#895 When Morning Seems So Far Away

Hear my prayer, O Lord;

give ear to my pleas for mercy!

In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!

2 Enter not into judgment with your servant,

for no one living is righteous before you.

3 For the enemy has pursued my soul;

he has crushed my life to the ground;

he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.

4 Therefore my spirit faints within me;

my heart within me is appalled.

5 I remember the days of old;

I meditate on all that you have done;

I ponder the work of your hands.

6 I stretch out my hands to you;

my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah

7 Answer me quickly, O Lord!

My spirit fails!

Hide not your face from me,

lest I be like those who go down to the pit.

8 Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,

for in you I trust.

Make me know the way I should go,

for to you I lift up my soul.

9 Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord!

I have fled to you for refuge.

10 Teach me to do your will,

for you are my God!

Let your good Spirit lead me

on level ground!

11 For your name's sake, O Lord, preserve my life!

In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble!

12 And in your steadfast love you will cut off my enemies,

and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul,

for I am your servant. Psalm 143 ESV

A Psalm of David, a heart felt song.

Hear my prayer, O Lord - He is a king and yet not presumptuous, or he is the anointed shepherd, not yet in the throne. He is certainly in dire straits, and it makes one think of the times he was hunted by Saul, or others have proposed this as the time when he was hunted by his own son, Absalom. It is a humble petition to the Lord, "give ear to my pleas for mercy". Surely he has known the courts of Saul, the dangers in approaching royalty, has escaped the javelin and those loyal more to earthly leaders then to God. 

In Your faithfulness answer me, in Your righteousness - I dare not ask You outside of this, what You have said, and Who You are. He approaches Cosmic royalty, infinite holiness, and yet there is the childlike sweetness of an appeal to Abba, upon the certainty of God's own words, David expects an answer. 

1 Of David. I give You thanks with all my heart; before the gods I sing Your praises. 2 I will bow down toward Your holy temple and give thanks to Your name for Your loving devotion and Your faithfulness; You have exalted Your name and Your word above all else. 3 On the day I called, You answered me; You emboldened me and strengthened my soul.… Psalm 138: 1-3

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.… Hebrews 4: 14-16

Enter not into judgement with Your servant - Why, because there is none righteous, not even one, and this includes himself. If we approach God on the basis of our own "righteousness", that we think we inherently own or have by our works obtained, we are writing empty checks and petitioning idols of the mind rather than the Holy God of Heaven. It is good when we can petition God upon our innocence in a particular matter, where we stand falsely accused by men of crimes we have not committed, but before God there is no one without guilt, for all have sinned. It is a beggar's cry for mercy, to think otherwise is treason to the gospel, and a denial of the Psalmist's confession of original sin. 

For the enemy has pursued my soul - This again reminds me of the pursuit of Saul, such things will bring a man to isolation. Who can he trust? He hides in caves, and his mind runs to dark places, as one cut off from the land of the living, an exile. The circumstances of the flesh do not leave the spirit unaffected. The starving man knows anguish of both the body and the mind. Persecution is the hammer which intends to break more than bone; it's eye is upon the heart, and many have to but see it acted upon another and that is enough for them to sell their souls.

…37 He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. 38 Then He said to them, “My soul is consumed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me.” 39 Going a little farther, He fell face down and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.”… Matthew 26: 37-39

I remember the days of old - Providence is such a blessing, and in prayer we find the mind to look back, acknowledging God's hand and provision so many times before. You sustained me before, and there is reason to hope that You will once again. 

I stretch out my hands to You - Oh Father, it warms my heart. I remember my children when they were little, and how I loved their outstretched hands. Eyes and hands, they say it all, and you must become like them, "pick me up." It is a marvelous surrender, that here I am, I can do no more.

My soul thirsts for You like a parched land - My resources are dried up. The circumstances have driven me to the reality of my dependence upon You to exist, to live, to overcome. Without You my life is a consuming drought. Selah, think about it, meditate on it, for if your present circumstances have led you to believe otherwise, you are of men most lost. Look at your grays, the aches in your joints, the sucking of youth out of your present tent, the uncertainty of your days, and Selah.

 Answer me quickly, O Lord - He is not praying to make himself feel better, not for empty rite, but David knows that his redeemer lives, hears, and he hopes for an answer. The situation is perplexing, outside of his ability to handle, urgent, and he is being tested on every front. 

1 Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see. 2 This is why the ancients were commended. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.… Hebrews 11: 1-3

- The afflicted suppliant faints, and is ready to die. His life is ebbing out; each moment is of importance; it will soon be all over with him. No argument for speed can be more powerful than this. Who will not run to help a suppliant when his life is in jeopardy? Mercy has wings to its heels when misery is in extremity. God will not fail when our spirit fails, but the rather he will hasten his course and come to us on the wings of the wind. C. H. Spurgeon

Hide not Your face from me - If You turn Your back to me that is in my mind the greatest calamity. If You turn me over to my own devices then I am surely lost. What is man that Thou art mindful of him? That is most difficult to believe, that You love me, for I can find many a reason for You to reject me, but here I am, and Your mercy is overwhelming to me.

Let me hear in the morning of Your steadfast love - We can plug ourselves most vainly into too many stories in the Bible, and I am not David, so I try to see it from his perspective, his time, and the incident if noted, but this is a natural beauty of so many of the Psalms, they are songs. They do not always have detailed introduction, but they teach us how to pray, to desire God, intimacy and His direction. I remember being lost once, in the dark another time, and in the cold Appalachian woods on both occasions. The one time I had waded a creek, and I could see the sun falling, but just one more bend, one more cast. I really wanted to catch a big German Brown, to see that flash of gold in the water, but I could barely see anything as I started back. I almost stepped on a copperhead when I tried walking the trail that paralleled the creek, so I jumped back in the water and started walking against the flow. It was slow going, and body ached all over from the wet cold, hours went by, but then I finally saw the light of our camp fire. That gave me hope, and it was a long night, but the fire gave me some desperately needed relief as well. The other time I spent the night in the dark, up against a tree, my head pounding from the cold, and unable to sleep. There was no fire, but the morning light from the sun, peaking over the mountain tops, it makes me smile even now. That my God is sovereign, is for me more than all the sunrises time has ever seen.

 Make me know the way I should go - Give me Your word, ears to hear and eyes to see. My soul is Yours, it belongs to You, lead me in the paths of righteousness for the sake of Your great and mighty name.  

Teach me to do Your will - Whatever my enemies engage in I should expect, for they walk in the way of all those who are not led by Your Spirit. You are my God, and so let me walk differently, as one who sojourns, as one who brings honor to Your name. Your will is perfect, and all this is to my good if I am Yours and I see Your hand in it, but remind me that I am Yours. 

In Your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble - According to Thy loving kindness, Your good pleasure, Your just nature, and not a hairs breadth beneath Your good name. O Lord, only You can make the way.

For I am Your servant - Enough said.

26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you. 27 Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid. 28 You heard Me say, ‘I am going away, and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.… John 14: 26-28