A Psalm of David. O LORD, hear my prayer. In Your faithfulness, give ear to my plea; in Your righteousness, answer me.
Parallel translations
- WEB A Psalm by David. Hear my prayer, Yahweh. Listen to my petitions. In your faithfulness and righteousness, relieve me.
- KJV Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.
- NKJV Hear my prayer, O Lord, Give ear to my supplications! In Your faithfulness answer me, And in Your righteousness.
- NASB Hear my prayer, Lord, Listen to my pleadings! Answer me in Your faithfulness, in Your righteousness!
- NLT Hear my prayer, O Lord; listen to my plea! Answer me because you are faithful and righteous.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
David asks God to hear his prayer and relieve him according to His faithfulness and righteousness. It appeals to God's character as the basis for help.
Overview
This penitential psalm opens with David grounding his plea not in his own merit but in God's covenant faithfulness and righteousness. He trusts that God's own nature compels Him to answer His servant. Such an appeal anticipates the gospel, where God is shown to be both just and the justifier of those who trust in Christ (Romans 3:26).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Ps 71:2In Your justice, rescue and deliver me; incline Your ear and save me.
- Ps 31:1For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. In You, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; save me by Your righteousness.
- Ps 140:6I say to the LORD, “You are my God.” Hear, O LORD, my cry for help.
- Dan 9:16O Lord, in keeping with all Your righteous acts, I pray that Your anger and wrath may turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all around us.
- 1 Jn 1:9If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
- Ps 89:1–2A Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite. I will sing of the loving devotion of the LORD forever; with my mouth I will proclaim Your faithfulness to all generations.
- 2 Sam 7:25And now, O LORD God, confirm forever the word You have spoken concerning Your servant and his house. Do as You have promised,
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 143:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.