Psalms 143:2

And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified. AND ENTER NOT INTO JUDGMENT WITH THY SERVANT - for my many shortcomings. This shows that the "righteousness" of God, in accordance with which in the Psalmist prays for a favourable answer, is not the righteousness by which the judge exacts strictly all that is due by the sinner. David here deprecates such a strict judgment, as feeling himself unable to "answer Him one of a thousand" charges God could bring against him (Job 9:2; Job 14:3; ; ;...

2._And enter not into judgment_, (249) _etc_. I have hinted already why he proceeds to pray for pardon. When overtaken by adversity, we are ever to conclude that it is a rod of correction sent by God to stir us up to pray. Although he is far from taking pleasure in our trials, it is certain that our sins are the cause of his dealing towards us with this severity. While those to whom David was opposed were wicked men, and he was perfectly conscious of the rectitude of his cause as regarded them, he freely acknowledged his sin before God as a condemned suppliant. We are to hold this as a general rule in seeking to conciliate God, that we must pray for the pardon of our sins. If David found refuge nowhere else than in prayer for pardon, who is there amongst us who would presume to come before God trusting in his own righteousness and integrity? Nor does David here merely set an example befo...

1-6 We have no righteousness of our own to plead, therefore must plead God's righteousness, and the word of promise which he has freely given us, and caused us to hope in. David, before he prays for the removal of his trouble, prays for the pardon of his sin, and depends upon mercy alone for it. He bemoans the weight upon his mind from outward troubles. But he looks back, and remembers God's former appearance for his afflicted people, and for him in particular. He looks round, and notices the works of God. The more we consider the power of God, the less we shall fear the face or force of man. He looks up with earnest desires towards God and his favour. This is the best course we can take, when our spirits are overwhelmed. The believer will not forget, that in his best actions he is a sinner. Meditation and prayer will recover us from distresses; and then the mourning soul strives to ret...

Verse Psalms 143:2. _ENTER NOT INTO JUDGMENT_] אל תבוא _al tabo_. Do not come into court, either as a _Witness_ against me, or as a _Judge_, else I am ruined; for thou hast seen all my ways that they are evil, and thy justice requires thee to punish me. Nor can any soul that has ever lived be justified in the sight of thy justice and righteousness. Had I my desert from thee, I should have worse than even my unnatural son intends me. O what a relief is _Jesus_ _crucified_ to a soul in such circumstances!...

AND ENTER NOT INTO JUDGMENT WITH THY SERVANT - Do not deal with me on the ground of justice as toward “thee;” do not mark my own offences against thee, when I plead that justice may be done as between me and my fellow-men. While I plead that thou wouldst judge righteously between me and them, I am conscious that I could not claim thy needed interposition on the ground of any righteousness toward thee. There I must confess that I am a sinner; there I can rely only on mercy; there I could not hope to be justified. FOR IN THY SIGHT - As before thee; in thy presence; by thee. SHALL NO MAN LIVING - No one of the race, no matter what his rank, his outward conduct, his gentleness, his amiableness, his kindness; no matter how just and upright he may be toward his fellow-men. BE JUSTIFIED - Be regarded as righteous; be acquit

EXPOSITION ALMOST entirely a psalm of supplication, partly general (Psalms 143:1, Psalms 143:7), partly special (Psalms 143:2, Psalms 143:8). Psalms 143:3, however, give the grounds upon which the supplications are made; Psalms 143:3, Psalms 143:4 describing the psalmist's wretched condition; and...

AND ENTER NOT INTO JUDGMENT WITH THY SERVANT,.... The house of judgment, as the Targum, or court of judicature; God is a Judge, and there is and will be a judgment, universal, righteous, and eternal; and there is a day fixed for it, and a judgment seat before which all must stand, and a law according to which all must be judged; but the psalmist knew he was but a man, and could not contend with God; and a sinful creature, and could not answer him for one of a thousand faults committed by him; and though his servant, yet an unprofitable one; his nature, his heart, his thoughts, words, and actions, would not bear examining, nor stand the test of the holy law of God; nor was he able to answer the demands of divine justice in his own person; and therefore pleads for pardon and acceptance through Christ and his righteousness, and entreats that God would not proceed against him in a judicial w...

Psalms 143:1. _Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness. And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified._ That is, of course, apart from the wondrous system of justification by faith in Jesus Christ, whereby believers are made the righteousness of God in him. Apart from that righteousness, no man living can be justified in the sight of God. Psalms 143:3. _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. Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate._ Are any of you passing through this trying experience? If s

PSALM 143-145 In Psalms 143:1 the enemy is mentioned again, the enemy who pursued David. “For the enemy has persecuted my soul; he has smitten my life down to the ground; he has made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have long been dead.” How this again reminds us of the death experience of the pious remnant when the man of sin, the Antichrist will rule in Israel's land. Prayer for deliverance follows. Hear me speedily--Hide not Thy face from me--Cause me to hear Thy lovingkindness--Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies, I flee unto Thee to hide me! The next Psalm riseth higher. Faith lays hold on God. Israel, as David did, will look in faith to Him who has the power to deliver His trusting ones. “My Goodness, and my Fortress; my high tower and my deliverer; my shield and He in whom I trust; who subdueth the peoples under me” (literal translation). They acknowledge before

CXLIII. There is no internal argument to justify the LXX title, A Ps. of [or by] David when his son persecuted him. On the contrary, it contains reminiscences of other and those late Psalms 143:3_ b_ is borrowed from Lamentations 3:6, for clearly the author of the latter passage is more vigorous and original than the author of the Ps. The theme is an ordinary one. The Psalmist prays for deliverance from his foes, who have brought him to death's door, and imprecates vengeance upon them. But we should notice one or two points important for religious history. The righteousness of God here and in other writers later than Deuteronomy is equivalent to faithfulness, and especially the fidelity with which God delivers and guides His people (_cf._...