Psalm 143

What’s Happening?

Psalm 143 is King David’s desperate cry for rescue. God had made a covenant to build a kingdom through his chosen servant, David—a kingdom marked by righteousness, peace, and blessing for all nations (2 Samuel 7:8-16). But David’s present reality looks nothing like that promise. His enemies are winning, and he stands at the edge of death (Psalm 143:3). The world God promised through David’s reign feels swallowed by darkness. So David prays for rescue, knowing that as God’s servant-king, his fate is bound to the fate of his people. If he falls, their hope of a righteous kingdom falls with him.

Desperate, David clings to his only hope—God’s promises and God’s goodness to his servant. He pleads with God not to bring judgment on his people (Psalm 143:2). Instead, he begs God to respond to his prayer, not because David is good, but because God is good. He appeals to God’s own mercy, faithfulness, and righteousness. If God’s promises depended on David’s goodness, every one of them would fail. But since God is merciful to treat his servants as they don’t deserve, faithful to keep his promises when they have broken theirs, and righteous to put the world he loves back in order, his servant’s prayers will surely be answered (Psalm 143:1). So God will act to rescue his people for the sake of his own name, and show that he is faithful and righteous (Psalm 143:11). 

Even though David’s circumstances make him want to despair, he chooses to continue to call on the God who saves his servants (Psalm 143:6). He remembers the ways God was faithful in the past (Psalm 143:4-5). God promised to save Israel from Egypt, and he did. God promised to bring his servants into a Promised Land, and he did. If God kept his promises to Israel in the past, he will surely keep his promise to David here and now.

Ultimately, David longs for rescue not only from his enemies, but from their ways as well. David doesn’t just want transfer out of evil but transformation into good—to be a king whose rule reflects God's rule (Psalm 143:8-9). David wants God’s own Spirit to teach and guide him into establishing a kingdom that reflects God’s goodness. He desires a kingdom where evil no longer drags people into darkness, but where peace and righteousness level the ground for everyone to live in equity (Psalm 143:10). So once again, David asks for God to act in faithful love (Psalm 143:12). Because God loves his world, his people, and his servant king, he will rescue them from the enemies who spread the evil of death and darkness.

Where is the Gospel?

Generations after David, Israel’s kingdom had been crushed by enemies and handed over to death and darkness in exile. Even after they returned to their own land, darkness still reigned. Foreign rulers oppressed them with injustice and death. They longed for God to rescue them, restore them, and teach them to walk in his ways. They needed a new servant-king whose triumph over these enemies meant triumph for their whole kingdom. And it is Jesus who came as that Servant-King.

Jesus is God’s ultimate answer to David’s prayer because Jesus fulfills all of God’s promises. Jesus shows that God’s name and character are unfailingly merciful, faithful, and righteous. Jesus comes to rescue his people because of his own goodness, so that the whole world might see him as he is—full of unbreakable love (Romans 5:8; John 17:20-23).

As King, Jesus meets his people in their darkness and death. Like David, Jesus entrusts himself to God’s character, knowing he will rescue his King from his enemies (Luke 23:46). And God answers. In steadfast love, he raises Jesus from the dead, proving he is the faithful and righteous God who delivers his servant (Acts 13:32-37).

Now risen, Jesus reigns as the forever King—the fulfillment of God’s promises to David. His resurrection is not just personal vindication—it’s the resurrection of his Kingdom. As his people, we are raised with him, rescued from the enemies of evil, death, and darkness (1 Corinthians 15:20-22).

Jesus frees us not only from our enemies' grip, but also from their ways. He not only transfers us out of the kingdom of darkness but transforms us into citizens of his kingdom of light (Colossians 1:11-14; 1 Peter 2:9). The Holy Spirit teaches us to be merciful, faithful, and righteous like Jesus, so that the whole world can see the true character of God (Galatians 5:22-23). Jesus is establishing the peaceful, level-ground Kingdom that David prayed for—a world made right. He rescues us and trains us in righteousness, and one day, he will conquer all wickedness, filling the whole earth with his Kingdom of peace.

See for Yourself

I pray that the Holy Spirit would open your eyes to see the God who rescues his people, not because of our goodness, but because of his own. And may you see Jesus as the King who trains us in righteousness so that we may take his peace to the world.

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