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Expositor's Bible Commentary Psalm 143:1 A Psalm of David. Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness. Psalm 143:1-12 THIS psalm’s depth of sadness and contrition, blended with yearning trust, recalls the earlier psalms attributed to David. Probably this general resemblance in inwardness and mood is all that is meant by the superscription in calling it "a psalm of David." Its copious use of quotations and allusions indicate a late date. But there is no warrant for taking the speaker to be the personified Israel. It is clearly divided into two equal halves, as indicated by the Selah, which is not found in Books 4 and 5, except here, and in Psalm 140:1-13 . The former half ( Psalm 143:1-6 ) is complaint; the latter ( Psalm 143:7-12 ), petition. Each part may again be regarded as falling into two equal portions, so that the complaint branches out into a plaintive description of the psalmist’s peril ( Psalm 143:1-3 ), and a melancholy disclosure of his feelings ( Psalm 143:4-6 ); while the prayer is similarly parted into cries for deliverance ( Psalm 143:7-9 ), and for inward enlightenment and help ( Psalm 143:10-12 ). But we are not reading a logical treatise, but listening to the cry of a tried spirit, and so need not wonder if the discernible sequence of thought is here and there broken. The psalmist knows that his affliction is deserved. His enemy could not have hunted and crushed him ( Psalm 143:3 ) unless God had been thereby punishing him. His peril has forced home the penitent conviction of his sin, and therefore he must first have matters set right between him and God by Divine forgiveness. His cry for help is not based upon any claims of his own, nor even on his extremity of need, but solely on God’s character, and especially on the twin attributes of Faithfulness and Righteousness. By the latter is not meant the retributive righteousness which gives according to desert, but that by which He maintains the order of salvation established by His holy love. The prayer anticipates St. John’s declaration that God is "faithful and just to forgive us our sins." That answer in righteousness is as eagerly desired as God’s dealing on the footing of retributive justice is shrunk from. "Enter not into judgment with Thy servant" is not a prayer referring to a future appearance before the Judge of all, but the judgment deprecated is plainly the enmity of men, which, as the next verse complains, is crushing the psalmist’s life out of him. His cry is for deliverance from it, but he feels that a more precious gift must precede outward deliverance and God’s forgiveness must first be sealed on his soul. The conviction that, when the light of God’s face is turned on the purest life, it reveals dark stains which retributive justice cannot but condemn, is not. in the psalmist’s mouth, a palliation of his guilt. Rather, it drives him to take his place among the multitude of offenders, and from that lowly position to cry for pardon to the very Judge whose judgment he cannot meet. The blessedness of contrite trust is that it nestles the closer to God, the more it feels its unworthiness. The child hides its face on the mother’s bosom when it has done wrong. God is our refuge from God. A little beam of light steals into the penitent’s darkness, while he calls himself God’s servant, and ventures to plead that relation, though he has done what was unworthy of it, as a reason for pardon. The significant "For" beginning Psalm 143:3 shows that the enemy’s acts were, to the contrite psalmist, those of God’s stern justice. Psalm 143:3 a, b, are moulded on Psalm 7:5 , and c is verbally identical with Lamentations 3:6 . "The dead of long ago" is by some rendered dead forever; but the translation adopted above adds force to the psalmist’s sad description of himself, by likening him to those forgotten ones away back in the mists of bygone ages. In Psalm 143:4-6 the record of the emotions caused by his peril follows. They begin with the natural gloom. As in Psalm 142:3 (with which this has many points of resemblance, possibly indicating identity of author), he describes his "spirit" as swathed in dark robes of melancholy. His heart, too, the centre of personality, was stunned or benumbed, so that it almost ceased to beat. What should a "servant" of Jehovah’s, brought to such a pass, do? If he is truly God’s, he will do precisely what this man did. He will compel his thoughts to take another direction, and call Memory in to fight Despair and feed Hope. His own past and God’s past are arguments enough to cheer the most gloom-wrapped sufferer. "A sorrow’s crown of sorrow" may be "remembering happier things," but the remembrance will be better used to discrown a sorrow which threatens to lord it over a life. Psalm 77:5-6 ; Psalm 77:11-12 , has shaped the expressions here. Both the contrast of present misery with past mercy, and the assurances of present help given by that past mercy, move the psalmist to appeal to God, stretching out his hands in entreaty. Psalm 63:1 echoes in Psalm 143:6 b, the pathos and beauty of which need no elucidation. The very cracks in parched ground are like mouths opened for the delaying rains; so the singer’s soul was gaping wide in trouble for God’s coming, which would refresh and fertilise. Blessed is that weariness which is directed to Him; it ever brings the showers of grace for which it longs. The construction of Psalm 143:6 b is doubtful, and the supplement "thirsteth" (A.V. and R.V.) is possibly better than the "is" given above. The second half of the psalm is purely petition. Psalm 143:7-9 ask especially for outward deliverance. They