Psalm 143

Setting

O hear my prayer, LORD;

Free Church of Scotland psalter · 6 6 6 6 8 8

The words

O hear my prayer, LORD; My cry for mercy heed. In truth and righteousness Draw near to meet my need. And do not judge me in your sight For in your presence none is right.

The foe has hounded me And crushed me to the ground, In darkness made me dwell, Like those in death long bound. And so my spirit is afraid; My heart within me is dismayed.

Therefore I call to mind The days and years long gone; I ponder all your works And what your hands have done. To you in prayer I spread my hands; For you I thirst, like arid lands.

My spirit fails, O LORD; Come quickly to my side. Hide not your face from me, Lest to the pit I slide. Let morning bring your love anew, For I have put my trust in you.

To you I lift my soul; Show me the way to go. I hide myself in you; LORD, save me from my foe. My God, teach me to do your will; May your good Spirit lead me still.

For your great mercy’s sake, O LORD, preserve my life; And in your righteousness Deliver me from strife. In love, put all my foes to shame; Destroy them, for I bear your name.

Source & provenance

Free Church of Scotland psalter · psalter

An unedited transcription of the Sing Psalms (Free Church of Scotland, 2003) edition.

Full provenance & rights
Base edition
Sing Psalms (Free Church of Scotland, 2003)
Editor
Psalmody Committee of the Free Church of Scotland
Editing
unedited transcription

Rights

Copyright
rights-verified (display held); FCS terms recorded 2026-10-08 — verbatim text in a notated setting with independent tune MIDI is within terms (text free, FCS attribution displayed); copy/print/offline not granted; no audio derivatives
Access
free
Display
permitted

Tunes it can be sung to

2 tunes

  • Earnest Prayer

    curated well-matched

    6.6.6.6.8.8

  • Love Unknown

    curated well-matched

    6.6.6.6.8.8

How is this list ordered?

Curated pairings come first — a tune a curator recorded against this text, with the fitness they recorded. A tune that merely shares the meter is listed as a tune in the same meter and never as a pairing.

Nothing here is ranked by popularity or use. The page reports what a curator recorded, not a verdict of its own.