Today's treasure: Psalm 142: 2-3
We glimpse David's naivete and share his horror over the boundless evil in the heart of King Saul. David's responses to his circumstances will challenge us to evaluate our own. He met his circumstances with the deeply felt emotions of a whole heart. Sometimes the unimaginable happens, and we respond with shock.
Glance back over the events recorded in 1 Samuel 21; then proceed by reading 1 Samuel 22: 1-5
David had quite an initiation into leadership. Dealing with sheep must have been much less complicated than dealing with people!
First Samuel 22:1 tells us "David left Gath escaped to the cave of Adullam" The cave of Adullam, a word meaning , 'sealed off place' was about 20 miles SW of Jerusalem. David travel about 10 miles by foot from Gath to the place of strange refuge he found in the crevice of a mountain.
People took refuge in caves up until the time of Roman rule, when Jews fled Roman persecution.
The psalm David wrote after entering the cave is what the NIV identifies Psalm 142 as "A maskil of David. When he was in the cave. A prayer"
Psalm 142: what was David's comfort when his spirit grew 'faint within' him? In one sentence, what could be the theme of the Psalm? What two results did David believe his deliverance would bring?
We can do the same as David when overwhelmed with unfair treatment and difficult circumstances:
David prayed. Sometimes we regard prayer as less practical when our need is more concrete. We think, God can save me from my sins but not from my situation.What things do you tend to do before we pray about a crisis?
David cried aloud. How he handled his emotions is noteworthy. Volumes can be written in favor of crying when the lump wells in you. It clears the air!
David poured out his complaint to God. He told God his troubles. If we pour our our complaint to everyone else, we're going to be labeled a complainer. But if we pour out to God, we'll find help. David viewed the heart like a pitcher and he poured everything in it on God.
David rehearsed his trust in God. He was so exhausted that he feared he would become negligent in his alertness to the snares his enemies set for him.
David longed for God's presence. Our feelings are worth sharing with God whether or not they accurately describe the truth. We often equate safety with people, not places. He had found a cave in which to hide, he felt he had no refuge because no one was there to personally care for him.
David confessed his desperate need. David knew God had given him power to subdue all enemies, so why did he feel overwhelmed? Maybe because he had never battled a secret enemy.
According to Ephesians 6, we also fight an entire assembly of unseen powers and principalities. Without the intervention of God and His holy armor, we are mud on the bottom of the enemy's boots.
We need constant encouragement to remain specific in our prayer lives. We often get more specific sharing our hearts with a friend than we do with God who can truly intervene. "Pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge." Ps. 62: 8
The original text in 1 Sam 22 is something not to miss David's first taste of independent leadership! What could be less appealing than leading a group made up of: the distressed, the debtors, and discontented?
But David would rise to the throne as the forerunner of Jesus Christ. God had to bring David down to a lowly position before He could raise him up to stand on solid ground! Amen for that!
coming next: The inhumanity of humanity
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