When my spirit faints within me, you know my way! In the path where I walk they have hidden a trap for me.
When Saul cornered David in that cave, the man might have panicked or done something rash, as desperate people do. Instead this Psalm shows David kept his composure, held fast to God in assured confidence, and gave himself to prayer rather than taking any step God had not warranted. That is the mark of true faith.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 142:1-7
Even the bravest spirit sinks sometimes, crushed under fog and impossibility; David smote giants but could not hold himself up. Yet mark his comfort: he looked away from his own darkness to God, who never closes His eyes when ours fail, and who knew every hidden snare laid in his path before it was set.
AI summary
No cave is so deep or dark that prayer cannot rise out of it to God. David was in terror, hunted at every moment, yet kept his religion about him and poured out his complaint freely before the Lord; let no man of rank think it shame to cry like a child to his Father when affliction comes.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 142:1-3