Psalm 143 Part 2

If David was ‘parched’ while he stretched forth his hands in prayer (v6), remember Him whose hands were often stretched forth in prayer for his people, and whose soul thirsted after our salvation, even when he felt the extremity of bodily thirst on the cross. V7 is often our prayer – we want a quick answer! But as Paul wrote in Romans 8:31, when we live with the belief that God is for us, we are confident in the face of any adversary. Yet if we sense that God may ‘hide His face’ from us, we feel weak before any adversary.

David felt he could not go on without a sense of the favour of God. He needed to hear something of God’s great mercy, His lovingkindness – (His chesed.) He needed to hear this early in the day, in the morning, so he would have assurance and know how to walk during the day. The phrase, ‘in the morning,’ is already a realization that the night is not endless. We need to seek God in the morning as was the example of Jesus. How else shall we know which way we should walk (v8.) Lovingkindness is one of the sweetest words in our language. Kindness is precious, but lovingkindness is doubly dear; it is the cream of kindness.

In v3 we had read of his persecution at the hands of his enemies and now in v9, he prays for deliverance from them. Taking ‘refuge’ is a beautiful statement of faith. David would not take ‘shelter’ in sinful pleasures, in the distractions of entertainment, in positive thinking, in self-reliance, in bitterness, or in vengeance. David was determined to take shelter/refuge’ in the LORD.

The closing verses are a prayer for revival, for a renewal of life and vitality. Yet he prayed this not for his own benefit or reputation, but ‘for Your name’s sake’ – the sake of the LORD’s name and reputation. David asked God to deal with his enemies; but before that, he asked God to deal with him. He knew that his own low or uninspired or undirected walk with God was a greater danger than any enemy.