Psalm 142
1 I cry out to the Lord;
I plead for the Lord’s mercy.
2 I pour out my complaints before him
and tell him all my troubles.
Aren’t you glad you can do that? Like most people, I don’t really enjoy listening to others complain. But God can handle our complaints, our moods, even our anger and doubt. He wants to hear us vent!
3 When I am overwhelmed,
you alone know the way I should turn.
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed. When David wrote this, he was hiding in a cave from men who were trying to kill him. I think I might feel a little overwhelmed in that situation. When you get to the end of yourself, you realize that God is the only one who can bring you out.
Wherever I go,
my enemies have set traps for me.
4 I look 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.
So I’ll go out in the garden and eat worms!
5 Then I pray to you, O Lord.
I say, “You are my place of refuge.
You are all I really want in life.
Sometimes God has to allow us to get to a crisis point, so that we realize what’s important. David had gone from living in a palace to living in a cave. The only thing he had in both places was God.
6 Hear my cry,
for I am very low.
Rescue me from my persecutors,
for they are too strong for me.
7 Bring me out of prison
so I can thank you.
The godly will crowd around me,
for you are good to me.”
David is alone in the cave, and the godly don’t surround him till after his crisis is over. I know that when we’re in the middle of a crisis, sometimes we feel it’s necessary to hide. But we should let the godly surround us and support us when times are tough.