to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal jussive, 2nd person masculine singular
judgment
בְ֭מִשְׁפָּטVe.mish.pot
H4941
properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
servant
עַבְדֶּ֑ךָ'av.De.kha
H5650
a servant · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
sight
לְפָנֶ֣יךָle.fa.Nei.kha
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
living
חָֽיChai
H2416
alive · adjective, masculine singular absolute
justified
יִצְדַּ֖קyitz.Dak
H6663
to be (causatively · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd 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
Ecclesiastes 7:20 For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.
Job 25:4 How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?
Romans 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Psalms 130:3 If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?
1 John 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Job 15:14 What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
Galatians 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that w…
Job 14:3 And dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee?
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…
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 t…
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
In another way tears flow, proceeding without any consciousness of deadly sin, yet still from the fear of hell and an awareness of that terrible judgment. With such terror, the prophet was struck and prayed to God, saying: "Do not enter into judgment with your servant, for in your sight shall no one living be justified."
It is clear from all this that there are two kinds of perfections in holy Scripture, and two kinds of justices and two kinds of fears. The first kind of perfection, and its comparable truth, and perfect justice and fear, which is the beginning of wisdom, are compatible with the virtues of God; but the second kind of perfection, which befits not only human beings but also every living creature, and our weakness, according to what is said in the Psalms: "In your sight no one living shall be justified," is the kind of justice that is called perfect, not in comparison with God but according to the knowledge of God. Job, Zachariah and Elizabeth are called just, according to this latter type of perfection, which can change on occasions into injustice, and not according to the former type, which can never change, of which it is said, "I am God, and I change not."
Atticus: From this it is clear that people are called righteous and said to be without fault; but that, if negligence comes over them, they may fall. [It is also clear] that a person always occupies a middle place, so that he may slip from the height of virtue into vice or may rise from vice to virtue. He is never safe but must dread shipwreck even in fair weather. Therefore, a person cannot be without sin. Solomon says, "There is not a righteous person on earth that does good and sins not." Likewise in the book of Kings [2 Chronicles]: "There is no one that sins not." So, also, the blessed David says, "Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from hidden faults, and keep back your servant from presumptuous sins." And again, "Enter not into judgment with your servant, for in your sight shall no one living be justified." Holy Scripture is full of passages to the same effect.
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
Depravity Of Man · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Judgment, The · None, by nature can stand in — None, by nature can stand in
Justification Before God · Under law: Man cannot attain to — Under law: Man cannot attain to
Man · Cannot be just with God — Cannot be just with God
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).
The poet pleads two motives for the answering of his prayer which are to be found in God Himself, viz., God's אמוּנה, truthfulness, with which He verifies the truth of His promises, that is to say, His faithfulness to His promises; and His צדקה, righteousness, not in a recompensative legal sense, but in an evangelical sense, in accordance with His counsel, i.e., the strictness and earnestness with which He maintains the order of salvation established by His holy love, both against the ungratefully disobedient and against those who insolently despise Him. Having entered into this order of salvation, and within the sphere of it serving Jahve as his God and Lord, the poet is the servant of Jahv…
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. He had entreated for audience at the mercy seat, but he has no wish to appear before the judgment seat. Though clear before men, he could not claim innocence before God. Even though he knew himself to be the Lord's servant, yet he did not claim perfection, or plead merit; for even as a servant he was unprofitable. If such be the humble cry of a servant, what ought to be the pleading of a sinner? For in thy sight shall no man living be justified. None can stand before God upon the footing of the law. God's sight is piercing and discriminating; the sli…
