Psalms 142:1

Psalm 142 ¹ 

A well-written song ²  by David, when he was in the cave; ³  a prayer.

142:1 To the Lord I cry out; ⁴ 

to the Lord I plead for mercy. ⁵ 

Psalms 9:3

9:3 When my enemies turn back,

they trip and are defeated ⁶  before you.

Psalms 9:14

9:14 Then I will ⁷  tell about all your praiseworthy acts; ⁸ 

in the gates of Daughter Zion ⁹  I will rejoice because of your deliverance.” ¹⁰ 

Psalms 31:8

31:8 You do not deliver me over to the power of the enemy;

you enable me to stand ¹¹  in a wide open place.

Psalms 88:4-8

88:4 They treat me like ¹²  those who descend into the grave. ¹³ 

I am like a helpless man, ¹⁴ 

88:5 adrift ¹⁵  among the dead,

like corpses lying in the grave,

whom you remember no more,

and who are cut off from your power. ¹⁶ 

88:6 You place me in the lowest regions of the pit, ¹⁷ 

in the dark places, in the watery depths.

88:7 Your anger bears down on me,

and you overwhelm me with all your waves. (Selah)

88:8 You cause those who know me to keep their distance;

you make me an appalling sight to them.

I am trapped and cannot get free. ¹⁸ 

Psalms 143:11

143:11 O Lord, for the sake of your reputation, ¹⁹  revive me! ²⁰ 

Because of your justice, rescue me from trouble! ²¹ 

Psalms 146:7

146:7 vindicates the oppressed, ²² 

and gives food to the hungry.

The Lord releases the imprisoned.

Isaiah 61:1

The Lord Will Rejuvenate His People

61:1 The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me,

because the Lord has chosen ²³  me. ²⁴ 

He has commissioned ²⁵  me to encourage ²⁶  the poor,

to help ²⁷  the brokenhearted,

to decree the release of captives,

and the freeing of prisoners,

Acts 2:24

2:24 But God raised him up, ²⁸  having released ²⁹  him from the pains ³⁰  of death, because it was not possible for him to be held in its power. ³¹ 

[142:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 142. The psalmist laments his persecuted state and asks the Lord to deliver him from his enemies.

[142:1]  ² tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.

[142:1]  ³ sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm while in “the cave.” This probably refers to either the incident recorded in 1 Sam 22:1 or to the one recorded in 1 Sam 24:3. See the superscription of Ps 57.

[142:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “[with] my voice to the Lord I cry out.”

[142:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “[with] my voice to the Lord I plead for mercy.”

[9:3]  ⁶ tn Or “perish”; or “die.” The imperfect verbal forms in this line either emphasize what typically happens or describe vividly the aftermath of a recent battle in which the Lord defeated the psalmist’s enemies.

[9:14]  ⁷ tn Or “so that I might.”

[9:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “all your praise.” “Praise” stands by metonymy for the mighty acts that prompt it.

[9:14]  ⁹ sn Daughter Zion is an idiomatic title for Jerusalem. It appears frequently in the prophets, but only here in the psalms.

[9:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in your deliverance.”

[31:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “you cause my feet to stand.”

[88:4]  ¹² tn Heb “I am considered with.”

[88:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “the pit.” The noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit,” “cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead.

[88:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I am like a man [for whom] there is no help.”

[88:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “set free.”

[88:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “from your hand.”

[88:6]  ¹⁷ tn The noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit,” “cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead. See v. 4.

[88:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “[I am] confined and I cannot go out.”

[143:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.

[143:11]  ²⁰ tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 11-12a are understood as expressing the psalmist’s desire. Note the petitionary tone of vv. 7-10a.

[143:11]  ²¹ tn Heb “by your justice bring out my life from trouble.”

[146:7]  ²² tn Heb “executes justice for the oppressed.”

[61:1]  ²³ tn Heb “anointed,” i.e., designated to carry out an assigned task.

[61:1]  ²⁴ sn The speaker is not identified, but he is distinct from the Lord and from Zion’s suffering people. He possesses the divine spirit, is God’s spokesman, and is sent to release prisoners from bondage. The evidence suggests he is the Lord’s special servant, described earlier in the servant songs (see 42:1-4, 7; 49:2, 9; 50:4; see also 51:16).

[61:1]  ²⁵ tn Or “sent” (NAB); NCV “has appointed me.”

[61:1]  ²⁶ tn Or “proclaim good news to.”

[61:1]  ²⁷ tn Heb “to bind up [the wounds of].”

[2:24]  ²⁸ tn Grk “Whom God raised up.”

[2:24]  ²⁹ tn Or “having freed.”

[2:24]  ³⁰ sn The term translated pains is frequently used to describe pains associated with giving birth (see Rev 12:2). So there is irony here in the mixed metaphor.

[2:24]  ³¹ tn Or “for him to be held by it” (in either case, “it” refers to death’s power).