In profound despondency the Psalmist lays his trouble before Jehovah (Psalm 142:1-2), though Jehovah well knows all the circumstances of his life, and the dangers which beset him in his isolation and defencelessness (Psalm 142:3-4). Jehovah has been and is his only hope, and to Him he looks for deliverance which will enable him to give thanks publicly in the midst of rejoicing sympathisers (Psalm 142:5-7).

The situation of the Psalmist is desperate. If Psalm 142:7 and Psalm 143:3 are to be understood literally, he was an actual prisoner in a gloomy dungeon; but ‘prison’ may be only a figure for distress.

Some commentators suppose that the speaker is Israel, languishing in the prison of exile and despairing of return, but apart from the strongly personal tone of the Psalm, in Psalm 142:7 the Psalmist is distinguished from ‘the righteous,’ who must be (cp. Psalm 141:5) faithful Israelites. It is impossible to suppose that future converts to the worship of Jehovah are meant.

For Maschîl, which is only found here in Books iv and v, see Introd. p. xix. With when he was in the cave cp. the title of Psalms 57. The cave of Adullam (1 Samuel 22) or that of Engedi (1 Samuel 24) may be meant. For a prayer cp. the titles of Psalms 17, 86, 90, 102, the subscription to Psalms 72, and Habakkuk 3:1.

1. Aloud to Jehovah will I cry;

Aloud to Jehovah will I make supplication:

1, 2. The Psalmist’s resolve to seek relief by laying his distress before Jehovah.

2. I will pour out before him my complaint;

My distress before him will I declare.

Aloud, lit. with my voice, not merely in silent prayer, but with cries which give relief to pent up feeling and express the intensity of distress. Cp. Psalm 3:4; Psalm 30:8; and for ‘cry,’ a word expressing the cry of need, anxiety, distress, cp. Psalm 142:5; Psalm 22:5; Psalm 77:1; Psalm 107:13; Psalm 107:19.

poured out my complaint] Cp. 102 title; Psalm 42:4; Psalm 62:8.

3. When my spirit fainteth upon me, THOU knowest my path,

In the way wherein I must walk have men hidden a snare for me.

3, 4. Jehovah knows his peril, and his loneliness.

4. Look on the right hand and see, for I have none that acknowledgeth me:

There is no asylum left me; my soul hath none that careth for her.

Though he will tell Jehovah of his distress, he knows that, even if he has no human sympathisers, He at any rate (Thou is emphatic) knows it already. His spirit faints (Psalm 77:3; Psalm 143:4; Jonah 2:7) within him, literally upon him, for the spirit (as elsewhere the soul or heart) is distinguished from a man’s whole ‘self,’ and regarded as acting upon him from without (cp. Psalm 42:4); he is in despair, but his comfort is that Jehovah knows the course which he must take (Psalm 143:8), and the perils which beset him from treacherous enemies.

4. The Massoretic text reads the imperative look … and see. The rendering of P.B.V. and A.V. I looked … and saw (beheld) follows the LXX, Vulg., Syr., and Targ., but requires a change in the vocalisation of the Hebrew words. The indicative I looked is the more obvious reading; but the appeal to Jehovah, look! is more forcible. Cp. Lamentations 1:11; Lamentations 2:20; Lamentations 5:1.

on my right hand] Where his protector would be standing if he had one. Cp. Psalm 16:8; Psalm 109:31; Psalm 110:5; Psalm 121:5. But there is no one to acknowledge him as his client (Ruth 2:10; Ruth 2:19) and defend him. He has no asylum left: lit. a place of flight is perished from me. Cp. Job 11:20; Jeremiah 25:35; Amos 2:14.

With the last clause cp. Jeremiah 30:17, “Yonder is Zion, who hath none to care for her.”

5. I cried … I said] I have cried … I have said. The perfect tense describes what he has done in the past and is still doing. For the form of expression I have said cp. Psalm 140:6; for my refuge (a different word from that in Psalm 142:4) see Psalm 91:2; Jeremiah 17:17; &c.; for my portion see Psalm 16:5; Psalm 73:26; Psalm 119:57; Lamentations 3:24; for in the land of the living cp. Psalm 27:13; Psalm 116:9. He trusts that he “will not die but live and declare the works of the Lord.”

5–7. Reminding God of his devotion in past times, he prays for a speedy answer to his prayer.

6. A mosaic of phrases which occur elsewhere. Cp. Psalm 17:1; Psalm 79:8; Psalm 7:1; Psalm 31:15; Psalm 18:17.

7. Bring my soul out of prison] Probably to be understood figuratively, ‘bring my soul out of distress’ (Psalm 143:11). Cp. Isaiah 42:7, of the Exile; Psalm 107:10. But it may mean that he was actually in prison. Cp. Psalm 143:3.

praise thy name] Give thanks unto thy name, as in Psalm 140:13.

the righteous shall compass me about] The loyal worshippers of Jehovah will gather round him to share in his thanksgivings. Cp. Psalm 22:22 ff. The meaning of the verb however is not certain, and some authorities, both ancient and modern, render, as in R.V. marg., crown themselves because of me, i.e. rejoice in my deliverance; but this explanation is improbable, as is also the rendering of the LXX, “the righteous will wait for me, till thou hast recompensed me.” There were then some ‘righteous’ men left; the Psalmist was not so absolutely isolated as his complaint in Psalm 142:4 seemed to shew; but probably friends and sympathisers were in no position to help him in his present distress, and practically he was alone, like Elijah in the wilderness.

because thou dealest bountifully with me] Cp. Psalm 13:6.