abound with reminiscences of earlier psalms. "Make haste, answer me" recalls Psalm 69:17 ; "my spirit faints" is like Psalm 84:2 ; "Hide not Thy face from me" is a standing petition, as in Psalm 27:9 ; Psalm 102:2 , etc ., "Lest I become like those who descend into the pit" is exactly reproduced from Psalm 28:1 . The prayer for the manifestation of God’s lovingkindness in the morning is paralleled in Psalm 90:14 , and that for illumination as to the way to walk in is like Exodus 33:13 Psalm 25:4 . The plea "To Thee do I lift my soul" is found in Psalm 25:1 ; Psalm 86:4 . The plea appended to the petition in Psalm 143:9 b is difficult. Literally, the words run, "To Thee have I covered [myself]," which can best be explained as a pregnant construction, equivalent to "I have fled to Thee and hid myself in Thee." Much divergence exists in the renderings of the clause. But a slight emendation, adopted by Hupfeld and Cheyne from an ancient Jewish commentator, reads the familiar expression, "I have fled for refuge." Baethgen prefers to read "have waited," which also requires but a trivial alteration; while Graetz reaches substantially the same result by another way, and would render "I have hope." A glance at these three verses of petition as a whole brings out the sequence of the prayers and of their pleas. The deepest longing of the devout soul is for the shining of God’s face, the consciousness of His loving regard, and that not only because it scatters fears and foes, but because it is good to bathe in that sunshine. The next longing is for the dawning of a glad morning, which will bring to a waiting heart sweet whispers of God’s lovingkindness, as shown by outward deliverances. The night of fear has been dark and tearful, but joy comes with the morning. The next need is for guidance in the way in which a man should go, which here must be taken in the lower sense of practical direction, rather than in any higher meaning. That higher meaning follows in Psalm 143:10-12 ; but in Psalm 143:8 the suppliant asks to be shown the path by which he can secure deliverance from his foes. That deliverance is the last of his petitions. His pleas are beautiful as examples of the logic of supplication. He begins with his great need. His spirit faints, and he is on the edge of the black pit into which so much brightness and strength have gone down. The margin is slippery and crumbling; his feet are feeble. One Helper alone can hold him up. But his own exceeding need is not all that he pleads. He urges his trust, his fixing of his desires, hopes, and whole self, by a dead lift of faith, on God. That is a reason for Divine help. Anything is possible rather than that such hope should be disappointed. It cannot be that any man, who has fled for sanctuary to the asylum of God’s heart, should be dragged thence and slain before the God whose altar he has vainly clasped. The last part ( Psalm 143:10-12 ) puts foremost the prayer for conformity of will with God’s and, though it closes with recurring prayer for outward deliverance, yet breathes desires for more inward blessings. As in the preceding verses, there are, in these closing ones, many echoes of other psalms. The sequence of petitions and pleas is instructive. To do, not merely to know, God’s will is the condition of all blessedness, and will be the deepest desire of every man who is truly God’s servant. But that obedience of heart and hand must be taught by God, and He regards our taking Him for our God as establishing a claim on Him to give all illumination of heart and all bending of will and all skill of hand which are necessary to make us doers of His will. His teaching is no mere outward communication of knowledge, but an in-breathing of power to discern, and of disposition and ability to perform, what is His will. Psalm 143:10 b is best taken as a continuous sentence, embodying a prayer for guidance. The plea on which it rests remains the same, though the statement of it as a separate clause is not adopted in our translation. For the fact that God’s spirit is "good" -i.e., beneficently self-communicative-heartens us to ask, and binds Him to give, all such direction as is needed. This is not a mere repetition of the prayer in Psalm 143:8 , but transcends it. "A level land" (or, according to a possible suggested emendation, path) is one in which the psalmist can freely walk, unhindered in doing God’s will. His next petition goes deepest of the three, inasmuch as it asks for that new Divine life to be imparted, without which no teaching to do God’s will can be assimilated, and no circumstances, however favourable, will conduce to doing it. He may not have known all the depth which his prayer sounded; but no man who has real desires to conform heart and life to the supreme will of God but must have felt his need of a purer life to be poured into his spirit. As this prayer is deep, so its plea is high. "For Thy name’s sake" nothing can be pleaded of such force as that. God supremely desires the glory of His name; and, for the sake of men whose blessedness depends on their knowing and loving it, will do nothing that can dim its lustre. His name is the record of His past acts, the disclosure of that in Him which is knowable. That name contains the principles of all His future acts. He will be what He has been. He will magnify His name and the humblest, most tormented soul that can say, "Thou art my God," may be sure that Divinely given life will throb in it, and that even its lowliness may contribute to the honour of the name. The hunted psalmist cannot but come back, in the close of his psalm, to his actual circumstances, for earthly needs do clog the soul’s wings. He unites righteousness and lovingkindness as cooperating powers, as in Psalm 143:1 he had united faithfulness and righteousness. And as in the first verses he had blended pleas drawn from God’s character with those drawn from his relation to God, so he ends his petitions with pleading that he is God’s servant, and, as such, a fit object of God’s protection. The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my supplications. Psalm 143 A penitential soul in prayer David Thomas, D. D. : — I. THE REASONS URGED. 