Click here to read PSALM 143 in poetic form.
Background
Psalm 143 is in the Deuteronomy Book of the Psalms (Psalms 107-150). These 44 Psalms, like the Book of Deuteronomy in the Old Testament, show God’s Word as the source of salvation, deliverance, and healing. This would be fully carried out in the life of the coming Messiah, the living Word, Jesus Christ. Psalm 143 shows the Messiah’s cry to the Lord for help from those who overwhelm and seek to kill him. The Messiah remembers the Lord’s past goodness and knows that He will cut off those who afflict his soul.
Structure
(Verses 1,2) Messiah’s cry to the Lord Who is faithful to answer and righteous in His judgments
(Verses 3,4) Messiah overwhelmed by those who seek to kill him
(Verses 5,6) Messiah remembers the Lord’s past goodness, and his soul thirsts for God
Pause
(Verses 7,8) Messiah’s cry to the Lord Who is trustworthy and gracious
(Verses 9-11) Messiah in trouble from his enemies
(Verse 12) Messiah remembers the Lord’s mercy, and He will cut off those who afflict his soul
Key Scriptures
Verse 3—“For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead.” The Devil persecuted David’s soul, knowing that from his lineage would come the Messiah. God consistently delivered His Son, Jesus Christ, from the adversary’s attempts on his life (including King Herod trying to kill him when under two years of age). Later, Satan tried to talk Jesus into jumping off from a great height and killing himself. But Jesus was filled with the spirit and also full of the Word of God he had studied for nearly thirty years. He did not take the Devil’s bait!
Luke 4:9-12:
And he [Satan] brought him [Jesus] to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:
For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:
And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
After declaring his amazing and life-changing mission to those in his hometown synagogue, Jesus was physically attacked by those who worked for the Devil. They tried to kill him. But God made a way to escape.
Luke 4:28-30:
And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.
But he passing through the midst of them went his way.
Jesus was able to escape attempts on his life more than once. When he boldly told religious leaders in Jerusalem that he was the Messiah that Abraham looked forward to, they tried to stone him to death.
John 8:59:
Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
When Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, they tried again to kill him.
John 10:39:
Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand.
Verse 8—“Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.” The Hebrew word translated “morning” means dawn or sunrise. Beginning his day in prayer was an essential part of Jesus Christ’s life. Mark 1:35: “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” Luke 6:12: “And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.” Luke 9:28: “And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray.”
FOR FURTHER STUDY
All 150 of The Psalms in Poetic Form are available from Amazon in a book, either Large Print or a smaller Bedside Reader.
The Background, Structure, and Key Scriptures for all 150 Psalms are available from Amazon in a book The Psalms: Background & Structure with Key Scriptures Explained.
