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Psalm 142:1

A contemplation by David, when he was in the cave. A Prayer. I cry with my voice to the LORD. With my voice, I ask the LORD for mercy.

1A contemplation by David, when he was in the cave. A Prayer. I cry with my voice to the LORD. With my voice, I ask the LORD for mercy.
2I pour out my complaint before him. I tell him my troubles.
3When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, you knew my route. On the path in which I walk, they have hidden a snare for me.
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Psalm 142:2 →
Notice

David’s repeated mention of his voice, from inside a cave, draws attention to the urgency of asking YHWH for mercy in distress.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What would asking YHWH for mercy aloud sound like in your own words today?

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How does David praying from a cave speak to a place where you feel hemmed in?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

9 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 57:1For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A poem by David, when he fled from Saul, in the cave. Be merciful to me, God, be merciful to me, for …Both psalms name a cave as David’s setting and record his appeal to God for mercy.
Psalm 30:8I cried to you, LORD. I made supplication to the Lord:Both prayers describe crying to the LORD and asking him for help.
Psalm 141:1A Psalm by David. LORD, I have called on you. Come to me quickly! Listen to my voice when I call to you.Both prayers emphasize David’s voice as he calls to the LORD with an urgent request.
1 Samuel 24:3He came to the sheep pens by the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were staying in the innermost parts of …Both texts place David in a cave; Samuel also names Saul and the men staying with David.
1 Chronicles 4:10Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my border! May your hand be with me, and may you keep me from evil, …David and Jabez both call on God for help, though only the Jabez passage records an answer here.
Psalm 77:1–2For the Chief Musician. To Jeduthun. A Psalm by Asaph. My cry goes to God! Indeed, I cry to God for help, and for him to listen to me.Both psalms repeat the act of crying to God, making the spoken plea central to the prayer.
Hebrews 11:38of whom the world was not worthy—wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and the holes of the earth.Both passages mention caves as places where people endure hardship; the psalm records David’s prayer from that setting.
1 Samuel 22:1–2David therefore departed from there and escaped to Adullam’s cave. When his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him.Both passages locate David in a cave, with Samuel naming Adullam and describing his family coming to him.
1 Chronicles 11:16David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was in Bethlehem at that time.The shared thread is David’s setting: a cave in the psalm and a stronghold in Chronicles.
Where this verse fits

Anxiety or panic. loneliness. wanting a steady prayer habit.

What the Bible says about anxiety →What the Bible says about loneliness →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Pray aloud one sentence asking YHWH for mercy

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Encouragement

David asks for mercy while he is still in the cave. Your plea can begin before your circumstances change; distress has a place in prayer to YHWH.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 142:1. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 142 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).