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英語原文
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 (Ps 143:3) and the weakness of his spirit under it, which was ready to sink notwithstanding the likely course he took to support himself, Ps 143:4,5. II. He prays, and prays earnestly (Ps 143:6), 1. That God would hear him, Ps 143:1-7. 2. That he would not deal with him according to his sins, Ps 143:2. 3. That he would not hide his face from him (Ps 143:7), but manifest his favour to him, Ps 143:8. 4. That he would guide and direct him in the way of his duty (Ps 143:8,10) and quicken him in it, Ps 143:11. 5. That he would deliver him out of his troubles, Ps 143:9,11. 6. That he would in due time reckon with his persecutors, Ps 143:12. 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.
1-6
Complaints and Petitions
繁體中文
苦訴與祈求
大衛的詩。
¹ 耶和華啊，求你聽我的禱告，留心聽我的懇求！憑你的信實與公義應允我。 ² 求你不要審問你的僕人；因為在你面前，凡活著的人沒有一個是義的。 ³ 原來仇敵逼迫我的靈魂；將我的生命壓伏於地；使我住在幽暗之處，如同死了許久的人一樣。 ⁴ 所以我的靈在我裏面發昏；我的心在我裏面悽慘。 ⁵ 我追想古時之日，思想你的一切作為；默念你手的工作。 ⁶ 我向你舉手；我的心渴想你，如乾旱之地。（細拉）
在此，一、大衛謙卑地求神垂聽（詩一四三1）——並非他懷疑這事，而是他懇切渴慕、並為此掛慮；因為他既已發出禱告，便舉目觀看它如何成就（哈二1）。他向他神懇求，並求他的請求得蒙應允：*求你聽我的禱告；留心聽我的懇求。*他是向逼迫者的上訴者，求他的案件得蒙聽審，並求神——作為斷定是非的審判官——憑他的信實與公義作出判斷。或說：「求你憑你的信實應允我的祈求，照你所應許的——這也是你所當行的——來成就。」我們沒有自己的義可訴求，因此必須訴求神的義——他所白白賜給我們、並使我們在其中生發盼望的應許之道。
二、他謙卑地求不以嚴厲的公義待他（詩一四三2）。他在此似乎是——若不是修正，至少是解釋——他的訴求（詩一四三1）：憑你的公義搭救我；他說：「我指的是福音公義的應許，不是律法公義的威嚇；我若照著那無辜之約——那已被破壞之約——的公義受審，我便全然敗壞了」；因此：1. 他的祈求是：「求你不要審問你的僕人」；不要按我所當受的嚴厲公義待我。在這禱告中，我們必須自認是神的僕人——有責任順服他、向他交賬、並懇切求得他的恩寵——也必須在他面前顯為如此。我們必須承認自己在許多事上得罪了他，虧負了對他當盡的本分；他若查問我們的過犯、照律法對我們追討，我們也無話可說；並且他若如此行，判決必不利於我們；我們沒有甚麼可提以阻止或減輕判決的，執行令必被發出、被批准，那時我們便永遠敗亡了。但我們必須以一個盼望激勵自己——神那裏有憐憫與赦免——並懇切求他賜下那憐憫的益處。「求你不要審問你的僕人，因為你已經審問了你的兒子，將我們眾人的罪孽都歸在他身上。求你不要審問你的僕人，因為你的僕人已經自己審判了自己」；並且我們若先分辨自己，就不至受審。2. 他的訴求是：「在你面前，凡活著的人沒有一個是義的」——按那些條款而言，沒有人能如此；因為沒有人能以無辜或自己任何的義為訴求——既不能說他沒有犯罪，也不能說他不該為他的罪而死；也不能說他有任何自己的滿足可以獻上；不但如此，神若與我們爭論，我們也不能回答他千分之一（伯九3，十五20）。大衛在求挪去患難之前，先求赦免罪惡，並完全仰賴憐憫。
三、他訴說仇敵勝過他的苦情（詩一四三3）：「掃羅那大仇敵逼迫我的靈魂——以不止息的惡意尋索我的性命——並且逼迫得如此之深，甚至已經將它壓伏於地。我雖尚未入土，卻已被打倒在地，這與入土相差無幾；他強迫我住在幽暗之處——不僅在幽暗的洞窟之中，更在幽暗的念頭與恐懼之中，在憂鬱的雲霧之中——如同無助、無望的*死了許久的人一樣。*主啊，讓我在你那裏尋得憐憫，因為我在人那裏尋不著憐憫。他們定我的罪；但主啊，你不要定我的罪。我豈不是你憐憫的對象，配得你為我興起嗎？我的仇敵豈不是你不悅的對象，配得你起而抵擋嗎？」
