How to Seek God in Difficult Times: Psalm 143

When Darkness Closes In

Most of us have experienced times in our lives when we have felt mentally or spiritually crushed, overwhelmed, and distressed. Perhaps you have felt persecuted in some way, or unfairly attacked. Sometimes depression can make us feel like we are living in darkness, being smothered by an almost physical sense of loneliness or loss.

David wrote Psalm 143 feeling just like this. He is running from his enemies and he cries out to God that he has dwelt in darkness for so long he was like those who had long been dead. His pleas to God in this Psalm help us understand how we too should approach God when we are feeling sad, depressed, or attacked.

We may not have physical enemies but certainly Satan is always our enemy and always seeking to destroy us. Psalm 143 teaches us how to seek God in difficult times. Instead of allowing fear and despair to overwhelm him, David shows us how to turn our hearts toward God's faithfulness, guidance, and unfailing love.

How to Seek God in Difficult Times

He begins by asking God to hear his cries because God has always been faithful (Psalm 143:1). David says no one is righteous but God and begs Him not to judge him for his failings. Often when we feel like David, we launch into a plea for God to fix things: heal me, give me a job, a child, a home, or an escape. But this is not how David approaches God.

David tells God that he remembers what God has done for him in the past. But he doesn't just stop at remembering, David also meditates and muses on those things (Psalm 143:5). This is not simply thinking about God's deeds but reflectively and carefully doing a mental rehearsal in David's mind of God's wondrous actions in the past.

Why does David do this? Because instead of dwelling on the bad things he is facing, he dwells on the faithfulness of God in past situations. How much better off would we be mentally if every day we would do the same? Remember, God is our refuge in sorrow.

David "spreads out his hands" before the Lord (Psalm 143:6). This expression is full of symbolism. It shows his readiness to receive God's mercy and guidance for his life. This was a common posture of prayer that people used that sometimes showed they were in deep grief or overwhelmed by their situation. It was a physical way of showing their total dependence on God to save them.

Longing for God's Presence

And then David tells God, "My soul longs for you like a thirsty land". He is desperate for God to answer him and make His presence known to him. He needs God like a desert needs rain to bloom. When we are desperate for God to quench our spiritual thirst, as only He can, then we will find Him. When we seek, we shall find.

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you" (Matthew 7:7).

David is in need of answers. He needs a quick response because he says, "My spirit fails." David is close to giving up. He is not sure what could happen to him if God doesn't answer quickly. Many of us know this feeling all too well. How do we approach God when we feel like this? David is a role model for us.

So what is it that David asks God for? What answers does He long for? He asks God not to "hide His face" from him (Psalm 143:7). David was in a very dark place. His great fear was that, because of his sins or unrighteousness, perhaps God would abandon him. In the Old Testament when they spoke of God's face shining on them it meant that you were experiencing his grace and blessings, but when God hid His face, God was displeased with you. David needs God's intervention in his life.

What David specifically asks God is startling. He begs God to "cause" him to hear God's love and kindness in the morning and "cause" him to know the path that he needs to walk (Psalm 143:8). When life becomes too much for us, sometimes it drives out God's voice. David understood this. He knew He needed to hear from God first thing in the morning. God's will was what David wanted to guide his steps throughout the day. If he could feel God's love and walk in His will, then he knew things would be right because He trusted God with his whole heart.

David follows this by telling God that he has lifted up his soul to the Lord. This expression is used in several places in the Bible. David is saying that his spirit is crushed, yet he is trusting God to deliver him. David is expressing his total dependence on God to heal his soul. He put his life in God's hands above the cares of this world.

Do we do the same? How would our lives be different if we began our day by telling God, "I lift up my soul to You"? And, in our great need for God, we really meant it.

Jesus tells us to do the same in Matthew 11:28,

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

When we are worn out from the cares and burdens of life, Jesus calls us to Him because He will bring us the rest we so desperately want. Are you desperate for Jesus?

Praying for Guidance and Deliverance

David pleads with God to "deliver" him from his enemies (Psalm 143:9). How often have we asked God to deliver us from our enemies? Have we asked him to deliver us from fear, anxiety, or depression? These enemies are as real to us as David's enemies were to him.

David continues and asks God to "teach" him His will and "lead" him where he should go (Psalm 143:10). David doesn't just assume that God will do these things. He expresses his heart's desire to God. God wants us to commune with Him. Certainly God knows our needs, but He wants and desires for us to communicate those needs to Him. Pour out your heart to God. God never forgets us.

Only God Can Revive the Soul

David asks God to "revive" him (Psalm 143:11). He is spiritually and emotionally drained. Only God can renew his soul. Only God can give him the strength he needs to endure the trials he is facing.

But David doesn't ask this for his own sake. He expresses to God that it is for "Your name's sake." When David experiences this revival, it will be God that is honored and God who will receive the glory, not David. Others will see the change and know that God was responsible.

"Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?" - Psalm 85:6

Just like David, when we experience revival in our own lives, very often people notice the change. "Something is different about you," they often say. The New Testament describes God's renewing work using words like "transformed," "renewed," or "made alive." As Paul says in Romans 6:11,

"Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

David ends the Psalm by asking God to destroy his enemies. Ultimately we know that all of the enemies of God will know destruction. But in this moment of David's life he needs these enemies removed and he knows that it is God who will and can do it. And why would God do this for David? The same reason He would do it for us.

Resting in God's Faithfulness

David tells God, "For I am your servant" (Psalm 143:12). As servants of God and followers of Christ, we have a promise. In 2 Thessalonians 3:3 Paul tells us,

"But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one."

What greater enemy do we have than the Devil, the evil one? Just as David remembered the faithfulness of God in his darkness, so should we. If we are true servants of God, then we can rest in His promise to guard us from our enemy, regardless of the shape it takes.