March 26
Reading: Psalm 142
A Maskil 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.
The prescript of Psalm 142 tells us where David was when he wrote it. He was “in the cave.” This is most certainly when he was being pursued by Saul who wanted to kill him. This psalm is then a companion to Psalm 57. While in Psalm 57 David is confident that the Lord will save him, in Psalm 142 David begins by crying out, his soul troubled, and his spirit fainting.
In Psalm 142 we discover a very helpful movement from loneliness and fear, to prayer, to hope, to faith. This is the path that we often travel when we pray.
Consider where David is when he begins. He is in a cave, hiding, hunted by an angry king with an army. He is crying out to the Lord, pouring out his complaint, in trouble, overwhelmed, all alone. He may have others there with him, but no one who is able to save him. It is illuminating to read David’s thoughts in the first four verses. Amid all his angst and misery, he knows that God is with him. “When my spirit faints within me, You know my way!” (vs. 3) The word “know” in Hebrew communicates intimacy, not just information.
It is in this terrible situation that David cries out to the Lord. His prayer has three major ideas in it. The first we find running from verse 1 through the first half of verse 6. He is saying to the Lord that God is all he has and therefore he is crying out to God. “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” (vs. 5) “Please listen to my cry, because I have been brought so low.” (vs. 6) This is desperate prayer.
The next major idea we discover in the second half of verse 6 and the first half of verse 7. “Deliver me.” (vs. 6) “Bring me out of this prison.” (vs. 7) Simply put, this is a prayer for salvation; Not only eternal salvation, but, more immediately, salvation from those people who are threatening him, who are “too strong” for him.
The final idea is one of confidence. By the second half of verse 7, David has moved from desperation to certainty that God will rescue him, allow him to worship with the righteous, and will ultimately bless him.
Are you ever under assault, depressed, and lonely? This is a model prayer for the desperate soul.