四、他因外面的患難所引起的心靈壓抑而悲歎（詩一四三4）：因此我的靈被壓制、在我裏面發昏，我幾乎陷於絕望之中；外面有爭戰，裏面有恐懼，而那些恐懼比掃羅本人更是暴君與壓迫者，又不像他那樣容易逃脫。有時最好的聖徒也會落到心靈一時幾乎被淹沒、心變為悽慘的地步，這無疑是他們的軟弱。大衛不僅是個大聖徒，更是個大能的戰士，然而連他在患難之日有時也幾乎要昏厥。香柏樹若被搖撼，松樹豈不也要哀鳴。
五、他使用適當的方法來解救他憂困的靈。他沒有兵力可以召集起來抵擋仇敵的壓迫，但他若不能保住別的，也必盡力保住自己的心靈、保守內心的平安。為此：1. 他回顧，追想古時之日（詩一四三5）——記念神從前為他受苦的百姓、並為他自己所作的彰顯。在困境中，記念列祖所告訴我們的奇事，常常是神百姓的安慰（詩七十七5、11）。2. 他環顧，留意神在可見的受造之物中的作為、與他對世界的護理治理：我思想你的一切作為。許多人看見了，卻看不見神的智慧、權能、良善在其中所留下的腳蹤，也不能從中得著他們本可得的益處，因為他們不加以默想；他們不在那豐富而精妙的題材上停留，很快便放棄，以為已經窮盡了它，其實他們幾乎連邊都沒碰著。我默念（或如有人所譯：我論述）你手的工作——何等偉大、何等美好！我們越思想神的權能，就越不懼怕人的面貌或勢力（賽五十一12、13）。3. 他以懇切的渴慕仰望神和他的恩寵（詩一四三6）：*「我向你舉手，」*如同求賙濟的人，並滿懷期待要得著大事，隨時預備抓住它、歡迎它。我的心渴想你；這心是向著你的（原文如此），全心向著你，全意注目於你；我的心如乾旱之地——因過度的炎熱而焦乾，張口切望雨水；我如此需要、如此渴慕神聖安慰在患難中的扶持與舒解，別的都不能解我的困。這是我們在心靈發昏之時所能採取的最好的途徑；那些不肯採取如此現成的方法來解脫自己的人，理當沉淪在自己的重擔之下。
英語原文
Complaints and Petitions
A psalm of David.
¹ Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and 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 thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah.
Here, I. David humbly begs to be heard (Ps 143:1), 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, Hab 2:1. He is a suppliant to his God, and he begs that his requests may be granted: Hear my prayer; give ear to my supplications. 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.
II. He humbly begs not to be proceeded against in strict justice, Ps 143:2. He seems here, if not to correct, yet to explain, his plea (Ps 143:1), Deliver me in thy righteousness; "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, "Enter not into judgment with thy servant; 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. "Enter not into judgment with thy servant, for thou hast already entered into judgment with thy Son, and laid upon him the iniquity of us all. Enter not into judgment with thy servant, for thy servant enters into judgment with himself;" and, if we will judge ourselves, we shall not be judged. 2. His plea is, "In thy sight shall no man living be justified 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, we are not able to answer him for one of a thousand, Job 9:3,15:20. David, before he prays for the removal of his trouble, prays for the pardon of his sin, and depends upon mere mercy for it.