1. A consciousness of moral unrighteousness (ver. 2). No man will ever pray rightly until he is made deeply conscious that he has no claims whatever upon the favour of God, and that his necessities, if relieved at all, must be relieved by sovereign mercy alone. 2. A terrible sense of danger (vers. 3, 4). 3. An encouraging reminiscence of God (ver. 5). 4. An intense craving of the heart (ver. 6). There are two figures here indicating the craving of the heart after God. The first is taken from human life. As the suffering child stretches forth its hand to its mother, as the dying patient to his physician, as the drowning man to the rope thrown out for his rescue, so the soul of the penitent stretches out Jim hands to God; he must have Him or die and be lost. God is the necessity of necessities, the Supreme need. Another figure indicating the craving of the heart after God is the longing of the parched earth for fertile showers. II. THE BLESSINGS INVOKED. 1. Soul deliverance (ver. 7). This has been provided in Christ. 2. Soul guidance (ver. 8). Let the morning dawn on me, and The night of darkness and sorrow depart, and show me the way in which I ought to walk, — the way of rectitude, of safety. 3. Soul loyalty (ver. 10). 4. Soul quickening (ver. 11). There must be life to struggle for deliverance, life to follow the Divine guidance, to reach the level land of rectitude, and to walk in it. ( David Thomas, D. D. ) Prayer illustrated Newman Hall, LL. B. : — As an example and illustration of prayer this psalm teaches us — 1. That we should approach God in the full belief that He is the "Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." 2. We should appeal to Him not only as merciful, but also as faithful and righteous. 3. We should come as sinners imploring pardon. 4. Thus coming to God, we should seek comfort by uttering our grief in His presence and casting all our care on Him. 5. We should direct our thoughts from our sorrows to Him before whom we bow, and contemplate His character and former mercies. 6. Encouraged by such contemplation we should with renewed confidence present our petitions. 7. Expecting consolation in the path of obedience alone, we should pray to be enabled to do the will of God. 8. In our prayers we should renew the consecration of ourselves to God, and seek protection, deliverance and salvation as His "servants." "I am Thine, save me." ( Newman Hall, LL. B. ) My heart within me is desolate. Psalm 143:4 Trouble of soul A. Symson. : — He spake before of his external calamities; now he confesseth the infirmities of his mind, that he was wonderfully cast down in heart and troubled in his soul, so that his strength was almost gone (not like the strength of a whale fish, or of a rock), but being ready to drown with sorrow, he was sustained by faith and God's Spirit, he swam under these evils. Our Saviour Himself confessed of Himself, "My soul is troubled to the death." God knoweth our mould, we are not stocks without passions or perturbations; we are not like lepers, whose flesh is senseless; but we are sensible of evils, that we may run to God for help and comfort. Had not Job his own perturbations and griefs, which made him utter hard speeches, for which God rebuked him, and he afterwards repented? yet God affirmed that he spake better of him than all his friends did. Can a ship sail along with such a constant and direct course in stormy weather as it were calm and before the wind? it is enough that it directeth the course ever towards the port, albeit it be forced to cast board twenty times. So God careth not albeit we be troubled in our course to heaven. Let us ever aim at the port of eternal glory, howsoever we be disquieted with contrary winds and tempests, God will pass by all those our frailties and imperfections, and will at last deliver us from them all, if in the midst of those our extremities our heart set itself toward heaven. ( A. Symson. ) I remember the days of old. Psalm 143:5 The ministry of memory Homilist. : — I. AS A NECESSITY OF HUMAN NATURE. 1. By the laws of proximity, likeness, contrast, we are every day thrown back on the past, made in some measure to relive the hours that are gone. 2. This necessary action of memory shows —(1) The conscious unity of human life. However long we have to live, though for ever, from the beginning our life is one.(2) The wondrous frugality of life. Our spiritual life throws nothing away. Memory manages all with the most sparing economy. It gathers up every fragment, so that nothing is lost.(3) The growing importance of life. What a world lies behind the old man — nay, within him.(4) The inevitable retributiveness of life. II. AS A MORAL OBLIGATION OF HUMAN NATURE. "I remember the days of old." Every man should voluntarily and religiously do this with the past of his life. He should not allow the past to come up to him merely involuntarily, and thus become its victim. He should deal with it so as to make it serve the true interests of his spiritual being. He should make the past — 1. Promote evangelical sorrow within him. The memory of the past must sadden all souls. 