Promises in the PsalmsSample

Promises: Our Refuge

“Loneliness can drive us to some very dark places.” That’s what a fellow believer shared in a recent email, and that’s what David shares in today’s psalm. David wrote these words while hiding in a cave from Saul as he was trying to kill him. When we feel alone, we can hide in some very dark places.

Psalm 142
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 my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who watch over my way. In the path where I walk people have hidden a snare for me. Look and see, there is no one at my right hand; no one is concerned for me. I have no refuge; no one cares for my life. I cry to you, Lord; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need; rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me. Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name. Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me.

David was on the run, and the enemy was closing in. He felt alone. He concluded, “no one cares for my life.” His situation was urgent, “I am in desperate need.” The opposition was too strong for him. Death was certain unless God intervened. David cried for God’s mercy. He prayed to be set “free from [his] prison.” David was sitting alone, afraid, and desperate in a cave.

Some of you can relate all too well. An illness, a job loss, a relationship heartbreak, abandonment, grief—a significant life situation has imprisoned you. You sense the enemy pursuing you and closing in fast. Like David, you are sitting alone, afraid, and desperate in your personal cave.

And…like David, you can “cry aloud to the Lord.” Ask God for his mercy. Pour out your complaint before him. Tell him your troubles. He cares for you when no one else seems concerned. He is the refuge when there is no place of protection. He is our defender when we are helpless. He is our strength when the enemy is too strong. He is our freedom when we are alone, afraid, and desperate in the darkness of our personal cave.

Father, my prayer is David’s prayer. You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need. Rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me. Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name. In Jesus’ name. Amen.