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Psalm 143 · a question people ask

"Your Spirit is good" (143:10). What does the psalm say about God's Spirit?

In the text

Only this verse speaks of it, and it says two things: the Spirit is good, and then, "Lead me in the land of uprightness" (143:10). In Hebrew Your Spirit is ruchakha, the same word ruach as my spirit in 143:4 and 143:7 (tap spirit); here the WEB prints a capital S for God's. A prayer in Nehemiah has ruach and the same word for good, of God's Spirit: "You gave also your good Spirit to instruct them" (Nehemiah 9:20). Other psalms speak to God of his Spirit too, among them these two: "don’t take your Holy Spirit from me" (Psalm 51:11), and "Where could I go from your Spirit?" (Psalm 139:7). Psalm 143 doesn't say more about the Spirit than this, and these notes don't say more for it.

The verses

“Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me. My heart within me is desolate.”
Psalm 143:4 · World English Bible
“Hurry to answer me, LORD. My spirit fails. Don’t hide your face from me, so that I don’t become like those who go down into the pit.”
Psalm 143:7 · World English Bible
“Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness.”
Psalm 143:10 · World English Bible
“You gave also your good Spirit to instruct them, and didn’t withhold your manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst.”
Nehemiah 9:20 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Psalm 143

Psalm 143: Teach me to do your will

The psalmist asks God to act "In your faithfulness and righteousness" (143:1), because "in your sight no man living is righteous" (143:2): he leans on God's righteousness, not his own. And spirit is one Hebrew word three times: "my spirit is overwhelmed" (143:4), "My spirit fails" (143:7), and "Your Spirit is good" (143:10).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions