Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

it isn’t true. For the Lord placed you at my mercy back there in the cave, and some of my men told me to kill you, but I spared you. For I said,’ I will never harm him–he is the Lord’s anointed one.’” (1 Sam. 24:3, 9-10) Shortly after this incident in the cave, Samuel the great prophet and mentor of David died and he was unable to attend his funeral. This might have been part of the reason that he was in such withering despair and felt so utterly alone: “But David and his men went back to their stronghold. [cave?] Now Samuel died, and all Israel gathered for his funeral. They buried him near his home at Ramah.” (1 Sam. 24:22; 25:1)

I

TELL HIM ALL MY TROUBLES - vs 1-4 Focused on “I”

“I cry out to the Lord; I plead for the Lord’s mercy. I pour out my complaints before him and tell him all my troubles.” (1, 2)

In the Hebrew language the first sentence contains a double cry: “with my voice; with my voice”. 1 This was not meditative prayer but a loud expression of anguish that filled the caves of En-Gedi with the echoes of his petition. ‘ We may complain to God, but not of God.’ 2 It is better to unburden our souls before God than to pour out our complaints upon people. The Lord is never surprised or offended but ready to help us in our difficulties. He arranges the ‘cave situations’ of life; the dark, narrow places that refine the character of his servants and reveal the reality of his presence. “For I am overwhelmed, and you alone know the way I should turn. Wherever I go, my enemies have set traps for me.” (3) David has experienced the brokenness of his own spirit; it has ‘fainted within me.’ 3 In the place of weakness and yielding to God he received his qualifications to become the King of Israel: “God blesses the [poor in spirit], for the Kingdom of Heaven is given to them.” (Mt. 5:3) Caves narrow our options; God’s path is the only way out. The traps set by the enemy are the same as mentioned in Psalm 140:5 and 141:9, 10 and are placed along the familiar paths of the animal to surprise and ensnare them. Satan uses the everyday events and relationships of our lives to bait us into his entrapments of sin, bitterness, wrong attitudes and un- belief. David had been accustomed to his close friendship with Jonathan, the son of his enemy Saul. Just before this incident in the cave Jonathan had visited him secretly in the wilderness: “Jonathan went to find David and encouraged him to stay strong in his faith in God. ‘Don’t be afraid,’ Jonathan reassured him. ‘My father will never find you! You are going to be the king of Israel, and I will be next to you, [at your right hand] as my father is well aware.” (1 Sam. 23:16, 17) The King’s closest advisor always stood at their right hand and now David was alone without Jonathan in the wilderness. The unseen Son of God was ready to replace all human help and assistance; Jesus is the ‘right hand’ of God the Father: “…he (Jesus) sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God of heaven.” (Heb. 1:3) and is ready to stand at our side to help us because of his great care for us. “I look [look to my right and see…NIV] for someone to come and help me, but no one gives me a passing thought! No one will help me; no one cares a bit what happens to me.” (4)

II

TREAT ME KINDLY - vs. 5-7

Focused on “You”

“ Then I pray to you, O Lord. I say, ‘You are my place of refuge. You are all I really want in life. Hear my cry, for I am very low. Rescue me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me.” (5, 6)

David was declaring that Yahweh was his ‘city of refuge’; the cities designated by the law as places for people to flee who had accidentally killed someone. “That way you will prevent the death of innocent people in the land the Lord you God is giving you as a special possession, and you will not be held re- sponsible for murder.” (Deut. 19:10) He saw his God as the spiritual fulfillment of the place of refuge where he would be safe from Saul’s murderous army. Jesus is the ‘place of refuge’ for all who trust him

383