Psalm 142 A Contemplation Of David. A Prayer When He Was in the Cave.

 ¹I cry out to the Lord with my voice;

With my voice to the Lord I make my supplication.

²I pour out my complaint before Him;

I declare before Him my trouble.

³When my spirit was overwhelmed within me,

Then You knew my path.

In the way in which I walk

They have secretly set a snare for me.

⁴Look on my right hand and see,

For there is no one who acknowledges me;

Refuge has failed me;

No one cares for my soul.

⁵I cried out to You, O Lord: I said, “You are my refuge,

My portion in the land of the living.

⁶Attend to my cry,

For I am brought very low;

Deliver me from my persecutors,

For they are stronger than I.

⁷Bring my soul out of prison,

That I may praise Your name;

The righteous shall surround me,

For You shall deal bountifully with me.”

Preamble: David’s declaration here was born out of his hiding time, sometime during those long and unsettling years when Saul was still ruling as king, even though God had anointed David to take his place. And so David was forced to flee from Saul and everything he knew, and start living like a fugitive from Saul whose murderous desires towards him would only cease when his own demise came at the hands of the Philistines, as the Lord said of him. But unbeknown to David that would be years later. And so for now David lives hour by hour hoping and waiting on the Lord who will bring his deliverance. 

Commentary

Vs. 1-3 ¹I cry out to the Lord with my voice;

With my voice to the Lord I make my supplication.

²I pour out my complaint before Him;

I declare before Him my trouble.

David’s declaration here is the testimony of a man who knew abandonment, who knew what it was like to be forsaken by family and friend (vs. 4). Who instead of giving into despair, now turns to the Lord. For the Lord alone is the only One who does not forsake us, even when everyone else has. Therefore, David in recalling what has happened to him now declares that his cry for help and justice is to the Lord, for it is to the Lord our God whom David makes his supplications and declares all of his troubles too, troubles which others have done to him and are orchestrating for him.

Vs. 3-4 ³When my spirit was overwhelmed within me,

Then You knew my path.

In the way in which I walk

They have secretly set a snare for me.

⁴Look on my right hand and see,

For there is no one who acknowledges me;

Refuge has failed me;

No one cares for my soul.

David's reflection upon all that has happened to him now brings him to the place of knowing and acknowledging that the Lord observes all our paths, for the Lord knows the ways in which we walk, and He knows what others do not, especially when we are being wronged. Therefore, David asks Him who always upholds truth and justice to look and see what is being done to him, to look and see how there is none who now acknowledge him, for all his compatriots and “friends” that he made in the house of Saul while serving him, have chosen loyalty to Saul at the expense of him. Therefore, David is now faced with the cold reality that he has been abandoned by them all, by all who want to stay in good standing with the man who is seeking to kill him. And so, from being the revered leader of Israel’s forces, who risked his life time and again for them all, who vanquished the Philistines, and was praised for his killing tens of thousands of their enemies in their victory songs, to now fleeing for his life, and being treated like a complete stranger by them all. David now declares to our God that there is none who will acknowledge him, for they would rather enjoy the power and privileges of being loyal to king Saul then acknowledge him as God’s anointed, as a man who is being treated and persecuted very unjustly by him. For not one of them will take him into their care, indeed they all treat him like they never even knew him. For in their self-seeking shallowness they love the favor of Saul more than doing justly towards him or anyone. 

Vs. 5-7 ⁵I cried out to You, O Lord: I said, “You are my refuge,

My portion in the land of the living.

⁶Attend to my cry,

For I am brought very low;

Deliver me from my persecutors,

For they are stronger than I.

⁷Bring my soul out of prison,

That I may praise Your name;

The righteous shall surround me,

For You shall deal bountifully with me.”

Once again David’s cry goes out to the Lord, to the only One who is our refuge, who is our portion in the land of the living, (even when everyone else has forsaken us, the Lord is with us), therefore David asks the Lord to attend to his cry, for he has been brought very low by those who hate him, and are now hunting for his life, (for not being content with having driven him away, they now are seeking to remove his person and life from the earth), and as he says, “they are stronger than I,” indicates that David is alone at this time and they themselves and their numbers are far superior in strength then he  Therefore, David asks the Lord that He bring his soul out of the prison they have created for him, (this cave in which he must hide from them) so that he may praise the Lord’s Name. And in foreseeing this done for him, David now says that the righteous shall surround him when the Lord deals bountifully with him. And ultimately that is how the Lord dealt with him, for the Lord caused David to sit upon His throne and rule over His people just as He has said of him (consider 1 Chr. 17:7-15; Psalm 89:3-4; 19-37; Jeremiah 33:19-26; Ezekiel 34:23-24; 37:24-28 etc.). 

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.