mh_parser/vol_split/19 - Psalms/Chapter 143.xml

<div2 id="Ps.cxliv" n="cxliv" next="Ps.cxlv" prev="Ps.cxliii" progress="70.08%" title="Chapter CXLIII">
<h2 id="Ps.cxliv-p0.1">P S A L M S</h2>
<h3 id="Ps.cxliv-p0.2">PSALM CXLIII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ps.cxliv-p1">This psalm, as those before, is a prayer of David,
and full of complaints of the great distress and danger he was in,
probably when Saul persecuted him. He did not only pray in that
affliction, but he prayed very much and very often, not the same
over again, but new thoughts. In this psalm, I. He complains of his
troubles, through the oppression of his enemies (<scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.143.3" parsed="|Ps|143|3|0|0" passage="Ps 143:3">ver. 3</scripRef>) and the weakness of his spirit under
it, which was ready to sink notwithstanding the likely course he
took to support himself, <scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.143.4-Ps.143.5" parsed="|Ps|143|4|143|5" passage="Ps 143:4,5">ver. 4,
5</scripRef>. II. He prays, and prays earnestly (<scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.143.6" parsed="|Ps|143|6|0|0" passage="Ps 143:6">ver. 6</scripRef>), 1. That God would hear him,
<scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.143.1-Ps.143.7" parsed="|Ps|143|1|143|7" passage="Ps 143:1-7">ver. 1-7</scripRef>. 2. That he
would not deal with him according to his sins, <scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.143.2" parsed="|Ps|143|2|0|0" passage="Ps 143:2">ver. 2</scripRef>. 3. That he would not hide his face
from him (<scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.143.7" parsed="|Ps|143|7|0|0" passage="Ps 143:7">ver. 7</scripRef>), but
manifest his favour to him, <scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.143.8" parsed="|Ps|143|8|0|0" passage="Ps 143:8">ver.
8</scripRef>. 4. That he would guide and direct him in the way of
his duty (<scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.143.8 Bible:Ps.143.10" parsed="|Ps|143|8|0|0;|Ps|143|10|0|0" passage="Ps 143:8,10">ver. 8, 10</scripRef>)
and quicken him in it, <scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Ps.143.11" parsed="|Ps|143|11|0|0" passage="Ps 143:11">ver.
11</scripRef>. 5. That he would deliver him out of his troubles,
<scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Ps.143.9 Bible:Ps.143.11" parsed="|Ps|143|9|0|0;|Ps|143|11|0|0" passage="Ps 143:9,11">ver. 9, 11</scripRef>. 6. That he
would in due time reckon with his persecutors, <scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p1.11" osisRef="Bible:Ps.143.12" parsed="|Ps|143|12|0|0" passage="Ps 143:12">ver. 12</scripRef>. We may more easily accommodate this
psalm to ourselves, in the singing of it, because most of the
petitions in it are for spiritual blessings (which we all need at
all times), mercy and grace.</p>
<scripCom id="Ps.cxliv-p1.12" osisRef="Bible:Ps.143" parsed="|Ps|143|0|0|0" passage="Ps 143" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ps.cxliv-p1.13" osisRef="Bible:Ps.143.1-Ps.143.6" parsed="|Ps|143|1|143|6" passage="Ps 143:1-6" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.143.1-Ps.143.6">
<h4 id="Ps.cxliv-p1.14">Complaints and Petitions.</h4>
<div class="Center" id="Ps.cxliv-p1.15">
<p id="Ps.cxliv-p2">A psalm of David.</p>
</div>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.cxliv-p3">1 Hear my prayer, <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cxliv-p3.1">O
Lord</span>, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness
answer me, <i>and</i> in thy righteousness.   2 And enter not
into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man
living be justified.   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.   4
Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is
desolate.   5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all
thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.   6 I stretch
forth my hands unto thee: my soul <i>thirsteth</i> after thee, as a
thirsty land. Selah.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxliv-p4">Here, I. David humbly begs to be heard
(<scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.143.1" parsed="|Ps|143|1|0|0" passage="Ps 143:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>), not as if he
questioned it, but he earnestly desired it, and was in care about
it, for, having desired it, and was in care about it, for having
directed his prayer, he looked up to see how it sped, <scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.1" parsed="|Hab|2|1|0|0" passage="Hab 2:1">Hab. ii. 1</scripRef>. He is a suppliant to his
God, and he begs that his requests may be granted: <i>Hear my
prayer; give ear to my supplications.</i> He is an appellant
against his persecutors, and he begs that his case may be brought
to hearing and that God will give judgment upon it, in his
faithfulness and righteousness, as the Judge of right and wrong.