2. Promote thanksgiving to God within him. What impressions will the past give man of God's forbearance — God's guidance — God's guardianship — God's ever-flowing goodness! 3. Promote an invincible purpose to improve. The memory of past disappointments should warn us against extravagant hopes. The memory of abused mercies should lead us to a greater appreciation of our present blessings. The memory of lost years should lead us to turn every hour of the present to a right spiritual account. ( Homilist. ) Remembrance of the past Jas. Stewart. : — I. THE PAST ENABLES US TO KNOW OURSELVES. 1. We have embodied our character. 2. We have reacted on and moulded them. 3. Hence the past shows what we are. II. THE PAST IS FITTED TO SUGGEST RULES FOR THE GUIDANCE OF THE FUTURE CONDUCT. 1. It has brought to light our tendencies. 2. It has shown what is dangerous in our circumstances. 3. It has revealed the temptations before which we are in danger of falling. III. A CONSIDERATION OF THE PAST WILL PREPARE US FOR THE EXERCISE OF CONFESSION, AND WILL SHUT US UP TO CHRIST. 1. Confession should be minute — history portrayed. 2. This requires a knowledge of the past. 3. A sight of our sin drives to Christ. 4. For this sight we must turn to the past. IV. THE CONSIDERATION OF THE PAST WILL DISPOSE US TO THANKSGIVING, AND WILL FURNISH US WITH MATERIALS FOR PRAISE. 1. Thanksgiving is difficult, and is neglected. 2. It should be minute, ranging from, etc. 3. It should involve lively and strong feeling. 4. The knowledge and the deep feeling are dependent on, etc. — Individuals. V. THE CONSIDERATION OF THE PAST WILL STIMULATE US TO REDEEM THE TIME. 1. The whole life of man is short. 2. How much shorter has it become to us! 3. Had it been spent aright, its increased shortness would not be a matter of regret. 4. But only look back! VI. THE CONSIDERATION OF THE PAST WILL PRODUCE DEEP AND SOLEMN IMPRESSIONS OF THE FRAILTY OF MAN. 1. Look back to your childhood. 2. Where are the companions of your youth? Stages marked by grave-stones — mourner — stranger on earth. VII. THE CONSIDERATION OF THE PAST WILL SHOW THE UTTER FOLLY OF DEPENDING ON THE THINGS OF THE WORLD FOR SUPPORT AND ENJOYMENT. 1. Ungodliness is an attempt to dispense with God and still be happy. 2. Each man makes the experiment. 3. You have made it. 4. What is the result? A failure! VIII. A CONSIDERATION OF THE PAST WILL CONFIRM THE BELIEVER IN THE CHOICE HE HAS MADE. 1. The most important part of a believer's life is that which follows his conversion. 2. In reviewing it — (1) You see the temporal consequences of your act. (2) You see the spiritual consequences. IX. THE PAST WILL SHOW TO THE UNGODLY HIS ETERNITY. 1. Alas! the sinner is not qualified to see his eternity in his time. X. THE PAST SHOWS TO THE BELIEVER THE COMPARATIVE MEASURE IN WHICH HE SHALL REAP HEREAFTER. Between the believer's present conduct and future glory — 1. There is no connection of merit. 2. But there is a connection of congruity or fitness. ( Jas. Stewart. ) Reflection G. J. Zollikofer, D. D. : — 1. Reflection signifies to think again on what we have already thought, already conceived, to think on it more circumstantially, more steadily, more expressly, and to do this on set purpose and with consciousness in the design of dwelling longer on these thoughts, in order to dissect and analyze them, to obtain a clearer conception of the matter to which they relate, to study them in their several parts, in their principles and consequences, to compare them with others, to observe their analogies to us and to other objects, and thence to draw conclusions in regard to our conduct or to our happiness. 2. It also signifies, by the repeated representation and consideration of what we have already conceived and know, to endeavour to discover or to understand other things which we either do not yet know, or whereof we have only a dark and confused idea, or in regard to which we are still uncertain, whether they be true or false, thus or otherwise constituted. 3. Reflection has commonly in view the examination of some or all of the following questions: What is the object and the nature of it? What results from thence? Is it true and certain, and why is it so? What relations does it bear to me and my happiness? How should I act towards it? In other words, by reflection and consideration we endeavour to render our conceptions and ideas of objects more clear, more complete, more certain, more interesting and useful to us. 4. The reflecting man endeavours to render the objects, the doctrines whereon he reflects more profitable to him by applying them to his conduct, by deducing from them such principles and rules as may regulate him for the rest of his life. Thus he learns real, practical wisdom, and without that all human reflection is of no great value. ( G. J. Zollikofer, D. D. ) I muse on the work of Thy hands. God's works to be appreciated, for they declare Him : — I heard of a good man who went down the Rhine, but took care to read a book all the way, for fear he should have his mind taken off from heavenly topics by the beauties of Nature. I confess I do not understand such a spirit — I do not want to do so. If I go into an artist's house I do that artist a displeasure if I take no notice of his works under the pretext that I am quite absorbed in himself. Why not enjoy the objects in which our heavenly Father has set forth His wisdom and power? Delight yourself in all your heavenly Father's handiwork, and make it to be a ladder by which you climb to Himself. ( C. H. Spurgeon . ) Delight in God's works Hugh Black. : — The same thing will appeal differently to different people according to capacity, sensibility, experience. One may look on a flower with the eye of a florist, another of a market gardener, another of a botanist, another of an artist. William Blake saw angels amid the swaying corn or nestling in a tree. A scene which is dull and uninteresting to the listless eye may be transformed by a touch of creative and interpretative imagination; as James Swetham says, "Gerhard Dew threw a glory over our very pickled cabbage." Culture and restraint. ( Hugh Black. ) Cause me to hear Thy lovingkindness in the morning. Psalm 143:8 How to have a good day Homiletic Review. : — There are days and days. There are days of darkness such as this psalm illustrates. Many think that David sung this psalm when he fled from Absalom. I. IT WAS A DARK DAY FOR DAVID. 