Psalms 142:1

The Bible says in Psalm 142:1-4, “I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication.[2] I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble.[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.[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.” This is another Psalm about the Psalmist praying to the Lord while the Psalmist is in distress. Every Christian will have multiple times in life when God is their only help. One of the many benefits of being a Christian is that we do have the Lord as our resource in times of need and times of trouble. The Psalmist said in verse four, “no man cared for my soul.” But the Lord always cares. The Lord Jesus will never take His love away from us. Even if you find some human being who cares, they will never care like Jesus does. No one will ever love you as much as Jesus does. He loves you so much that He suffered and died on the cruel cross of Calvary just so you could be forgiven and go to heaven. His love is the great eternal love. He will never stop loving you, no matter what.

The Bible says in Psalm 142:5-7, “I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.[6] Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low: deliver me from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I.[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.” The Psalmist knows what every believer knows: the Lord is our “refuge.” We can always go to Him and find safety. The Lord is also our “portion.” Most people in the land of the living only have physical and material things to meet the needs of life. We have everything they have, and something much better: we also have the Almighty God. What a benefit and blessing. The Psalmist knows that he is “low,” and that the people of the world are “stronger” than him. They have more money, more resources, and more power in this life, but we have the Lord. The Psalmist felt like his soul was in prison, but just like Paul was delivered from the Philippian jail, the Lord can deliver us from anything that binds us. If you think that you are limited, or restrained, or kept back in any way, then turn to the Lord who can free you from any restraint. Two results are given in verse seven of being helped by the Lord. The first is praise. The wise Christian prays about everything in life, and therefore constantly sees answers to prayer. And therefore, we have a lot to praise the Lord for. We can be constantly praising the Lord as He helps us and delivers us from whatever trouble comes our way. Some of the trouble comes from unbelievers. Spend more time with believers and you will have fewer of the problems that come with unbelievers. Christian fellowship is an important part of serving the Lord. You will learn and benefit from the wisdom, knowledge, experience, and spiritual gifts of other Christians; and they will benefit from you too. A congregation should be a congregation of love. Make sure that you are a part of a congregation of Christians and do what you can to make it everything it can be. The second result of being helped by the Lord and being delivered from the unbelievers was that the Psalmist was resolved to be with other believers. He said, “the righteous shall compass me about.”

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