Or, "Answer my petitions in thy faithfulness, according to the
promises thou hast made, which thou wilt be just to." We have no
righteousness of our own to plead, and therefore must plead God's
righteousness, the word of promise which he has freely given us and
caused us to hope in.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxliv-p5">II. He humbly begs not to be proceeded
against in strict justice, <scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.143.2" parsed="|Ps|143|2|0|0" passage="Ps 143:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>. He seems here, if not to correct, yet to explain, his
plea (<scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.143.1" parsed="|Ps|143|1|0|0" passage="Ps 143:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>), Deliver
me <i>in thy righteousness;</i> "I mean," says he, "the righteous
promises of the gospel, not the righteous threatenings of the law;
if I be answered according to the righteousness of this broken
covenant of innocency, I am quite undone;" and therefore, 1. His
petition is, "<i>Enter not into judgment with thy servant;</i> do
not deal with me in strict justice, as I deserve to be dealt with."
In this prayer we must own ourselves to be God's servants, bound to
obey him, accountable to him, and solicitous to obtain his favour,
and we must approve ourselves to him. We must acknowledge that in
many instances we have offended him, and have come short of our
duty to him, that he might justly enquire into our offences, and
proceed against us for them according to law, and that, if he
should do so, judgment would certainly go against us; we have
nothing to move in arrest or mitigation of it, but execution would
be taken out and awarded and then we should be ruined for ever. But
we must encourage ourselves with a hope that there is mercy and
forgiveness with God, and be earnest with him for the benefit of
that mercy. "<i>Enter not into judgment with thy servant,</i> for
thou hast already entered into judgment with thy Son, and laid upon
him the iniquity of us all. <i>Enter not into judgment with thy
servant,</i> for thy servant enters into judgment with himself;"
and, if <i>we will judge ourselves, we shall not be judged.</i> 2.
His plea is, "<i>In thy sight shall no man living be justified</i>
upon those terms, for no man can plead innocency nor any
righteousness of his own, either that he has not sinned or that he
does not deserve to die for his sins; nor that he has any
satisfaction of his own to offer;" nay, if God contend with us,
<i>we are not able to answer him for one of a thousand,</i>
<scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.9.3 Bible:Job.15.20" parsed="|Job|9|3|0|0;|Job|15|20|0|0" passage="Job 9:3,15:20">Job ix. 3; xv. 20</scripRef>.
David, before he prays for the removal of his trouble, prays for
the pardon of his sin, and depends upon mere mercy for it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxliv-p6">III. He complains of the prevalency of his
enemies against him (<scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.143.3" parsed="|Ps|143|3|0|0" passage="Ps 143:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>): "Saul, that great enemy, <i>has persecuted my
soul,</i> sought my life, with a restless malice, and has carried
the persecution so far that he has already <i>smitten it down to
the ground.</i> Though I am not yet under ground, I am struck to
the ground, and that is next door to it; he has forced me to
<i>dwell in darkness,</i> not only in dark caves, but in dark
thoughts and apprehensions, in the clouds of melancholy, <i>as</i>
helpless and hopeless as <i>those that have been long dead.</i>
Lord, let me find mercy with thee, for I find no mercy with men.
They condemn me; but, Lord, do not thou condemn me. Am not I an
object of thy compassion, fit to be appeared for; and is not my
enemy an object of thy displeasure, fit to be appeared
against?"</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxliv-p7">IV. He bemoans the oppression of his mind,
occasioned by his outward troubles (<scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.143.4" parsed="|Ps|143|4|0|0" passage="Ps 143:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>): <i>Therefore is my spirit</i>
overpowered and <i>overwhelmed within me,</i> and I am almost
plunged in despair; when without are fightings within are fears,
and those fears greater tyrants and oppressors than Saul himself
and not so easily out-run. It is sometimes the lot of the best men
to have their spirits for a time almost overwhelmed and their
hearts desolate, and doubtless it is their infirmity. David was not
only a great saint, but a great soldier, and yet even he was
sometimes ready to faint in a day of adversity. <i>Howl, fir-trees,
if the cedars be shaken.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxliv-p8">V. He applies himself to the use of proper
means for the relief of his troubled spirit. He had no force to
muster up against the oppression of the enemy, but, if he can keep
possession of nothing else, he will do what he can to keep
possession of his own soul and to preserve his inward peace. In
order to this, 1. He looks back, and <i>remembers the days of
old</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.143.5" parsed="|Ps|143|5|0|0" passage="Ps 143:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>),
God's former appearances for his afflicted people and for him in
particular. It has been often a relief to the people of God in
their straits to think of the wonders which their fathers told them
of, <scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.77.5 Bible:Ps.77.11" parsed="|Ps|77|5|0|0;|Ps|77|11|0|0" passage="Ps 77:5,11">Ps. lxxvii. 5, 11</scripRef>. 2.
He looks round, and takes notice of the works of God in the visible
creation, and the providential government of the world: <i>I
meditate on all thy works.</i> Many see them, but do not see the
footsteps of God's wisdom, power, and goodness in them, and do not
receive the benefit they might by them because they do not meditate
upon them; they do not dwell on that copious curious subject, but
soon quit it, as if they had exhausted it, when they have scarcely
touched upon it. <i>I muse on,</i> or (as some read it) <i>I
discourse of, the</i> operation <i>of thy hands,</i> how great, how
good, it is! The more we consider the power of God the less we
shall fear the face or force of man, <scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.12-Isa.51.13" parsed="|Isa|51|12|51|13" passage="Isa 51:12,13">Isa. li. 12, 13</scripRef>. 3. He looks up with
earnest desires towards God and his favour (<scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.143.6" parsed="|Ps|143|6|0|0" passage="Ps 143:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>): "<i>I stretch forth my hands
unto thee,</i> as one begging an alms, and big with expectation to
receive something great, standing ready to lay hold on it and bid
it welcome. <i>My soul thirsteth after thee; it is to thee</i> (so
the word is), entire for thee, intent on thee; it is <i>as a
thirsty land,</i> which, being parched with excessive heat, gapes
for rain; so do I need, so do I crave, the support and refreshment
of divine consolations under my afflictions, and nothing else will
relieve me." This is the best course we can take when our spirits
are overwhelmed; and justly do those sink under their load who will
not take such a ready way as this to ease themselves.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ps.cxliv-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.143.7-Ps.143.12" parsed="|Ps|143|7|143|12" passage="Ps 143:7-12" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.143.7-Ps.143.12">
<h4 id="Ps.cxliv-p8.6">Prayers for Divine Grace.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.cxliv-p9">7 Hear me speedily, <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cxliv-p9.1">O
Lord</span>: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I
be like unto them that go down into the pit.   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.   9 Deliver me, <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cxliv-p9.2">O
Lord</span>, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me.  
10 Teach me to do thy will; for thou <i>art</i> my God: thy spirit
<i>is</i> good; lead me into the land of uprightness.   11
Quicken me, <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.cxliv-p9.3">O Lord</span>, for thy name's
sake: for thy righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble.
