Psa 143:5-12 “Quicken me, O LORD, for thy name’s sake: for thy righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble” – Psalm 143 Part 2

[Study Aired January 30, 2020]

Psa 143:5  I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands. 
Psa 143:6  I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah. 
Psa 143:7  Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. 
Psa 143:8  Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee. 
Psa 143:9  Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me.
Psa 143:10  Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness. 
Psa 143:11  Quicken me, O LORD, for thy name’s sake: for thy righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble. 
Psa 143:12  And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant. 

‘Hear me, cause me, deliver me, teach me, quicken me’ – these are the words that are threaded throughout this Psalm to remind us of our constant need to die daily and be delivered from the powers and principalities we wrestle against day in and day out (Eph 6:12).

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Psa 143:12  And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant.

Outwardly the world is waxing worse and worse as a stedfast reminder for God’s elect of how evil would get worse and worse within us except for the grace and faith of Christ (Eph 5:16). Inwardly we are blessed to continue to mortify the deeds of our flesh (Rom 8:13) and to accomplish what God has called us and ordained us to do as a kind of first fruits, who have been ordained from the foundation of the world to experience the power of God to help us overcome this wretched man we are (Rom 7:24-25, Zec 4:6), through His mercy which is leading us to repentance (Rom 11:20-23, Eph 2:8-9, Rom 2:4) “for thy righteousness’ sake” (Psa 143:12).

Eph 5:16  Redeeming the time, because the days are evil [1Jn 2:16, Pro 16:4].

Rom 8:13  For if ye live after the flesh [1Jn 2:16], ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

Rom 11:20  Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
Rom 11:21  For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
Rom 11:22  Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness [Rom 2:4]: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God [Rom 2:4, Jas 1:17]:
Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.

[Not the sorrow of the world, the works of the flesh, but Godly sorrow, God’s goodness from above working in our heavens (2Co 7:10, Jos 7:21-22, Pro 28:13, Num 16:2, Num 16:35). The silver and gold combined in Joshuah 7:21 add up to 250 {200 shekels of silver and 50 shekels of gold} and the men of renown who were swallowed up by the earth were 250 in Numbers 16:35). That sinful camp will be unearthed one day in the second resurrection and will be purified through the accounting they will give at that time in the lake of fire.]

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Rom 2:4  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

[His goodness leads us to repentance from the yet carnal mind that can only be given increase and mature through a process that God has ordained for each of his children (1Co 3:3, Jas 4:5, 1Co 3:6). No naturally healthy person ever hated his own body, and a healthy body of Christ will have each joint supplying what is needed in love, covering the sins of Christ’s body in a Godly manner and forsaking sin (Eph 5:29, Eph 4:16, Pro 28:13, Mat 18:21-22)].

The verses of our study help detail for us what the “lovingkindness in the morning” (vs 8) means to us as His children, and how, without Christ, we would not be able to mature and endure until the end (Mat 24:13, Php 1:6). God has called us unto a blessing that promises we can overcome, and He knows how to deliver us from our enemies within [lust, envy, pride], and is going to show the world through the body of Christ that we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us and gave His life for us so that by his spirit within we can drink the cup we must drink throughout this life (Rom 5:10). We look to his “lovingkindness in the morning” through Christ “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Rom 8:37, Heb 12:2).

Mat 24:13  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Php 1:6  Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Rom 5:10  For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

It is a cup of suffering and a cup of communion we share together as the body of Christ (1Pe 4:13, Col 1:24, 2Ti 2:12-13, 1Co 10:13), and with that cup we are strengthened and glorify our Father who tells us that it is His good pleasure to give us that deliverance day by day (Luk 12:32, Luk 17:21) and ultimately to give us the power to overcome and endure until the end through Jesus Christ (Mat 20:22-23, Php 4:13).

1Pe 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

2Ti 2:12  If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:
2Ti 2:13  If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

1Co 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Php 4:4  Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.

Php 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

This entire Psalm helps us see not only the absolute certainty of our deliverance from sin in this life as our Father works out all the details in each of our lives according to the counsel of His will (Eph 1:11-12), but also shines a bright light on the subject of mercy that is demonstrated through the grace and faith brought upon us so we can live out the rest of our lives fulfilling the will of God (1Pe 4:1-2).

1Pe 4:1  Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
1Pe 4:2  That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

The message never changes for God’s children: we understand first that we are the chief of sinners (1Ti 1:15), we are the man (2Sa 12:7), we are the ones who figuratively go “down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon [us]: and [we] perished from among the congregation” (Num 16:33) as the two hundred and fifty men of renown (Num 16:2) within us must be destroyed by “a fire from the LORD” (Num 16:35).

