Answer me quickly, O LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide Your face from me, or I will be like those who descend to the Pit.
Parallel translations
- WEB Hurry to answer me, Yahweh. My spirit fails. Don’t hide your face from me, so that I don’t become like those who go down into the pit.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV 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.
- NASB ¶Answer me quickly, Lord, my spirit fails; Do not hide Your face from me, Or I will be the same as those who go down to the pit.
- NLT Come quickly, Lord, and answer me, for my depression deepens. Don’t turn away from me, or I will die.
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 pleads for a quick answer as his spirit fails, asking God not to hide His face. It is an urgent cry for God's presence lest he perish.
Overview
David's strength is nearly gone, and he fears becoming like those in the pit if God remains hidden. The 'face' of God signifies His favorable, saving presence. To not be left in the pit is the very hope fulfilled in Christ, whose resurrection assures believers they will not be abandoned to death (Acts 2:27).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Ps 69:17Hide not Your face from Your servant, for I am in distress. Answer me quickly!
- Ps 28:1Of David. To You, O LORD, I call; be not deaf to me, O my Rock. For if You remain silent, I will be like those descending to the Pit.
- Ps 27:9Hide not Your face from me, nor turn away Your servant in anger. You have been my helper; do not leave me or forsake me, O God of my salvation.
- Ps 71:12Be not far from me, O God. Hurry, O my God, to help me.
- Ps 102:2Do not hide Your face from me in my day of distress. Incline Your ear to me; answer me quickly when I call.
- Isa 38:18For Sheol cannot thank You; Death cannot praise You. Those who descend to the Pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.
- Ps 88:4–6I am counted among those descending to the Pit. I am like a man without strength.
- Ps 69:3I am weary from my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.
- Ps 70:5But I am poor and needy; hurry to me, O God. You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay.
- Ps 88:10–11Do You work wonders for the dead? Do departed spirits rise up to praise You? Selah
- Ps 22:24For He has not despised or detested the torment of the afflicted. He has not hidden His face from him, but has attended to his cry for help.
- Ps 13:1–4For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?
- Ps 40:17But I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my helper and deliverer; O my God, do not delay.
- Isa 57:16For I will not accuse you forever, nor will I always be angry; for then the spirit of man would grow weak before Me, with the breath of those I have made.
- Isa 8:17I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob. I will put my trust in Him.
- Ps 40:12–13For evils without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, so that I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart has failed within me.
- Luke 21:26Men will faint from fear and anxiety over what is coming upon the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
- Ps 84:2My soul longs, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
Resources, by level
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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 143:7 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.