Psalms 142:1

Psalm 142

1

A maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A prayer.

1 I cry out loud for help from the LORD. I beg out loud for mercy from the LORD.

Psalms 142:1 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 142:1

I cried unto the Lord with my voice
With the voice of his soul, in the language of his mind, mentally, as Moses and Hannah cried unto the Lord when no voice was heard, or articulate sounds expressed, since this prayer was put up to the Lord in the cave where Saul was; though it might have been delivered before he came into it, while he and his men were at the mouth of it, which threw David into this distress; besides the cave was so large as to hold David and his six hundred men without being seen by Saul, and who could discourse together, as David and his men did, without being heard by Saul while he was in it; and so this psalm or prayer might be spoken vocally, though he was there; with my voice unto the Lord did I make, my supplication:
the same thing in other words; "crying" is explained by making "supplication", which is praying to the Lord in an humble manner for grace and mercy, and not pleading merit and worthiness.

Psalms 142:1 In-Context

1 I cry out loud for help from the LORD. I beg out loud for mercy from the LORD.

2 I pour out my concerns before God; I announce my distress to him.

3 When my spirit is weak inside me, you still know my way. But they've hidden a trap for me in the path I'm taking.

4 Look right beside me: See? No one pays attention to me. There's no escape for me. No one cares about my life.

5 I cry to you, LORD, for help. "You are my refuge," I say. "You are all I have in the land of the living."

Footnotes

• [a]. Perhaps instruction; it also appears in Pss 42, 44–45, 52–55, 74, 78, 88–89, 142; cf 47:7; the root is used in Ps 32:8.