1 I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication.
2 I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble.
3 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.
4 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.
5 I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.
6 Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low: deliver me from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I.
7 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.
1 [[Maschil H4905 of David; H1732 A Prayer H8605 when he was in the cave.]] H4631 I cried H2199 unto the LORD H3068 with my voice; H6963 with my voice H6963 unto the LORD H3068 did I make my supplication. H2603
2 I poured out H8210 my complaint H7879 before H6440 him; I shewed H5046 before H6440 him my trouble. H6869
3 When my spirit H7307 was overwhelmed H5848 within me, then thou knewest H3045 my path. H5410 In the way H734 wherein H2098 I walked H1980 have they privily laid H2934 a snare H6341 for me.
4 I looked H5027 on my right hand, H3225 and beheld, H7200 but there was no man that would know H5234 me: refuge H4498 failed H6 me; no man cared H1875 for my soul. H5315
5 I cried H2199 unto thee, O LORD: H3068 I said, H559 Thou art my refuge H4268 and my portion H2506 in the land H776 of the living. H2416
6 Attend H7181 unto my cry; H7440 for I am brought H1809 very H3966 low: H1809 deliver H5337 me from my persecutors; H7291 for they are stronger H553 than I.
7 Bring H3318 my soul H5315 out of prison, H4525 that I may praise H3034 thy name: H8034 the righteous H6662 shall compass me about; H3803 for thou shalt deal bountifully H1580 with me.
1 I cry with my voice unto Jehovah; With my voice unto Jehovah do I make supplication.
2 I pour out my complaint before him; I show before him my trouble.
3 When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, Thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walk Have they hidden a snare for me.
4 Look on `my' right hand, and see; For there is no man that knoweth me: Refuge hath failed me; No man careth for my soul.
5 I cried unto thee, O Jehovah; I said, Thou art my refuge, My portion in the land of the living.
6 Attend unto my cry; For I am brought very low: Deliver me from my persecutors; For they are stronger than I.
7 Bring my soul out of prison, That I may give thanks unto thy name: The righteous shall compass me about; For thou wilt deal bountifully with me. Psalm 143 A Psalm of David.
1 An Instruction of David, a Prayer when he is in the cave. My voice `is' unto Jehovah, I cry, My voice `is' unto Jehovah, I entreat grace.
2 I pour forth before Him my meditation, My distress before Him I declare.
3 When my spirit hath been feeble in me, Then Thou hast known my path; In the way `in' which I walk, They have hid a snare for me.
4 Looking on the right hand -- and seeing, And I have none recognizing; Perished hath refuge from me, There is none inquiring for my soul.
5 I have cried unto thee, O Jehovah, I have said, `Thou `art' my refuge, My portion in the land of the living.'
6 Attend Thou unto my loud cry, For I have become very low, Deliver Thou me from my pursuers, For they have been stronger than I.
7 Bring forth from prison my soul to confess Thy name, The righteous do compass me about, When Thou conferrest benefits upon me!
1 {An instruction of David; when he was in the cave: a prayer.} I cry unto Jehovah with my voice: with my voice unto Jehovah do I make supplication.
2 I pour out my plaint before him; I shew before him my trouble.
3 When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then *thou* knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they hidden a snare for me.
4 Look on the right hand and see; there is no man that knoweth me: refuge hath failed me; no man careth for my soul.
5 I cried unto thee, Jehovah; I said, Thou art my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.
6 Attend unto my cry, for I am brought very low; deliver me from my persecutors, for they are stronger than I.
7 Bring my soul out of prison, that I may celebrate thy name. The righteous shall surround me, because thou dealest bountifully with me.
1 > I cry with my voice to Yahweh. With my voice, I ask Yahweh for mercy.
2 I pour out my complaint before him. I tell him my troubles.
3 When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, You knew my path. In the way in which I walk, They have hidden a snare for me.
4 Look on my right, and see; For there is no one who is concerned for me. Refuge has fled from me. No one cares for my soul.
5 I cried to you, Yahweh. I said, "You are my refuge, My portion in the land of the living."
6 Listen to my cry, For I am in desperate need. Deliver me from my persecutors, For they are stronger than me.
7 Bring my soul out of prison, That I may give thanks to your name. The righteous will surround me, For you will be good to me.
1 <Maschil. Of David. A prayer when he was in the hole of the rock.> The sound of my cry went up to the Lord; with my voice I made my prayer for grace to the Lord.
