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Psalms

About this book
Psalm 143

1 A psalm of David. O Lord, hear my prayer. Pay attention to my plea for help. Because of your faithfulness and justice, answer me. 2 Do not sit in judgment on your servant, for no one alive is innocent before you.⁠ 3 Certainly my enemies chase me. They smash me into the ground. They force me to live in dark regions, like those who have been dead for ages.⁠ 4 My strength leaves me; I am absolutely shocked. 5 I recall the old days. I meditate on all you have done; I reflect on your accomplishments. 6 I spread my hands out to you in prayer; my soul thirsts for you in a parched land. (Selah) 7 Answer me quickly, Lord. My strength is fading. Do not reject me, or I will join those descending into the grave. 8 May I hear about your loyal love in the morning, for I trust in you. Show me the way I should go, because I long for you. 9 Rescue me from my enemies, O Lord. I run to you for protection. 10 Teach me to do what pleases you, for you are my God. May your kind presence lead me into a level land. 11 O Lord, for the sake of your reputation, revive me. Because of your justice, rescue me from trouble. 12 As a demonstration of your loyal love, destroy my enemies. Annihilate all who threaten my life, for I am your servant.

Texts in conversation

Compare Psalm 143:2 and Romans 3:20

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

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Summary

In Romans, Paul echoes Psalm 143, which says that no one living can be found righteous before God. Paul uses this language to describe how Israel and Gentiles have failed to live how God wants people to live, highlighting how everyone is equally guilty.

Passages

Psalm 143:2

Hebrew Bible
1 A psalm of David. O Lord, hear my prayer. Pay attention to my plea for help. Because of your faithfulness and justice, answer me. 2 Do not sit in judgment on your servant, for no one alive is innocent before you. 3 Certainly my enemies chase me. They smash me into the ground. They force me to live in dark regions, like those who have been dead for ages. 4 My strength leaves me; I am absolutely shocked. 5 I recall the old days. I meditate on all you have done; I reflect on your accomplishments. 6 I spread my hands out to you in prayer; my soul thirsts for you in a parched land. (Selah)
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

Romans 3:20

New Testament
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For no one is declared righteous before him by the works of the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin. 21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God (although it is attested by the law and the prophets) has been disclosed— 22 namely, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 24 But they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
55–58 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Romans

References

"... This wrestling with the problem of sin, especially by one such as David, makes the Psalms most effective for Paul’s purposes in demonstrating that sin has infected the whole human race. Paul concludes in Romans 3:20: “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight”. This allusion is to Psalm 143:2. There is, however, a significant difference in Paul’s quotation. Psalm 143:2 in the Hebrew refers to כָל־חָי (all living), and in the Septuagint πᾶς ζῶν (all living), but Paul uses the expression πᾶσα σὰρξ (all flesh). For Paul, ‘flesh’ “is a heavily-loaded term … humankind seen as physically corruptible and morally rebellious, heading for death in both senses”. The psalm “is not adduced as a proof for Paul’s assertion, but his assertion echoes the psalm, activating Israel’s canonical memory. A reader formed spiritually by the psalter, with or without recognizing the specific allusion, will already know that before God no one can claim to be justified”. Many of the Psalms helped re-enforce Israel’s collective memory of times of bondage, and of deliverance, but that same combination of psalter and history also revealed their propensity to rebellion. Other Psalms repeated the consciousness of sin on the part of the Psalmist ..."
Iain Gibb, “Paul and the Psalms: Paul's Hermeneutic and Worldview” (MTh(R) diss., University of Glasgow, 2017), 154–155.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Psalm 143:2 and Romans 3:20

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