Psalm 142

The Psalm 142 ( 143 according to the numbering of the Greek Septuagint ) from the Psalter describes the call for help of someone who has fallen into severe distress and is divided into eight verses. The prayer, bewildered, complains to God of his suffering and need; at the end (verse 8b) there is the perspective that the God addressed will do good to the righteous.

The opening verse names the psalm “[e] in David's wisdom song when he was in the cave. A prayer ”( Ps 142.1  EU ). Two episodes from the first book of Samuel come into question as the cave concerned: the cave of Abdullam in 1 Sam 22.1  EU and a cave in which David hid from Saul and sought refuge with the Lord ( 1 Sam 24.4  EU ) ; it is mostly assumed that the psalm (as well as Ps 57.1  EU ) refers to the latter. According to the opening verse, Psalm 142 belongs to the Davidic psalms .

Liturgical use

In the Christian Liturgy of the Hours , Psalm 142 is part of Vespers in the 28th and 34th week of the year .

Settings (selection)

• The 142nd Psalm for solos, mixed choir, string orchestra and organ by Julius Chajes , 1941.

Web links

Commons : Psalm 142  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Psalm 142 in the standard translation , the Luther Bible and other translations from bibleserver.com
• Psalm 142 in the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) on bibelwissenschaft.de
• Sheet music in the public domain of settings for Psalm 142 in the Choral Public Domain Library - ChoralWiki (English)