OBSERVATION/APPLICATION
- David is on the run, hiding from King Saul in a cave [see 1 Samuel 24]. He desperately cries out to God for mercy and protection (later he records it as a psalm). As the story unfolds, we see how God puts Saul into his hands, and how David refuses to kill God’s appointed ruler. Saul relents, and David is free (for the time being). But this is how God answers David’s prayer in this Psalm. He desperately pleads for help, and God helps him.
- ‘I pour out my complaint before him’. This is a better way to deal with our struggles. Instead of complaining to others, complain to the Lord. Be honest, tell Him what we’re struggling with, what we’re angry or frustrated with (He already knows anyways). This way our complaining does not drag others down, and it can’t drag God down. Unfortunately, we’re more inclined to grumbling and complaining to others.
- ‘My spirit grows faint within me’. God does not help David right away, and the waiting and the fear eat away at David’s spirit. What I notice is that he keeps on praying. In my own struggles, when my spirit is faint within me (I can sure relate to this), I often give up, or dwell on my fears. David is inspiring me as a Jesus-follower to keep on praying, to press on and not give up. Even when it seems that I am trapped, when all hope seems gone. God has this habit of waiting to the last possible minute before stepping in.
- ‘I am in desperate need… too strong for me’. Its not until we realize that we can’t fix ourselves, that we cannot do it by ourselves, that we will be able to seek God’s help. This reminds me of the 12 steps, especially the first few: (1) We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable. (2) Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. (3) Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. Its not until we bcome desperate that we turn to God for help.
- ‘Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your Name.’ David’s prison was a cave, but our prisons can be circumstances, relationships, fears, sinful behaviours. This verse suggests that once we are set free, we will naturally, eagerly want to tell others about how the Lord has helped us. We are to be witnesses, to put into words all that the Lord has done for us. This is the essence of our calling as Jesus-followers, to testify with word and deed all that the Lord is and has done!
PRAYER:
Lord, make me desperate for You and for Your help. May I experience Your blessing and freedom, and may I joyfully tell others of all that You have done for me.