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.
Unto Thee, O Jehovah, I call, And unto Jehovah I make supplication.
To the Overseer. -- `Destroy not.' -- A secret treasure of David, in his fleeing from the face of Saul into a cave. Favour me, O God, favour me, For in Thee is my soul trusting, And in the shadow of Thy wings I trust, Until the calamities pass over.
To the Overseer with stringed instruments. -- An instruction, by David, in the coming in of the Ziphim, and they say to Saul, `Is not David hiding himself with us?' O God, by Thy name save me, and by Thy might judge me.
A Psalm, by David. O Jehovah, I have called Thee, haste to me, Give ear `to' my voice when I call to Thee.
And David goeth thence, and is escaped unto the cave of Adullam, and his brethren hear, and all the house of his father, and go down unto him thither; and gather themselves unto him do every man in distress, and every man who hath an exactor, and every man bitter in soul, and he is over them for head, and there are with him about four hundred men.
and he cometh in unto folds of the flock, on the way, and there `is' a cave, and Saul goeth in to cover his feet; and David and his men in the sides of the cave are abiding.
And Jabez calleth to the God of Israel, saying, `If blessing Thou dost bless me, then Thou hast made great my border, and Thy hand hath been with me, and Thou hast kept `me' from evil -- not to grieve me;' and God bringeth in that which he asked.
of whom the world was not worthy; in deserts wandering, and `in' mountains, and `in' caves, and `in' the holes of the earth;
To the Overseer, for Jeduthun. -- A Psalm of Asaph. My voice `is' to God, and I cry, my voice `is' to God, And He hath given ear unto me. In a day of my distress the Lord I sought, My hand by night hath been spread out, And it doth not cease, My soul hath refused to be comforted.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 142
Commentary on Psalms 142 Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalm 142
This psalm is a prayer, the substance of which David offered up to God when he was forced by Saul to take shelter in a cave, and which he afterwards penned in this form. Here is,
Those that are troubled in mind, body, or estate, may, in singing this psalm (if they sing it in some measure with David's spirit), both warrant his complaints and fetch in his comforts.
Maschil of David. A prayer when he was in the cave.
Psa 142:1-3
Whether it was in the cave of Adullam, or that of Engedi, that David prayed this prayer, is not material; it is plain that he was in distress. It was a great disgrace to so great a soldier, so great a courtier, to be put to such shifts for his own safety, and a great terror to be so hotly pursued and every moment in expectation of death; yet then he had such a presence of mind as to pray this prayer, and, wherever he was, still had his religion about him. Prayers and tears were his weapons, and, when he durst not stretch forth his hands against his prince, he lifted them up to his God. There is no cave so deep, so dark, but we may out of it send up our prayers, and our souls in prayer, to God. He calls this prayer Maschil-a psalm of instruction, because of the good lessons he had himself learnt in the cave, learnt on his knees, which he desired to teach others. In these verses observe,
Psa 142:4-7
The psalmist here tells us, for our instruction,