Why read Psalm 141?
Read Psalm 141 when loneliness leaves you feeling trapped. The psalmist pours out his distress before God and asks for freedom so that he may offer praise again.
You can read this psalm when its themes speak to your circumstances, or as part of your regular reading of the Psalter. This explanation draws on the text itself; the psalm is not reserved for one particular need.
“With my voice I cried to the Lord...” — this is how Psalm 141 begins, a work of 7 verses from the 19th Kathisma. The Psalter is read in the Orthodox Church at every service, and this psalm has its place in the order of prayer.
The text of Psalm 141
1. With my voice I cried to the Lord, with my voice I prayed to the Lord.
2. I shall pour out my prayer before Him, I shall tell my trouble before Him.
3. When my spirit was failing within me, You knew my paths. On this way in which I walked, they hid a snare for me.
4. I took heed to the right and looked, and there was no one who knew me. My escape was lost, and there is no one who seeks my soul.
5. I cried to You, Lord, I said: “You are my hope, You are my portion in the land of the living.”
6. Pay heed to my prayer, for I have humbled myself greatly. Deliver me from those who persecute me, for they have grown stronger than I.
7. Bring my soul out of prison, so that it may praise Your name, Lord. The righteous await me until You repay me.
When Psalm 141 is read
- It belongs to the 19th Kathisma and is recited in personal prayer, especially for peace and understanding.
- At the end of each psalm, tradition adds: «Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.».
Adjacent psalms
The numbering follows the Orthodox Psalter (Septuagint). The same psalm may have a different number in other Bible editions.
