August 28, 2017
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU'RE TRAPPED IN A CAVE
Psalm 142
Cammi Small
Central Truth
God is a trustworthy refuge, regardless of situation or circumstance. We find deliverance and freedom when we wholeheartedly cry out to Him.
Key Verse | Psalm 142:5
I cry to you, O Lord;
I say, “You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.”
(Psalms 142:5)
Psalm 142
You Are My Refuge
A Maskil 1 142:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term of David, when he was in the cave. A Prayer.
1
With my voice I cry out to the LORD;
with my voice I plead for mercy to the LORD.
2
I pour out my complaint before him;
I tell my trouble before him.
3
When my spirit faints within me,
you know my way!
In the path where I walk
they have hidden a trap for me.
4
Look to the right and see:
there is none who takes notice of me;
no refuge remains to me;
no one cares for my soul.
5
I cry to you, O LORD;
I say, “You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.”
6
Attend to my cry,
for I am brought very low!
Deliver me from my persecutors,
for they are too strong for me!
7
Bring me out of prison,
that I may give thanks to your name!
The righteous will surround me,
for you will deal bountifully with me.
Dive Deeper | Psalm 142
I love how raw and honest David is. To understand why he’s crying out here, we need to look back at 1 Samuel for the context:
God chooses David to become king of Israel because Saul, the current king, has turned away from following God (1 Samuel 15-16).
Saul is jealous of David’s blessing and seeks to kill David (1 Samuel 18:6-16, 1 Samuel 19).
David runs away to hide in a cave and writes this psalm (possibly either 1 Samuel 22 or 24).
While few of us have had to hide in caves to escape persecution, many of us have been in dark and lonely cavelike places emotionally. It’s in those places when we feel exhausted, frustrated, or frightened by current struggles or future unknowns that we should honestly cry out to the Lord.
David models this well. His lament is not stagnant. It progresses from laying out his complaints (verses 1-2), to acknowledging that the Lord is the ultimate refuge (verses 3-4), to finally to crying out to God for deliverance (verses 5-7).
In her book Present Over Perfect, Shauna Niequist describes prayer using the analogy of pouring a bottle of vinegar and oil. What comes out first is the acidic vinegar, but eventually the goodness of the oil comes flowing out. She writes, “When you begin to pray, pour out the vinegar first—the acid, whatever’s troubling you, whatever is hurting you, whatever is harsh and jangling your nerves or spirit . . . . Then what you find underneath is the oil, glistening and thick: We’re going to be fine. God is real and good and present and working.”
There is so much freedom in knowing we don’t have to clean up before we approach God. God invites us to pour out the acid of our lives before Him so that He can give us the oil of His everflowing grace. God ultimately showed His love for us in that while we were still sinners, He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for us (Romans 5:8). It is by grace we have been saved (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Discussion Questions
1. Spend some time reflecting on your prayer life. Do you feel like you can honestly talk to God, or do you feel like you can’t talk to Him because of your sins?
2. Check out what 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 says about a new life in Christ. How does this impact your answer to Question 1? Leave a comment below!
3. Take some time to talk to God. If you’re in the midst of hardship and feel like you’re in a cave, try to frame your prayer like David did. If you’re celebrating God’s goodness in this season of life, look back at some of psalms we’ve covered this year that praise the Lord.