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John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Psalms 142 Maschil of David; A Prayer when he was in the cave. Of the word "maschil", [See comments on Psalms 32:1], title. This psalm is called a prayer, as some others are, the ninetieth and hundred second psalms: and was composed by David when either in the cave of Adullam, 1 Samuel 22:1; or rather in the cave at Engedi, where he cut off Saul's skirt, 1 Samuel 24:3; as Jarchi...
John Gill
When my spirit was overwhelmed within me,.... Ready to sink and faint under the present affliction, being attended with the hidings of God's face, and with unbelieving frames; which is sometimes the case of God's people, and with which they are as it were covered and overwhelmed, as well as with a sense of sin, and with shame and sorrow for it; see Psalms 61:2; then thou knewest my path: the eyes...
Matthew Henry
This psalm is a prayer, the substance of which David offered up to God when he was forced by Saul to take shelter in a cave, and which he afterwards penned in this form. Here is, I. The complaint he makes to God (ver. 1, 2) of the subtlety, strength, and malice, of his enemies (ver. 3, 6), and the coldness and indifference of his friends, ver. 4. II. The comfort he takes in God that he knew his...
Charles H. Spurgeon
When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. Many of the Lord’s saints know the meaning of that sentence: “My spirit was overwhelmed within me.” They are like a vessel that has sunk in the sea, and is completely covered by the waves. David was in such a plight as that, he did not know his own whereabouts, but here was the mercy, “Then thou knewest my path.” It is much...
Charles H. Spurgeon
In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me. I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: “They were afraid to link themselves with me, lest, when I went down like a drowning man, they should be dragged down with me.”
Charles H. Spurgeon
When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. I did not know it. I was so puzzled — so in a maze, like a man at his wits’ end. My spirit seemed turned bottom upward, like a thing that is overwhelmed. Psa_142:3 In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me. I could not find out where the snare was, but “thou knewest my path.” I knew the trap was cunningly...
Charles H. Spurgeon
When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. “My spirit was so overwhelmed within me, that I did not know where I was, or what I was. I could not make head or tail of myself. I seemed to be like a skein of silk or wool in a tangle. My thoughts, as George Herbert would have said, were all a case of knives, sharp to cut and wound. I could not make myself out; I was a puzzle...
Charles H. Spurgeon
In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me. 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 a terrible condition for anyone to be in, — to have every friend forsake you, — to find that those who used to know you best, do not want to know you any longer, but turn their heads away as if it...