Title. - Maschil of David. This Maschil is written for our instruction. It teaches us principally by example how to order our prayer in times of distress. Such instruction is among the most needful, practical, and effectual parts of our spiritual education. He who has learned how to pray has been taught the most useful of the arts and sciences. The disciples said unto the Son of David, "Lord, teach us to pray"; and here David gives us a valuable lesson by recording his own experience as to supplication from beneath a cloud.

A Prayer when he was in the cave. He was in one of his many lurking places, either Engedi, Adullam, or some other lone cavern wherein he could conceal himself from Saul and his bloodhounds. Caves make good closets for prayer; their gloom and solitude are helpful to the exercise of devotion. Had David prayed as much in his palace as he did in his cave, he might never have fallen into the act which brought such misery upon his later days.

Subject. - There can be little doubt that this song dates from the days when Saul was sorely persecuting David, and David himself was in soul-trouble, probably produced by that weakness of faith which led him to associate with heathen princes. His fortunes were evidently at their lowest, and, what was worse, his repute had fearfully fallen; yet he displayed a true faith in God, to whom he made known his pressing sorrows. The gloom of the cave is over the Psalm, and yet as if standing at the mouth of it the prophet-poet sees a bright light a little beyond.

Hints to Preachers

Psalm 142:1. -

I. A vivid memory - of what he did, and how, and when.

II. A public declaration; from which we infer that his prayer cheered him, brought him succour in trouble, and deliverance out of it.

III. A reasonable inference: he prays again.

Psalm 142:1, Psalm 142:2. -

I. Special seasons for prayer: times of complaint and trouble.

II. Special prayer on such occasions; "I cried," "I make my supplication." "I poured out my complaint," "I showed before him my trouble." Spread the whole case before God, as Hezekiah did the letter from Sennacherib. - G. R.

Psalm 142:2. -

I. The true place for prayer - "before him."

II. The freedom of prayer - "poured out."

III. The unveiling of the heart in prayer - "shewed before him my trouble."

Psalm 142:3 (first clause). -

I.When.

II.Then.

Psalm 142:3 (latter clause). - Temptations.

I. What form they take? - "snares."

II. Who lay them? - "they."

III. How do they lay them? Secretly, craftily - "in the way," frequently.

IV. What becomes of the tempted believer? He lives to tell the tale, to warn others to glorify God.

Psalm 142:4 (last clause). - The soul considered of no value.

I. Consider the worth of the soul.

1. The soul will continue for ever.

2. The righteous will grow more happy, and the wicked more miserable.

3. A great price has been paid for it.

II. Contrast the care we take of our souls, and our anxiety about worldly objects.

1. The solicitude we manifest for riches.

2. Our care in educating the intellects of our children.

3. Eagerness in pursuit of business, honour - even trifles.

4. How anxious about a human life! Describe the search for a lost child.

5. Contrast our care for souls and our Saviour's care for them: Paul's, Luther's, Whitefleld's.

III. Remember some things which show that this care does not exist.

1. If you do not statedly observe secret prayer.

2. If your soul is not burdened with the souls of others.

3. If you neglect family prayer, or observe it as a mere form.

4. If you do not regularly go to prayer-meetings. Remark: The great responsibility resting upon every Christian. - Jacob Knapp, in "The Homiletic Monthly," 1882.

Psalm 142:4 (last clause). - The burden of souls.

I. What is meant by care for souls?

1. To have a firm conviction of their value.

2. To cherish tender solicitude for their welfare.

3. To feel alarming apprehensions of their danger.

4. To make zealous exertions for their salvation.

II. Who ought specially to exercise this care?

1Parents.

2Teachers.

3Ministers.

