Psalms 143:6
I stretch out my hands to You; my soul thirsts for You like a parched land. Selah
BSB
ASV
I spread forth my hands unto thee: My soul thirsteth after thee, as a weary land. [Selah
KJV
I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah.
I stretched out my hands to you. Bound by the enemy, I can do nothing else except do penance, and lift up my hands to you. My soul is as earth without water to you. As earth without water thirsts and seeks the rain, so too my soul longs for and thirsts after you, its God.
I stretch forth my hands unto thee,.... In prayer, as the Targum adds; for this is a prayer gesture, 1Ki 8:38; both hands were stretched forth, earnestly imploring help, and ready to receive and embrace every blessing bestowed with thankfulness; my soul thirsteth after thee as a thirsty land.
I stretch forth my hands unto thee. He was eager for his God. His thoughts of God kindled in him burning desires, and these led to energetic expressions of his inward longings. As a prisoner whose feet are bound extends his hands in supplication when there is hope of liberty, so does David. My soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. As the soil cracks, and yawns, and thus opens its mouth in dumb pleadings, so did the Psalmist's soul break with longings.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Psalms 63:1O God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You. My body yearns for You in a dry and weary land without water.
leads to
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after You, O God.
Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
My soul longs, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.
I will say to the LORD, “You are my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
‘Never again will they hunger, and never will they thirst; nor will the sun beat down upon them, nor any scorching heat.’
Through
Psalms 84:2My soul longs, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
leads to
My soul longs for You in the night; indeed, my spirit seeks You at dawn. For when Your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.
O God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You. My body yearns for You in a dry and weary land without water.
Through
Job 11:13As for you, if you direct your heart and lift up your hands to Him,
leads to
My eyes grow dim with grief. I call to You daily, O LORD; I spread out my hands to You.