1. It was a day of hard environment. "The enemy hath persecuted my soul." Think of David fugitive, and climbing, in sackcloth, the slopes of the Mount of Olives. There are days when everything seems to go against us. 2. It was a day for David of clean discouragement. "He hath smitten my life down to the ground." Have you not been in such a discouraged day? 3. It was a day of despair. When hope has gone out and despair has come in, your hands hang and your step stops. 4. This was a day for David when memory made contrast (ver. 5). The only comfort for the soul in such plight is the memory of better days. That is a very bad, enervating mood when one, instead of looking forward, is perpetually looking backward. Oh, the brave apostles Though prisoner in Rome, "forgetting the things which are behind." II. HOW TO GET OUT OF SUCH A DARK DAY AND MOOD INTO A GOOD DAY. 1. By prayer. "Cause me to hear." The soul addresses God; turns resolutely Godward. 2. By beginning the day with a sense of God. "Cause me to hear Thy lovingkindness in the morning." Count your mercies and begin the day by doing it. There is a way of looking at disadvantage in the light of advantage. Mr. Edison, partially deaf since childhood, was told by a specialist an operation would help him. He answered, "Give up an advantage that enables me to think on undisturbed by noise or conversation? No, indeed." 3. By constancy in trust. "For in Thee do I trust." Trust, and keep on trusting anyway. 4. By determining to do, and at all hazards to do the right. "Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk." Notice that — the praying and the walking; the search for the right and the resolve to do it. Darkness shall surely flee from such a soul. Such turning of dark days into good ones makes — character! ( Homiletic Review. ) "In the morning Homiletic Magazine. I. THE MORNING COMES AFTER THE NIGHT. 1. The night of mourning. "Our light affliction," etc. This is higher and sweeter than the motto on the sundial, "I count only the sunbeams." The child of God will count, to his wealth and joy, the darkness also. The night is glorified in the morning "lovingkindness," as night-formed dew is in the morning sun. 2. The night of conflict. The morning of victory will come. 3. The night of weary waiting. There is a morning of fruition and satisfaction. 4. The night of sin. Oh the morning of fresh and wondrous purity! II. THE MORNING COMES BEFORE THE DAY. God's lovingkindness brings morning — the harbinger of a long day. Always, only morning; pointing on to a day whose "sun shall go no more down." A day of joy. "Everlasting joy shall be upon their head." A day of work. When men have a journey to make, or work to do, they start in the morning. So let us seek God's morning lovingkindness. 1. In the morning of every day. Let me hear Thy lovingkindness in the morning, that this whole day may be blessed and fruitful. 2. In the morning of life ( Proverbs 8:17 ). 3. In the morning (at the beginning) of every new undertaking. Begin with prayer for God's lovingkindness and blessing. 4. In the morning of this year. It is still pure and sweet. Let its future hours be devoted to God. ( Homiletic Magazine. ) Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk. The way wherein we should go A. Raleigh, D. D. The text may be said to comprise every other prayer. If God gives His servant "to know the way wherein he should walk," and strength to walk in it, peace, and order, and liberty, and joy will soon come. Life is difficult. It is difficult every day; on some days, and at some times, unusually so. Are there not continual circumstances and trials and duties of ordinary life which, in one way or another, make life a continual difficulty? Think of the number of things that are to be believed, that are to be renounced, that are to be examined, that are to be distinguished in themselves and from other things, that are to be tentatively dealt with, that are to be done, that are to be. left undone, that are to be waited for, that are to be suffered. All these are included in the "way wherein we should walk." Take some of them in succession. I. OPINIONS AND BELIEFS. There can be no living way for a man that does not involve these. A man is more than a growing tree or a grazing animal. Even those who speak slightingly of opinions, and lay stress rather on what they call spirit, and instinct, and practical action, when they rigorously analyze their own thought in this matter, are obliged to confess that in one form or another, separated from other things, or solvent in them, opinion and belief must be comprehended in spirit, even in instinct, in a measure, and certainly in practical action. But how hard it is now to form opinions and settle beliefs! Harder perhaps than it has ever been before, not only because we have more than the common amount of scepticism in the world, but because (as I verily believe) men are in some ways more sincere and more earnest than