Psalms 143:5

I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your works; I consider the work of Your hands.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The psalmist speaks from a place of spiritual exhaustion and dismay, using remembrance as a bridge between the faintness described in verse 4 and the desperate petition in verse 6.

The words — The verse centers on זָכַרְתִּי (za.Khar.ti), literally "I have remembered," and הָגִיתִי (ha.Gi.ti), literally "I have meditated," which denote deliberate mental engagement with God's past actions.

The thread — This practice of recalling past divine acts appears in Psalms 77:5, where the psalmist considers the days of old and the years long in the past.

Why it lands — The text directs the reader to examine historical evidence of God's deeds as a factual basis for addressing present distress.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

זָ֘כַ֤רְתִּיza.Khar.tiI have remembered יָמִ֨ים׀ya.Mimdays מִקֶּ֗דֶםmi./Ke.demfrom/ antiquity הָגִ֥יתִיha.Gi.tiI have meditated בְכָל־ve./khol-on/ every פָּעֳלֶ֑ךָpo.'o.Le./khadeed/ your בְּֽמַעֲשֵׂ֖הbe./ma.'a.Sehon/ [the] work of יָדֶ֣יךָya.Dei./khahands/ your אֲשׂוֹחֵֽחַ׃'a.so.Che.achI meditate

King James Version

I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.

Cross-references

Psalms 77:10 So I said, “I am grieved that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”
Psalms 77:5 I considered the days of old, the years long in the past.
1 Samuel 17:45 But David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
Psalms 111:4 He has caused His wonders to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and compassionate.
Micah 6:5 My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may acknowledge the righteousness of the LORD.’”
1 Samuel 17:34 David replied, “Your servant has been tending his father’s sheep, and whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock,
Isaiah 63:7 I will make known the LORD’s loving devotion and His praiseworthy acts, because of all that the LORD has done for us—the many good things for the house of Israel according to His great compassion and loving devotion.
Deuteronomy 8:2 Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commandments.
Psalms 42:6 O my God, my soul despairs within me. Therefore I remember You from the land of Jordan and the peaks of Hermon—even from Mount Mizar.