  12 And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all
them that afflict my soul: for I <i>am</i> thy servant.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxliv-p10">David here tells us what he said when he
stretched forth his hands unto God; he begins not only as one in
earnest, but as one in haste: "<i>Hear me speedily,</i> and defer
no longer, for <i>my spirit faileth.</i> I am just ready to faint;
reach the cordial—quickly, quickly, or I am gone." It was not a
haste of unbelief, but of vehement desire and holy love. <i>Make
haste, O God! to help me.</i> Three things David here prays
for:—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxliv-p11">I. The manifestations of God's favour
towards him, that God would be well pleased with him and let him
know that he was so; this he prefers before any good, <scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.4.6" parsed="|Ps|4|6|0|0" passage="Ps 4:6">Ps. iv. 6</scripRef>. 1. He dreads God's frowns:
"Lord, <i>hide not thy face from me;</i> Lord, be not angry with
me, do not turn from me, as we do from one we are displeased with;
Lord, let me not be left under the apprehensions of thy anger or in
doubt concerning thy favour; if I have thy favour, let it not be
hidden from me." Those that have the truth of grace cannot but
desire the evidence of it. He pleads the wretchedness of his case
if God withdrew from him: "Lord, let me not lie under thy wrath,
for then I am <i>like those that go down to the pit,</i> that is,
down to the grave (I am a dead man, weak, and pale, and ghastly;
thy frowns are worse than death), or down to hell, the bottomless
pit." Even those who through grace are delivered from going down to
the pit may sometimes, when the terrors of the Almighty set
themselves in array against them, look like those who are going to
the pit. Disconsolate saints have sometimes cried out of the wrath
of God, as if they had been damned sinners, <scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.6.4 Bible:Ps.88.6" parsed="|Job|6|4|0|0;|Ps|88|6|0|0" passage="Job 6:4,Ps 88:6">Job vi. 4; Ps. lxxxviii. 6</scripRef>. 2. He
entreats God's favour (<scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.143.8" parsed="|Ps|143|8|0|0" passage="Ps 143:8"><i>v.</i>
8</scripRef>): <i>Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the
morning.</i> He cannot but think that God has a kindness for him,
that he has some kind things to say to him, some good words and
comfortable words; but the present hurry of his affairs, and tumult
of his spirits, drowned those pleasing whispers; and therefore he
begs, "Lord, do not only speak kindly to me, but cause me to hear
it, to <i>hear joy and gladness,</i>" <scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.51.8" parsed="|Ps|51|8|0|0" passage="Ps 51:8">Ps. li. 8</scripRef>. God speaks to us by his word and by
his providence, and in both we should desire and endeavour to
<i>hear his lovingkindness</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p11.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.107.43" parsed="|Ps|107|43|0|0" passage="Ps 107:43">Ps.
cvii. 43</scripRef>), that we may set that always before us:
"<i>Cause me to hear</i> it <i>in the morning,</i> every morning;
let my waking thoughts be of God's lovingkindness, that the sweet
relish of that may abide upon my spirits all the day long." His
plea is, "<i>For in thee do I trust,</i> and in thee only; I look
not for comfort in any other." God's goodness is commonly wrought
<i>for those who trust in him</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p11.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.31.8" parsed="|Ps|31|8|0|0" passage="Ps 31:8">Ps.
xxxi. 8</scripRef>), who by faith draw it out.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxliv-p12">II. The operations of God's grace in him.
Those he is as earnest for as for the tokens of God's favour to
him, and so should we be. He prays,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxliv-p13">1. That he might be enlightened with the
knowledge of God's will; and this is the first work of the Spirit,
in order to his other works, for God deals with men as men, as
reasonable creatures. Here are three petitions to this effect:—
(1.) <i>Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk.</i>
Sometimes those that are much in care to walk right are in doubt,
and in the dark, which is the right way. Let them come boldly to
the throne of grace, and beg of God, by his word, and Spirit, and
providence, to show them the way, and prevent their missing it. A
good man does not ask what is the way in which he must walk, or in
which is the most pleasant walking, but what is the right way, the
way in which he should walk. He pleads, "<i>I lift up my soul unto
thee,</i> to be moulded and fashioned according to thy will." He
did not only importunately, but impartially, desire to know his
duty; and those that do so shall be taught. (2.) "<i>Teach me to do
thy will,</i> not only show me what thy will is, but teach me how
to do it, how to turn my hand dexterously to my duty." It is the
desire and endeavour of all God's faithful servants to know and to
do his will, and to stand complete in it. He pleads, "<i>Thou art
my God,</i> and therefore my oracle, by whom I may expect to be
advised—my God, and therefore my ruler, whose will I desire to
do." If we do in sincerity take God for our God, we may depend upon
him to teach us to do his will, as a master does his servant. (3.)
