Prepare
Opening Prayer
Ask God to give understanding of his Word and help the family gather for devotions and spread that Word.
Read
Scripture Passage
Psalm 143
An Earnest Appeal for Guidance and Deliverance
A Psalm of David.
1 Hear my prayer, O Lord,
Give ear to my supplications!
In Your faithfulness answer me,
And in Your righteousness.
2 Do not enter into judgment with Your servant,
For in Your sight no one living is righteous.
3 For the enemy has persecuted my soul;
He has crushed my life to the ground;
He has made me dwell in darkness,
Like those who have long been dead.
4 Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me;
My heart within me is distressed.
5 I remember the days of old;
I meditate on all Your works;
I muse on the work of Your hands.
6 I spread out my hands to You;
My soul longs for You like a thirsty land.
Selah
7 Answer me speedily, O Lord;
My spirit fails!
Do not hide Your face from me,
Lest I be like those who go down into the pit.
8 Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning,
For in You do I trust;
Cause me to know the way in which I should walk,
For I lift up my soul to You.
9 Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies;
In You I take shelter.
10 Teach me to do Your will,
For You are my God;
Your Spirit is good.
Lead me in the land of uprightness.
11 Revive me, O Lord, for Your name’s sake!
For Your righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble.
12 In Your mercy cut off my enemies,
And destroy all those who afflict my soul;
For I am Your servant.
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ps 143.
A — About
What Is This Passage About?
David asks the faithful and righteous God to hear him without judging him according to human righteousness, since no living person is righteous. Persecuted and overwhelmed, he remembers God's past works, longs for him, seeks lovingkindness and direction, asks for deliverance, and rests in God's righteousness and mercy.
B — Best Verse
A Verse That Summarizes the Passage
Psalm 143:8
Distilled from the devotional exposition; the speaker did not explicitly name a best verse.
Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning, for in you do I trust. Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to you.
When asked for a favorite part, the child answers only that it is David's psalm and no verse is selected. Verse 8 is therefore distilled as the clearest summary of David's need for comfort, trust, guidance, and an uplifted soul.
C — Called or Christ
C — Christ Connection
Pray honestly in distress, remember God's good works, praise him, and ask him to teach and lead you. Take shelter in the Lord Jesus, the only Redeemer, and rest in his righteousness rather than your own.
Devotional Study
Transcript of the devotion. Minor transcription errors may remain.
Okay. Do you want to say good morning? Good morning! And welcome to... Computer Devotions! It's where every day we get together, we get into God's Word, and we... We get together. Yeah, we grow in our love for the Lord. Together. And this year, 2021, we're going to finish all the wisdom literature. That's right. We're going to finish all the wisdom literature. And we are almost done with the Book of Psalms. Did you know that? Yep. Only seven more Psalms to go.
We're at Psalm 143 this morning. Let's go ahead and have some coffee, pray, and get into God's words. Do you want to pray for us this morning? Okay, ask God to help us understand his word. Go ahead. God, please help us to understand God's word. God, please help that we join together and do coffee and devotions and spread your word. In Jesus name. Amen. Amen. All right, here we go.
Psalm 143. This is a Psalm of David. Do you know about David? You remember the boy who killed Goliath and became a king? Yeah, so this is his psalm. Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my supplications. In your faithfulness answer me, and in your righteousness.
Do not enter into judgment with your servant, for in your sight no one living is righteous. What do you think that was talking about? You think it was talking about being tired? No. What do you think that was talking about? In your sight, no one living is righteous.
Is there anyone perfect? Nope, except God. Except Jesus, right? Yeah, Jesus was tested in everywhere we are, yet without sin. So all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Okay, here we go. For the enemy has persecuted my soul. He has crushed my life to the ground. He has made me dwell in darkness like those who have long been dead. Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me. My heart within me is distressed. Oh, does he sound happy there? Nope. What does he say about his soul? He's in distress. Yeah, he's in distress, right? Are we able to tell God things like that? Yep. When our soul is in a hard place? Forever. That's right. I remember the day... What's that? Whenever we want, we can praise God. That's right. Whenever we want, we can praise God.
I remember the days of old. I meditate on your works. I muse on the work of your hands. I spread out my hands to you. My soul longs for you like thirsty land. Answer my prayer speedily, O Lord, and my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me, lest I be like those who go down into the pit. Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning, for in you do I trust. Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to you. What does he want God to do? to lift up his soul. Yeah, he wants God to lift up his soul, right? Because he's in distress. He's in despair. He's in distress. He can't think of anything. Yeah, and so sometimes when we're in distress, should we just keep thinking about our problems or can we look to God? We can look to God.
Yeah, and can we remember the good things that God has done? Yep. Yeah. Yeah. We can remind ourselves of the good things he has done. Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies. In you I take shelter. Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Your spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness. Who's our deliverer? God. God. Right. How did God redeem us? Who's the only redeemer of God's elect? Jesus that's right the Lord Jesus Christ he's the one who delivers us right and in God we can take shelter what do you think that means God is like the shelter and Jesus is like the light shimmers that's right we can we can take comfort kind of like if it's raining really really hard outside can you run inside the house to find Find warmth and safety. Mm-hmm.
That's right. God's like that for us Revive me O Lord for your name's sake for your righteousness sake bring my soul out of trouble in your mercy cut off my enemies and Destroy all those who afflict my soul for I am your servant all right, so he cries that God will cut off his enemies and But he says does he say that because he's a perfect person. Mm-hmm No. Why does he think that God will do that? Because he's all righteous.
That's right. For your righteousness sake. Right? For your justice. Because he cares about us because we're like kids. He cares about us because we're like his kids. That's right. That's right. He's adopted us as sons and daughters. Right? And so he'll remember us. Mm-hmm. He doesn't forget anything. That's right. He doesn't forget anything. Because he's all holy. He is holy. So my question is here. Ready?
What was your favorite part of that psalm? What was the best verse? David. The psalm of David? You like that part? What about you? What would you underline in your Bible as the best verse, last C calling? Daniel, what do you think we're called to do? To praise God. to praise God, maybe to pray to Him, maybe to remember the good things that He has done in your life. That's right. Pray to him because he alone is holy. You ready to pray now? Yep. Okay.
Lord, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you that you are such a great God. You remember us in your mercy. You hear us in our distress and you deliver us for your righteousness sake. Care for us this day. Let us love you with all of our hearts in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, may you rest in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. May you hold on to that shield of faith. And we'll talk to you tomorrow. Bye. Bye.