IN A DARK PLACE
Psalms 142:1-2, 7 NKJV
1 I cry out to the Lord with my voice;
With my voice to the Lord I make my supplication.
2 I pour out my complaint before Him;
I declare before Him my trouble.
7 Bring my soul out of prison,
That I may praise Your name;
The righteous shall surround me,
For You shall deal bountifully with me.”
This is a short psalm worth reading. For the sake of space, I have condensed this psalm to the three verses. The context of this psalm is regarding David at a low point in his life. He was running from Saul and actually escaped to the palace of Israel’s enemy, Achish, the king of Gath. Gath was the hometown of Goliath. Gath was the lead city of Israel’s mortal enemy, the Philistines. Things had become so bad for David in Israel that he went to the Philistines for help.
But that plan backfired when the advisors to Achish told the king that this was the famous David of Israel. This David was the guy they sang songs about. This David was the man who killed Goliath. When things turned on David, he acted like a totally crazy mad person just to be able to escape. And when David escaped, it was to the cave of Abdullam.
Caves are dark, dank places, and the cave must have mirrored how David felt. He is crying out and complaining to the Lord. It had to be disheartening to act crazy in order to escape from being killed by the Philistine king. And David was already tired of running from Saul. Now he is living in a cave between a rock and a hard place, literally. I am sure David was wondering why all this turmoil was in his life. Why was there no one for him? Why was he being persecuted? David was in a weak, dark place at this stage of his life. And the people who joined him while he was living in exile in the cave were not the cream of the crop of Israel’s men. The scriptures tell us in 1 Samuel 22 that the men who joined David were in distress, in debt, and discontented. So it’s not as if David is encouraged by his band of followers. I wonder if David is asking the Lord if these men were the best God could send him.
But as is typical of David, he does not stay in a dark place. He bounces out. Verse seven makes a request for God to get him out of this prison of a situation. Not so he could feel better, but so he could praise God’s name. And then David declares what is going to happen to him. The righteous will surround him and come to him. Because. Because God will deal bountifully with him. David knew that God would be good to him when all was said and done. And as that happened, he would be surrounded by those who feared and honored God.
David starts in a dark place but winds up in a place of faith. I love that about David. He is a great reminder that it’s not how you start but how you finish that matters most.
APPLICATION
For those of you feeling as if you are in one of life’s caves, this psalm is a great pattern to follow. You can tell the Lord what you are going through, but in the end, you also should declare that God will deal bountifully with you. Make this psalm more than nice words from a famous king. Make these words a personal pattern to follow.
PRAYER
Thank You, Lord, that I may be in a cave season in my life, but I will not stay here. I believe that You will deal bountifully with me!