Ever feel as though you are all alone? Do you ever think that no one else understands what you’re going through? This week’s psalm of the day, Psalm 143, describes such a time that David endured. There is much we can learn from David.
David may have felt alone in a cave without any human support, but he knew who to turn to. He turned to God. He acknowledged that God was always with him in love when he felt alone and unloved. He trusted that God would be his refuge when everyone else had deserted him. He cried out to the Lord in confidence. He was confidence God could deliver him from those pursuing him if he chose to do so. He also expressed his desire that his deliverance (if it were to come) would be an opportunity for him to point others to God’s love.
Many of us have been right where David was when he wrote Psalm 142. Why can we be as confident as David was? God hasn’t sent a prophet to anoint us to be the next king of Israel to us like he did to David. What possible reason do we have for trusting the Lord? Only this: The Lord didn’t send a prophet to us, he sent his Son for us. The Son didn’t anoint us with oil, he stretched out his arms on a cross to die for our sins. If he loved us enough to die for us, we can be confident that he loves us enough to live with us at all times!
Psalm 142
Of David. When he was in the cave. A prayer.
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.
3 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.
4 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.
5 I cry to you, Lord;
I say, “You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.”
6 Listen to my cry,
for I am in desperate need;
rescue me from those who pursue me,
for they are too strong for me.
7 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.