Psalms / Chapter 142

Psalms 142

7 verses • Westminster Leningrad Codex

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

A maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A prayer of desperate isolation. David cries out to the LORD, pouring out his complaint and declaring that God alone knows his path. He looks to his right and finds no one — no one cares for his life. He declares the LORD to be his refuge and his portion in the land of the living. He asks for rescue from his pursuers, who are stronger than he is. The psalm ends with a plea to be brought out of prison so that the righteous may gather around him in celebration of God's generosity.

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

This is one of two psalms with a cave superscription (the other is Psalm 57). The cave setting — whether Adullam (1 Samuel 22) or En-gedi (1 Samuel 24) — transforms the psalm from abstract lament into concrete geography. A cave is both refuge and prison: it hides David from Saul but also confines him in darkness. The psalmist's statement 'You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living' (v. 5) uses language normally reserved for the Levitical inheritance — the LORD is David's allotted share, his territory, when he has no territory of his own. The final verse pictures a crown (yachtiru) of righteous people surrounding the delivered psalmist, turning rescue into communal worship.

Translation Friction

The superscription 'when he was in the cave' places this psalm in David's fugitive period, but the specific cave is not identified. The word maskil in the heading is debated — it may mean 'contemplative poem,' 'skillful song,' or 'instructive psalm.' Verse 7 uses the word masger ('prison, enclosure'), which some read literally and others as a metaphor for the cave or for the psalmist's overall trapped condition. The statement 'no one cares for my life' (ein doresh le-nafshi, v. 4) is striking given that David had loyal followers even in the cave — the psalm may capture a moment of subjective despair rather than objective abandonment.

Connections

The cave narratives appear in 1 Samuel 22:1 (cave of Adullam) and 1 Samuel 24:3 (cave at En-gedi). Psalm 57 shares the cave setting and similar themes of refuge amid danger. The language of 'portion' (cheleq) in verse 5 connects to the Levitical theology of Numbers 18:20, where the LORD tells Aaron, 'I am your portion.' The gathering of the righteous in verse 7 anticipates the communal thanksgiving psalms where rescue is reported to the assembly (Psalm 22:22, 40:9-10).

Psalms 142:1

מַשְׂכִּ֥יל לְדָוִ֑ד בִּהְיוֹת֖וֹ בַמְּעָרָ֣ה תְפִלָּֽה׃

A maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A prayer. With my voice I cry out to the LORD. With my voice I plead with the LORD for mercy.

KJV I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The WLC includes the superscription as verse 1. The word maskil likely derives from sakal ('to be prudent, to give insight') and may indicate a psalm intended for instruction or contemplation. The doubled phrase be-qoli ('with my voice') emphasizes vocal, audible prayer — this is not silent meditation but a cry that echoes off cave walls. The verb etchannan ('I plead for grace') is from chanan, the root of 'grace' and 'mercy.'
Psalms 142:2

אֶשְׁפֹּ֣ךְ לְ֭פָנָיו שִׂיחִ֑י צָ֝רָתִ֗י לְפָנָ֥יו אַגִּֽיד׃

I pour out my complaint before him. I declare my distress before him.

KJV I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The verb eshpokh ('I pour out') pictures prayer as liquid — the psalmist empties himself of grief before God. The word sichi ('my complaint, my meditation, my concern') can mean inner musing or outward complaint; here the parallel with tsarati ('my distress') favors the sense of pouring out trouble. The repetition of lefanav ('before him') insists that this outpouring is directed — it has an audience.
Psalms 142:3

בְּהִתְעַטֵּ֬ף עָלַ֨י ׀ רוּחִ֗י וְאַתָּה֮ יָדַ֢עְתָּ נְֽתִיבָ֫תִ֥י בְּאֹ֥רַח ז֥וּ אֲהַלֵּ֑ךְ טָמְנ֖וּ פַ֣ח לִֽי׃

When my spirit grows faint within me, you know my path. Along the road where I walk they have hidden a trap for me.

KJV When 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.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The verb hit'atef ('to be wrapped, to be faint, to be overwhelmed') pictures the spirit as wrapped in a shroud of exhaustion — unable to see, unable to breathe. The contrast is stark: when the psalmist cannot see his own way, God knows his path (netivati). The trap (pach) hidden along the road echoes Psalm 141:9 and the broader pattern of enemies as hunters.
Psalms 142:4

הַבֵּ֤יט יָמִ֨ין ׀ וּרְאֵה֮ וְאֵֽין־לִ֢י מַ֫כִּ֥יר אָבַ֣ד מָנ֣וֹס מִמֶּ֑נִּי אֵ֖ין דּוֹרֵ֣שׁ לְנַפְשִֽׁי׃

Look to my right and see — there is no one who recognizes me. Every escape route is gone from me. No one cares about my life.

KJV I 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.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The right side (yamin) is the place of honor and protection. Looking to the right and finding no one is an image of judicial and military abandonment — no advocate and no guard. The threefold absence (no one who recognizes, no escape, no one who cares) builds to a climax of isolation that makes the turn to God in verse 5 all the more dramatic.
Psalms 142:5

זָעַ֥קְתִּי אֵלֶ֗יךָ יְהוָ֥ה אָ֭מַרְתִּי אַתָּ֣ה מַחְסִ֑י חֶ֝לְקִ֗י בְּאֶ֣רֶץ הַחַיִּֽים׃

I cry out to you, LORD. I say, "You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living."

KJV I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

חֵלֶק cheleq
"portion" — portion, share, allotment, inheritance, territory, lot

cheleq is the word for an inherited share of land. When applied to God ('my portion'), it means that the psalmist's entire inheritance, security, and identity are located in God rather than in territory, wealth, or political standing. This is radical theology: a king-in-exile declares that God is his land.

Translator Notes

  1. The term cheleq ('portion') carries Levitical overtones — the Levites received no territorial inheritance because the LORD was their portion (Numbers 18:20, Deuteronomy 10:9). David, stripped of everything, adopts the Levitical posture: God alone is enough.
Psalms 142:6

הַקְשִׁ֤יבָה ׀ אֶל־רִנָּתִי֮ כִּֽי־דַלּ֢וֹתִ֫י מְאֹ֥ד הַצִּילֵ֥נִי מֵרֹדְפַ֑י כִּ֖י אָמְצ֣וּ מִמֶּֽנִּי׃

Pay attention to my cry, for I have been brought very low. Rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are stronger than I am.

KJV Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low: deliver me from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The verb dalloti ('I am brought low, I am impoverished') is from dalal ('to be low, weak, thin, poor'). It is the language of depletion — David is not merely threatened but diminished. The admission that his pursuers are stronger (amtsu, from amats, 'to be strong, to overpower') is a statement of military reality that drives the need for divine intervention.
Psalms 142:7

ה֘וֹצִ֤יאָה מִמַּסְגֵּ֨ר ׀ נַפְשִׁי֮ לְהוֹד֢וֹת אֶת־שְׁ֫מֶ֥ךָ בִּ֭י יַכְתִּ֣רוּ צַדִּיקִ֑ים כִּ֖י תִגְמֹ֣ל עָלָֽי׃

Bring me out of this prison so that I may give thanks to your name. The righteous will gather around me, for you will deal generously with me.

KJV Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The masger ('prison') may be literal (a dungeon) or metaphorical (the cave, the life of a fugitive). In this context the cave functions as both shelter and prison. The verb yaktiru is from katar (Hiphil), meaning 'to surround' or possibly 'to crown' — the righteous community will encircle the freed psalmist in a wreath of fellowship.
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