2 I put all my sorrows before him; and made clear to him all my trouble.
3 When my spirit is overcome, your eyes are on my goings; nets have been secretly placed in the way in which I go.
4 Looking to my right side, I saw no man who was my friend: I had no safe place; no one had any care for my soul.
5 I have made my cry to you, O Lord; I have said, You are my safe place, and my heritage in the land of the living.
6 Give ear to my cry, for I am made very low: take me out of the hands of my haters, for they are stronger than I.
7 Take my soul out of prison, so that I may give praise to your name: the upright will give praise because of me; for you have given me a full reward.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 142
Commentary on Psalms 142 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Cry Sent Forth from the Prison to the Best of Friends
This the last of the eight Davidic Psalms, which are derived by their inscriptions from the time of the persecution by Saul (vid., on Ps 34), is inscribed: A Meditation by David, when he was in the cave, a Prayer . Of these eight Psalms, Psalms 52:1-9 and Psalms 54:1-7 also bear the name of Maskı̂l (vid., on Psalms 32:1-11); and in this instance תּפּלּה (which occurs besides as an inscription only in Psalms 90:1; Psalms 102:1; Psalms 3:1) is further added, which looks like an explanation of the word maskı̂l (not in use out of the range of Psalm-poetry). The article of במערה , as in Psalms 57:1, points to the cave of Adullam (1 Sam. 22) or the cave of Engedi (1 Sam. 24), which latter, starting from a narrow concealed entrance, forms such a labyrinthine maze of passages and vaults that the torches and lines of explorers have not to the present time been able to reach the extremities of it.
The Psalm does not contain any sure signs of a post-Davidic age; still it appears throughout to be an imitation of older models, and pre-eminently by means of Psalms 142:2. (cf. Psalms 77:2.) and Psalms 142:4 (cf. Psalms 77:4) it comes into a relation of dependence to Ps 77, which is also noticeable in Psalms 143:1-12 (cf. Psalms 142:5 with Psalms 77:12.). The referring back of the two Psalms to David comes under one and the same judgment.
The emphasis of the first two lines rests upon אל־ה . Forsaken by all created beings, he confides in Jahve. He turns to Him in pathetic and importunate prayer ( זעק , the parallel word being התחנּן , as in Psalms 30:9), and that not merely inwardly (Exodus 14:15), but with his voice (vid., on Psalms 3:5) - for audible prayer reacts soothingly, strengtheningly, and sanctifyingly upon the praying one - he pours out before Him his trouble which distracts his thoughts ( שׁפך שׂיח as in Psalms 102:1, cf. Psalms 62:9; Psalms 64:2; 1 Samuel 1:16), he lays open before Him everything that burdens and distresses him. Not as though He did not also know it without all this; on the contrary, when his spirit ( רוּחי as in Psalms 143:4; Psalms 77:4, cf. נפשׁי Jonah 2:7, Psalms 107:5, לבּי Psalms 61:3) within him ( עלי , see Psalms 42:5) is enshrouded and languishes, just this is his consolation, that Jahve is intimately acquainted with his way together with the dangers that threaten him at every step, and therefore also understands how to estimate the title (right) and meaning of his complaints. The Waw of ואתּה is the same as in 1 Kings 8:36, cf. Ps 35. Instead of saying: then I comfort myself with the fact that, etc., he at once declares the fact with which he comforts himself. Supposing this to be the case, there is no need for any alteration of the text in order to get over that which is apparently incongruous in the relation of Psalms 142:4 to Psalms 142:4 .
