# 386 A journey through the Psalms. Psalm 143. ‘Experience is the best teacher.’

“Ut est rerum omnium magister usus (roughly ‘experience is the teacher of all things’ or more generally ‘experience is the best teacher’) is a quote attributed to Julius Caesar in De Bello Civili, the war commentaries of the Civil War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ut_est_rerum_omnium_magister_usus

Although we cannot be sure when this psalm was written, it is possible that it is “post-exilic” i.e., written following the terrible time when the Jewish nation was exiled into Babylon after the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. We know from Scripture that this was not some random, unfortunate event but rather the judgement of God. We read Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon invaded the land… The Lord sent Babylon… raiders against him [King Jehoiakim]. He sent them to destroy Judah, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by his servants the prophets. Surely these things happened to Judah according to the Lord’s command in order to remove them from his presence because of [their] sins… (2 Kings 24: 1-4)

Although it is not always true, but was ‘experience the best teacher’ for the people of Judah? Some suggest that this psalm could indicate yes, a key verse being the second when the psalmist says: for no one living is righteous before you. (Obviously they had not learnt from the word of the Lord proclaimed by his servants the prophets!)

Broyles suggests:

“Although this admission [that no one living is righteous before you.] may be obvious in Christian theology (e.g., Romans 3:23), it is remarkably rare among the psalms. They contain a number of admissions of acts of sin (25:7,18; 32:5; 38:3…), but only here and in 51:3-5, 130:3-4 is sin noted as part of the general human condition.” (# 4)

Considering the possibility of this being a post-exilic psalm, he then suggests that “the shocking event of the Babylonian exile, accompanied as it was by prophetic preaching, raised the people’s consciousness of sin within the nation.” (# 4)

So, we find in Psalm 143 the word righteous(ness) used as follows:

¹ Lord, hear my prayer,
    listen to my cry for mercy;
in your faithfulness and righteousness
    come to my relief.
² Do not bring your servant into judgment,
    for no one living is righteous before you…
¹¹ For your name’s sake, Lord, preserve my life;
    in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble.

Our God is the only One who is righteous – i.e., true, … noble, …right, … pure, … lovely, …admirable, … excellent … praiseworthy (Phil. 4:8), as well as perfect, just, faithful, good, and the list of God’s wonderful attributes goes on!

Sadly, though we are not righteous, as the psalmist says.

But the good news is that the psalmist still confidently calls out to God in his troubles, not because he deserves God’s attention, but because of God’s faithfulness and righteousness. And so, he prays, For your name’s sake, Lord, preserve my life; in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble.

And more good news is that we do not have to learn all our life lessons from experience. The psalmist also prays:

¹⁰ Teach me to do your will,
    for you are my God;
may your good Spirit
    lead me on level ground.

And while we are talking of Good News, the ultimate is discovered when we turn to the New Testament and discover Paul’s teaching when he wrote:

¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. ¹⁷ For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17)

And:

²¹ God made him [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Let me conclude with the summary of this psalm by Longman:

“The psalmist appeals to God for help against a vicious enemy. He acknowledges his faults, but appeals to God’s grace and asks God not to judge him (v. 2). After all, the psalmist insists, no one living is righteous before God… Indeed, we are all sinful, and our only hope is to throw ourselves on God’s mercy as offered through Christ.” (# 30)