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Psalm 142:5
I cried to you, LORD. I said, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”
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.
4Look on my right, and see; for there is no one who is concerned for me. Refuge has fled from me. No one cares for my soul.
5I cried to you, LORD. I said, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”
6Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need. Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me.
7Bring my soul out of prison, that I may give thanks to your name. The righteous will surround me, for you will be good to me.
Notice
“You are my refuge” follows the loss of every refuge the speaker can see, so this confession comes from within danger and loneliness.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What would you want to say between “I cried to you, LORD” and “You are my refuge”?
Write on thisWhat might calling God “my portion” mean amid the things you have or lack today?
Write on thisWhat hope for life here and now would you bring to God through “the land of the living”?
Write on thisConnect
Where else Scripture says this
12 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 46:1For the Chief Musician. By the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.Both passages name God as refuge amid trouble, locating help in him while the trouble remains real.
Psalm 91:2I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.”Both speakers address the LORD as their refuge, expressing trust through the personal claim that God is their shelter.
Psalm 27:13I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.Both use “the land of the living,” directing their trust toward God's presence and goodness within this life.
Psalm 16:5The LORD assigned my portion and my cup. You made my lot secure.Both connect the LORD with the speaker’s portion: one names him as that portion, while the other credits him with assigning it.
Genesis 15:1After these things the LORD’s word came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Don’t be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”God's words to Abram about being his shield and reward share the psalm’s language of protection and treasure found in God.
Luke 10:42but one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her.”The connection is limited: the psalm names God as the speaker’s portion, while Luke describes Mary choosing the good part.
Lamentations 3:24“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul. “Therefore I will hope in him.”Both speakers call the LORD their portion, with Lamentations making hope in him the stated consequence.
Numbers 18:20The LORD said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance …Both name the LORD himself as a person’s portion; Numbers places that claim within Aaron’s lack of a land inheritance.
2 Timothy 4:17But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, that through me the message might be fully proclaimed, and that all the Gentiles might hear. So I was delivered …The psalm’s cry to God as refuge and Paul’s account of the Lord’s help both concern dependence on God amid danger.
John 16:32Behold, the time is coming, yes, and has now come, that you will be scattered, everyone to his own place, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, …The psalm’s surrounding lament describes absent human care, while Jesus anticipates desertion; both affirm God's presence amid isolation.
Jeremiah 10:16The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the maker of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance. The LORD of Armies is his name.Both identify the LORD as a portion, with Jeremiah naming him as Jacob’s portion and the maker of all things.
Jeremiah 11:19But I was like a gentle lamb that is led to the slaughter. I didn’t know that they had devised plans against me, saying, “Let’s destroy the tree with its …Both mention “the land of the living” amid threats, with Jeremiah reporting a plot to remove him from it.
Where this verse fits
Loneliness. fear for the future. anxiety or panic.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
Your cry does not need to wait until danger passes. The speaker still needs rescue when he names YHWH as his refuge and his portion among the living.
Now put it in your words.
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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).