Devotional Short Note on Psalm 143:
David started the Psalm by asking the Lord to listen to his prayer (143:1) and
not to judge (143:2). When God judges the misphat type of judgment, it is too
late since that is the executive judgment. There is still chance when it is the
din judgment. In this last judgment it is the socalled rib kind where He wants
to talk and negotiate. If it is the mishpat type of judgment “for in Your sight
shall no man living be justified”. The reason he seeks help is because of
the enemy (143:3a). This enemy crush his life (143:3b); he made him to dwell in
dark places (143:3c); he causes his spirit to faint (143:4a); his heart is
appalled inside of him (143:4b). David says that he remembers the days of
old (143:5a); that he praises [not meditate but praise from ḥknw in Late
Egyptian] on all His doing; he recall [not muse but
recall/recount/remember/commemorate from sḫ3 in Late Egyptian] on the work of
His hands (143:5c). There are some doctoral dissertations
done in Adventism with this verse trying to show that we should meditate more
in our prayers and even styles of meditation are suggested. Nothing can be
further from the truth. The Hebrew Dictionaries available to us did not know
what to do with the word and used the late Arabic to solve the problem. A
millennium and a half is too far distant to rely on the semantics of a language
to be the guide of an older language. David not only remembers but spreads out
his hands to the Lord personally and not in public or in a congregation
(143:6a). His soul is is after the Lord (143:6b). The Lord must answer him quickly since
his spirit is failing. He wants the Lord not to hide His face from him otherwise
he will go down into a pit (143:7). When the morning comes, may the Lord let
him hear the lovingkindness as reward for his trust in the Lord. God must
actively teach him his way in which he should walk for he has lifted up his
soul to God (143:8). “Show me the way wherein [zu] I should walk”. The Amorite
form of this demonstrative pronoun was zū and in Aramaic it was z’. It is a
loanword by David. David wants deliverance from the enemies
(143:9). Again he wants the Teacher to teach him
to do His will. The reason is that God is his God and His good Spirit should
lead him to an even land (143:10). For the sake of God he want Him to be
kind to him, to bring him out of trouble, cutting off the enemies, destroying
all that harass his soul, because he is the servant of the Lord (143:11-12).