1 Hear my prayer, O LORD;
listen to my plea!
Answer me because you are faithful and righteous.
2 Don’t put your servant on trial,
for no one is innocent before you.
3 My enemy has chased me.
He has knocked me to the ground
and forces me to live in darkness like those in the grave.
4 I am losing all hope;
I am paralyzed with fear.
5 I remember the days of old.
I ponder all your great works
and think about what you have done.
6 I lift my hands to you in prayer.
I thirst for you as parched land thirsts for rain.
Interlude
7 Come quickly, LORD, and answer me,
for my depression deepens.
Don’t turn away from me,
or I will die.
8 Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning,
for I am trusting you.
Show me where to walk,
for I give myself to you.
9 Rescue me from my enemies, LORD;
I run to you to hide me.
10 Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God.
May your gracious Spirit lead me forward
on a firm footing.
11 For the glory of your name, O LORD, preserve my life.
Because of your faithfulness, bring me out of this distress.
12 In your unfailing love, silence all my enemies
and destroy all my foes,
for I am your servant.—Psalm 143 NLT
I can’t love this psalm enough. There are times for each of us in our lives when our spirits grow faint within us. Moments when we lose hope and are paralyzed with fear. Our spirit sinks and we are desperate for the Lord to answer our heart’s cry. We live in a despairing darkness that highlights our own helpless condition. We, like David, long for God’s gracious Spirit to lead us forward on firm footing….to put our feet back on level ground. To bring us out of the darkness and into the light of His unfailing love.
David, in this psalm, rightly acknowledges that God owes him nothing. Despite his acknowledged unworthiness, however, he prays with confidence because He knows (and this is why I love this psalm so much) that the covenant promises of God are His. He uses covenant language…
Faithfulness, righteousness, and my favorite…unfailing love.
We are in the same situation. We have no righteousness of our own. But God…because of the great love with which He loved(s) us sent His only Beloved Son to die for us. He did this so that we who believe could share the covenant promises, the covenant faithfulness, the covenant righteousness, and the unfailing covenant love that is ours in him. Because of this we can cry as David does with deep confidence that God will hear our cries and answer.
So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the LORD your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”—Deuteronomy 31:4 NLT
He has already done the bigger part…He will complete that good work He began in us.
31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?—Romans 8:31-32 NLT
Therefore…
14 So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. 15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. 16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.—Hebrews 4:14-16 NLT
Beloved…pray with confidence. God’s unfailing love is yours. In Christ our vindication and victory is assured.
16 "For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge and condemn the world [that is, to initiate the final judgment of the world], but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 Whoever believes and has decided to trust in Him [as personal Savior and Lord] is not judged [for this one, there is no judgment, no rejection, no condemnation]; but the one who does not believe [and has decided to reject Him as personal Savior and Lord] is judged already [that one has been convicted and sentenced], because he has not believed and trusted in the name of the [One and] only begotten Son of God [the One who is truly unique, the only One of His kind, the One who alone can save him].—John 3:16-18 AMPLIFIED
