The Bible Commentaries and Others: Psalms 142 v 5

http://biblebitbybit.blogspot.com/2016/01/psalms-142-v-5.html
Posted by Psalms on Saturday, 23 January 2016

Psalms 142:5

I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.

142:5. I cried unto thee, O LORD. As man would not regard him, David was driven to Jehovah, his God. Was not this a gain made out of a loss—wealth gained by a failure? Anything which leads us to cry unto God is a blessing to us. This is the second time that in this short psalm we find the same record: the saintly man is evidently glad to remember his cry and its results. Here is a bitter cry which comes from an outcast in wretched lodgings, forgotten by those who should have helped him.

I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living. There is a sort of progressive repetition all through this sacred song; he cried first, but he said afterwards: his cry was bitter, but his saying was sweet; his cry was sharp and short, but his saying was fresh and full. It gives a believer great pleasure to remember his own believing speeches: he may well desire to bury his unbelieving grumbling in oblivion, but the triumphs of grace in working in him a living faith he will not dream of forgetting. What a grand confession of faith was this! David spoke to God, and of God—thou art my refuge. Not “thou hast provided me a refuge,” but “thou thyself art my refuge.” He fled to God alone. He not only believed this, but said it, and practiced it. David, when banished from his portion in the promised land, and cut off from the portion of goods which he by right inherited, found his portion in God; indeed, God was his portion. This was so not only in reference to a future date, but here among living people. It is sometimes easier to believe in a portion in heaven than in a portion upon earth: we could die more easily than live; at least, we think so. But there is no living in the land of the living like living upon the living God. For the man of God to say these things in his dire distress was a grand attainment. It is easy to prate bravely when we dwell at ease, but to speak confidently in affliction is quite another matter. It is something to have Jehovah for our refuge, but it is everything to have him for our portion. If David had not cried he would not have said; and if the Lord had not been his refuge he would never have been his portion. The lower step is as needful as the higher; but it is not necessary always to stop on the first rung of the ladder.

Excerpt from:

The Treasury of David by Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)