Psalms 143:7
Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.
David presses his petition for rescue with urgency, asking for a quick answer because his spirit is failing and giving out. The prayer seeks deliverance from present distress rather than delay, with swiftness made necessary by exhausted inner strength. It pleads that the divine face not be hidden, but that presence remain and not turn away.
Without that help the speaker fears becoming like those who go down into the pit. The pit is the grave, the place of those who die. The plea is the cry of one desolate who trusts in divine grace for mercy and asks not to be judged on his own standing.