7 verses and a Cave?

Psalm 142

You Are My Refuge

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.

Today at Capitol Church we discussed Psalm 142 (above) and how David was struggling in his life not because of things he was doing, but of loneliness. (I am sorry if this bores some of you, but I have been looking to talk about these sermons with someone since they are full of much wisdom and knowledge so I thought I would at least share with you.) David was a Sheppard's Son, who was chosen by God to help represent the nations of Israel. David had everything going for him: his best friend was the Prince of the nation, he was in love with the Princess, and was close to the King, Saul. David was also an extremely good warrior and everyone began to love him. People wrote songs about David.

Even though David had everything, he still was human. Saul eventually began to hate David, for David was too successful and ultimately taking power from him. David, in fear for his life, ran into hiding for over 10 years. He ended up in a cave where he was able to realize what God really was and what God had given to him. What David had realized, in this Psalm, was that he had nothing of the World, he had no one. David, through prayer and song, came to the realization that he did in fact have God and that there is nothing better than having him at your side.

A wise man once told me: "If you were in a public place and someone came up to you, alone, and challenged you and wanted to fight you with a couple of his buddies, how would you react? Now what if you had your football team there with you? How about God at your side?" This quote made me realize that with God, I fear nothing. Through the ups and downs of life I realize that I still have Jesus there with me, watching me, caring for me. People seek concrete "things" or people in their life to go to when they are in a time of struggle and never get enough of what they are seeking. With God, I get MORE THAN ENOUGH! David had everything going for him possible and God decided that David needed to take a step back in his life and realize what God really is to him and it took 10 YEARS! Most people have their struggles and fears to deal with, but how about living with those for 10 years until figuring it out the God is there, and for you?!

Ultimately, what I learned after today's lesson was: "Is God looking to put me into a cave sometime soon and if so, why not act now? Why not realize what He has done for me and that He is here for me?" In order, though, to fully understand and accept this, we have to show humility to God. There are things everyday that I do where I seek recognition for. If I buy someone something or I go out of my way to help someone in their day, I look to them to at least say "thank you." Well last time I checked, Jesus died for me, He died for you, so that we may live in eternity with Christ and therefore why should i seek recognition for the acts that I have performed? I deserve nothing in comparison for what I owe Jesus and what He did on that cross. The way I look at it, whenever I do something out of compassion and humility, I am thanking God in some way for what He did and is doing.

God Bless

If any of you are looking to dig deeper into what David was going through, look at Psalm 57. David is praising God as the Alpa and the Omega while living in solidarity in a cave. When I struggle and am going through a tough time like a relationship or with school and sports, do I turn to him and rejoice His name? David had nothing going for him, and he did ....