Today we are in Psalm 143, the last of seven penitential prayers scattered throughout book of Psalms. As you will hear in this psalm, the subject of the lament changes from the writer’s adversary to the author’s own failure, because the “enemy” is the psalmist’s personal sin and guilt.

With regard to this psalm, David – the author – does not assert his innocence, as we have often heard in earlier psalms, but instead he confesses his guilt. Therefore, his petition is for God’s forgiveness.     

In the devotional entitled In the Lord I Take Refuge, Dane Ortland writes, “This psalm is written out of profound understanding of the human heart and the deep need each of us have of the grace of God.”

David is modeling what we must do when we allow sin to creep into our lives: We must humbly reach out to the Father. Then, we must tell God what we are facing and ask Him to answer us.         

But, if our hearts are not right – if sin is lurking in our lives – we need to do what David did in this psalm and ask for mercy,     stretch out our hands, and ensure our souls thirst for the Father like a parched land.

We must ensure the communication lines are open between us and the Almighty. And we must be honest with the Good Shepherd and let Him know how we are feeling, what we are experiencing, and how very much we want to see His face, hear His voice, experience His protection, sit in His presence, know His will, and bring Him glory.

David, the shepherd-king knew that and demonstrated it so beautifully in this psalm. We know it, too, dear fellow-shepherd, so let’s live like it; let’s sink deep into God’s Word; and let’s pour out our hearts to Him, so that we can pour into others.