Psalm 143:7 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.
Praying When Your Spirit Fails
MY NOTES
“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.” Psalm 143:7 (NKJV)
There are days when we can patiently sit in God’s waiting room, quietly enduring a delay because we know His timing is perfect. And then, there are days when the floor drops out from beneath us. The pressure becomes so suffocating, the grief so heavy, and the exhaustion so absolute that we feel we are on the absolute brink of collapsing.
In Psalm 143:7, David’s prayer reaches this critical breaking point. He drops all formalities and cries out with startling urgency: “Answer me speedily, O Lord; my spirit fails!”
Earlier in this psalm, David was content to simply ask God to “hear” him. But now, his internal spiritual thirst has reached an agony point. His life force is ebbing away; he feels like a drowning man whose head is slipping under the water for the final time.
It is easy to look at a prayer like this and worry that David is being sinfully impatient or demanding. But there is a massive difference between the demanding impatience of an entitlement heart and the desperate urgency of a fainting child. Heaven is a storehouse of infinite grace, and God does not reprimand us for running into His presence and begging Him to hurry. In fact, a desperate “Hear me right now!” is a profound statement of faith. It proves that you believe God is the only one who can save you, and that if He does not step in immediately, you will not survive.
David’s argument for speed is beautifully simple: “I am running out of breath, Lord, and if You wait much longer, Your deliverance will arrive too late.” It is a plea that activates the fatherly heart of God. Mercy has wings on its heels when misery is at its extreme limit.
David then exposes the deepest root of his panic: “Do not hide Your face from me.”
For the believer, nothing is more terrifying than the perceived absence of God. The ancient Jewish Aramaic translation of this verse reads, “Cause not Your Shechinah to remove from me.” The Shechinah was the visible, settling, radiant glory of God’s personal presence. David could handle a cold cave, a corrupt king, and an army of persecutors—but he could not handle the thought of God turning His back on him. When God hides His face, the darkness becomes total.
David describes this spiritual abandonment with sobering honesty: “Lest I be like those who go down into the pit.”
To “go down into the pit” meant to descend into the grave—to be pale, weak, ghastly, and dead. David is declaring that a single frown from God is worse than physical death itself. Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever felt a dark cloud settle over your prayer life where it seemed like God was miles away, leaving you feeling as spiritually hollow as a ghost? Even the holiest saints have sat in that darkness, feeling the terrifying weight of a silent heaven.
But notice the beautiful, seemingly illogical security of this verse: David is using his very fear of losing God to cling tightly to God.
Even though his faith is trembling and his spirit is fainting, he uses his remaining strength to throw his arms around the Lord. God promises in His Word that He will not contend forever, “lest the spirit should fail before Me” (Isaiah 57:16). He knows your exact threshold. He knows down to the second how much pressure your spirit can take before it breaks. When you feel like you are slipping into the pit, keep crying out. He will not let you faint. He will come to you on the wings of the wind.
Prayer
Abba, please answer me quickly! My strength is completely spent, my vigor is gone, and my spirit is ready to faint away under the weight of this season. I feel like I am running out of time and running out of breath. If You do not step in soon, I feel as though I will sink entirely into the pit of despair. Lord, do not hide Your face from me. I don’t care about the trials around me as long as I can see the light of Your countenance smiling upon me. Let Your comforting presence fill this room right now. Remind my soul that You are my present help, that You know my breaking point, and that You are running to my rescue. I cast myself completely on Your mercy. I ask for this in Jesus’ mighty name, Amen.
Key Takeaways
- Urgency is Not Impatience: It is completely biblical to ask God for a speedy answer when you are in a crisis. Fervent, urgent prayer is a sign of intense desire and absolute dependence, not a lack of faith.
- The Presence of God is Life Itself: The greatest trial a believer faces is not the external problem, but the feeling that God has hidden His face. Our ultimate need is always a fresh revelation of His presence.
- Our Weakness Pulls on His Mercy: When our spirit completely fails and we admit we cannot hold out any longer, it moves the heart of God to act swiftly on our behalf.
Cross-References (NKJV)
Psalm 77:2
“In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord;
My hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing;
My soul refused to be comforted.”
Isaiah 57:16
“For I will not contend forever,
Nor will I always be angry;
For the spirit would fail before Me,
And the souls which I have made.”
Psalm 69:17
“And do not hide Your face from
Your servant, For I am in trouble; Hear me
speedily.”
Psalm 102:2
“Do not hide Your face from me
in the day of my trouble; Incline Your ear to
me; In the day that I call, answer me speedily.”