The grace that God affords is to a very few, typified by Joseph and David and Hezekiah and others who lived out these sacrificial lives for our sakes so we could learn of His faithfulness. He delivers those who are undeserving, as all flesh is, and it is He who brings glory to Himself, our Father of lights (Jas 1:17) who has determined from the foundation of the world whom it is that will make up His government and to bring forth the words of life and deliverance we were blessed to receive through Christ before the rest of the world (Eph 1:4, Isa 9:7, Joh 17:3).

The remainder of these verses in Psalm 143:5-12 show us a pattern of how we will be brought to our wits’ end and cry out to God for a deliverance that only He can bring about as He quickens us for His name’s sake of verse 11 and the title for our 2 part study with this Psalm: “Quicken me, O LORD, for thy name’s sake: for thy righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble“.

We are tremendously blessed if we are called in this age to be washed by the word today, or quickened by his spirit (Joh 17:17, Joh 6:63), which convicts us, His children of transgression (Isa 57:4) as we wrestle through the night as Jacob did who typified our lifetime of wrestling against the powers and principalities that Christ is far above (Eph 1:21). We know that all of this judgment is for a profitable end, a merciful purpose, that will have us sharing salvation with the rest of creation in His perfect timing (Oba 1:21). We are His workmanship (Eph 2:10) predetermined to redound to the glory of God, for “his name’s sake” as expressed in this Psalm and these verses in 2 Corinthians 4:14-18.

2Co 4:14  Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.
2Co 4:15  For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.
2Co 4:16  For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
2Co 4:17  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
2Co 4:18  While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Psa 143:5  I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands. 
Psa 143:6  I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah. 

When we think on “the work of thy hands”, things that are lovely and just, we are especially thinking of the household of God (Php 4:8) which is blessed at this time and in this age to have the mind of Christ that expresses these pure and honest and lovely and just thoughts, these perfect gifts that come down from our Father of lights of whom there is no variableness neither shadow of turning (Jas 1:17).

Php 4:8  Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

In other words, God determined that our hearts and minds would be blessed to dwell on the things of the temple (Eze 43:10), and that we would have that honor and privilege as his children to partake of the true bread of life at a table that is not at this time available to the rest of the world (Heb 13:10, Isa 3:1, Gal 6:10).

Eze 43:10  Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern.

Together we remember what we have all come through: the crushing, the suffering, the trials and tribulations that overwhelmed us (verse 4), measuring the pattern and showing the house to the house with praise and gratitude for all these wonderful works to the children of God (Psa 107:19-21).

Psa 107:19  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:20  He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.
Psa 107:21  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Verse 6 of this Psalm is saying essentially the same thing we studied in Psalm 142:5. We are reminded that it is God who brings us to cry out to him and declare “Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living”.

Psa 142:5  I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.
Psa 143:6  I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah.

It is through meditating on His workmanship which we are (Eph 2:10), as we “remember the days of old” and “meditate on all thy works” and “muse on the work of thy hands”, that we then “stretch forth my hands unto thee” because of the hunger and thirst our Father puts within us as we are dragged to Christ (Mat 5:6, Joh 6:44).

Mat 5:6  Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Psa 143:7  Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. 
Psa 143:8  Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee. 

There is not a speck of free moral agency being discussed in these two verses or in any part of God’s creation that exists by His power (Col 1:17).

Col 1:17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

To be heard “speedily” is type and shadow language that reminds us that the Lord is doing a quick work in very few at first, as these verses show us: (Rom 9:28, Rev 22:7, Mat 22:14, Zec 4:10).

Rom 9:28  For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.

Rev 22:7  Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

Mat 22:14  For many are called, but few are chosen.

Zec 4:10  For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.

When our spirits fail us, it will be because the Lord has brought us to that point of despair so we do cry out “Quicken me, O LORD, for thy name’s sake: for thy righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble” (Psa 107:6). There is nothing more troublesome for our spirit than that moment when we experience our sins separating us from his face (Isa 59:2). If God does not choose to restore us, then we go down “into the pit” that, in the negative view, represents our being separated from God by not being buried in Christ’s baptism (Rom 6:3-11). Our carnal old man must be “consumed by a fire” in order to become a new creation in him, raised up to new life in Christ (Num 16:35). This is what “caus[es] me to hear thy longingkindness in the morning” when my soul is lifted up (Col 2:12).

Psa 107:6  Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.

