Context No. 2360 of 4322 · Psalms
Context · Reflection
Psalms 142:1-7: in context
1I cry with my voice to the LORD. With my voice, I ask the LORD for mercy. 2I pour out my complaint before him. I tell him my troubles. 3When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, you knew my route. On the path in which I walk, they have hidden a snare for me. 4Look 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. 5I cried to you, LORD. I said, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” 6Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need. Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me. 7Bring 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.
Psalm 142 is a prayer from a cornered place; its heading ties it to David hiding in a cave. He does not open with composure. He pours out his complaint, tells God his troubles, and names the worst of it plainly: look to my right and see, there is no one who is concerned for me, no one cares for my soul. Refuge has fled.
From that bottom he says one thing that holds: you are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. He is not pretending the isolation away; he has just described it in full. But he refuses to let the absence of human help become the absence of God. When every earthly refuge has run off, he calls on the God who remains his portion, and asks to be brought out of the prison his life has become so he can give thanks.
When I feel that no one cares for my soul, do I let that emptiness stand as the last word, or make it the reason I turn to God?
Sources
- Psalm 142:4: 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.
- Psalm 142:5: I cried to you, LORD. I said, You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.
- Psalm 142:7: Bring my soul out of prison, that I may give thanks to your name.