Click here to read PSALM 142 in poetic form.
Background
Psalm 142 is in the Deuteronomy Book of the Psalms (Psalms 107-150). These 44 Psalms, like the Book of Deuteronomy in the Old Testament, show God’s Word as the source of salvation, deliverance, and healing. This would be fully carried out in the life of the coming Messiah, the living Word, Jesus Christ. Psalm 142 shows the Messiah’s cry to the Lord in his trouble, and he is rescued from the snares of those who persecute him. No person cares for the Messiah’s soul, but the Lord will bring the Messiah’s soul out of prison and bountifully care for him.
This Psalm has the title “Maschil,” which means instruction. It also has the title: “of David, A Prayer when he was in the cave.” This refers to either or both times David hid in a cave: Adullam (I Samuel 22:1) or En-gedi (I Samuel 24:3). God delivered David from the hand of King Saul and his armies.
Structure
(Verses 1,2) Messiah’s cry to the Lord in his complaint and trouble
(Verse 3) Messiah overwhelmed, but the Lord knew his path
(Verse 3) They lay a secret snare for the Messiah
(Verse 4) No person regarded or cared for the Messiah’s soul
(Verse 5) Messiah’s cry to the Lord as his refuge and portion in the land of the living
(Verse 6) Messiah brought low, prayer for the Lord to attend to his cry
(Verse 6) They persecute and pursue the Messiah
(Verse 7) The Lord will bring the Messiah’s soul out of prison and deal bountifully with him
Key Scriptures
Verse 3—“When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily [secretly] laid a snare for me.” The Hebrew word translated “overwhelmed” means to shroud, darken, or swoon. David almost fainted during his many trials and escapes from King Saul. Yet God knew his path, and helped David avoid the many snares secretly set before him. The same was true for Jesus Christ. David was rescued, by God’s grace, time and again from death and evil men. And centuries later, God constantly delivered His Son, Jesus Christ, from the attacks and murderous attempts by the adversary to kill him.
Verse 5—“I cried unto thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.” The phrase “land of the living” is used four times in the Psalms. Psalm 27:13: “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living”; Psalm 52:5: “God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah”; Psalm 116:9: “I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living;” and here in Psalm 142:5.
This phrase is in contrast to the land or kingdom of the dead. Jesus Christ was rescued from the kingdom of the dead or “the house of the dead,” according to the Aramaic text (see Matthew 14:2 and other scriptures in Aramaic translations). Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would be cut off from the land of the living. Isaiah 53:8: “He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.”
FOR FURTHER STUDY
All 150 of The Psalms in Poetic Form are available from Amazon in a book, either Large Print or a smaller Bedside Reader.
The Background, Structure, and Key Scriptures for all 150 Psalms are available from Amazon in a book The Psalms: Background & Structure with Key Scriptures Explained.
