Psalms 142

This is the last of the psalms attributed to David that relate to the years in which he was fleeing from Saul (see 7, 34, 52, 54, 56, 57, 59). Whether his “prison” (v. 7) was the cave of Adullum (1 Sam. 22) or a cave in En Gedi (1 Sam. 24), we cannot be sure, but it is obvious that he was in danger and was depressed and feeling abandoned. But he did what God’s people must always do in times of crisis: he looked to the Lord for help. He knew very little about Saul and his plans, but he did know about Jehovah and His great promises, and because of his faith in these assurances, he triumphed over his feelings and his foes.

David not only cried aloud with his voice, but he cried earnestly from his heart. He was a godly young man who had faithfully served the Lord and his king, and yet there he was in a cave, hiding like a guilty criminal. Later in life, David would understand more fully that during those fugitive years in the wilderness, God was equipping him for the work he would do the rest of his life, but at the time, his situation was miserable. His feelings were so pent up within him that he “poured out” his troubles (43:4; 62:8; 102 title) and his inner turmoil (“complaint”). God knew David’s difficult situation better than he did, but the Lord has ordained that our prayers are a part of His providential answers. When we need bread, our heavenly Father wants us to come and ask (Luke 11:9–13). The word trouble means “in a tight place, in narrow straits” (120:1; 138:7; 143:11). David would learn that those dangerous narrow places usually led to wider places and greater opportunities (18:18–19; 4:1; 25:17).

In verse 3, the pronoun changes from “him” to “you” (see 23:4). David was a great warrior, but he was “feeling faint” within and was overwhelmed by all that was happening to him (77:3; 143:4; Jonah 2:7; Lam. 2:12). But what life does to us depends on what life finds in us, and David was a man with faith in his heart. He trusted God to show him the way to go and to protect him on the path. One day he would look back and realize that God’s “goodness and mercy” had attended his way throughout his life (23:6). Were there hidden traps before him? Then the Lord would guide and protect him (140:5; 141:9). He had no bodyguard at his right hand, and nobody seemed to care whether he lived or died, but the Lord cared and stood at his right hand (16:8; 109:31; 110:5; 121:5). No matter the circumstances around us or the feelings within us, God cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). We can be confident that He is working all things together for His glory and our good (Rom. 8:28).

He is our “refuge and strength” (46:1), so we have all the protection we need. The cave may have been his temporary home, but David knew that the Lord was his Rock and his fortress (90:1; 91:1–2). But the Lord was also his portion (16:5; 73:26), so his desperate situation really deprived him of nothing. In the Lord, we always have all that we need. The Lord was his deliverer, and time after time, often in the nick of time, David would behold the hand of God rescuing him from the hands of the enemy. As David prayed, he realized that it was the name and purposes of the Lord that were really important and not his personal safety, comfort, or promised kingship. He prayed to be delivered so that he might praise God and glorify Him. He looked forward to the day when prayer would give way to praise, and the people would gather around him and welcome him as their king. It would be a long and difficult journey, but the Lord would perfect what He had planned for him (138:8). Eventually, David was delivered, and the nation surrounded him and received him as God’s chosen ruler. The Lord gives bountifully to His children (13:6; 116:7; 119:17; Eph. 1:3). When He gave us Jesus Christ, He gave us all that we will ever need.