Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 142:2

"I pour out my complaint before him; I show before him my trouble." — Psalms 142:2 (ASV)

I poured out my complaint before him - literally, my meditation; that is, what so greatly occupied my thoughts at the time I expressed aloud.

The word “complaint” does not express the idea. The meaning is, not that he “complained” of God or of man; but that his mind “meditated” on his condition.

He was full of care and anxiety, and he went and poured this out freely before God. The Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate render this, “my prayer.” See Psalms 55:2, where the same Hebrew word is used.

I showed before him my trouble - I made mention of it. I spoke of it.