Catholic Commentary on Psalm 142

"I cry to you, LORD; I say, you are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living." (Psalm 142:5)

Alone in the Cave

Psalm 142 is traditionally associated with the cave of Adullam, where David hid from Saul, and its imagery is exactly that of the person who has no human support and must address God as the only one who sees and cares. I cry aloud to the LORD; I lift up my voice to the LORD for mercy. I pour out before him my complaint; before him I tell my trouble. The prayer begins with a complete disclosure: I pour out my complaint, I tell my trouble. There is no editing before God, no presenting a more composed version of the distress. The whole of it is poured out.

The diagnosis is complete: when my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who watch over my way. No one is concerned for me; I have no refuge; no one cares for my life. Yet against this total isolation stands a single conviction: You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. The word portion, used of the share of land allotted to each tribe in Canaan, means this: when everyone else has a portion in the land and I have none, you are my portion. You are enough. The Catechism quotes this disposition as the purest form of hope: the soul that has lost everything earthly and finds its sufficiency in God alone (CCC 2772).

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, is there a person near you today for whom no one cares, for whom no one is concerned, who has no refuge? Psalm 142 is also a summons to be God's answer to that prayer for someone else: to be the human concern that God raises up in response to the lonely person's cry. Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name.

Prayer

Lord God, I pour out my complaint before you and tell you my trouble. You are my refuge and my portion in the land of the living. When no one is concerned for my life, you watch over my way. Set me free from the prison of my isolation, that I may praise your name. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

142
I Lift My Voice to the LORD
(1 Samuel 22:1–5; Psalms 57:1–11)
A Maskil * 142:0 Maskil is probably a musical or liturgical term; used for Psalms 32, 42, 44–45, 52–55, 74, 78, 88–89, and 142. of David, when he was in the cave. A prayer.
 
1 I cry aloud to the LORD;
I lift my voice to the LORD for mercy.
2 I pour out my complaint before Him;
I reveal my trouble to Him.
 
3 Although my spirit grows faint within me,
You know my way.
Along the path I travel
they have hidden a snare for me.
4 Look to my right and see;
no one attends to me.
There is no refuge for me;
no one cares for my soul.
 
5 I cry to You, O LORD: “You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.”
 
6 Listen to my cry,
for I am brought quite low.
Rescue me from my pursuers,
for they are too strong for me.
7 Free my soul from prison,
that I may praise Your name.
The righteous will gather around me
because of Your goodness to me.

*^ 142:0 Maskil is probably a musical or liturgical term; used for Psalms 32, 42, 44–45, 52–55, 74, 78, 88–89, and 142.

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