5 I have cried unto thee, O Jehovah, I have said, `Thou `art' my refuge, My portion in the land of the living.'
Jehovah `is' the portion of my share, and of my cup, Thou -- Thou dost uphold my lot.
I had not believed to look on the goodness of Jehovah In the land of the living!
Jehovah of Hosts `is' with us, A tower for us `is' the God of Jacob. Selah.
Jehovah of hosts `is' with us, A tower for us `is' the God of Jacob! Selah.
Only -- He `is' my rock and my salvation, My tower, I am not moved. On God `is' my salvation, and my honour, The rock of my strength, my refuge `is' in God.
Consumed hath been my flesh and my heart, The rock of my heart and my portion `is' God to the age.
(For Thou, O Jehovah, `art' my refuge,) The Most High thou madest thy habitation. Evil happeneth not unto thee, And a plague cometh not near thy tent,
`Cheth.' My portion `is' Jehovah; I have said -- to keep Thy words,
and now it hath come, that ye may be scattered, each to his own things, and me ye may leave alone, and I am not alone, because the Father is with me;
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,