Cave In

CLIMBING OUT OF YOUR CAVE

Psalm 61:1-2 Hear my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer. 2From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

Listen to what David said in those verses. Do you ever feel overwhelmed by life? We all do from time to time! This text finds David is one of those times. He is in a dark, damp, dreary, depressing cave. He has experienced the loss every thing and every one he leaned on in his life. He is alone, defeated and discouraged. David is in one of the cave experiences of life.What David did not see at the time, but soon came to understand, was the fact that God was behind it all and in control of it all. David did not know it at the time but God was going to use his time in the cave to help David grow stronger in the Lord. The day would soon come when David would emerge from that cave far stronger in the Lord than he was when he entered that time in his life.There are times when we too find ourselves in one of life’s cave experiences. We think all of our help and strength is gone. We feel alone, discouraged and deserted. Ever been there? Sure you have. In fact, some are there right now! Well, like David, when we are dwelling in one of the caves of life, we often fail to see the hand of God in what we are facing. But, I would remind you today that just as surely as God is behind all the blessings of life; He is behind all the burdens as well, Isa. 45:7; Psa. 37:23; Rom. 8:29-29.This passage contains some blessings that we need to consider today. Here, we can learn something about the cave experiences of life ands how we can come out of them stranger than we entered them. I want to take this episode from the life of David and preach about Climbing Out Of Your Cave. Notice the blessings that are contained in this passage.

THE REALITIES OF THE CAVE

A. The Reality Of Sorrow – David has been brought to the absolute bottom of life! He is hurting, he is broken and he is defeated. The Crown Prince of Israel is living in a cave! He does not rest his head on a sumptuous bed in the palace, but on the unyielding rocks of a cave! He no longer sleeps in the bed of the princess, but he seeks rest in the damp darkness of a forsaken cave. He does not find comfort in the house of a friend, but he fights loneliness in a deserted, dirty cave. (Ill. Psalm 142 was written during this period of time.)

(Note: There are times like that ordained for each of us as well. We should not expect to get through this life untouched and unaffected by hardship and sorrow. In fact, the Bible is perfectly clear about this matter, Job 14:1; Job 5:7; John 16:33; Eccl. 2:17; Eccl. 2:23. Just as they were for David, sorrows are part of our earthly experience.) (Ill. Thank God for a home where they cannot follow us – Rev. 21:4.)

B. The Reality Of Suffering – God allowed David to come to this cave, as we learned last week, so that David might learn not to lean on the props of family, friends, finances, fame, the flesh or the future. David was taught, through his sufferings, to wholly lean upon the Lord. You see, God was not trying to destroy David. He was not trying to discipline David. God was attempting to develop David in the man of God the Lord wanted him to become.

(Note: The same is true in our lives. To teach us to look to Him alone, the Lord uses the hardships of life to develop us. God does not do this to break us; He does it to build us. However, times of breaking up and tearing down often come before the times of building up! Ill. Heb. 12:5-13 – As hard as it may be to understand and bear, God uses the times of affliction, suffering and pain in our lives to train us to become more like His darling Son Jesus.)

C. The Reality Of Separation – David has been cut off from his family, his friends and his followers. He is in a place that prevents fellowship with others. David was brought to the place where he had nothing and no one but the Lord God. That cave was a place of separation!

(Note: We often find ourselves in the caves as well, don’t we? God will bring us to the place where we are alone with Him and shut off from the rest of the world. We fear those times, but they often precede the times of God’s greatest blessings in our lives! Ill. David alone in the cave; Jacob was alone in his tent; Elijah alone by the brook; Job alone surrounded by his friends; Moses alone on the backside of that mountain; Jesus alone in the agony of Gethsemane and Calvary. Each of these experienced their greatest triumph after that time of being shut up and shut off by the Lord. You see, there are lessons that are learned in the dark that cannot be learned in the light. There are truths that can only be understood by those who are cut off and shut up with the Lord.)