they have ever been before. They cannot so easily subscribe creeds, composed of many, and some of them hard enough propositions. What, then, are we to do? From this hour any one of us, if we will, may be of "them that believe to the saving of the soul." How? By bringing the whole case fully and earnestly before God. "Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk, for I lift up my soul unto Thee." There, and there only, you have the whole case; the meeting, and, in a measure, the settling of the difficulty. If we come really to Him, we have solved the difficulty, we have come into the new and living way, and God will make that way more and more plain before our face; whereas if we abide among the exterior things — examining, considering, comparing, putting this opinion against that, and working the whole matter simply as a high intellectual problem, without ever making the last and highest appeal — we have no certainty of a good and true issue. II. CONDUCT. Even those who know the way they should go, so far as it consists of beliefs, convictions, principles, find it still in their practice to be a way of continual difficulty. It is easy to say, "Act on principle." Of course we must act on principle, but on what principle? What is the right principle for the case? Or what is the proper combination of principles? And how are they to apply? 1. It will sometimes be that all is dark as to what is about to happen in the immediate future, and yet action must be taken at a certain time; and, in order to be well taken, preparation must be made for it now. And that darkness, perhaps, cannot be made any less by our intellectual activities, or by our moral impatience. We may knock at the doors of the future with all our importunity, but they will not open a moment before the time. What can we do? We can pray. We can use this text, and get the benefits it carries, "Cause me to know the way wherein I should go, for I lift my soul to Thee." 2. Or the case is exceedingly perplexed and intricate. It lies all open before us. There is nothing more to reveal, and yet we cannot understand it. Our way, "the way wherein we should go," lies right through the heart of those perplexed and ravelled things, and our "going" is sure to alter them somewhat, perhaps much. What shall be the ruling principle of our action? Shall we go quickly or slowly? And shall prudence or firmness have the reins? Who can tell us? And in this pause what can we do? We can ask Him who knows the way that is all unknown to us to "cause us to know it," so that, as we tread it step by step, and make it thus our actual way, it may prove to be indeed the way of righteousness and peace. 3. Or the case, in its two sides, is perfectly balanced. There is nothing to choose between them. We may cast the weight of our action on this side or on that with equally good conscience. And yet, out of the choice we make, a very different class of results will spring; and other things will come in then, and issues never contemplated as possible will arise. So that there is a right side, a "way in which we should go," even when no human wisdom could give any sufficient reason why the one side should be taken rather than the other: How shall we find it? How, but by coming to Him who knows all ways that human feet are to tread. He has His eye on that best way, that perfect way, that Christlike way, which my feet ought to mark, and if I come to Him to ask about it, it may be that, while I am yet speaking, the light of revelation will illumine it, the finger of Providence will point to it, and the voice that has directed so many pilgrims will say to me also, "This is the way, walk ye in it." ( A. Raleigh, D. D. ) God's pathway for the soul of man Canon Liddon. : — The psalms of the rebellion differ from the psalms of the persecution under Saul, in that a strain of penitence mingles with the narrative of misfortune and suffering. That an ambitious young man should have so easily overthrown a strong government was itself suggestive. Absalom's success could not be really accounted for by his good looks, or by his popular manners, or by his splendid retinue, or by the widespread discontent of the tribe of Judah with David's domestic policy, The truth was that the old respect for him had been largely undermined by his conduct; and under a system of personal government, respect for the ruler is essential to social safety. David's own conscience ratified the tacit verdict which his people had passed upon him; and when he fled across the Jordan, while Absalom took possession of his palace and his throne, he recognized the hand, not of his undutiful son, but of his Lord and Judge. And thus, in the last of those seven psalms, which have for so many ages nourished and expressed Christian repentance, David mingles with his pathetic review of his reverses a loyal prayer for mercy and guidance. I. "THE WAY THAT I SHALL WALK IN." David was thinking, no doubt, of some path across the mountains of Gilead, by which he might hope to make good his escape in that hour of danger. But that was not all. David would be thinking also of other "ways." For the soul of man is perpetually moving, in whatever direction, through the wilds of moral and intellectual space: and the various directions which its thought, feeling, and action take, are variously characterized in Scripture. On the one hand we read of "the way of understanding, the way of righteousness, the way of truth," "the way of God's testimonies," "the way of wisdom," "the way of life," "the way of good men," "the way everlasting," "the right way," "the way of the Lord," "the way of peace"; and on the other we are told of "the way of