4. Members.

III. The criminality of neglect.

1. It is ungrateful.

2. It is cruel.

3. It is fatal. - W. W. Wythe, in "The Pulpit Analyst," 1870.

Psalm 142:4, Psalm 142:5. -

I. A terrible plight; no friend, no helper, no pitying heart.

II. A touching prayer. A cry and a saying.

Psalm 142:4, Psalm 142:5. -

I. Human help fails most when most needed.

1. In outward troubles: "I looked," etc.

2. In soul troubles: "No man cared for my soul."

II. Divine help is most given when most needed. A refuge and a portion when all others fail. Man has many friends in prosperity, one only in adversity. - G. R.

Psalm 142:4, Psalm 142:5. -

I. Why the saints make God their refuge, and the object of their faith and hope in their greatest afflictions.

1. God has given himself to the saints, in the covenant of grace, to be their God, and has promised that they shall be his people.

2. God stands in a most near relation to the saints, and condescends to sustain many endearing characters of love, which he fulfils to their advantage.

3. The saints, through the power of God's grace upon their souls, have chosen him for their portion, and their highest felicity.

II. What perfections there are in God that render him a safe refuge for the saints, and a proper object of their confidence.

1. God is infinite in mercy.

2. God is infallible in wisdom.

3. God is boundless in power.

4. God is omniscient and omnipresent.

5. God is a Being whose love never changes.

6. God is an independent Being, and the Governor and Director of all things.

III. The many sweet advantages, arising to the saints, from this practice of making God their refuge, in their greatest troubles.

1. They have been preserved from fainting under their heavy burdens.

2. They have derived from God new and seasonable supplies of divine grace and strength for service.

3. God has refreshed his saints with divine consolations for the future. - John Farmer, 1744.

Psalm 142:5. - The soul choosing God.

I.:Deliberately: "I cried unto thee, Isaid."

II. For all in all: "refuge, portion."

III. Before every other "in the land of the living." - W. B. H.

Psalm 142:5. - "How we may bring our Hearts to bear Reproofs." See John Owen's Sermon in "The Morning Exercises," vol. 2 page 600, etc.; and in his "Works," vol. 16, p. 23, etc.

Psalm 142:6. - Two petitions and two arguments.

Psalm 142:6, Psalm 142:7. -

I. The language of Despondency. "I am brought very low." "My enemies are stronger than I." "My soul is in prison."

II. Of Prayer. "Attend unto me." "Deliver me." "Bring me out of prison."

III. Of Praise.

1. For the congratulation of others.

2. For his own deliverance and prosperity. - G. R.

Psalm 142:6. - Low and Lowly. Here is David,

I. In a low place; the depth of a cave.

II. In a low way: "very low"; "stronger than I."

III. But see, - "with the lowly is wisdom" (Proverbs 11:2); he prays.

IV. The Lord "hath respect to the lowly," Psalm 138:6. He will not pray in vain. - W. B. H.

Psalm 142:7. - A prisoner. A freed-man. A singer. A centre. A wonder.

Psalm 142:7. - Prison Dreams.

I. What we image in our fetters.

1. Christ's brow girt about with rare praise.

2. Christ's people compassing and companying us in costliest service.

1 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.

5 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.

Psalm 142:1

"I cried unto the Lord with my voice." It was a cry of such anguish that he remembers it long after, and makes a record of it. In the loneliness of the cave he could use his voice as much as he pleased; and therefore he made its gloomy vaults echo with his appeals to heaven. When there was no soul in the cavern seeking his blood, David with all his soul was engaged in seeking his God. He felt it a relief to his heart to use his voice in his pleadings with Jehovah. There was a voice in his prayer when he used his voice for prayer, it was not vox et praeterea nihil It was a prayer vivo corde as well as viv voce. "With my voice unto the Lord did I make my supplication." He dwells upon the fact that he spoke aloud in prayer; it was evidently well impressed upon his memory, hence he doubles the word and says, "with my voice; with my voice." It is well when our supplications are such that we find pleasure in looking back upon them. He that is cheered by the memory of his prayers will pray again. See how the good man's appeal was to Jehovah only: he did not go round about to men, but he ran straight forward to Jehovah, his God. What true wisdom is here! Consider how the Psalmist's prayer grew into shape as he proceeded with it. He first poured out his natural longings, - "I cried;" and then he gathered up all his wits and arranged his thoughts, - "I made supplication." True prayers may differ in their diction, but not in their direction: an impromptu cry and a preconceived supplication must alike ascend towards the one prayer-hearing God, and he will accept each of them with equal readiness. The intense personality of the prayer is noteworthy: no doubt the Psalmist was glad of the prayers of others, but he was not content to be silent himself. See how everything is in the first person, - "I cried with my voice; with my voice did I make my supplication." It is good to pray in the plural - "Our Father," but in times of trouble we shall feel forced to change our note into "Let this cup pass from me."