The prayer of the poet now becomes deep-breathed and excited, inasmuch as he goes more minutely into the details of his straitened situation. Everywhere, whithersoever he has to go (cf. on Psalms 143:8), the snares of craftily calculating foes threaten him. Even God's all-seeing eye will not discover any one who would right faithfully and carefully interest himself in him. הבּיט , look! is a graphic hybrid form of הבּט and הבּיט , the usual and the rare imperative form; cf. הביא 1 Samuel 20:40 (cf. Jeremiah 17:18), and the same modes of writing the inf. absol. in Judges 1:28; Amos 9:8, and the fut. conv. in Ezekiel 40:3. מכּיר is, as in Ruth 2:19, cf. Ps 10, one who looks kindly upon any one, a considerate (cf. the phrase הכּיר פּנים ) well-wisher and friend. Such an one, if he had one, would be עמד על־ימינו or מימינו (Psalms 16:8), for an open attack is directed to the arms-bearing right side (Psalms 109:6), and there too the helper in battle (Psalms 110:5) and the defender or advocate (Psalms 109:31) takes his place in order to cover him who is imperilled (Psalms 121:5). But then if God looks in that direction, He will find him, who is praying to Him, unprotected. Instead of ואין one would certainly have sooner expected אשׁר or כי as the form of introducing the condition in which he is found; but Hitzig's conjecture, הבּיט ימין וראה , “looking for days and seeing,” gives us in the place of this difficulty a confusing half-Aramaism in ימין = יומין in the sense of ימים in Daniel 8:27; Nehemiah 1:4. Ewald's rendering is better: “though I look to the right hand and see ( וראה ), yet no friend appears for me;” but this use of the inf. absol. with an adversative apodosis is without example. Thus therefore the pointing appears to have lighted upon the correct idea, inasmuch as it recognises here the current formula הבּט וּראה , e.g., Job 35:5; Lamentations 5:1. The fact that David, although surrounded by a band of loyal subjects, confesses to having no true fiend, is to be understood similarly to the language of Paul when he says in Philippians 2:20 : “I have no man like-minded.” All human love, since sin has taken possession of humanity, is more or less selfish, and all fellowship of faith and of love imperfect; and there are circumstances in life in which these dark sides make themselves felt overpoweringly, so that a man seems to himself to be perfectly isolated and turns all the more urgently to God, who alone is able to supply the soul's want of some object to love, whose love is absolutely unselfish, and unchangeable, and unbeclouded, to whom the soul can confide without reserve whatever burdens it, and who not only honestly desires its good, but is able also to compass it in spite of every obstacle. Surrounded by bloodthirsty enemies, and misunderstood, or at least not thoroughly understood, by his friends, David feels himself broken off from all created beings. On this earth every kind of refuge is for him lost (the expression is like Job 11:20). There is no one there who should ask after or care for his soul, and should right earnestly exert himself for its deliverance. Thus, then, despairing of all visible things, he cries to the Invisible One. He is his “refuge” (Psalms 91:9) and his “portion” (Psalms 16:5; Psalms 73:26), i.e., the share in a possession that satisfies him. To be allowed to call Him his God - this it is which suffices him and outweighs everything. For Jahve is the Living One, and he who possesses Him as his own finds himself thereby “in the land of the living” (Psalms 27:13; Psalms 52:7). He cannot die, he cannot perish.
His request now ascends all the more confident of being answered, and becomes calm, being well-grounded in his feebleness and the superiority of his enemies, and aiming at the glorifying of the divine Name. In Psalms 142:7 רנּתי calls to mind Psalms 17:1; the first confirmation, Psalms 79:8, and the second, Psalms 18:18. But this is the only passage in the whole Psalter where the poet designates the “distress” in which he finds himself as a prison ( מסגּר ). V. 8 b brings the whole congregation of the righteous in in the praising of the divine Name. The poet therefore does not after all find himself so absolutely alone, as it might seem according to Psalms 142:5. He is far from regarding himself as the only righteous person. He is only a member of a community or church whose destiny is interwoven with his own, and which will glory in his deliverance as its own; for “if one member is honoured, all the members rejoice with it” (1 Corinthians 12:26). We understand the differently interpreted יכתּירוּ after this “rejoicing with” ( συγχαίρει ). The lxx, Syriac, and Aquilaz render: the righteous wait for me; but to wait is כּתּר and not הכתּיר . The modern versions, on the other hand, almost universally, like Luther after Felix Pratensis, render: the righteous shall surround me (flock about me), in connection with which, as Hengstenberg observes, בּי denotes the tender sympathy they fell with him: crowding closely upon me. But there is no instance of a verb of surrounding ( אפף , סבב , סבב , עוּד , עטר , הקּיף ) taking בּ ; the accusative stands with הכתּיר in Habakkuk 1:4, and כּתּר in Psalms 22:13, in the signification cingere . Symmachus (although erroneously rendering: τὸ ὄνομά σου στεφανώσονται δίκαιοι ), Jerome ( in me coronabuntur justi ), Parchon, Aben-Ezra, Coccejus, and others, rightly take יכתּירוּ as a denominative from כּתר , to put on a crown or to crown (cf. Proverbs 14:18): on account of me the righteous shall adorn themselves as with crowns, i.e., shall triumph, that Thou dealest bountifully with me (an echo of Psalms 13:6). According to passages like Ps 64:11; Psalms 40:17, one might have expected בּו instead of בּי . But the close of Ps 22 (Psalms 22:23.), cf. Psalms 140:12., shows that בי is also admissible. The very fact that David contemplates his own destiny and the destiny of his foes in a not merely ideal but foreordainedly causal connection with the general end of the two powers that stand opposed to one another in the world, belongs to the characteristic impress of the Psalms of David that come from the time of Saul's persecution.