Limitless Word
Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low: deliver me from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I.
Psalms 142:6 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need. deliver me from my persecutors, For they are stronger than me.
  • BSB Listen to my cry, for I am brought quite low. Rescue me from my pursuers, for they are too strong for me.
  • NKJV Attend to my cry, For I am brought very low; Deliver me from my persecutors, For they are stronger than I.
  • NASB “Give Your attention to my cry, For I have been brought very low; Rescue me from my persecutors, For they are too strong for me.
  • NLT Hear my cry, for I am very low. Rescue me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me.

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 begs God to hear his cry, for he is brought low and his persecutors are too strong. It admits weakness while appealing to God's strength.

Overview

David confesses both his desperate need and the superior power of his enemies, throwing himself wholly on God. Acknowledging weakness is the doorway to dependence on divine strength. God's power is made perfect in weakness, supremely displayed when Christ conquered through the apparent defeat of the cross (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 15

  • Ps 79:8O remember not against us former iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought very low.
  • Ps 116:6The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.
  • Ps 136:23Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever:
  • Ps 17:1Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.
  • Ps 3:1Lord, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me.
  • Ps 59:3For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul: the mighty are gathered against me; not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O LORD.
  • Rom 8:37Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
  • Ps 143:7Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.
  • Ps 57:3–4He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.
  • Rom 8:33Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
  • Ps 38:19But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied.
  • Ps 18:17He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.
  • 1 Sam 24:14After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea.
  • Ps 44:24–26Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our oppression?
  • Ps 143:3For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead.

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 142:6YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 142:6 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.