Psalm 142:2

"I poured out my complaint before him." His inward meditation filled his soul: the bitter water rose up to the brim; what was to be done? He must pour out the wormwood and the gall, he could not keep it in; he lets it run away as best It can, that so his heart may be emptied of the fermenting mixture. But he took care where he outpoured his complaint, lest he should do mischief, or receive an ill return. If he poured it out before man he might only receive contempt from the proud, hard-heartedness from the careless, or pretended sympathy from the false; and therefore he resolved upon an outpouring before God alone, since he would pity and relieve. The word is scarcely "complaint"; but even if it be so we may learn from this text that our complaint must never be of a kind that we dare not bring before God. We may complain to God, but not of God. When we complain it should not be before men, but before God alone. "I shewed before him my trouble." He exhibited his griefs to one who could assuage them: he did not fall into the mistaken plan of so many who publish their sorrows to those who cannot help them. This verse is parallel with the first; David first pours out his complaint, letting it flow forth in a natural, spontaneous manner, and then afterwards he makes a more elaborate show of his affliction; just as in Psalm 142:1 he began with crying, and went on to "make supplication." Praying men pray better as they proceed. Note that we do not show our trouble before the Lord that he may see it, but that we may see him. It is for our relief, and not for his information that we make plain statements concerning our woes: it does us much good to set out our sorrow in order, for much of it vanishes in the process, like a ghost which will not abide the light of day; and the rest loses much of its terror, because the veil of mystery is removed by a clear and deliberate stating of the trying facts. Pour out your thoughts and you will see what they are; show your trouble and the extent of it will be known to you: let all be done before the Lord, for in comparison with his great majesty of love the trouble will seem to be as nothing.

Psalm 142:3

"When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path." The bravest spirit is sometimes sorely put to it. A heavy fog settles down upon the mind, and the man seems drowned and smothered in it; covered with a cloud, crushed with a lead, confused with difficulties, conquered by impossibilities. David was a hero, and yet his spirit sank: he could smite a giant down, but he could not keep himself up. He did not know his own path, nor feel able to bear his own burden. Observe his comfort: he looked away from his own condition to the ever-observant, all-knowing God; and solaced himself with the fact that all was known to his heavenly Friend. Truly it is well for us to know that God knows what we do not know. We lose our heads, but God never closes his eyes: our judgments lose their balance, but the eternal mind is always clear.

"In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me." This the Lord knew at the time, and gave his servant warning of it. Looking back, the sweet singer is rejoiced that he had so gracious a Guardian, who kept him from unseen dangers. Nothing is hidden from God; no secret snare can hurt the man who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, for he shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. The use of concealed traps is disgraceful to our enemies, but they care little to what tricks they resort for their evil purposes. Wicked men must find some exercise for their malice, and therefore when they dare not openly assail they will privately ensnare. They watch the gracious man to see where his haunt is, and there they set their trap; but they do it with great caution, avoiding all observation, lest their victim being forewarned should escape their toils. This is a great trial, but the Lord is greater still, and makes us to walk safely in the midst of danger, for he knows us and our enemies, our way and the snare which is laid in it. Blessed be his name.

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