Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.
Parallel translations
- WEB A Psalm by David. Hear my prayer, Yahweh. Listen to my petitions. In your faithfulness and righteousness, relieve me.
- BSB A Psalm of David. O LORD, hear my prayer. In Your faithfulness, give ear to my plea; in Your righteousness, answer me.
- 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 71:2Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline thine ear unto me, and save me.
- Ps 31:1In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.
- Ps 140:6I said unto the LORD, Thou art my God: hear the voice of my supplications, O LORD.
- Dan 9:16O LORD, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about 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 89:1–2I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.
- 2 Sam 7:25And now, O LORD God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, establish it for ever, and do as thou hast said.
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.