I spread out my hands to you
Psalm 143:6 - This psalm is a call to earnestly seek God with trust in His ability to rejuvenate and revitalize.
“I spread out my hands to you; I thirst for you like a parched land.”
Psalms 143:6 NIV
Growing up as a Catholic, stretching out my hands to God in prayer and supplication would have been unheard of. When we returned to attending church in the mid-2000s at a Lutheran church, there were a few people who would raise their hands… but only during hymns, and they usually got sideways glances from others in the pews. So imagine my surprise when we began attending a nondenominational Christian church in 2019 and many of the worshippers raised their hands during worship and prayer!
Now that my understanding of Scripture is deeper and more complete, reaching out to God during prayer and worship seems natural, like the motion of a child reaching out to a loving parent. This short psalm of David is one of seven Penitential Psalms, so-called because they are songs of confession and humility before God. As it begins with an admission that we are all sinners (“Do not bring your servant into judgment, for no one living is righteous before you.” - Psalms 143:2), it was often sung on Ash Wednesday in the early church.
The gesture of spreading or stretching out one’s hands to God is seen in the Hebrew context as a sincere gesture of appeal to and longing for God, representing an intense desire for connection with the Lord and His intervention with humanity. It’s a physical gesture, but it is also spiritual and symbolizes the desire of David to connect with God. Near Eastern cultures used this gesture to seek mercy or favor from a deity, and for Christians, it is a posture of worship and submission that expresses our dependence on God’s grace and omnipotence.
Some translations of the Bible use the phrase “my soul thirsts for you”, which seems even more apt as the word for soul (נֶפֶשׁ - neh'-fesh) is found in the original Hebrew of the psalm. Using the word “soul” shows the deeply spiritual thirst David is feeling. The Bible often uses thirst as a metaphor for desire, and it is quite apt considering the parched climate of the ancient Near East. For today’s Christians, the thirst of a believer connotes the internal need for communion with God, satisfied only by His presence and knowledge of His love.
David, who was incredibly good at using language to underscore the descriptions of his personal feelings, follows up this short expression of desire with the phrase “like a parched land”. The Hebrew Bible often used land as a metaphor of the condition of the soul, so a “parched land” indicates a soul in desperate need of God’s presence. The original audience understood the importance of rain for their survival, so this imagery would have resonated with them.
For followers of Christ, the metaphor gives emphasis to the necessity of God’s presence to revive and support the soul, like a long soaking rain revives a desert. This psalm is a call to earnestly seek God with trust in His ability to rejuvenate and revitalize.
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I lift my hands to You and reach out in desperate need. My soul thirsts for You like a land suffering from a long drought, longing for Your refreshing presence. Pour out Your mercy and grace upon me, and guide me with Your love. AMEN.
Scripture quotations taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica US, Inc.®. Used by permission.
BibleHub was accessed on January 19, 2025 for commentary on Psalm 143:6
like a parched land
The comparison "like a parched land" further emphasizes the intensity of the psalmist's longing. A parched land is dry, cracked, and desperate for rain, symbolizing a state of spiritual desolation and need. In the Hebrew Bible, land often represents the condition of the soul, and a parched land signifies a soul in dire need of God's refreshing presence. This imagery would have been particularly poignant to the original audience, who understood the critical importance of rain for survival. For the Christian, this metaphor underscores the necessity of God's presence to revive and sustain the soul, much like rain revives the earth. It is a call to seek God earnestly, trusting in His ability to restore and renew.