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Psalms Chapter 142

Showing all 7 verses for Psalms Chapter 142.

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The People's Bible is written by people, for the people. Each verse below shows:

📜 1. Original KJV VerseHover over highlighted Jacobean 1611 words to see modern shift definitions.
🏛️ 2. Original LexiconView original Hebrew/Greek roots and 1st-century historical exegesis context.
✍️ 3. Interpret & ApproveApprove submitted verse (💖), contest wording (🚩), or click + Add your interpretation to submit your own interpretation.
Psalms 142:1
📜 Original KJV VersePsalms 142:1

"I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication. "

🏛️ Original Language Illumination:
Original Term:Root Analysis (psalms 142:1) (Hebrew)
Range of Meanings:The repetition of "with my voice" emphasises that this wasn't a silent, composed prayer but an audible, possibly desperate cry - permission to be loud and unfiltered when you're in genuine distress.
Why It Matters Here:Psalm 142 is a raw individual lament, traditionally linked to David hiding in a cave while pursued - this opening line establishes an audible, unrestrained cry for help.
✨ Suggested InterpretationsSynthesized from 1 public contribution(s)
"I cried out loud to the LORD; out loud I made my plea to the LORD."
🌱 Modern Life Connection & Pastoral Antidote:

You don't have to whisper your pain politely - sometimes crying out loud, messily, is exactly the honest prayer I want to hear from you.

Psalms 142:2
📜 Original KJV VersePsalms 142:2

"I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble. "

🏛️ Original Language Illumination:
Original Term:Root Analysis (psalms 142:2) (Hebrew)
Range of Meanings:"Complaint" here isn't petty grumbling but genuine, heavy grief laid out honestly - the psalm validates bringing your full, unedited frustration to God rather than only bringing curated gratitude.
Why It Matters Here:David describes the act of prayer as pouring out complaints and troubles, not polished praise - an unfiltered venting of genuine grievance.
✨ Suggested InterpretationsSynthesized from 1 public contribution(s)
"I poured out my complaints to him; I laid all my trouble out in front of him."
🌱 Modern Life Connection & Pastoral Antidote:

Bring me the whole mess, not just the parts that sound acceptable. I'd rather hear your honest complaint than a polished prayer that hides how you actually feel.

Psalms 142:3
📜 Original KJV VersePsalms 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. "

🏛️ Original Language Illumination:
Original Term:Root Analysis (psalms 142:3) (Hebrew)
Range of Meanings:Even at the point of being "overwhelmed" - a word suggesting being buried or engulfed - the poet finds reassurance that his path was still known and tracked, even when he himself couldn't see clearly.
Why It Matters Here:David describes a moment of complete emotional overwhelm, combined with the added stress of hidden threats from enemies along his path.
✨ Suggested InterpretationsSynthesized from 1 public contribution(s)
"When my spirit was overwhelmed, you still knew the path I was on. Along the way I was walking, people secretly set a trap for me."
🌱 Modern Life Connection & Pastoral Antidote:

When you're so overwhelmed you can't even see your own way forward, that's exactly when it matters most that someone else still knows where you are. You don't have to navigate alone when you can't think straight.

Psalms 142:4
📜 Original KJV VersePsalms 142:4

"I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul. "

🏛️ Original Language Illumination:
Original Term:Root Analysis (psalms 142:4) (Hebrew)
Range of Meanings:This is one of the Bible's most honest descriptions of total loneliness - not a mild sense of being unsupported, but the specific, painful realisation that literally no one nearby cares. It's an experience many modern readers will recognise instantly.
Why It Matters Here:This verse expresses profound isolation - David looks for human help and support and finds none at all, a stark description of loneliness.
✨ Suggested InterpretationsSynthesized from 1 public contribution(s)
"I looked to my right, and there was no one who recognised me; there was nowhere left to run, and no one cared about me."
🌱 Modern Life Connection & Pastoral Antidote:

If you've ever looked around and felt like genuinely no one has your back, I want you to know that feeling is real and it's allowed to hurt. You're not being dramatic - and you're not actually as alone as it feels in that moment.

Psalms 142:5
📜 Original KJV VersePsalms 142:5

"I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living. "

🏛️ Original Language Illumination:
Original Term:Root Analysis (psalms 142:5) (Hebrew)
Range of Meanings:The phrase "land of the living" grounds this hope firmly in present, ordinary life - not a promise about what happens after death, but about having something solid to hold onto right now, in the middle of real isolation.
Why It Matters Here:Following the description of total human abandonment, David turns his cry directly to God, naming him as his refuge in the here and now - "the land of the living," not some distant afterlife hope.
✨ Suggested InterpretationsSynthesized from 1 public contribution(s)
"I cried out to you, LORD; I said, 'You are my shelter and everything I have in this life.'"
🌱 Modern Life Connection & Pastoral Antidote:

When human support runs out completely, that's not the end of the story - there's still somewhere to turn, and it's not a far-off promise, it's available to you right now, today.

Psalms 142:6
📜 Original KJV VersePsalms 142:6

"Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low: deliver me from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I. "

🏛️ Original Language Illumination:
Original Term:Root Analysis (psalms 142:6) (Hebrew)
Range of Meanings:There's no false bravado here - the poet openly admits weakness and being outmatched. Asking for help precisely because you can't handle something alone is treated as legitimate, not shameful.
Why It Matters Here:David admits both his low state and his enemies' greater strength - an honest acknowledgment of being outmatched, without pretending otherwise.
✨ Suggested InterpretationsSynthesized from 1 public contribution(s)
"Pay attention to my cry, because I've been brought very low; rescue me from those chasing me, because they're stronger than I am."
🌱 Modern Life Connection & Pastoral Antidote:

It's not weakness to admit that a situation is genuinely bigger than you can handle alone - that honesty is exactly what makes real help possible. Asking for help when you're outmatched is wisdom.

Psalms 142:7
📜 Original KJV VersePsalms 142:7

"Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me. "

🏛️ Original Language Illumination:
Original Term:Root Analysis (psalms 142:7) (Hebrew)
Range of Meanings:"Prison" likely refers to the cave or the trapped, cornered feeling of being hunted, not literal incarceration - the ending imagines not just personal rescue but restored community, being surrounded again by good people rather than isolated.
Why It Matters Here:The psalm closes with hope of release from confinement (literal, given the cave setting, or metaphorical distress) and a vision of restored community.
✨ Suggested InterpretationsSynthesized from 1 public contribution(s)
"Bring me out of this confinement so I can praise your name; the righteous will gather around me, because you will deal generously with me."
🌱 Modern Life Connection & Pastoral Antidote:

The isolation you're in right now isn't permanent - hold onto the hope that you'll come out the other side surrounded by people who genuinely care, not still alone. That hope is worth holding onto even when the walls feel very close.

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