Cave Moments

4.27.2012

Psalm 142.1-2 1 I cry aloud to the Lord; I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy. 2 I pour out before him my complaint; before him I tell my trouble. NIV

David may have done some selfish and foolish things in his life, but he never forgot about God – at least he never forgot for very long. In I Chronicles 11 is a list of the valiant warriors who were closest to him and buried in that list down toward the bottom is the name, Uriah the Hittite. Uriah was a casualty of David’s short-term memory loss – it cost Uriah his life; and cost David the lives of two of his own sons.

I’m not sure when Psalm 142 was written: it says in the sub-title: “A maskil of David. When he was in the cave. A prayer.” Notice is doesn’t say, “When he was in a cave…” – it’s, “When he was in the cave.” It may have been when he was running from Saul, it may have been some other occasion; but everyone who read this at that time knew it was when he was in THE cave. It may have been when he was fleeing from Absalom, his son, who thought he ought to wrench the kingdom out of David’s hands. Whenever it was, David was in THE cave, and most folks back then knew when that was.

We might look at this psalm and think, David was in a spiritual cave; at a time in his life when things were dark and dreary in his life; and God seemed distant and aloof. We all go into caves like that. But you have to remember, as David did, that God never forgets us no matter the circumstances and events, or the difficulties and sins of our lives. As our Divine Parent, God prefers that we follow Him and entrust our lives to Him but He also prefers that we call out to Him and confess the things that cause us great pain: the self-inflicted stuff. And it doesn’t matter the darkness or depth of the cave: God is there waiting to hear our cries, our concerns, and our confessions.

That’s why David said, “I cry aloud to the Lord; I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy I pour out before him my complaint; before him I tell my trouble.” When it hits the fan, who ya gonna go to? In the cave David went to the Lord and despite what was going on, he cried out to the Lord and trusted in Him. The last time you were in the cave, what did you say – to whom did you cry out? I cry out to my wife (and bless her heart, she puts up with me!). But I really cry out to God, and one of my most-often prayed prayers is: “LORD, HELP ME!” If I don’t expect His help I shouldn’t cry out to Him.

But I do expect His help and I do find myself in dark, dank places fairly often these days: life is different and uncomfortable and I don’t necessarily like it. So, I cry out from the cave of doubt and despair, “Lord, help me!” If I’m afraid, I tell God so – if I am tired and depressed, lonely and small, I tell the Lord those things. He is the Only One who will truly listen and truly do something. And sometimes all He says is: I’m here with you and I share your pain; but you must go through this and you must learn – it’s important that you do! So, like David in the cave: I cry aloud to the Lord; I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy. I pour out before him my complaint; before him I tell my trouble.