The Cry From The Cave
Psalm 142:1-7
The book of Psalms it a book that deals with practically every human emotion.
Today I want us to look at David’s cry from the cave.
BIG IDEA:
THE LONELINESS OF FEELING FORSAKEN BY GOD AND MAN MAKES LIFE IN THE CAVE INTOLERABLE
We know God’s promise that He will never leave us or forsake us (Heb. 13:5-6)
Yet sometimes it can seem that God HAS forsaken us.
There is tension between what we know in our head (intellectually) about the character of God... and what we feel in our hearts in the desperation of the present crisis.
(ex: experience of Christ on the cross: “My God, My God, Why hast Thou forsaken Me?”)
I. SOMETIMES GOD LETS US EXPERIENCE LIFE IN THE CAVES
IN THE CAVE… Prayers for Deliverance can go Unanswered even though we know that God hears our prayers
“I cry aloud to the LORD;
I lift up my voice to the LORD for mercy.
I pour out before him my complaint;
Before him I tell my trouble.
IN THE CAVE... Despair can cause us to lose heart and hope
“my spirit grows faint within me”
Doubts are not the opposite of faith… unbelief is
Doubts are weak/thin places in our faith
IN THE CAVE... Troubles can be Compounded so they are more than we can bear (:6)
“they are too strong for me”
One at a time we may be able to handle
THEY gang up on us and give us no relief
II. SOMETIMES WE CAN’T SEE ANY LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL
“Desperate... rescue me... prison”
Questions of Despair have no easy answer
“How long, 0 Lord?”
“Why dost Thou hide Thy face from me?”
III. The Cave Of David
This is a prayer that David prayed while in the cave hiding from King Saul who was seeking to kill him!
David was inside a physical cave, but he was also in a spiritual cave as well!
a. His Spirit Was In Darkness.
“When my spirit was overwhelmed” V3
We can be overwhelmed by… Pain Fear misunderstanding despair Doubts discouragement Loneliness
David was in a literal cave where the light was limited!
Yet, the greater darkness was in his spirit! He was overwhelmed inside!
The fact that the man of God, David, the future King of Israel was overwhelmed reminds us that ANYONE is subject to periods of darkness, despair, discouragement, or depression!
Can you identify with David?
Overwhelmed with pressure? with problems? with just life in general?
The word “overwhelmed” means clothed or shrouded.
How can we escape the darkness which overwhelms our soul in the cave?
Illust. It had long been noticed in European countries that people developed depression during the long dark days of winter. Back in the early 1980s, a handful of experts at the National Institute of Mental Health had an idea: If people get depressed when the days get darker, why not just give them more light?
They tested their theory on Herb Kern, a 63-year-old research engineer who fell into a deep depression every autumn. They asked Kern to sit in front of a large box fitted with fluorescent tubes for three hours before dawn and three hours after sunset every day.
It worked. Three days later, Kern was smiling again. In the 15 years since then, further studies have shown the effectiveness of light therapy for patients with winter depression, known medically as Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD.
Let me to make this spiritual application
How can we overcome when we’re overwhelmed by darkness?
Get more of the Light
Get closer to the Light!
Spend more time in the Light!
b. His Steps Were In Danger V3
David, had been nothing but loyal to Saul !
He had done nothing to deserve the jealous rage that Saul felt for him.
David’s steps are in danger because Saul is seeking to kill him!
Life can be so unfair to us too.
When life is unfair... our steps can be in danger...
we can be in danger of making the wrong steps.... AWAY from God
We can let the cave become a wedge that drives us away from God
c. His Soul Was Deserted. V4
V4 I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.
Do you hear the pain… NO MAN... NO ONE CARES
Separation from friends can cause us to feel...
Alone - “there is no one at my right hand”
Imprisoned - “Set me free from my prison”
Mother Teresa of Calcutta who worked with some of the poorest people in the world… people who knew abject poverty with no food, no home, no medicine and no hope.
She said “Loneliness and the feeling of being uncared for (that no man cares for my soul) and unwanted are the greatest poverty.
Is there a more empty feeling in the human heart than to be lonely, and feel that no one cares!
That you are going through some great darkness of the soul ... and no one is there and no one cares
Most of us have gone through times in our life of loneliness, and we’ve probably all had some times when we wondered if anyone cared.
Perhaps, you need to be reminded today that you are loved, and cared for!
Perhaps you need to tell or show someone else that we care... that God indeed cares!
Sara Teasdale (1884-1933)wrote...
My soul is a dark ploughed field in the cold rain’
My soul is a broken field ploughed by pain.
Sara Teasdale died of an overdose of sleeping pills!
How many Sara Teasdales are there in this world?
They don’t wear signs saying “I’m lonely--will you help me?”
We have looked at the cave of David and many can identify
But we can’t stop there. We must see…
II. The Cry Of David
a. His Cry of Declaration V 5
David prays what he knows, and not what he feels at this time!
He feels all alone! He feels that no one cares, but in spite of what he feels… he prays what he KNOWS!
He declares, and proclaims that God is his refuge!
David is in a cave trying to hide from Saul yet David knows that ultimately his refuge is in the Lord!
III. His Cry of Consolation.
This is not David’s “first rodeo”
He has been in the caves before and he remembers how he got out
In the darkness and loneliness and hopelessness of the cave He hungers for three things which he knows will help him
These three things will help us when we are in the cave
a. Shouting praise to God.
“Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name:
You need to praise God for whatever you can
b. Surrounded by people of God.
“…the righteous shall compass me about”
You need to be surrounded by God’s people who can lift you up
c. Standing on the promises of God.
“thou shalt deal bountifully with me!”
David knows that his troubles are shifting sand
He CHOOSES to stand on the promises of God
DIG INTO THE WORD
Get God’s perspective… His truth
If you are in a cave today... Do what David did...
Call out to God in your pain and in the faith you have.
I used the following sermoncentral.com resources for this sermon: “The Cry From The Cave”, by Mike Turner and “LIFE IN THE PITS -- A NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE” by Paul Apple
I have a powerpoint for the sermon you can receive by emailing me at rhpendleton57@gmail.com
