I pour out my complaint before Him; I declare my trouble before Him.
Parallel translations
- WEB I pour out my complaint before him. I tell him my troubles.
- KJV I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble.
- BSB I pour out my complaint before Him; I reveal my trouble to Him.
- NKJV I pour out my complaint before Him; I declare before Him my trouble.
- NLT I pour out my complaints before him and tell him all my troubles.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
David pours out his complaint and tells God his troubles. It models honest, unguarded prayer in suffering.
Overview
David holds nothing back, laying his complaint and trouble openly before God. Such candid lament is an act of faith, bringing distress to the One who can help rather than nursing it alone. Believers are likewise invited to cast all anxiety on God, who cares for them (1 Peter 5:7).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Rom 8:26In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weaknesses, for we don’t know how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which can’t be uttered.
- Isa 26:16Yahweh, in trouble they have visited you. They poured out a prayer when your chastening was on them.
- Phil 4:6–7In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
- Ps 62:8Trust in him at all times, you people. Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us. Selah.
- Heb 5:7He, in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and petitions with strong crying and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and having been heard for his godly fear,
- 1 Sam 1:15–16Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have not been drinking wine or strong drink, but I poured out my soul before Yahweh.
- Ps 18:4–6The cords of death surrounded me. The floods of ungodliness made me afraid.
- Ps 102:1–28A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before Yahweh. Hear my prayer, Yahweh! Let my cry come to you.
- Ps 42:4These things I remember, and pour out my soul within me, how I used to go with the crowd, and led them to God’s house, with the voice of joy and praise, a multitude keeping a holy day.
Resources, by level
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 142:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.