Things to Think About:
- The Breaking Point: Write an honest letter to God detailing exactly why you feel like your spirit is “failing” today. What is the specific timeline or pressure that makes you feel like deliverance needs to happen “speedily”?
- Chasing the Presence: Have you ever experienced a season where it felt like God had “hidden His face” from you? How did you handle that spiritual dryness, and how does David’s prayer give you permission to be brutally honest with God about those feelings?
- The Limit of Your Strength: Reflect on the promise of Isaiah 57:16, where God promises not to allow our spirits to completely fail before Him. How does it comfort you to know that God monitors your breaking point and will step in before you are completely ruined?
Proverb for Today
The [reverent] fear of the Lord [that is, worshiping Him and regarding Him as truly awesome] is the instruction for wisdom [its starting point and its essence]; And before honor comes humility. Proverbs 15:33 AMP
Daily Scripture
I will return again to My place Till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.” Hosea 5:15 NKJV
Closing
“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26 NKJV
Grace be with you. Amen.
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Summary of Commentaries:
In Psalm 143:7, David’s prayer intensifies into an urgent cry for survival. Feeling his life ebbing away and his strength declining, he begs God for a speedy answer, knowing he cannot hold out much longer. For David, a silent heaven is worse than physical death. He pleads for God not to hide His face, recognizing that losing a conscious sense of the Lord’s favor reduces the soul to utter despair, leaving him completely defenseless against his enemies.
Commentaries:
Charles Spurgeon
“Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit faileth.” If long delayed, the deliverance would come too late. The afflicted suppliant faints and is ready to die. His life is ebbing out; each moment is of importance; it will soon be all over with him. No argument for speed can be more powerful than this. Who will not run to help a suppliant when his life is in jeopardy? Mercy has wings to its heels when misery is in extremity. God will not fail when our spirit fails, but rather he will hasten his course and come to us on the wings of the wind.
“Hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.” Communion with God is so dear to a true heart that the withdrawal of it makes the man feel as though he were ready to die and perish utterly. God’s withdrawals reduce the heart to despair and take away all strength from the mind. Moreover, his absence enables adversaries to work their will without restraint, and thus, in a second way, the persecuted one is likely to perish. If we have God’s countenance, we live, but if he turns his back upon us, we die. When the Lord looks with favor upon our efforts we prosper, but if he refuses to countenance them, we labor in vain.
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Enduring Word
Answer me speedily: David felt that his failing spirit could not last long without God’s answer and intervention. Many a saint has felt as David did, feeling an urgency to hear God’s answer. (Guzik)
i. Experience had taught David that God always did things at just the right time, but the present crisis made him cry out, “Answer me speedily, O LORD.” (Guzik)
Do not hide Your face from me: David knew what it was like to enjoy the sense of God’s favor and blessing. To feel that God might hide His face drove David into despair, so he pleaded to see the light of God’s countenance. (Guzik)
i. Much later, the Apostle Paul wrote: If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31). When we live with the belief that God is for us, we are confident in the face of any adversary. Yet if we sense that God may hide His face from us, we feel weak before any adversary. (Guzik)
ii. Sadly, David’s words do not connect with the daily experience of many who think of themselves as followers of God. The spiritually insensitive man cares little about God’s favor and blessing. He lives only occasionally aware of a break in communion with God. David was not such a man. (Guzik)
Lest I be like those who go down into the pit: David considered this to be the worst imaginable fate: to leave the land of the living and go to the pit of the grave. He felt that he could not go on without a continued sense of the favor and blessing of God.
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Albert Barnes
“Hear me speedily, O Lord.” Hasten to hear me; do not delay. Literally, “Hasten; answer me.” I am in imminent danger. Do not delay to come to my relief.
My spirit faileth – My strength is declining. I can hold out no longer. I am ready to give up and die.
Hide not thy face from me – Do not refuse or delay to look favorably upon me; to lift up the light of thy countenance upon me.
Lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit – Margin, “For I am become like.” The idea is, unless thou shalt lift up the light of thy countenance – unless thou shalt interpose and help me, I shall die. The “pit” here refers to the grave. See the notes at Psalms 28:1.
