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.
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.
- BSB 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.
- 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 69:17And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily.
- Ps 28:1Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.
- Ps 27:9Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.
- Ps 71:12O God, be not far from me: O my God, make haste for my help.
- Ps 102:2Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily.
- Isa 38:18For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
- Ps 88:4–6I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength:
- Ps 69:3I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.
- Ps 70:5But I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: thou art my help and my deliverer; O LORD, make no tarrying.
- Ps 88:10–11Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah.
- Ps 22:24For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.
- Ps 13:1–4How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
- Ps 40:17But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.
- Isa 57:16For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.
- Isa 8:17And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.
- Ps 40:12–13For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me.
- Luke 21:26Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
- Ps 84:2My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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.