Psalms 142:1-6

Prayer for Help in Trouble.

1 I ¹cry aloud with my voice to the LORD; I ²make supplication with my voice to the LORD.

2 I ³pour out my complaint before Him; I declare my ⁴trouble before Him.

3 When ⁵my spirit was overwhelmed within me, You knew my path. In the way where I walk They have ⁶hidden a trap for me.

4 Look to the right and see; For there is ⁷no one who regards me; There is no ⁸escape for me; ⁹No one cares for my soul.

5 I cried out to You, O LORD; I said, "You are ¹⁰my refuge, My ¹¹portion in the ¹²land of the living.

6 "¹³Give heed to my cry, For I am ¹⁴brought very low; Deliver me from my persecutors, For they are too ¹⁵strong for me.

Psalms 142:1-6 Meaning and Commentary

Maschil of David; A Prayer when he was in the cave. Of the word "maschil," See Gill on "Ps 32:1," title. This psalm is called a prayer, as some others are, the ninetieth and hundred second psalms: and was composed by David when either in the cave of Adullam, 1 Samuel 22:1; or rather in the cave at Engedi, where he cut off Saul's skirt, 1 Samuel 24:3; as Jarchi and Kimchi think. The psalm represents the troubles of David, and of the Messiah his antitype, and is applicable to the church of God, or to any particular soul when in distress.

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 77:1
• 2. Psalms 30:8
• 3. Ps 102: title
• 4. Psalms 77:2
• 5. Psalms 77:3; Psalms 143:4
• 6. Psalms 140:5
• 7. Psalms 31:11; Psalms 88:8, 18
• 8. Job 11:20; Jeremiah 25:35
• 9. Jeremiah 30:17
• 10. Psalms 91:2, 9
• 11. Psalms 16:5; Psalms 73:26
• 12. Psalms 27:13
• 13. Psalms 17:1
• 14. Psalms 79:8; Psalms 116:6
• 15. Psalms 18:17

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "fainted"
• [b]. Lit "Escape has perished from me"