Psalms 143:7

"Make haste to answer me, O Jehovah; my spirit faileth:

Hide not thy face from me,

Lest I become like them that go down to the pit.

Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning;

For in thee do I trust:

Cause me to know the ways wherein I should walk;

For I lift up my soul unto thee.

Deliver me, O Jehovah, from mine enemies;

I flee unto thee to hide me.

Teach me to do thy will;

For thou art my God;

Thy Spirit is good;

Lead me in the land of uprightness.

Quicken me, O Jehovah, for thy name's sake:

In thy righteousness bring my soul out of trouble.

And in thy lovingkindness cut off mine enemies,

And destroy all them that afflict my soul;

For I am thy servant."

"Make haste to answer me ... cause me to hear ... in the morning" (Psalms 143:7-8). In this we have the seventh of the multiple grounds upon which the psalmist predicated his petition; and here the point is that unless God shall help him very soon, it will be too late.

The last four verses here are very similar to David's usual imprecations against his enemies.

"Deliver me from mine enemies" (Psalms 143:9) ... "Teach me to do thy will" (Psalms 143:10). There is a tacit admission here that David's strict adherence to God's will is a necessary corollary of God's rescuing him from the terrible mess in which he finds himself during Absalom's rebellion.

"Quicken me, O Jehovah, for thy name's sake; in thy righteousness bring my soul out of trouble" (Psalms 143:11). McCaw noted that most of us would, "Be happy to pray this prayer (Psalms 143:11), but that we might shy away from praying the next verse (Psalms 143:12)."[7]

"Cut off mine enemies ... destroy all them that afflict my soul" (Psalms 143:12). Yes, there is a sophisticated type of interpreter who never fails to depreciate such a prayer as this; but, again from McCaw, "There are circumstances," such as that in the rebellion of Absalom, "Where there can be no deliverance without destruction, and to pray for one is also to pray for the other."[8]