Psalms For Life
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Yahveh Elohim hear our prayers

Psalm 143

I am your servant

Controlled by dark forces, the world lulls us into thinking we need just a bit of God’s help—or maybe none at all. God in turn uses life’s challenges to help us see how much we need him and to draw us close.

A David psalm.

1 YHWH, hear my prayer.
As the faithful one
open your ear to my pleas.
As the righteous one
answer me.
2 Don’t call your servant to account
for by your standards
no one alive qualifies as righteous.
3 The enemy has chased me down
and ground me into the dust
where I’m left to rot in darkness
like those long dead.
4 So my spirit faints
and my heart’s in despair.
5 I recall what happened long ago
reflecting on all you’ve done
pondering the things your own hands did.
6 I stretch out my hands to you
my soul thirsting for you
like parched ground for water. Selah

7 Hurry up and answer me, YHWH
because my depression’s deepening!
Don’t hide your face from me
lest I sink down to the grave.
8 Let the dawn bring me word
of your unconditional love
for I put my trust in you.
Show me the path I should take
for I entrust my life to you.
9 Save me from my enemies, YHWH
because I’ve run to you for refuge.

10 Teach me to do what pleases you
because you’re my God.
By your good Spirit
lead me on level ground.
11 For the sake of your good name
revive me, YHWH.
Because you’re faithful to care for your own
bring me out of the trouble I’m in.
12 Because your love for me is unfailing
you will do away with my bitter foes.
You’ll destroy everyone who attacks me
because I am your servant.


With enemies stalking him, grinding him into the dust, David is depressed and feels like his life is over. So he begs YHWH, who has promised to care for his servants, to give him back his life.

He pleads urgently, recalling God’s great acts of redemption. Underscoring his desperate need of undeserved favor, he admits that, just like everyone else alive, he’s unable to meet God’s standard of righteousness. In that sense, he’s just like his enemies. What distinguishes him from them is that he’s God’s servant: he trusts in God’s unconditional covenant love, thirsts for God like bone-dry ground for water, and longs to learn how to please him.

Besides pleading for God’s unfailing love to usher in a new day, David asks God to teach him and lead him. We tend to think we’ve got it together and need God’s guidance only when making major decisions. By contrast, David realizes how easily he falls prey to misdirection—that he needs guidance simply to please God.

In trouble, David doubtless remembers how Pharaoh’s army was fast approaching the Israelites when God closed the waters of the sea just as the dawn was breaking. David knows that, while he’s far from perfect, good will triumph in his situation only when evil is soundly defeated. For while God has anointed David king, nothing but death will make his enemies stop trying to kill him. So he asks God to do away with them.

Prayer:

Jesus, grant me your mercy. Without your Spirit’s leading, I so easily go wrong. Lead me on level ground. Faithful and overflowing in unconditional love, you’re my only hope. With you, I long for all to find your mercy. But I also ask you to do away with all who’d rather die than submit to you. Amen.

During your free moments today, pray this prayer:

Show me the path I should take
for I entrust my entire life to you.

Why YHWH?

Every translator of the Psalms must decide how to handle God’s personal name, YHWH or YHVH, which occurs repeatedly in its Hebrew text. Translators of the King James Version usually translated it “LORD” (all caps) and sometimes transliterated it (badly) as “Jehovah.” Likewise, all modern translations either translate or transliterate it. Some other options for translating it are “the Eternal,” “the Almighty,” or “the Sovereign Lord.”

While translating it aims to make it more accessible to readers, transliterating it seems to me more faithful to the text since it’s not a word at all, but rather God’s uniquely personal name. This roots it more firmly in the biblical story as the name God revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai. Meaning “the self-existent One who answers to no one,” the name YHWH set Israel’s God apart from all the gods of Israel’s neighbors.

Personal names are, well, very personal. Even the sound of a name can evoke strong emotion. I’ve chosen to transliterate only YHWH’s consonants since the earliest Hebrew manuscripts contain only consonants, the vowels being added much later. My aim in doing so is to honor God’s name and set it apart, as unique.

One problem with YHWH is that we aren’t sure how it was pronounced since Jews long ago stopped saying it out of reverence. (They read Adonai instead whenever they come to YHWH in the text.) I take the advice of my esteemed Hebrew professor, Raymond Dillard, who advocated pronouncing it as Yahveh (Yah·vay). He favored that over the standard Yahweh since the modern Hebrew pronunciation of its third consonant makes the name sound more robustly Jewish. It also makes it sound more robust, period.

Finding strength in the ancient psalms
May these psalms be a light to you in dark times. You can read more of Mark Anderson's writings on Christianity, culture, and inter-faith dialogue at Understanding Christianity Today.