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John Gill
Hear me speedily, O Lord: my spirit faileth,…. Ready to sink, swoon, and faint away, through the weight of the affliction on him, by reason of the persecution of his enemy, and for want of the divine Presence; hence the Targum renders it, “my spirit desireth thee;” see Song of Solomon 5:6; and therefore entreats that God would hear and answer him quickly; or, “make haste to answer” him, and not delay, lest he should be quite gone. Wherefore it follows,
hide not thy face from me; nothing is more desirable to a good man than the “face” or presence of God, the light of his countenance, and sensible communion with him; which may be said to be “hid” when he withdraws his gracious presence, and withholds the discoveries of his love, and the manifestations of his free grace and favor; which he sometimes does on account of sin, and is the case at times of the best of saints; and is consistent with the love of God, though very grieving to them, and therefore here deprecated: the Targum is, “cause not thy Shechinah to remove from me;”
Note from Bill: Shechinah In the Jewish theology, is the dwelling or settling of the divine presence of God
lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit; either the house of the grave, as the Targum; look wan and pale, become lifeless and spiritless, or like a dead man; for as in the favor of God is life, his absence is as death: or the pit of hell, the pit of destruction; that is, be in such horror and despair, and under such apprehensions of divine wrath, as the damned feel.
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Matthew Henry
David here tells us what he said when he stretched forth his hands unto God; he begins not only as one in earnest, but as one in haste: “Hear me speedily, and defer no longer, for my spirit faileth. I am just ready to faint; reach the cordial-quickly, quickly, or I am gone.” It was not a haste of unbelief, but of vehement desire and holy love. Make haste, O God! to help me.
The manifestations of God’s favor towards him, that God would be well pleased with him and let him know that he was so; this he prefers before any good, Ps. 4:6.
He dreads God’s frowns: “Lord, hide not thy face from me; Lord, be not angry with me, do not turn from me, as we do from one we are displeased with; Lord, let me not be left under the apprehensions of thy anger or in doubt concerning thy favor; if I have thy favor, let it not be hidden from me.” Those that have the truth of grace cannot but desire the evidence of it. He pleads the wretchedness of his case if God withdrew from him: “Lord, let me not lie under thy wrath, for then I am like those that go down to the pit, that is, down to the grave (I am a dead man, weak, and pale, and ghastly; thy frowns are worse than death), or down to hell, the bottomless pit.” Even those who through grace are delivered from going down to the pit may sometimes, when the terrors of the Almighty set themselves in array against them, look like those who are going to the pit. Disconsolate saints have sometimes cried out of the wrath of God, as if they had been damned sinners, Job 6:4; Ps. 88:6.
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Miscellaneous Comments
“Hear me speedily.” David is in trouble, and he betakes himself to prayer. Prayer is the sovereign remedy the godly fly to in all their extremities. The saints in sorrows have fled for comfort and healing unto prayers and supplications. Heaven is a shop full of all good things—there are stored up blessings and mercies; this the children of God know who fly to this shop in their troubles, begging for help from this holy sanctuary. “In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord:” Psa 77:2. When any vexation makes our life grievous unto us, what should we seek but help? of whom should we seek, but of the Lord? How should we seek, but by prayer?…”Speedily.” His request is not only for hearing, but for speedy hearing: “Hear me, and hear me speedily;” answer, and answer quickly. This is the tone and tune of men in distress. Man in misery earnestly sues for speedy delivery. In our afflictions and troubles, deliverance, though it should come with wings, we never think it comes soon enough. A weak man cannot content himself to know he shall have help, unless it be present help.
—Thomas Calvert, 1647.
The prayer of David becomes, as he proceeds, both more spiritual and more fervent. In the sixth verse, we find him thirsting after God, and now that thirst is become so intense that it admits of no delay. In the beginning of the psalm, he was content to say, “Hear my prayer,” but now he cries, “Hear me speedily.” This is not the language of sinful impatience: it is, indeed, good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of God; yet a man may desire, not only an answer, but also a speedy answer, without incurring the charge of impatience. Whatever a man desires to have, he desires to have soon; nor can he be otherwise than grieved at anything which delays the accomplishment of his wishes. In such desire or grief, there is nothing sinful, provided it does not lead to murmuring or distrust of God. Hence, this petition for speedy relief and manifestation of God’s presence and favor is very frequent with the Psalmist. He often prays, “Make haste, O Lord, to deliver; make haste to help me, O Lord.” Nay, if a man does not desire the light of God’s countenance soon, it is a certain proof that he does not desire it at all. If the natural language of his heart be not, “hear me speedily,” delay is to him no exercise of patience. The very idea of patience implies that something is contrary to our wish, and the stronger the desire is, the more difficult will that exercise of patience will become.
“Hope deferred maketh the heart sick,” and therefore David adds, “my spirit faileth.” He believed verily to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living; yet so intense was his desire that faith could hardly keep his spirit from fainting, while the blessing, which he so eagerly pursued, seemed still distant, and fled before him. He is afraid lest God should long delay, and withdraw himself, faith and hope could hold out no longer. He therefore pleads, “hide not thy face from me, lest I become like them that go down into the pit;” and urges the failing of his spirit before him who “will not contend for ever, lest the spirit should fail before him.”
—John Fawcett.
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