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Psalms 142

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A Desperate Cry from the Cave 1–2

1
I cry with my voice unto Jehovah; With my voice unto Jehovah do I make supplication. ​
2
I pour out my complaint before him; I show before him my trouble.

Overwhelmed by Troubles and Snares 3–4

3
When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, Thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walk Have they hidden a snare for me. ​
4
Look onmy right hand, and see; For there is no man that knoweth me: Refuge hath failed me; No man careth for my soul. ​

The Lord Is My Only Refuge 5–7

5
I cried unto thee, O Jehovah; I said, Thou art my refuge, My portion in the land of the living. ​
6
Attend unto my cry; For I am brought very low: Deliver me from my persecutors; For they are stronger than I.
7
Bring my soul out of prison, That I may give thanks unto thy name: The righteous shall compass me about; For thou wilt deal bountifully with me. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Psalm 142

Verse 1

in the cave — The heading places David in a cave, as when he hid from Saul at Adullam (1 Sam 22:1) or in the wilderness of Engedi (1 Sam 24:1–3). The psalm does not say which. Maskil means ‘instructive’. ‘Cried’ is za’aq, to cry out in distress; ‘supplication’ is from chanan, to ask favour, as in Ps 30:8.

Verse 3

thou knewest my path — ‘Overwhelmed’ is atap, to be wrapped over and covered, the same verb as in Ps 143:4, ‘my spirit overwhelmed within me’. The LORD knew the ‘path’ (nathiv), the beaten track, while ‘in the way wherein I walked’ a snare (pach, as in Ps 140:5) lay hidden.

Verse 4

on my right hand — The right hand is the helper’s place: ‘he shall stand at the right hand of the poor’ (Ps 109:31); ‘the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand’ (Ps 121:5). Here no one stands there to ‘know’ (nakar, to recognize) him, and ‘cared’ is darash, to seek: no man sought his soul.

Verse 5

my portion — Cheleq, an allotted share. The LORD said to Aaron, ‘I am thy part and thine inheritance’ (Num 18:20); David says the same of the LORD, as in Ps 16:5 and Ps 119:57. ‘Refuge’ is machaseh, shelter; the ‘land of the living’ is as in Ps 27:13.

Verse 7

Bring my soul out of prison — Masger, a place of shutting in; the same word is in Isa 42:7, ‘to bring out the prisoners from the prison’. ‘Compass me about’ is kathar, to encircle, the word used of the wicked encircling the righteous in Hab 1:4; here the righteous encircle David.