Psalm 142--You Are My Refuge

Psalm 142
English Standard Version

You Are My Refuge
A Maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A Prayer.
142 With my voice I cry out to the LORD;
    with my voice I plead for mercy to the LORD.
2 I pour out my complaint before him;
    I tell my trouble before him.

3 When my spirit faints within me,
    you know my way!
In the path where I walk
    they have hidden a trap for me.
4 Look to the right and see:
    there is none who takes notice of me;
no refuge remains to me;
    no one cares for my soul.

​5 I cry to you, O LORD;
    I say, “You are my refuge,
    my portion in the land of the living.”
6 Attend to my cry,
    for I am brought very low!
Deliver me from my persecutors,
    for they are too strong for me!
7 Bring me out of prison,
    that I may give thanks to your name!
The righteous will surround me,
    for you will deal bountifully with me.

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Last time we saw David crying out to the LORD to protect him from temptation to join in with the evildoers.  Today, the enemy is once again an outward, human attacker and David prays to the LORD to save and defend him.  He states that the LORD is his refuge, like when he hid in the caves from King Saul (this may be from that time of his life according to the superscript).  If so, David was running for his life from Saul the current king, because the LORD had anointed David to be the next king, even though David was not in Saul's family (other than by marriage, which Saul did not honor), for David was of the tribe of Judah and Saul was of the tribe of Benjamin.  David does not want to kill Saul because he is the LORD's anointed too, so David wants to let the LORD take care of Saul in His way and His time.

It was not just physically exhausting but mentally and spiritually exhausting for David to be on the run.  He was accompanied by a bunch of outlaws and men of low moral character that were always trying to pressure him to think and act like they would or for him to give them permission to do the evil that was in their hearts, and David had to act as a restraining force for them.  David was also mostly kept from going to the Tabernacle to worship because Saul had given instructions to the priests to alert him if David or his men came to offer sacrifices or celebrate the high holy days.  David had essentially been cut off from everyone other than his family members in Judah that supported him, and even some of them had turned against him.

David says that he feels like there are traps set for him everywhere he walks.  In general, none of his countrymen would take him in so that he and his men would not have to spend the night out in the cold.  They had to find their shelter in caves and eventually they had to go to the Philistines for shelter--the sworn enemy of Israel.  David didn't like it, but David would use that opportunity to help defeat other enemies in the surrounding area and gather intelligence, but he would not fight against his own countrymen.

David cries to the LORD to deliver him from Saul and the others who persecuted him, simply because the LORD had chosen to take the throne and kingdom away from Saul and give it to David.  David wants to be brought out of exile so that he can once again worship at the Tabernacle and gather together with the LORD's people for worship and remembrance of who the LORD is and what He has done.  David prays for a change in circumstances where he would once again be surrounded by righteous men instead of the scoundrels that have clung to him, and that he would once again be able to experience the bounty of the LORD's blessings.  All this and more the LORD did for David--much more because He made an eternal covenant with David and his house that the rightful king would always come from the line of David and one day the King of Kings would be called The Son of David.  That is Jesus, the Messiah.  He will be returning one day to set up His Kingdom which will be without borders, boundaries, successor for He will reign forever and ever!