III. He complains of the prevalency of his enemies against him (Ps 143:3): "Saul, that great enemy, has persecuted my soul, sought my life, with a restless malice, and has carried the persecution so far that he has already smitten it down to the ground. 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 dwell in darkness, not only in dark caves, but in dark thoughts and apprehensions, in the clouds of melancholy, as helpless and hopeless as those that have been long dead. 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?"
IV. He bemoans the oppression of his mind, occasioned by his outward troubles (Ps 143:4): Therefore is my spirit overpowered and overwhelmed within me, 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. Howl, fir-trees, if the cedars be shaken.
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 remembers the days of old (Ps 143:5), 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, Ps 77:5,11. 2. He looks round, and takes notice of the works of God in the visible creation, and the providential government of the world: I meditate on all thy works. 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 muse on, or (as some read it) I discourse of, the operation of thy hands, 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, Isa 51:12,13. 3. He looks up with earnest desires towards God and his favour (Ps 143:6): "I stretch forth my hands unto thee, as one begging an alms, and big with expectation to receive something great, standing ready to lay hold on it and bid it welcome. My soul thirsteth after thee; it is to thee (so the word is), entire for thee, intent on thee; it is as a thirsty land, 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.
7-12
Prayers for Divine Grace
繁體中文
求恩惠的禱告
⁷ 耶和華啊，求你速速應允我；我的靈氣發盡：不要向我掩面，免得我像那些下坑的人一樣。 ⁸ 求你使我清晨得聽你慈愛之言，因我倚靠你；求你使我知道當行的路，因我的心向著你舉起。 ⁹ 耶和華啊，求你救我脫離我的仇敵：我往你那裏藏身。 ¹⁰ 求你指教我遵行你的旨意，因為你是我的神；你的靈本為善；求你引我到平坦之地。 ¹¹ 耶和華啊，求你為你的名將我救活；為你的公義的緣故，領我的靈魂出離患難。 ¹² 憑你的慈愛剪除我的仇敵，毀滅一切苦害我靈魂的，因為我是你的僕人。
大衛在此告訴我們，他向神伸出手之時說了甚麼；他開口不僅像一個懇切的人，更像一個急切的人：求你速速應允我，不要再遲延，因為我的靈氣發盡。我快要昏厥了——快遞那杯復甦之物給我——快、快，否則我就完了。這不是不信的急躁，而是出於強烈渴望和聖潔之愛的迫切。*神啊，求你快快幫助我！*大衛在此求三件事：
