Psalms 142:3

When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me. WHEN MY SPIRIT WAS OVERWHELMED WITHIN ME, THEN THOU KNEWEST MY PATH - (; Psalms 102:1, Title; 77:3.) What urged him to 'cry' with "supplication," 'pouring out his complaint before' God, was his deep depression of spirit, caused by his perilous position, as well as his conviction that God 'knew his path' at the very time when "there was no man that would know him" (). Observe the beautiful opposition between "Thou knewest" and "no man would know me" (;...

3._When, my spirit_, _etc_. Though he owns here that he felt anxiety, yet he confirms what he had said as to the constancy of his faith. The figure which he uses of his spirit being _perplexed_, (246) aptly represents the state of the mind in alternating between various resolutions when there was no apparent outgate from danger, and increasing its distress by resorting to all kinds of devices. He adds, that though there was no apparent way of safety, God knew from the beginning in what way his deliverance should be effected. Others put a different meaning upon this clause, _thou knowest my way, _as if David asserted God to have been witness of his integrity, but the other is the more correct, that God knew the way to deliver him, while his own mind was distracted by a variety of thoughts, and yet could not conceive any mode of extrication. The words teach us, when we have tried every rem...

Verse Psalms 142:3. _THEN THOU KNEWEST MY PATH._] When Saul and his army were about the cave in which I was hidden, _thou knewest my path _- that I had then no way of escape but by _miracle_: but thou didst not permit them to _know_ that I was wholly in their power....

WHEN MY SPIRIT WAS OVERWHELMED WITHIN ME - Luther renders this, “When my spirit was in distress.” The Hebrew word rendered “overwhelmed” means, in Kal, to cover as with a garment; then, to be covered as with darkness, trouble, sorrow; and then, to languish, to faint, to be feeble: Psalms 77:3; Psalms 107:5. The idea here is, that, in his troubles, he had no vigor, no life, no spirit. He did not see how he could escape from his troubles, and he had no heart to make an effort. THEN THOU KNEWEST MY PATH - Thou didst see all. Thou didst see the way that I was treading, and all its darkness and dangers, implying here that God had made it an object to mark his course; to see what egress there might be - what way to escape from the danger. It w

EXPOSITION DAVID once more cries to God for protection and deliverance. The "title" says that the prayer was composed by him "when he was in the cave," by which we must understand "the cave of Adullam" (see 1 Samuel 22:1, 1 Samuel 22:2; and comp. Psalms 57:1; "title"). The contents and style of the psalm are thoroughly Davidical. PSALMS 142:1 I CRIED UNTO THE LORD WITH MY VOICE; WITH MY VOICE UNTO THE LORD DID I MAKE MY SUPPLICATION. "With my voice" means aloud, and therefore earnestly and pressingly (comp....

WHEN MY SPIRIT WAS OVERWHELMED WITHIN ME,.... Ready to sink and faint under the present affliction, being attended with the hidings of God's face, and with unbelieving frames; which is sometimes the case of God's people, and with which they are as it were covered and overwhelmed, as well as with a sense of sin, and with shame and sorrow for it; see Psalms 61:2; THEN THOU KNEWEST MY PATH: the eyes of the Lord are upon all men, and he knows their goings, none of them are hid from him; and he sees and approves of the way, of the life and conversation of his people in general; and particularly observes what way they take under affliction, which is to apply to him for help and deliverance, Psalms 1:6. R. Moses in Aben Ezra and Kimchi interpret it of the path he walked in, which was right and not evil,

Psalms 142:1. _I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication._ Silent prayers are often true prayers, but there are times when, in extremity of suffering, it is very helpful to give expression to the soul's agony. I know some friends who can never pray to their own comfort except they can hear their own voices, and I believe that it is a good thing for the most of us to retire to some private place where we cannot be heard by men and where we can therefore freely use our voices in prayer. Very often the use of the voice helps to keep the thoughts from wandering, and also gives intensity to the desires. You notice that David particularly mentions here that he cried unto the Lord with his voice. No doubt many of his prayers ascended to God from his heart without the medium of his voice; but here, the cry with his voice went with the desi

PSALM 140-142 These three Psalms are Psalms of David. The third one in this series, 142 is another Maschil, the last Maschil Psalm, being a prayer when David was in the cave. In these Psalms the distress of Israel, the godly remnant of Israel, is again remembered. In Psalms 140:1 we see prophetically the evil and violent man, that man of sin of the last days. And therefore have we one more imprecatory prayer for the destruction of the wicked (verse 10). The last verses look forward to the overthrow of the wicked and the exaltation of the righteous. In Psalms 141:1 the righteous are seen in separation from the wicked, and the prayer for preservation. Psalms 142:1 contains continued prayer for deliverance

CXLII. The Psalmist prays for help to God who knows his distress. His enemies are stronger than he, and there is none to help him, save God. The righteous will welcome his deliverance from the snares around him as a triumph of their own. In Psalms 142:4 follow _mg._ In Psalms 142:7 the prison need not be taken in a literal sense. For compass me about, render shall triumph because of me. The ascription of the Ps. in the title to David in the cave or rather fortress of Adullam has no support in the Ps. itself. There is no means of fixing the date even approximately....

SPIRIT. Hebrew. _ruach._ App-9. WAS OVERWHELMED. fainted. Hebrew. was darkened. Compare Psalms 77:3; Psalms 107:5; Psalms 143:4. Elsewhere only Jonah 2:8, and Lamentations 2:12. THEN. then [I remembered] Thou knewest, &c....