Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 142:4

"Look on [my] right hand, and see; For there is no man that knoweth me: Refuge hath failed me; No man careth for my soul." — Psalms 142:4 (ASV)

I looked on my right hand, and beheld - Margin: “Look on the right hand and see.” The words translated “looked” and “beheld” are in the imperative mood in the Hebrew. They are not, however, improperly rendered regarding their meaning.

They refer to David’s state of mind at the time and give vividness to the description. The psalmist seems to be in the presence of others. He calls upon them to look around, to see how he was encompassed by danger.

“Look,” he says, “in every direction; see who there is on whom I may rely; what there is to which I may trust as a refuge. I can find none; I see none; there is none.”

The “right hand” is referred to here as the direction where he might look for a protector (Psalms 109:6, Psalms 109:31).

But there was no man that would know me - No one was to be seen who would recognize me as his friend, who would stand up for me, or on whom I could rely.

Refuge failed me - Margin, as in Hebrew: “perished from me.” If there had been any hope of refuge, it has failed altogether. There is none now.

No man cared for my soul - Margin: “No man sought after my soul.” Hebrew, “after my life.” That is, no one sought to save my life; no one regarded it as of sufficient importance to attempt to preserve me.