properly · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
days
יָמִ֨יםya.Mim
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
old
מִקֶּ֗דֶםmi.Ke.dem
H6924
the front · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
meditate
הָגִ֥יתִיha.Gi.ti
H1897
to murmur (in pleasure or anger) · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
works
פָּעֳלֶ֑ךָpo.'o.Le.kha
H6467
an act or work (concretely) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
muse
אֲשׂוֹחֵֽחַ'a.so.Che.ach
H7878
to ponder · verb, piel imperfect, 1st person common singular
work
בְּֽמַעֲשֵׂ֖הbe.ma.'a.Seh
H4639
an action (good or bad) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
hands
יָדֶ֣יךָya.Dei.kha
H3027
a hand (the open one (indicating power · noun, common both genders dual 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 77:10-12 And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High.
Psalms 77:5-6 I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times.
1 Samuel 17:45-50 Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of th…
Psalms 111:4 He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion.
Micah 6:5 O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye…
1 Samuel 17:34-37 And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:
Isaiah 63:7-14 I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD, and the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD hath bestowed on us, and the gr…
Deuteronomy 8:2-3 And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove 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…
I remember the days of old,.... Former times he had read and heard of, in which the Lord appeared for his people that trusted in him; or the former part of his own life, his younger days, when the Lord delivered him from the lion and bear, and from the uncircumcised Philistine, whom he slew; and made him victorious in battles, and preserved him from the rage and malice of Saul. If this was written on account of Absalom, those times of deliverance he called to mind, in order to encourage his faith and hope, and cheer his drooping spirits;
I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands; the works of creation and providence, in order to observe the instances of divine power, wisd…
Psalm 143:4-7
4. And my spirit is perplexed within me, my heart within me is astonished. 5. I remembered the days of old, I meditated upon all thy works; I meditated upon the work of thy hands. 6. I spread out my hands to thee, my soul is to thee as the earth without water. [251] Selah. 7. Hasten, answer me, O Jehovah! my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, because I shall be like to those descending into the pit.
4. And my spirit, etc. Hitherto he has spoken of the troubles that were without, now he acknowledges the feebleness of his spirits, from which it is evident that his strength, vas not like that of the rock, imperturbable or without feeling, but that, while overwhelmed with…
The Church Fathers
I was mindful of the days of old. I was mindful of my former days, how I used to have confidence: but now it is night for me.
But we too were there. He goes to the members. "I have called to mind the days of old" [Psalm 143:5]. Did He "call to mind the days of old," by whom every day was made? No, but the body speaketh, each one who has been justified by His grace, who dwelleth in Him in love and devout humility, speaketh and saith, "I have meditated upon all Thy works:" plainly because Thou hast made all things good, and nothing would have stood fast, which was not established by Thee. Thy creation is made a spectacle unto me: I have sought in the work the Artificer, in all that is made the Maker. Wherefore this, to what purpose this, save that he might understand, that whatever there was of good in himself was made by Him. ...Look back then upon the Framer of thy life, the Author of thy substance, of thy righteousness, and of thy salvation: "meditate upon the works of His hands," for the righteousness too which is in thee, thou wilt find to pertain to His hand. Hear the Apostle teaching thee this, "not of works," he saith, "lest any should boast." Have we no good works? Plainly we have: but see what follows; "for we are His workmanship," saith he. "We are His workmanship:" perhaps in thus speaking of workmanship, he meant to mention the nature whereby we are men? Evidently not: he was speaking of works. But let us not make conjectures; let the text go on, "for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works." Think not then that thou thyself doest anything, save in so far as thou art evil. ..."Work out your own salvation," saith the Apostle, "with fear and trembling." If we do work out our own salvation, wherefore with fear, wherefore with trembling, when what we work is in our own power? Hear wherefore with fear and trembling: "for it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do, of His good pleasure." Therefore "with fear and trembling," that it may delight our Maker to work in the lowly valley. ...
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
Desire · SPIRITUAL — SPIRITUAL
Meditation · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
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…
Remembering God’s acts from the past reassures the psalmist of God’s faithfulness (42:4; 63:6; 77:3, 6; 119:55).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 143:5
I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.
I remember the days of old. When we see nothing new which can cheer us, let us think upon old things. We once had merry days, days of deliverance, and joy and thanksgiving; why not again? Jehovah rescued his people in the ages which lie back, centuries ago; wily should he not do the like again? We ourselves have a rich past to look back upon; we have sunny memories, sacred memories, satisfactory memories, and these are as flowers for the bees of faith to visit, from whence they may make honey for present use. I meditate on all thy works. When my own works reproach me, thy works refresh me. If at the fi…
