Tap any verse number for what that verse means.
1I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication.
2I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble.
3When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me.
4I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.
5I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.
6Attend unto 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 thy name: the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me.
Understand This
Psalm 142, explained
What Psalm 142 is saying
Psalm 142 is an individual lament designated as a maskil, composed 'when David was in the cave'—likely Adullam (1 Samuel 22) or En Gedi (1 Samuel 24). The psalmist cries to God as the only refuge when every human avenue has failed: 'no one cares for my soul.' The cave setting intensifies the imagery of confinement—'bring my soul out of prison'—while the closing vision anticipates a community of the righteous surrounding the delivered psalmist.
The background behind it
The cave tradition places this psalm during David's fugitive period under Saul's persecution. The maskil designation suggests didactic intent—the psalm teaches how to pray in extremity. The imagery of a 'path' watched by hidden traps reflects the literal danger of David's wilderness existence.
Themes running underneath
The psalm's theology of divine refuge is intensified by the complete absence of human support. When the psalmist declares 'You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living,' every alternative has been exhausted. The movement from isolation to anticipated community (v. 7) mirrors the Psalter's broader movement from lament to praise.
Why it still matters
This psalm validates the experience of radical aloneness and models prayer when all human support systems have collapsed. It demonstrates that God is not merely one refuge among many but the only refuge that ultimately holds.
Scripture text: King James Version — public domain.