“A Contemplation of David. A Prayer when he was in the cave.”
On the one hand, David was the guy who slew a giant and married a king’s daughter. On the other hand, he was currently a fugitive living in a cave. It was humiliating and uncomfortable. King Saul and his 3,000 men were pursuing him to capture and kill him.
“I cry out to the Lord with my voice. With my voice to the Lord, I make my supplication.” Psalm 142:1
There is no cave so deep or dark that can keep God from seeing His child and hearing His cry. [1]
David’s main weapon of choice was prayer, and not just a scripted or a memorized prayer, but intense prayers that were loud and filled with emotion. There is no shame in crying out to God in times of trouble. Just as children cry to their parents when they are afraid, we can cry to our heavenly Father.
David “made his supplication” to God. He did not demand help from God. [2] He was the one who owed God a great debt. He humbly asked God to help him.
“I pour out my complaint before Him. I declare before Him my trouble.” Psalm 142:2
David freely told God which problem he could not resolve. As Psalm 55:22 says, he casted his burden upon the Lord and the Lord sustained him.
“When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then You knew my path. In the way in which I walk they have secretly set a snare for me.” Psalm 142:3
When overwhelmed, cry out to God for help! He knows what you are going through. He will help you. To depend on God for help is to be like Jesus.
Hebrews 5:7 says of Jesus, “In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to Him who was able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence.”
Hebrews 2:17 says of Jesus, “He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.”
Hebrews 4:15 says of Jesus, “We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
“They secretly laid a snare for me.” For example, in 1 Samuel 18:21, Saul gave his daughter Michal to David with the intention that she would become “a snare to him.” [3]
“Look on my right hand and see, for there is no one who acknowledges me. Refuge has failed me. No one cares for my soul. I cried out to You, O Lord: I said, ‘You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” Psalm 14:4-5
Friends deserted David. After King Saul executed Ahimelech and everyone in his village for helping David, people knew that association with David could get them executed by King Saul.
In a similar way, there are people nowadays who are slain because they side with Jesus Christ.
There was no one on David’s right hand to acknowledge him, but there WAS someone on God’s right hand that acknowledged him. That someone kept him alive and well. That someone was Jesus the Son of God. What a friend we have in Jesus!
David also looked for a safe place to stay, but “refuge failed him.” There was no geographical location on earth that could keep him safe from the one who wanted to kill him. Thus, he trusted solely in God to be his place of refuge.
Yes, there was someone who cared for David’s soul. The Lord, who was his shepherd, would get him through the valley of the shadow of death and bring him to heaven.
David also called God his “portion.” His greatest treasure was God Himself. [4]
Those who sincerely take the Lord as their God will find that He is sufficient both as a refuge and as a portion. When God is our refuge, we need not fear any evil. If God is our portion, we have everything we need. Everything else is temporary and unreliable, but God remains faithful. [5]
“Attend to my cry, for I am brought very low. Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are stronger than I.” Psalm 142:6
David’s persecutors were stronger than he. David was realistic. He did not prop up his hope for deliverance with video game wins or with pats on the back from people. He asked God for help.
“Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise Your Name. The righteous shall surround me, for You shall deal bountifully with me.” Psalm 141:7
David asked God, and God gave. He sought God, and God showed up. He knocked on God’s door, and God opened His door and brought him out of his prison. God surrounded David with people who were in a right relationship with Him. God dealt generously with David. This is God’s manner with all who ask, seek and knock to gain His attention.
[1-5] Material developed and edited from Matthew Henry’s Commentary
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