angela hormberg

Tag: Refuge

  • Psalm 142

    Psalm 142

    Commonplace –

    “I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me; refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.

    I cried unto thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living” (Psalm 142:4-5).

    Like Psalm 141, Psalm 142 begins with David crying out to God. He shares his troubles with God. He speaks of his loneliness and despair; no person is there to help him. Then, David reminds himself that God is his refuge and portion in the “land of the living”. Even if man abandons him, God is ever present. He ends on a confident note with full faith that God will save him:

    “…the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me” (Psalm 142:7b).

    Matthew Henry advises the following:

    “Those that are troubled in mind, body, or estate, may, in singing this psalm (if they sing it in some measure with David’s spirit), both warrant his complaints and fetch in his comforts” (626).

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 142.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3 and Volume 6, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

    Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

    © 2025 Angela Hormberg

  • Psalm 94

    Psalm 94

    Commonplace –

    “Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?” (Psalm 94:16).

    The psalmist responds to his own query.

    “But the Lord is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge” (Psalm 94:22).

    This week I have been pondering Psalm 23:4:

    “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4).

    In the past, I have rested in the truth that “thou art with me”. Yet, I failed to consider the part I must play, which is “I will fear no evil”. I must WILL myself to be unafraid, and the only way I can do that is to fully believe God is with me.

    I’ll leave you with some insight from Matthew Henry regarding Psalm 94:

    “In singing this psalm we must look abroad upon the pride of oppressors with a holy indignation, and the tears of the oppressed with a holy compassion; but, at the same time, look upwards to the righteous Judge with an entire satisfaction, and look forward, to the end of all these things, with a pleasing hope” (Henry 486).

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 94.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

    Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

    © 2025 Angela Hormberg