Psalms 142 (WEB)

Chapter Text

142:1 I cry with my voice to Yahweh. With my voice, I ask Yahweh for mercy.

142:2 I pour out my complaint before him. I tell him my troubles.

142:3 When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, you knew my route. On the path in which I walk, they have hidden a snare for me.

142:4 Look on my right, and see; for there is no one who is concerned for me. Refuge has fled from me. No one cares for my soul.

142:5 I cried to you, Yahweh. I said, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”

142:6 Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need. deliver me from my persecutors, For they are stronger than me.

142:7 Bring my soul out of prison, that I may give thanks to your name. The righteous will surround me, for you will be good to me.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "Spirit", "mercy", "voice", "yahweh", "pour", "complaint", and "before". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "Spirit" and "mercy", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The local WEB text gives this verse as the immediate unit, so "Spirit" and "mercy" carries the first interpretive weight. In Psalms context, the local focus is worship, trust, the LORD's kingship, and covenant mercy.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "Spirit" and "mercy" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.