一、神向他施恩的明證——就是神喜悅他、又使他知道自己是蒙喜悅的；他將這事置於一切好處之前（詩4:6）。 1. 他懼怕神的蹙額：「主啊，不要向我掩面；主啊，不要向我發怒，不要轉臉不看我——正如我們向所不喜悅的人轉臉一樣；主啊，不要讓我留在你怒氣的恐懼之下，或在你恩寵的疑惑之中；我若已得著你的恩寵，求你不要將它向我隱藏。」那有恩典實際的人，不能不渴望恩典的明證。他以若神離棄他、他的光景何等悲慘為請求：「主啊，不要讓我伏在你的烈怒之下，因為那時我便像那些下坑的人一樣——就是說，下到墳墓（我便是個死人，軟弱、蒼白、毫無生氣；你的蹙額比死更可怕）；或下到地獄，那無底坑。」即使那些因恩典已被救拔免於下坑的人，有時當全能者的可畏之勢列陣攻擊他們之時，看來也像那些正要下坑的人。愁苦的聖徒有時曾呼喊神的烈怒，如同自己已被定罪的罪人一樣（伯6:4；詩88:6）。 2. 他懇求神的恩寵（詩143:8）：求你使我清晨得聽你慈愛之言。他不能不以為神對他有恩慈，有恩言要對他說，有美好的、安慰的話語；只是他如今事務的紛忙、心靈的翻騰，淹沒了那些悅耳的低語；因此他求：「主啊，不僅以慈愛對我說話，更求你使我聽見——聽見喜樂和歡欣」（詩51:8）。神藉著他的話語、又藉著他的護理對我們說話，在這兩方面我們都當渴望並努力聽見他的慈愛（詩107:43），好叫我們常將它擺在眼前：「求你使我清晨聽見它——每個清晨聽見；願我醒來的思想乃是關乎神的慈愛，好叫那甘甜的滋味終日存留在我心。」他的理由是：因為我倚靠你——惟獨倚靠你；我別處不尋安慰。神的恩惠通常是為那信靠他的人所行（詩31:8），就是憑信將恩惠汲取而出的人。
二、神恩典在他裏面運行。他對此的懇求，和他對神恩寵的明證一樣懇切——我們也當如此。他禱告：
1. 求神以他旨意的知識光照他；這是聖靈首要的作為，是其他作為的先決條件——因為神對待人如人，如理性的受造物。為此有三個祈求： （1）求你使我知道當行的路。有時那些極想走得正的人，卻疑惑不定，身在黑暗之中，不知哪一條才是正路。他們當坦然來到施恩寶座前，求神藉著他的話、他的靈、和他的護理指示他們那路，攔阻他們走錯。善人所問的，不是我必須走的路、或最舒適好走的路，而是我當走的路——那正路、那他應當走的路。他的請求是：我的心向著你舉起——要照你的旨意被模造、被塑造。他不是只迫切地、更是不偏不倚地渴望知道自己的本分；凡如此的，必蒙教導。 （2）求你指教我遵行你的旨意——不僅告訴我你的旨意是甚麼，更指教我當怎樣行，怎樣靈巧地將手轉向我的本分。認識並遵行神的旨意、在其中得以完全，乃是一切神忠心僕人所渴望、所努力的。他的請求是：你是我的神——所以你是我的神諭，我可以指望從你得著勸誡；又是我的神——所以你是我的主宰，我樂意遵行你的旨意。我們若誠心以神為我們的神，便可倚靠他指教我們遵行他的旨意，正如主人指教僕人一樣。 （3）求你引我到平坦之地——或作：引我進入聖徒的交通，那義人的美地；或指引我進入一個穩定的聖潔生活，這生活必引人到天堂——那個完全聖潔的平坦之地，聖潔的在他裏面仍然聖潔。我們當渴望被引領、被保守直到天堂，不僅因為那是蒙福之地，更因為那是正直之地——是恩典的完全。我們若沒有神的指示，便找不到引我們到那地的路；若非他牽著我們的手領我們，也不能在那路上行走——正如我們引領那軟弱的、瘸腿的、膽怯的、目力昏花的人一樣。神的恩典是如此必需——不僅為將我們放進善路，更是為在其中保守我們、攜帶我們前行。請求是：你的靈本為善——能夠使我變為善，又樂意幫助那些無所適從的人。凡以耶和華為神的人，便有他的靈作引導；「被聖靈引導」既是他們的特徵，也是他們的特權。
2. 他求神使他復甦、得以遵行旨意（詩143:11）：耶和華啊，求你將我救活！——甦醒我的靈修，使之活潑；甦醒我盡本分的心，又在其中甦醒我；這為你名的緣故。最好的聖徒也常覺自己遲鈍、死沉、緩慢，因此求神甦醒他們。
三、神護理為他出頭。1. 求神按自己的方法和時間使他得息患難（詩143:9）：耶和華啊，求你救我脫離我的仇敵——使他們不能向我逞其心願；因為我往你那裏藏身——我信靠你在患難中護衛我，因此也信你能救我脫離其中。今世的保全乃是拯救的憑據；凡憑信以神為藏身之處的，必發現神確是他們的避難所。他解明自己（詩143:11）：為你的公義——就是為你應許的緣故，不，更為你慈愛的緣故（因有人以公義為恩慈和良善之意）——求你將我的靈魂帶出患難；不僅救我脫離外面的患難，更脫離我靈魂的患難——那威脅要淹沒我心的患難。「主啊，無論我在何等的患難之中，求你不要叫我的心憂愁」（約14:1）。 2. 求神與那些作成他患難的工具的人算帳（詩143:12）：憑你對我的慈愛剪除我的仇敵——使我不再懼怕他們；又毀滅一切——無論是誰、無論多麼眾多、多麼有勢力——一切苦害我靈魂、在其中製造煩擾的人；因為我是你的僕人——並決心繼續作你的僕人，因此可以指望在你的服事中被承認、被保護。這禱告是一個預言，預言一切不悔改的耶穌基督和他國度的仇敵——那些不願他作王治理他們、使他的聖靈擔憂、又因苦害他的百姓而苦害他的靈魂（他們的苦害中他同受苦害）——必全然滅亡。
英語原文
Prayers for Divine Grace
⁷ Hear me speedily, O LORD: 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, O LORD, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me.
