The Way of the Word: Psalm One Hundred and Forty-Third – A Contemplative Reading.
Monsignor Joji Vadakara, Vatican City
The one hundred and forty-third psalm also clarifies one of the fundamental principles of religious belief in Old Testament thought, that God hears the prayers of the believer who calls upon him. In this psalm we see David asking God for help in his distress. As well as being a personal lament, it is one of the seven penitential psalms, like Psalms 102 and 130. Even as he seeks protection and justice from God, David is aware of the evil within him. Presenting himself as God’s servant, the psalmist seeks comfort from Yahweh. David pleads with God for deliverance from enemies that could even lead to his death.
Unique God
David confesses his insignificance before God in the very first verses of the Psalm. David remembers that he is not righteous, but God is righteous and faithful to help him. He says in the second verse, “Do not bring this servant into judgment” because he knows that he is a sinner who has no right to stand before God. Knowing that salvation is God’s gift, he asks God for help. By confessing that no one living, including himself, is righteous before God, he is acknowledging that God’s mercy is man’s only recourse.
Lives destroyed by the enemy
In verses three and four of the Psalm, David tells God about the state of his life. He laments that he lives as a victim of evil men, that they have destroyed his life, his soul. His condition is like that of someone trampled on the ground. The fourth verse, “I am distressed; my heart trembles,” gives us an idea of the depth of his pain. David prayed to God not because he was depressed, but because of the pain caused by other people. He had to go into hiding to escape from Saul. His son Absalom has deposed him. Thus, David mourns before God because of the pain that the weight of the enemy’s violence has caused in his life.
Acts of a righteous God
In verses 5 and 6, David records the powerful interventions God has made in history and in his life. God has been a hand of protection in the lives of the righteous and the innocent. David’s mind must have been reminded of how God had intervened in times of innocence in his own life. David thinks more about God’s actions than about his own life and actions. Memories of those peaceful times lead the psalmist through moments of suffering to hope and trust in God rather than to sorrow. That is why, with a spirit of prayer, he lays out his affairs to God, imploring God’s intervention; He thirsts for God.
Powerful prayer
Verses seven through nine of the Psalm describe David’s powerful and intense prayer of lamentation. David is asking God to listen to the cry of his broken life. Even men who are convinced that God is saving according to His plans, like David, “Answer quickly!” lamenting that it is in front of the severity of their suffering. David prays that he will not hide his face from God because he has experienced the joy of living before him as a vessel of God’s favor.
Like every righteous person who has lived pleasing to God, the psalmist wants to recognize God’s voice in the morning and order his life accordingly. According to that voice, David asks for the grace to walk with his eyes lifted up to the presence of God, knowing the ways he should walk. David is also confessing his mistakes in these lines. He has acted according to his own desires and not listening to the voice of God. He has deviated from the ways God was showing him.
David raised his heart to God with a request to free him from his enemies. He pleads not only for courage and protection from God, but also for deliverance from the enemy. “I have come to you for refuge” is also a beautiful declaration of faith. He desires the protection of God’s presence more than all other refuges. Lives that are extinguished before God in repentance will become more aware of their unworthiness and cling to God like a baby in a mother’s lap.
Guidance and protection
As we enter the closing verses of the psalm, we hear the voice of David’s prayer for guidance and strong protection in his life. “Teach me to do Thy will! For Thou art my God! Let Thy good Spirit lead me in a straight path!” David prays out of the realization that a good God is teaching him to walk in the right way.
The psalmist wants the glory of God’s name and God’s justice even in his misery. “Lord, preserve my life for your name’s sake! Deliver me from misery by your righteousness!” The psalmist confesses that if God’s mercy is with him, his life will be preserved, and he will be saved from all troubles.
David, pleading with God to destroy and cut off his enemies, concludes his lamentation by confessing before God the conviction that he is God’s servant. Recognizing that vengeance belongs to God, he assumes the form of a servant before God, who is also his master. It is the duty of the master to ensure the protection of his servant.
Psalm in life
This psalm is an invitation to raise thoughts of hope and raise hands to God for people who are unjustly, persecuted by enemies, and whose dignity of life is destroyed by others. But at the same time, it is also an invitation to know the joy of return to every human being who makes mistakes, does not fulfill God’s will, and walks away from His ways. Let’s make this psalm a prayer for us to walk close to God with good conviction, to rely more on God in our failures and shortcomings, and to receive new life in His mercy. May God take care of our lives for the sake of His name and His righteousness, may we be able to listen to God’s sweet voice every morning to live according to God’s will and live with our eyes fixed on Him. May God protect us as a strong fortress, as the love of a mother’s bosom.