Psalm 142-144
American Standard Version
Prayer for help in trouble.
Maschil of David, when he was in the cave; a Prayer.
142 I cry with my voice unto Jehovah;
With my voice unto Jehovah do I make supplication.
2 I pour out my complaint before him;
I show before him my trouble.
3 When my spirit [a]was overwhelmed within me,
Thou knewest my path.
In the way wherein I walk
Have they hidden a snare for me.
4 Look on my right hand, and see;
For there is no man that knoweth me:
Refuge hath failed me;
No man careth for my soul.
5 I cried unto thee, O Jehovah;
I said, Thou art my refuge,
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 give thanks unto thy name:
The righteous shall [b]compass me about;
For thou wilt deal bountifully with me.
Prayer for deliverance and guidance.
A Psalm of David.
143 Hear my prayer, O Jehovah; give ear to my supplications:
In thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.
2 And enter not into judgment with thy servant;
For in thy sight no man living is righteous.
3 For the enemy hath persecuted my soul;
He hath smitten my life down to the ground:
He hath made me to dwell in dark places, as those that have been long dead.
4 Therefore [c]is my spirit overwhelmed within me;
My heart within me is desolate.
5 I remember the days of old;
I meditate on all thy doings;
I muse on the work of thy hands.
6 I spread forth my hands unto thee:
My soul thirsteth after thee, as a weary land. Selah
7 Make haste to answer me, O Jehovah; my spirit faileth:
Hide not thy face from me,
Lest I become like them that go down into the pit.
8 Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning;
For in thee do I trust:
Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk;
For I lift up my soul unto thee.
9 Deliver me, O Jehovah, from mine enemies:
[d]I flee unto thee to hide me.
10 Teach me to do thy will;
For thou art my God:
[e]Thy Spirit is good;
Lead me in [f]the land of uprightness.
11 Quicken me, O Jehovah, for thy name’s sake:
In thy righteousness bring my soul out of trouble.
12 And in thy lovingkindness cut off mine enemies,
And destroy all them that afflict my soul;
For I am thy servant.
Prayer for rescue. A happy people described.
A Psalm of David.
144 Blessed be Jehovah my rock,
Who teacheth my hands to war,
And my fingers to fight:
2 My lovingkindness, and my fortress,
My high tower, and my deliverer;
My shield, and he in whom I take refuge;
Who subdueth my people under me.
3 Jehovah, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him?
Or the son of man, that thou makest account of him?
4 Man is like to [g]vanity:
His days are as a shadow that passeth away.
5 Bow thy heavens, O Jehovah, and come down:
Touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.
6 Cast forth lightning, and scatter them;
Send out thine arrows, and discomfit them.
7 Stretch forth thy hand from above;
Rescue me, and deliver me out of great waters,
Out of the hand of aliens;
8 Whose mouth speaketh deceit,
And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
9 I will sing a new song unto thee, O God:
Upon a psaltery of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee.
10 Thou art he that giveth salvation unto kings;
Who rescueth David his servant from the hurtful sword.
11 Rescue me, and deliver me out of the hand of aliens,
Whose mouth speaketh deceit,
And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
12 When our sons shall be as plants grown up in their youth,
And our daughters as corner-stones hewn after the fashion of a palace;
13 When our garners are full, affording all manner of store,
And our sheep bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our fields;
14 When our oxen are well laden;
When there is no breaking in, and no [h]going forth,
And no outcry in our streets:
15 Happy is the people that is in such a case;
Yea, happy is the people whose God is Jehovah.
Footnotes
- Psalm 142:3 Or, fainted
- Psalm 142:7 Or, crown themselves because of me
- Psalm 143:4 Or, my spirit fainteth
- Psalm 143:9 Hebrew Unto thee have I hidden.
- Psalm 143:10 Or, Let thy good Spirit lead me
- Psalm 143:10 Or, a plain country
- Psalm 144:4 Hebrew a breath.
- Psalm 144:14 Or, sallying
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