Psalms 143:1

Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Hear	שְׁמַ֬ע she.Ma'	H8085	to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
prayer	תְּפִלָּתִ֗י te.fi.la.Ti	H8605	intercession · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix
LORD	יְהוָ֤ה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
ear	הַאֲזִ֥ינָה ha.'a.Zi.nah	H238	to broaden out the ear (with the hand) · verb, hiphil imperative, 2nd person masculine singular + paragogic he
supplications	תַּחֲנוּנַ֑י ta.cha.nu.Nai	H8469	earnest prayer · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
faithfulness	בֶּאֱמֻנָתְךָ֥ be.'e.mu.na.te.Kha	H530	literally firmness · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
answer	עֲ֝נֵ֗נִי 'a.Ne.ni	H6030	properly · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix
righteousness	בְּצִדְקָתֶֽךָ be.tzid.ka.Te.cha	H6666	rightness (abstractly) · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Psalms 71:2 Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline thine ear unto me, and save me.
Psalms 31:1 In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.
Psalms 140:6 I said unto the LORD, Thou art my God: hear the voice of my supplications, O LORD.
Daniel 9:16 O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mo…
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
2 Samuel 7:25 And now, O LORD God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, establish it for ever, and do as thou…
Psalms 89:1-2 I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 143:1-6

Here, I. David humbly begs to be heard (Psa 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 jus…

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John Gill on Psalms 143:1

Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my supplications,.... With these requests David begins the psalm; for it was to no purpose to pray and were heard; and for which he always appears to be concerned, as every good man will, and not to be heard only, but to be answered, as follows; in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness; he does not plead his own faith, with which he believed in God, as rama interprets it; though the prayer of faith is very effectual; but the faithfulness of God to his promises; he had promised to hear, answer, and deliver such as called on him in a time of trouble; and he is faithful that has promised, nor will he suffer his faithfulness to fail; he cannot…

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John Calvin on Psalms 143:1-3

Psalm 143:1-3 1. Hear my prayer, O Jehovah! give ear to my supplication, in thy truth answer me, 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 prostrated my life on the ground: he hath set me in dark places, as the dead of an age. 1. Hear my prayer, O Jehovah! It is evident that the oppression of his enemies must have been extreme, when David laments his case in such earnest and pathetic terms. The introductory words show that the grief he felt was great. His reason for speaking of the justice and faithfulness of God in connection we have shown elsewhere. Under the…

The Church Fathers

O Lord, hear my prayer. The words of a humble man, full of humility and mercy. Give ear to my supplication in your truth. These are the words of one who trusts. In your truth, that is, in your Christ. 'I am the way and the life and the truth.' Hear me in your justice. Here too, in your Christ. That is, I do not trust in myself, but I ask for your truth and your justice, that it may have mercy on me.
— Jerome, Homily 53, on Psalm 142

Let then our Lord speak; let Christ with us, whole Christ, speak. "Lord, hear my prayer, receive with Your ears my entreaty" [Psalm 143:1]. "Hear" and "receive with ears" are the same thing. It is repetition, it is confirmation. "In Your truth hear me, in Your righteousness." Take it not without emphasis when it is said, "in Your righteousness." For it is a commendation of grace, that none of us think his righteousness his own. For this is the righteousness of God, which God has given you to possess. For what says the Apostle of them, who would boast of their own righteousness? Speaking of the Jews, he says, "they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge." [Romans 10:2] ...You are perverse, because you impute what you have done ill to God, what well to yourself: you will be right, when you impute what you have done ill to yourself, what well to God....Behold, "in Your righteousness hear me." For when I look upon myself, nought else do I find my own, save sin.
— Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 143

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Faithfulness Of God, The · Should be pleaded in prayer — Should be pleaded in prayer
Prayer · Should be offered up: With desire to be answered — Should be offered up: With desire to be answered
Righteousness Of God, The · We should pray: To be answered in — We should pray: To be answered in

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Psalms 143:1

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 143:1-6

John Gill on Psalms 143:1

John Calvin on Psalms 143:1-3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Psalms 143:1

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 143:1-6

John Gill on Psalms 143:1

John Calvin on Psalms 143:1-3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Psalms 143:1-6

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Psalms 143:1

Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 143:1