For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Psa 142

1 I cry aloud to the Lord;
    I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy.
2 I pour out before him my complaint;
    before him I tell my trouble.

3 When my spirit grows faint within me,
    it is you who watch over my way.
In the path where I walk
    people have hidden a snare for me.
4 Look and see, there is no one at my right hand;
    no one is concerned for me.
I have no refuge;
    no one cares for my life.

5 I cry to you, Lord;
    I say, ‘You are my refuge,
    my portion in the land of the living.’

6 Listen to my cry,
    for I am in desperate need;
rescue me from those who pursue me,
    for they are too strong for me.
7 Set me free from my prison,
    that I may praise your name.
Then the righteous will gather about me
    because of your goodness to me.

A. Find Out

1. What had David been doing? v.1,2
2. How did he feel and what did the Lord know? v.3
3. What did he ask the Lord to do? v.4
4. How did he view the Lord? v.5
5. What did he ask the Lord to do? v.6
6. What else, and with what outcome? v.7

B. Think:

1. What is the context of this psalm? Read early verses of 1 Sam 24.
2. Scan through and see what he considers to be his difficulties.
3. How does he pray in the light of them?

C. Comment:

                The heading over the psalm seems to indicate that this was written by David at the time when Saul was hunting him. Although he had been anointed by the Lord and known great victories, this was now a time of worry and anxiety and fear.

                He cries out to the Lord in prayer (v.1) telling the Lord what his trouble is (v.2). His whole situation has sapped all his energies and he feels weak (v.3a) and yet even within that weakness he knows that the Lord knows – about where he has been and what is happening to him  with enemies trying to bring him down (v.3b).

                The right hand, Hebrew, was the place where a friend or protector stood but, he says, look at my right hand and there is no one there for me, no supporter or refuge, no one who cares (v.4)

                But he knows that is not entirely true, for he knows that the Lord is his refuge (v.5), the one in the land who can be replied upon. So he calls to Him to rescue him from his strong pursuers who are too strong for him (v.6). It feels like he is hemmed in, it feel like he is in a prison of circumstances from which he cannot get free  and cries to God to deliver him from them (v.7a). When that happens, he is sure those who are righteous will come to him because they recognise the goodness of God is with him (v.7b).

D. Application:

1. Circumstances beyond us? Be secure in the Lord and seek Him.
2. Let God’s goodness in you reveal Him to others.