the froward," "the way of evil men, the way of man's heart," "the way that is not good," "the way that seemeth right unto a man, while the end thereof are the ways of death." And so particular types of human life, "the way of David," "the way of Asa," "the way of Jehoshaphat," contrast with "the way of Cain," "the way of Jeroboam," "the way of the house of Ahab," "the way of Manasseh." And thus the expression comes to mean a certain moral and mental temper, or a body, or System of doctrines, or precepts, whether false or true, which claim to be, and are treated as forming the path to a higher or to a lower world. Above all, we must not forget that the spiritual sense of this expression has received a consecration which can never for long be absent from Christian thought. We know who has said, "I am the Way." II. THIS PETITION FOR GUIDANCE, LIKE ALL SERIOUS PRAYER, IMPLIES A FAITH, a faith which at once dictates and shapes it. The lex credendi is also the lex supplicandi. Two truths, at least, prompt and govern the prayer. 1. The first is, that one path enables each man to correspond with the true ideal of his life. "The way that I should walk in." One path only is perfectly loyal to the highest truth that has been placed within each man's reach. Only one path, and not many, enables each man to make the most of his faculties and of his opportunities, to develop most harmoniously his intelligence, his affections, his will, his character; to satisfy most adequately the just claims that others may make on him; to satisfy the demands of Him to whom the gift of existence itself is due. 2. And the second implied and governing truth is this — that there is one Being, at any rate, who sees and can tell each one of us what this his path should be. A clear sight of the track along which each of His responsible creatures should walk with the view of making the best of the gift of life, is the least that can be ascribed to an Intelligence that knows no bounds, and to a Will by whose good pleasure we each and all exist. A willingness to show each one of us what He thus sees to be the best for each may be reverently taken for granted in Him who is not only and chiefly Power and Intelligence, but also, and especially Goodness. III. HOW DOES GOD ANSWER THIS PRAYER? 1. First of all, and generally by the language of events, by that importunity of circumstances which, in different degrees, accompanies every human life. It matters not that the environment of every life can be traced to antecedents, and these to other antecedents that have preceded them till the long evolutionary process is lost sight of in the distant haze. It matters not because, first, we know that a point must at last be reached where no material antecedent is discoverable, and where bare existence can only be accounted for by the fiat of a Creative Will; and secondly, because the relation of each antecedent to that which precedes and follows it, the direction and law of this long evolutionary sequence — if so we must provisionally term it — itself implies, no less than its first impact implies, a presiding and guiding Mind. 2. But independently of that which belongs to single lives, there are certain broad characteristics of the pathway which God has traced for the soul of man. Man's will, as well as his understanding, needs the guidance of truth. Man's character needs the discipline of sacrifice. And He who said, "He that followeth Me walketh not in darkness," said also, "Let a man take up his cross and follow Me." What then are the characteristics of this truth which can furnish true guidance to the soul of man, and which thus is the answer to the prayer of the psalmist?(1) It will first of all be positive, and not merely negative truth. The psalmist prays God to show him, not the way in which he should not walk, but the way. in which he should.(2) Again, the truth which is to serve as the pathway to the human soul must be definite. The road that will bring us home at last must be plain to the eye, and firm beneath the feet. It must not lose itself in a forest; it must not sink away into a morass. The psalmist prays for guidance; and indefinite guidance is all but a contradiction in terms.(3) Once more, the truth which will conduct the soul heavenward must be truth which the soul knows to be independent of itself. "Show Thou me the way I should walk in." The truth that will support our steps is true, whatever we may think or feel about it. It has, in modern phrase, an objective existence.(4) Yet, once again, the truth that is to form a pathway for the human soul will be in its import specially practical; "The way that I should walk in" suggests practice rather than speculation. Christian truth is nothing if it be not practical. God's Word is a lantern unto the feet, and a light unto the path; Scripture is profitable for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, as well as for doctrine; Jesus Christ came to purify to Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Surely a Christian should not read his Bible or repeat his creed without asking himself the question, What does this statement say to me, what does it suggest, what does it command, what does it reprove in me? How can it contribute to lighten my path through time towards eternity? What dangers does it unveil, what encouragements does it proclaim, what obstacles does it remove, what efforts does it warrant? This practical instinct is always energetic in a seriously believing Christian, it is an inseparable corollary of the prayer, "Show Thou me the way I should walk in; for I lift up my soul unto Thee." ( Canon Liddon. ) The guiding hand A. Foster, D. D. : — There is no need more imperatively felt by the Christian than that of Divine guidance. 