1 I cry with my voice to Yahweh. With my voice, I ask Yahweh for mercy.
2 I pour out my complaint before him. I tell him my troubles.
3 When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, you knew my route. On the path in which I walk, they have hidden a snare for me.
4 Look on my right, and see; for there is no one who is concerned for me. Refuge has fled from me. No one cares for my soul.
5 I cried to you, Yahweh. I said, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”
Free Grace note
When every helper is gone, the Lord Himself is the portion. David looks to his right and sees no one who cares for his soul: "Refuge has fled from me. No one cares." Then, in the same breath, he turns that loneliness into a confession: "You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living." To call God your portion is old covenant language for your whole inheritance, the way the Levites had no land because the Lord Himself was their share (Numbers 18:20), and the way Asaph said, "God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" (Psalm 73:26). When earthly helpers vanish, this is not a downgrade. It is the treasure the psalm has been reaching for all along. If you feel utterly alone, David shows you how to trade that emptiness for the one inheritance that can never flee: God Himself.
6 Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need. deliver me from my persecutors, For they are stronger than me.
7 Bring my soul out of prison, that I may give thanks to your name. The righteous will surround me, for you will be good to me.
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