Isa 59:2  But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:6  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Rom 6:7  For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Rom 6:8  Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
Rom 6:9  Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
Rom 6:10  For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Rom 6:11  Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Col 2:12  Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

Psa 143:9  Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me.
Psa 143:10  Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness. 

God has, and continues, to deliver us from our enemies from within as we “flee unto thee to hide me“. The message for God’s elect in this Psalm and throughout His word is the spiritual deliverance that God will provide for his little flock through Christ as we draw near to Him (Jas 4:8).

Jas 4:8  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

With this thought in mind, James describes what will happen if we are given to “draw nigh to God” or “flee unto thee to hide me“, and what we see are those who are dragged to Christ (Joh 6:44), those who are given to not be overcome with evil but overcome evil with good (Rom 12:21), who are the ones that acknowledge that this was solely possible by the hand of God and boasting is therefore completely excluded by the law of faith as we forget what is behind us and press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling in Christ (Rom 3:27, Php 3:13-14). It is through this dragging process that God will “lead me into the land of uprightness” with his good spirit “thy spirit is good” as the comforter leads us into all truth for His name sake and our Lord sets us free from sin (Joh 16:13-14, Joh 8:36).

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Rom 12:21  Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Rom 3:27  Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.

Php 3:13  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Joh 16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
Joh 16:14  He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

Joh 8:36  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

It is with God’s spirit within us that we won’t neglect so great a salvation as we are dragged to Christ to stir up His spirit within us so we can enter into the new city, Jerusalem above, the mother of us all (Gal 4:26, Jas 4:13-14) where we can learn of His strength and power that causes us to overcome and “to do thy will” as He gives us spiritual increase or gain (Heb 2:3).

The verses in the book of James that follow the admonition to “draw nigh unto God” of James 4:8 explain what we can expect to see as we go through this cleansing process, that in time makes us comfortable in the fire of God’s truth. If we are blessed to continue in the truth, it will set us free as Christ told us it would (Joh 8:32). These verses (Jas 4:9-16) explain how we can overcome the evil boasting within us that can so easily make declarations with our mouth without acknowledging His sovereignty over all the affairs of our heaven (Jer 9:24).

Jer 9:24  But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.

Jas 4:8  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
Jas 4:9  Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
Jas 4:10  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
Jas 4:11  Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
Jas 4:12  There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?
Jas 4:13  Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: (Gal 4:26, Eph 2:6)
Jas 4:14  Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Jas 4:15  For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
Jas 4:16  But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.

Psa 143:11  Quicken me, O LORD, for thy name’s sake: for thy righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble. 
Psa 143:12  And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant. 

These last two verses of our study tell the whole story of how the elect are going to be saved first in this age having our souls brought “out of trouble” into which we are all born (Job 5:7, Rom 8:22-24), with all the sin of the world within us that can only be overcome through Christ our hope of glory within (1Jn 2:16, Col 1:27).

All of chapter 11 of the book of Romans explains that process of mercy very brightly for our sakes so that we understand the tremendous free gift of grace and faith that our calling requires as others are held back for our sakes with a spirit of unbelief that God allows to keep the masses blinded to his overall purpose that will in time save all of mankind (Rom 11:1-36, 1Co 15:22).

Rom 11:22  Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

Rom 11:26  And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:

We are commanded to “cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul” within first (Psa 51:2-4), and as we continue to do that throughout this whole life as God shows us mercy by leading us unto repentance through this longsuffering process of dealing with our own enemies within (Rom 2:4-5, Pro 3:11), then we will see clearly how to apply Matthew 18:15-17 as the Lord makes known to us who is approved through the heresies that must be manifest in our midst for that purpose (1Co 11:19). God is faithful. It is His righteousness that will make all of this evident and possible as He shows His mercy first to His people by judging them in this age so that we can learn through that humbling experience what will be required of us to one day be able to rule the outward nations under Christ (1Pe 4:17, Oba 1:21).

Psa 51:2  Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
Psa 51:3  For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
Psa 51:4  Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest (Jer 9:24).

Rom 2:4  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
Rom 2:5  But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;

It is those who are afflicted through God’s chastening and scourging who will repent with Godly sorrow and be received of God in this age (Heb 12:6) and it is through that experience of suffering that we will cease from sinning and be made ready to rule in the next age (Act 14:22-23, 2Ti 2:12). God has made the way for all of this to be accomplished through Christ and His body (2Sa 14:14) as He “quicken [us], O LORD, for thy name’s sake: for thy righteousness’ sake bring [our] soul out of trouble”, and “cause[s us] to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning”.

Act 14:22  Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
Act 14:23  And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.

2Ti 2:12  If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

2Sa 14:14  For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him [Rom 6:3-4].