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A Prayer for Rescue from Enemies

A psalm of David.[a]

143 O Yahweh, hear my prayer;
listen to my supplications.
In your faithfulness answer me,
and in your righteousness.
And do not enter into judgment with your servant,
because no one alive is righteous before you.
For the enemy has pursued my soul;
he has crushed my life to the ground.
He has made me dwell in dark places
like those long dead.
And so my spirit grows faint within me;
my heart within[b] me is desolate.
I remember the days of long ago;
I meditate on all your doings.[c]
I muse on the labor of your hands.
I stretch out my hands to you;
my soul longs for you like a dry land. Selah
Quickly answer me, O Yahweh;
my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me,
or I will become
like those descending to the pit.
Cause me to hear your loyal love in the morning,
for I trust you.
Cause me to know the way that I should go,
for I lift up my soul to you.
Deliver me from my enemies, O Yahweh.
I take refuge in you.[d]
10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God;
your Spirit is good.
Lead me onto level ground.
11 For your name’s sake, O Yahweh, preserve my life;
in your righteousness bring me[e] out of trouble.
12 And in your loyal love destroy my enemies,
and exterminate all the adversaries of my soul,
for I am your servant.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 143:1 The Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as the first verse of the psalm
  2. Psalm 143:4 Literally “in the midst of”
  3. Psalm 143:5 Hebrew “doing”
  4. Psalm 143:9 This reading for the difficult Hebrew “I cover to you” is suggested by the LXX
  5. Psalm 143:11 Hebrew “my soul”