Psalm 142

Psalm 142
"I cried unto the LORD with my voice"
Statue of Mary and Saint Anne in Molln church; Anne holds a scroll with a quotation from Ps 142: Tu es spes mea, portio mea ("Thou art my refuge and my portion.")
Other name	Psalm 141 (Vulgate) "Voce mea ad Dominum clamavi"

Psalm 142 is the 142nd psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "I cried unto the LORD with my voice." In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint version of the Bible, and the Latin Vulgate, this psalm is Psalm 141. In Latin, it is known as "Voce mea ad Dominum clamavi".^[1] It is attributed to David in the opening verses.^[2] It is labelled as a maschil or contemplation.^[3] The text is presented as a prayer uttered by David at the time he was hiding in the Cave of Adullam (part of the David and Jonathan narrative in the Books of Samuel). Albert Barnes notes that "a prayer when he was in the cave" could mean it was a prayer which he composed while in the cave, or one which he composed at a later date, "putting into a poetic form the substance of the prayer which he breathed forth there."^[4] It is, consequently, used as a prayer in times of distress.

The psalm is used as a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and other Protestant liturgies; it has been set to music.