Answer me quickly, O LORD, my spirit fails. (143:7a)
Psalm 143 is a good reminder that following God is not easy. God has not promised us a problem-free, doubt-free, stress-free, trial-free walk through life. As Jesus said, In this world, you will have tribulation (16:33). It is not a promise that we particularly like but it is reality.
Psalm 143 (like 142) was apparently written while David was on the run from Saul. He is tired. He is fearful. He is depressed. He is burnt out.
The enemy pursues me, he crushes me to the ground; he makes me dwell in darkness like those long dead. My spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed.
David “feels” life. He is an emotional man. At this point in his life, he feels wiped. He has had enough. I’ve never been on the run before but I can imagine that spending every day hiding in the caves and every night moving to a new location to avoid being caught and killed probably does a number on you physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit.
In the midst of all this, David cries out…Answer me quickly, O LORD! David not only wanted an answer; he wanted one quickly. Why? Because his spirit was failing. He did not know how much he could take. He felt like his life was descending into the pit.
Somehow all this encourages me. It reminds me that life will be a struggle at times, that sometimes emotionally and spiritually I will feel spent and out of touch with God. This is not unusual. In fact, it appears to be part of God’s plan, a part of His sharpening of our character. God knew that David needed these times in his life just like He knew that Paul needed a “thorn in the flesh” to keep him dependent and humble. We can’t operate correctly on 24-hour, 7 day a week emotional highs. We don’t even do well on 7 day a week emotional plateaus. It is the emotional valley that sharpens our character, softens our heart and draws us back to God.
What do we do in these valleys? We follow David’s pathway. We cry out to God for His mercy recognizing that we do not deserve anything on our own (vs 1-2). We remember God’s work in our lives and meditate on the glories of His creation (vs 5). We hide ourselves in God (vs 9) and ask Him to bring us word of His love, show us the way to go, rescue us from our enemies, teach us how to do His will, bring us out of trouble and lead us on level ground. And we write all this down in a psalm and learn to sing to Him.
David messed up alot in his life. He had no perfect track record. But he was described as a man after God’s own heart because deep down he wanted nothing more than to be with God, to sense His presence, to sing His praise, and to do His will. Psalm 143 is an example of this.
Lord, fill my heart with Your joy, teach me to do Your will, tune my heart to sing Your praise.