The Eastern Cross/Bible/Psalms/Psalm 142
The Book of Psalms · the Psalter
Psalm 143 in the KJV and most English Bibles
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A Psalm of David, when his son pursued him. O Lord, attend to my prayer: Hearken to my supplication in thy truth; Hear me in thy righteousness.
Ψαλμὸς τῷ Δαυὶδ, ὅτε αὐτὸν ὁ υἱὸς κατεδιώκει. Κύριε εἰσάκουσον τῆς προσευχῆς μου, ἐνώτισαι τὴν δέησίν μου ἐν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ σου, ἐπάκουσόν μου ἐν τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ σου.
Let then our Lord speak; let Christ with us, whole Christ, speak. "Lord, hear my prayer, receive with Your ears my entreaty". "Hear" and "receive with ears" are the same thing. It is repetition, it is confirmation. "In Your truth hear me, in Your righteousness." Take it not without emphasis when it is said, "in Your…
And enter not into judgment with thy servant, For in thy sight shall no man living be justified.
Καὶ μὴ εἰσέλθῃς εἰς κρίσιν μετὰ τοῦ δούλου σου, ὅτι οὐ δικαιωθήσεται ἐνώπιόν σου πᾶς ζῶν.
"And enter not into judgment with Thy servant" (ver. 2). Who are willing to enter into judgment with Him, save they who, "being ignorant of the righteousness of God, go about to establish their own?" "Wherefore have we fasted, and Thou hast not seen; wherefore have we afflicted our souls, and Thou takest no…
For the enemy has persecuted my soul; He has brought my life down to the ground; He has made me to dwell in a dark place, as those that have been long dead.
Ὅτι κατεδίωξεν ὁ ἐχθρὸς τὴν ψυχήν μου· ἐταπείνωσεν εἰς τὴν γῆν τὴν ζωήν μου, ἐκάθισέ με ἐν σκοτεινοῖς ὡς νεκροὺς αἰῶνος,
"For the enemy hath persecuted my soul: he hath humbled my life on the earth" (ver. 3). Here we speak, here our Head speaketh for us. Manifestly both the devil persecuted the Soul of Christ and Judas the Soul of his Master: and now too the same devil remaineth to persecute the Body of Christ, and one Judas succeedeth…
Therefore my spirit was grieved in me; My heart was troubled within me.
καὶ ἠκηδίασεν ἐπʼ ἐμὲ τὸ πνεῦμά μου· ἐν ἐμοὶ ἐταράχθη ἡ καρδία μου.
"And My Spirit within me," saith He, "suffered weariness" (ver. 4). Remember, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." Here we see one voice. Do we not see plainly the transition from the Head to the members, from the members to the Head? ...
I remembered the days of old; And I meditated on all thy doings: Yea, I meditated on the works of thy hands.
Ἐμνήσθην ἡμερῶν ἀρχαίων· καὶ ἐμελέτησα ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἔργοις σου, ἐν ποιήμασι τῶν χειρῶν σου ἐμελέτων.
But we too were there. He goes to the members. "I have called to mind the days of old". Did He "call to mind the days of old," by whom every day was made? No, but the body speaketh, each one who has been justified by His grace, who dwelleth in Him in love and devout humility, speaketh and saith, "I have meditated upon…
I spread forth my hands to thee; My soul thirsts for thee, as a dry land. Pause.
Διεπέτασα πρὸς σὲ τὰς χεῖράς μου, ἡ ψυχή μου ὡς γῆ ἄνυδρός σοι· διάψαλμα.
"I stretched forth," says he, "my hands to You: my soul is as a land without water to You". Rain upon me, says he, to bring forth from me good fruit. "For the Lord shall give sweetness, that our land may give her fruit." "I have stretched forth my hands to You; my soul is as a land without water," not to me, but "to…
Hear me speedily, O Lord; My spirit has failed; Turn not away thy face from me, Else I shall be like to them that go down to the pit.
Ταχὺ εἰσάκουσόν μου, Κύριε, ἐξέλιπε τὸ πνεῦμά μου· μὴ ἀποστρέψῃς τὸ πρόσωπόν σου ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ, καὶ ὁμοιωθήσομαι τοῖς καταβαίνουσιν εἰς λάκκον.
"Speedily hear me, Lord". For what need of delay to inflame my thirst, when already I thirst so eagerly? Thou didst delay the rain, that I might drink and imbibe, not reject, Thy inflowing. If then Thou didst for this cause delay, now give; for "my spirit hath failed." Let Thy Spirit fill me. This is the reason why…
Cause me to hear thy mercy in the morning; For I have hoped in thee; Make known to me, O Lord, the way wherein I should walk; For I have lifted up my soul to thee.
Ἀκουστὸν ποίησόν μοι τοπρωῒ τὸ ἔλεός σου, ὅτι ἐπὶ σοὶ ἤλπισα· γνώρισόν μοι, Κύριε, ὁδὸν ἐν ᾗ πορεύσομαι, ὅτι πρὸς σὲ ᾖρα τὴν ψυχήν μου.
"Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God". Glorious confession! glorious rule! "For Thou," says he, "art my God." To another will I hasten to be re-made, if by another I was made. You are my all, "for You are my God." Shall I seek a father to get an inheritance? "You are my God," not only the Giver of mine…
Listen, then, with all your power, to the commendation of Grace, whereby ye are saved without price. "For Thy Name's sake, O Lord, Thou shalt quicken me in Thy righteousness" (ver. 11); not in mine own: not because I have deserved, but because Thou hast mercy. For were I to show mine own desert, nought should I…
"And in your mercy shall bring mine enemies to destruction: and you shall destroy all them that afflict my soul; for I am Your servant".
"Make me to hear in the morning Thy mercy, for in Thee have I hoped". Behold, I am in the night, yet "in Thee have I hoped," until the iniquity of the night pass away. "For we have," as Peter saith, "a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place,…
"Deliver me from mine enemies, O Lord, for unto Thee have I fled for refuge". I who once fled from Thee, now flee to Thee. For Adam fled from the Face of God, and hid himself among the trees of Paradise, so that of him was said in the Book of Job, "As a servant that fleeth from his Lord, and findeth a shadow." He fled…
Every note is a real passage, quoted word for word from a published English translation, with its source. Nothing here is summarised or written by us. Some verses have many notes and some have none, because the Fathers wrote more on some passages than others.
All of these translations are in the public domain. The passages were matched to their verses by the Historical Christian Commentaries project, which also hosts the full texts we link to. The Fathers are a treasury of the Church's mind, and they are best read alongside the life of the Church: if a passage raises a question, bring it to your priest.