¹⁰ Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.
¹¹ Quicken me, O LORD, 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 am thy servant.
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: "Hear me speedily, and defer no longer, for my spirit faileth. 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. Make haste, O God! to help me. Three things David here prays for:—
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, Ps 4:6. 1. He dreads God's frowns: "Lord, hide not thy face from me; 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 like those that go down to the pit, 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, Job 6:4, Ps 88:6. 2. He entreats God's favour (Ps 143:8): Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning. 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 hear joy and gladness," Ps 51:8. God speaks to us by his word and by his providence, and in both we should desire and endeavour to hear his lovingkindness (Ps 107:43), that we may set that always before us: "Cause me to hear it in the morning, 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, "For in thee do I trust, and in thee only; I look not for comfort in any other." God's goodness is commonly wrought for those who trust in him (Ps 31:8), who by faith draw it out.
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,
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.) Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk. 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 lift up my soul unto thee, 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.) "Teach me to do thy will, 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, "Thou art my God, 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.) Lead me into the land of uprightness, 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, "Thy Spirit is good, 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 led by the Spirit.
2. He prays that he might be enlivened to do his will (Ps 143:11): "Quicken me, O Lord!—quicken my devotions, that they may be lively; quicken me to my duty, and quicken me in it; and this for thy name's sake." The best saints often find themselves dull, and dead, and slow, and therefore pray to God to quicken them.
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 (Ps 143:9): "Deliver me, O Lord! from my enemies, that they may not have their will against me; for I flee unto thee to hide me; 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 (Ps 143:11): "For thy righteousness-sake, bring my soul out of trouble, for thy promise-sake, nay, for thy mercy-sake" (for some by righteousness understand kindness and goodness); "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," Joh 14:1. 2. That he would reckon with those that were the instruments of his trouble (Ps 143:12): "Of thy mercy to me cut off my enemies, that I may be no longer in fear of them; and destroy all those, whoever they be, how numerous, how powerful, soever, who afflict my soul, and create vexation to that; for I am thy servant, 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.
本篇與前幾篇一樣，是大衛的禱告，其中滿是他當時所處極大艱難與危險的訴苦——很可能是掃羅逼迫他之時。他在那患難中不僅禱告，而且禱告得很多、很頻繁，並非重複同樣的話，而是新的意念。在本篇中：一、他訴苦自己的遭遇——因仇敵的欺壓（詩 143:3），並因在這之下心靈的軟弱——這心靈雖然他採取了看似可行的支持之法，卻仍幾乎要沉淪（詩 143:4,5）；二、他禱告，並懇切地禱告（詩 143:6）：1. 求神垂聽他（詩 143:1-7）；2. 求神不要照他的罪過待他（詩 143:2）；3. 求神不要向他掩面（詩 143:7），卻要向他彰顯恩惠（詩 143:8）；4. 求神在當盡的本分路上引導、指示他（詩 143:8,10），並在其中激勵他（詩 143:11）；5. 求神救他脫離患難（詩 143:9,11）；6. 求神在適當的時候與逼迫他的人算賬（詩 143:12）。我們唱這詩時，可以更容易將之應用於自己身上，因為其中大部分的祈求都是為屬靈的福分——就是我們所有人任何時候都需要的——憐憫與恩典。