<i>Lead me into the land of uprightness,</i> into the communion of
saints, that pleasant land of the upright, or into a settled course
of holy living, which will lead to heaven, that land of uprightness
where holiness will be in perfection, and he that is holy shall be
holy still. We should desire to be led, and kept safe, to heaven,
not only because it is a land of blessedness, but because it is a
land of uprightness; it is the perfection of grace. We cannot find
the way that will bring us to that land unless God show us, nor go
in that way unless he take us by the hand and lead us, as we lead
those that are weak, or lame, or timorous, or dim-sighted; so
necessary is the grace of God, not only to put us into the good
way, but to keep us and carry us on in it. The plea is, "<i>Thy
Spirit is good,</i> and able to make me good," good and willing to
help those that are at a loss. Those that have the Lord for their
God have his Spirit for their guide; and it is both their character
and their privilege that they are <i>led by the Spirit.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxliv-p14">2. He prays that he might be enlivened to
do his will (<scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.143.11" parsed="|Ps|143|11|0|0" passage="Ps 143:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>): "<i>Quicken me, O Lord!</i>—quicken my devotions,
that they may be lively; quicken me to my duty, and quicken me in
it; and this <i>for thy name's sake.</i>" The best saints often
find themselves dull, and dead, and slow, and therefore pray to God
to quicken them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.cxliv-p15">III. The appearance of God's providence for
him, 1. That God would, in his own way and time, give him rest from
his troubles (<scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.143.9" parsed="|Ps|143|9|0|0" passage="Ps 143:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>):
"<i>Deliver me, O Lord! from my enemies,</i> that they may not have
their will against me; <i>for I flee unto thee to hide me;</i> I
trust to thee to defend me in my trouble, and therefore to rescue
me out of it." Preservations are pledges of salvation, and those
shall find God their hiding-place who by faith make him such. He
explains himself (<scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.143.11" parsed="|Ps|143|11|0|0" passage="Ps 143:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>): "<i>For thy righteousness-sake, bring my soul out
of trouble,</i> for thy promise-sake, nay, for thy mercy-sake" (for
some by <i>righteousness</i> understand <i>kindness</i> and
<i>goodness</i>); "do not only deliver me from my outward trouble,
but from the trouble of my soul, the trouble that threatens to
overwhelm my spirit. Whatever trouble I am in, Lord, let not my
heart be troubled," <scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:John.14.1" parsed="|John|14|1|0|0" passage="Joh 14:1">John xiv.
1</scripRef>. 2. That he would reckon with those that were the
instruments of his trouble (<scripRef id="Ps.cxliv-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.143.12" parsed="|Ps|143|12|0|0" passage="Ps 143:12"><i>v.</i>
12</scripRef>): "<i>Of thy mercy</i> to me <i>cut off my
enemies,</i> that I may be no longer in fear of them; <i>and
destroy all those,</i> whoever they be, how numerous, how powerful,
soever, <i>who afflict my soul,</i> and create vexation to that;
<i>for I am thy servant,</i> and am resolved to continue such, and
therefore may expect to be owned and protected in thy service."
This prayer is a prophecy of the utter destruction of all the
impenitent enemies of Jesus Christ and his kingdom, who will not
have him to reign over them, who grieve his Spirit, and afflict his
soul, by afflicting his people, in whose afflictions he is
afflicted.</p>
</div></div2>