Psalm 143:8

Psalm 143:8

Cause me to hear in the morning your steadfast love,

for in you I trusted.

Cause me to know which way to you

for to you I lifted up my soul.

CALL TO GOD, YOUR LIFELINE

In the gameshow “Who wants to be a millionaire,” contestants have to answer a series of multiple-choice questions for a shot at winning a million dollars. In the process, they may call upon “lifelines”—help from other sources such as the audience, a friend, or even the game system by having it eliminate half of the answers. In life, we often find ourselves strapped for answers. What then, is our lifeline?

In Psalm 143:8, the psalmist calls out to God as his lifeline.

This verse is in the midst of vv. 7-10, which are a series of urgent requests from the psalmist to God. Although the psalmist mentions other reasons for his call for help, such as his failing spirit in v. 7 and deliverance from enemies in verse 9, the main reason is the person of God himself. This is emphasised in the chiastic parallelism of v. 8b, with “to you” repeated twice in the centre of the bicolon. In fact “you” and “your” occurs nine times in vv. 7-10.

God himself is the psalmist’s one and only lifeline.

I have been wrestling with my impending move to full-time ministry after graduation. Juggling multiple demands from home and school has caused me to feel like the psalmist in v. 4, “My spirit fainted upon me; within me my heart is desolated.” Can I answer God’s call on my life?

Then God spoke to me through Ps 143:8, reminding me that it is to him alone that I lift up my soul; it is to him alone that I entrust my life (NIV). He reminded me that just as he is the one who calls, he too is the one whom I can call upon for help.

Are you struggling like the psalmist? Do you feel like your spirit is faint and your heart desolate? Do you need deliverance from enemies, whether within or without? Call upon God, the only sure and certain lifeline, and you will find like the psalmist, that the help you need will come.

Tay Li Ping
M.Div. Year 3