Psalm

143 O Jehovah, hear my prayer;+

Do give ear to my entreaty.+

In your faithfulness answer me in your righteousness.+

 2 And do not enter into judgment with your servant;+

For before you no one alive can be righteous.+

 3 For the enemy has pursued my soul;+

He has crushed my life to the very earth.+

He has caused me to dwell in dark places like those dead for time indefinite.+

 4 And my spirit+ faints away within me;

In the midst of me my heart shows itself numbed.+

 5 I have remembered days of long ago;+

I have meditated on all your activity;+

I willingly kept myself concerned with the work of your own hands.+

 6 I have spread out my hands to you;+

My soul is like an exhausted land to you.+ Seʹlah.*

 7 O hurry, answer me, O Jehovah.+

My spirit has come to an end.+

Do not conceal your face from me,+

Or else I must become comparable with those going down into the pit.+

 8 In the morning cause me to hear your loving-kindness,*+

For in you I have put my trust.+

Make known to me the way in which I should walk,+

For to you I have lifted up my soul.+

 9 Deliver me from my enemies, O Jehovah.+

I have taken cover* even with you.+

10 Teach me to do your will,*+

For you are my God.+

Your spirit is good;+

May it lead me in the land of uprightness.+

11 For the sake of your name,+ O Jehovah, may you preserve me alive.+

In your righteousness+ may you bring forth my soul out of distress.+

12 And in your loving-kindness may you silence my enemies;+

And you must destroy all those showing hostility to my soul,+

For I am your servant.+