Psalm 142

Psalm Category: Individual lament

Central Thought: No one cares about me as a person!

Key words: cry out, pour out; deliver

Who has not felt that no one cares about him or her? We feel like numbers in a file, cogs on a gear, or meat in a grinder; something to be used and discarded, devoured and eliminated. This psalm enables us to give vent to this feeling, and then to resolve it in faith and with hope. We often feel that no one cares but we know One cares.

Title

Maskil tells us that this psalm is wisdom literature in poetic form with music to be deeply understood and long remembered. Of David reminds us that the Psalms, with all the Scriptures, bring Christ to us and us to Christ. In the cave sets the psalm in the context of David’s utter desolation in the cave of Adullam after he fled from Saul and before others joined him (1 Sam. 22). This directs our attention to the Lord’s desolation when bearing our sins and completing His righteousness for us (Ps. 22; see Jonah 2). Last, a Prayer instructs us in proper behavior when we are desperate: Cry out for help! Derek Kidner, in his wonderful commentary on the Psalms, provides the basic outline for our meditation.

My Plea (vv. 1–3)

My voice…unto the Lord, repeated for emphasis, speaks of the intimate personal relationship in the covenant between the Master and His adopted child. Because of this relationship, the child has courage to pour out all his troubles in detail, knowing that he will be heard and helped. Even though the child had the wind knocked out of him so that he didn’t know where he was, the Lord knew.

My Plight (vv. 3–4)

The problem was that an invisible trap was set against him and there was no visible help for him. The right (hand) was the place of help both for defense (e.g., courtroom) and for offense (see Ps. 109:31; 16:8). His isolation was complete in a threefold lack: no one even noticed him, any way of escape was ruined, and no one cared for his soul. Soul encompasses everything that we are; it is our whole person: our thoughts, feelings, convictions, words, and deeds. David was completely forgotten.

My Portion (v. 5)

David renews and completes his desperate cry with the third and conclusive appeal to His covenant Lord (v. 5; see v. 1). Having fully described his deep distress, he now proclaims his trust that the Lord Himself is His refuge and portion. Though no one cares for him, He knows the One who will protect and deliver him to safety. Like the Levites, David has no lasting possession in the world, but the Lord will provide all that he needs (see Lam. 3:24).

My Prospects (vv. 6–7)

David seeks his Lord’s undivided attention by putting a ringing cry for help in His ear. He highlights his own great weakness against his enemies’ great strength and pleads that the Lord would extricate him from the car wreck of his predicament. He pleads that the Lord would lower ropes and bring him out of the miry clay of the dungeon he is in (v. 7; see Ps. 40:2; Jer. 38:11f).

My Purpose (v. 7)

David’s ultimate objective is not that he would be freed for his own sake alone but that he would honor his Lord with public thanksgiving and praise for the deliverance he now prays for (see 66:16; Mark 5:19). His prayer is private, but his praise will be public as those who rejoice with him surround him to hear his testimony and to join him in praise and thanksgiving. The final reason for his hope of deliverance is that the Lord is dealing bountifully with him. That is, God is using this difficult providence in the cave to produce an eternal weight of glory in one who trusts Him (v. 7; see 2 Cor. 4:17).

Conclusion

David’s faith (vv. 1–4) leads him to hope (vv. 5–6) and bears fruit in love to God in praise and to men in testimony (v. 7). Christ accomplished these things perfectly for us (Heb. 5:7). Through faith in Christ, when you are in a pit of despair, feeling that no one cares, remember the One who will never fail to care for your soul and to answer your desperate cries for help (Heb. 4:14–16; 13:5; Lam. 3:21–26). We often feel that no one cares but we can always know One cares.

Kit Swartz | Comments welcome at oswegorpc@hotmail.com. Sermon audio files and PDF outlines on these Psalms are available at reformedvoice.com.