Psalms 142:2

2 I pour out my plaint before him; I shew before him my trouble.

Psalms 142:2 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 142:2

I poured out my complaint before him
Not a complaint of the Lord and of his providences, but of himself; of his sins, and particularly his unbelief; and also of them that persecuted and afflicted him; which he "poured" out from the abundance of his heart, and in the bitterness of his soul; denoting the fulness of his prayer, his freedom in it, the power and fervency of it, and which he left before the Lord, and submitted to his will; see ( Psalms 102:1 ) , title;

I showed before him my trouble;
the present trouble he was in, being pursued and surrounded by Saul and his army; not as if the Lord was ignorant of it, and did not see and observe it, but to affect his own soul with it, to exercise grace under it, and ease his burdened and distressed mind; the best of men have their troubles both within and without, and the way to be rid of them is to carry them to the Lord.

Psalms 142:2 In-Context

1 {An instruction of David; when he was in the cave: a prayer.} I cry unto Jehovah with my voice: with my voice unto Jehovah do I make supplication.

2 I pour out my plaint before him; I shew before him my trouble.

3 When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then *thou* knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they hidden a snare for me.

4 Look on the right hand and see; there is no man that knoweth me: refuge hath failed me; no man careth for my soul.

5 I cried unto thee, Jehovah; I said, Thou art my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.