1. We must admit that God has an ideal or plan for each one of us in life. We also know how weak and unwise we are, and that light is needed outside of ourselves. Now we know that the Bible is a historic revelation. What was written aforetime was given for our learning. So by looking back over the history of the Church we are helped in the discovery of God's will. 2. Three special methods were used in ancient times to reveal the will of God. Dreams, the Urim and Thummim, and prophetic teaching.(1) The dream then, as now, was often incoherent, uncertain and misleading, but we have every reason to believe that God did, at times, send with a dream a firm conviction that it should be acted upon.(2) Again, the mysterious oracle was a method of guidance. The Urim and Thummim was used by David, but after his day it ceased. It gave the yes or no to the inquirer.(3) As the priestly office waned, the third method, the prophetic, came into prominence. The prophet did not necessarily predict, but "uttered forth" truth as to the past and present, as well as future. 3. The important thing is not the agency through which God reveals His will, but the fact that in some way He will lead them who trust in Him. Therefore the psalmist says, "Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk, for I lift up my soul unto Thee." The lesson is one of faith in God's guiding hand. This mode of Divine direction is wholly unlike the method seen among heathen and superstitious people. It is spiritual, exalted and progressive. A moral discipline is needed, a heart in sympathy with God. The spirit of truth guides us into all truth. If we are willing to do the will of God we shall know the way. 4. The spirit of prayerfulness should be cultivated. It is on the knees that we learn the lesson of trust. It is there we are brought face to face with God. Let us, therefore, always lift our soul unto God, and, above all, seek the aid of His Holy Spirit. The example of Christ is a guide; the advice of His true disciples is helpful; our own common sense is to be used, but above all, the direction of the Holy Spirit is to be sought and followed. He will keep us from perverting the truth we hear to our own ruin. 5. Finally, if after honestly following what light you have, the issue is not what you supposed or wished, rest patiently in God till He clears the darkness. If you have erred, make it sure "that He has forgiven, and then cheerfully go forward, saying, "My times are in Thy hand," knowing that all things are working together for good to them that love God and are sincerely doing His will. ( A. Foster, D. D. ) Knowledge and love of spiritual guide Christian Endeavour Times. The relation resulting from the intercourse of an Alpine traveller with his guide, writes Dr. Parkhurst, is not exactly like anything else. The one whom you had employed in this service would henceforth stand to you quite apart from other men. The peculiar quality that is in your intimacy has not resulted merely from your walking so long together; nor has it come because of your fellowship with one another in peril, or perhaps even in suffering. You learn to know your guide by obeying him, and you learn to love him by committing yourself to him and trusting him. Something about our Divine Guide, Jesus Christ, you can learn from the Scriptures; something, too, you can gather from the testimony of other men. But if you want to know Him you have got to obey Him, and if you want to love Him you must first trust Him. ( Christian Endeavour Times. ) I flee unto Thee to hide me. Psalm 143:9 Soul flight David Thomas, D. D. I. How? On the pinions of thought our souls often fly more swiftly than lightnings to the remotest periods and places. This power of flight is the glory of our nature; it defies granite walls and massive chains and bolts. II. WHITHER? To Him, the eternal Source of all life, and of all good, we should ever direct our flight. We should fly to Him in all our difficulties. III. WHY? There is danger. ( David Thomas, D. D. ) Flight to God : — I. A PERCEPTION OF DANGER. No man will flee if he is not afraid; there must be a knowledge and apprehension of danger, or there will be no flight. 1. Men perish in many instances because they have no cause of danger. The noxious air is not observed, the sunken reef is not seen, the train rushes to collision unwarned. Ignorance of danger makes the danger inevitable. (1) Men will dare to die without fear of hell. (2) Men will sin and have no dread of any ill consequences. (3) Men will play with an evil habit and will not believe in its powe

143:1-6 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 return to the Lord as the infant stretches out its hands to the indulgent mother, and thirsts for his consolations as the parched ground for refreshing rain. 143:7-12 David prays that God would be well pleased with him, and let him know that he was so. He pleads the wretchedness of his case, if God withdrew from him. But the night of distress and discouragement shall end in a morning of consolation and praise. He prays that he might be enlightened with the knowledge of God's will; and this is the first work of the Spirit. A good man does not ask the way in which is the most pleasant walking, but what is the right way. Not only show me what thy will is, but teach me how to do it. Those who have the Lord for their God, have his Spirit for their Guide; they are led by the Spirit. He prays that he might be enlivened to do God's will. But we should especially seek the destruction of our sins, our worst enemies, that we may be devotedly God's servants.