90:14 , and with the confirmatory "for in Thee do I trust" of Psalm 25:2 , and frequently. With the prayer that the night of affliction may have an end with the next morning's dawn, and that God's helping loving-kindness may make itself felt by him, is joined the prayer that God would be pleased to grant him to know the way that he has to go in order to escape the destruction into which they are anxious to ensnare him. This last prayer has its type in Exodus 33:13 , and in the Psalter in Psalm 25:4 (cf. Psalm 142:4 ); and its confirmation: for to Thee have I lifted up my soul, viz., in a craving after salvation and in the confidence of faith, has its type in Psalm 25:1 ; Psalm 86:4 . But the words אליך כסּיתי, which are added to the petition "deliver me from mine enemies" ( Psalm 59:2 ; Psalm 31:16 ), are peculiar, and in their expression without example. The Syriac version leaves them untranslated.

The lxx renders: ὅτι πρὸς σὲ κατέφυγον, by which the defective mode of writing כסתי is indirectly attested, instead of which the translators read נסתי (cf. נוּס על in Isaiah 10:3 ); for elsewhere not חסה but נוּס is reproduced with καταφυγεῖν. The Targum renders it מימרך מנּתי לפריק, Thy Logos do I account as (my) Redeemer (i.e., regard it as such), as if the Hebrew words were to be rendered: upon Thee do I reckon or count, כסּיתי equals כּסתּי, Exodus 12:4 . Luther closely follows the lxx: "to Thee have I fled for refuge." Jerome, however, inasmuch as he renders: ad te protectus sum, has pointed כסּיתי (כסּיתי). Hitzig (on the passage before us and Proverbs 7:20 ) reads כסתי from כּסא equals סכא, to look ("towards Thee do I look"). But the Hebrew contains no trace of that verb; the full moon is called כסא (כסה), not as being "a sight or vision, species," but from its covered orb. The כסּתי before us only admits of two interpretations: (1) Ad (apud) te texi equals to Thee have I secretly confided it (Rashi, Aben-Ezra, Kimchi, Coccejus, J. H. Michaelis, J. D. Michalis, Rosenmller, Gesenius, and De Wette).