Psalm 143
Good News Translation
A Prayer for Help[a]
143 Lord, hear my prayer!
In your righteousness listen to my plea;
answer me in your faithfulness!
2 (A)Don't put me, your servant, on trial;
no one is innocent in your sight.
3 My enemies have hunted me down
and completely defeated me.
They have put me in a dark prison,
and I am like those who died long ago.
4 So I am ready to give up;
I am in deep despair.
5 I remember the days gone by;
I think about all that you have done,
I bring to mind all your deeds.
6 I lift up my hands to you in prayer;
like dry ground my soul is thirsty for you.
7 Answer me now, Lord!
I have lost all hope.
Don't hide yourself from me,
or I will be among those who go down to the world of the dead.
8 Remind me each morning of your constant love,
for I put my trust in you.
My prayers go up to you;
show me the way I should go.
9 I go to you for protection, Lord;
rescue me from my enemies.
10 You are my God;
teach me to do your will.
Be good to me, and guide me on a safe path.
11 Rescue me, Lord, as you have promised;
in your goodness save me from my troubles!
12 Because of your love for me, kill my enemies
and destroy all my oppressors,
for I am your servant.
Footnotes
- Psalm 143:1 HEBREW TITLE: A psalm by David.
Psalm 143
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 143
Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies
A Psalm of David.
1 Hear my prayer, O Lord;
give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness;
answer me in your righteousness.(A)
2 Do not enter into judgment with your servant,
for no one living is righteous before you.(B)
3 For the enemy has pursued me,
crushing my life to the ground,
making me sit in darkness like those long dead.
4 Therefore my spirit faints within me;
my heart within me is appalled.(C)
5 I remember the days of old;
I think about all your deeds;
I meditate on the works of your hands.(D)
6 I stretch out my hands to you;
my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah(E)
7 Answer me quickly, O Lord;
my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me,
or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.(F)
8 Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning,
for in you I put my trust.
Teach me the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.(G)
9 Save me, O Lord, from my enemies;
I have fled to you for refuge.[a](H)
10 Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God.
Let your good spirit lead me
on a level path.(I)
11 For your name’s sake, O Lord, preserve my life.
In your righteousness bring me out of trouble.(J)
12 In your steadfast love cut off my enemies,
and destroy all my adversaries,
for I am your servant.(K)
Footnotes
- 143.9 Heb ms Gk: MT to you I have hidden
Psalm 143
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
143 Blessed be the Lord my God, who teacheth my hands to fight, and my fingers to war.
2 My mercy, and my refuge: my support, and my deliverer: My protector, and I have hoped in him: who subdueth my people under me.
3 Lord, what is man, that thou art made known to him? or the son of man, that thou makest account of him?
4 Man is like to vanity: his days pass away like a shadow.
5 Lord, bow down thy heavens and descend: touch the mountains and they shall smoke.
6 Send forth lightning, and thou shalt scatter them: shoot out thy arrows, and thou shalt trouble them.
7 Put forth thy hand from on high, take me out, and deliver me from many waters: from the hand of strange children:
8 Whose mouth hath spoken vanity: and their right hand is the right hand of iniquity.
9 To thee, O God, I will sing a new canticle: on the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings I will sing praises to thee.
10 Who givest salvation to kings: who hast redeemed thy servant David from the malicious sword:
11 Deliver me, And rescue me out of the hand of strange children; whose mouth hath spoken vanity: and their right hand is the right hand of iniquity:
12 Whose sons are as new plants in their youth: Their daughters decked out, adorned round about after the similitude of a temple:
13 Their storehouses full, flowing out of this into that. Their sheep fruitful in young, abounding in their goings forth:
14 Their oxen fat. There is no breach of wall, nor passage, nor crying out in their streets.
15 They have called the people happy, that hath these things: but happy is that people whose God is the Lord.
Psalm 143
The Message
143 1-2 Listen to this prayer of mine, God;
pay attention to what I’m asking.
Answer me—you’re famous for your answers!
Do what’s right for me.
But don’t, please don’t, haul me into court;
not a person alive would be acquitted there.
3-6 The enemy hunted me down;
he kicked me and stomped me within an inch of my life.
He put me in a black hole,
buried me like a corpse in that dungeon.
I sat there in despair, my spirit draining away,
my heart heavy, like lead.
I remembered the old days,
went over all you’ve done, pondered the ways you’ve worked,
Stretched out my hands to you,
as thirsty for you as a desert thirsty for rain.
7-10 Hurry with your answer, God!
I’m nearly at the end of my rope.
Don’t turn away; don’t ignore me!
That would be certain death.
If you wake me each morning with the sound of your loving voice,
I’ll go to sleep each night trusting in you.
Point out the road I must travel;
I’m all ears, all eyes before you.
Save me from my enemies, God—
you’re my only hope!
Teach me how to live to please you,
because you’re my God.
Lead me by your blessed Spirit
into cleared and level pastureland.
11-12 Keep up your reputation, God—give me life!
In your justice, get me out of this trouble!
In your great love, vanquish my enemies;
make a clean sweep of those who harass me.
And why? Because I’m your servant.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson