Have You Been to Your Cave?
Psalm 37, 142, 57 and I Samuel , 21 and 22
"Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! 8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil." (Psalms. 37:7-8).
According to this Psalm, you would think the writer had learned to trust in the Lord to the point of not fretting.
(B. W. Newton says,) "God had designs other than the mere exaltation of David. He intended to allow the evil of Saul and of Israel to exhibit itself. He intended to give to David some apprehension of the character of his own heart, and to cause him to learn subjection to a greater wisdom than his own. He intended also to prove the hearts of His own people Israel; and to try how many among them would discern that the Cave of Adullam was the only true place of excellency and honour in Israel".
When David wrote the 37th Psalm, he is still learning, and there is much he needs to learn. What has happened in David's life?
After David lied to the priest Ahimelech to get bread and weapons, he headed to the teritory of the enemy, Gath in Philistia. We pick him up in 1 Samuel 21:10
1Sa 21:10 And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath. 11 And the servants of Achish said to him, "Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances, 'Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands'?" 12 And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13 So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, "Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? 15 Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?"
Do you know who was the famous person from Gath? Goliath. RECAP.....
22:1) - David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him.
David left Gath and the Philistines for a large underground cavern, situated, most probably, not far from Bethlehem.
AW Pink says, “The high favorites of Heaven are sometimes to be located in strange and unexpected places. Joseph in prison, the descendants of Abraham laboring in the brick-kilns of Egypt, Daniel in the lions’ den, Jonah in the great fish’s belly, Paul clinging to a spar in the sea, forcibly illustrate this principle.”
For David, it was the cave of Adullam. What did David do in the cave? He must have penned some Psalms, or was inspired to do so later.
Psalm 142. 1 A Maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A Prayer. With my voice I cry out to the LORD; with my voice I plead for mercy to the LORD. 2 I pour out my complaint before him; I tell my trouble before him. 3 When my spirit faints within me, you know my way! In the path where I walk they have hidden a trap for me. 4 Look to the right and see: there is none who takes notice of me; no refuge remains to me; no one cares for my soul. 5 I cry to you, O LORD; I say, "You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living." 6 Attend to my cry, for I am brought very low! Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me! 7 Bring me out of prison, that I may give thanks to your name! The righteous will surround me, for you will deal bountifully with me.
Notice a change in disposition, speaking about God by reference “Him” to speaking to God by referencing “You”.
Psalms 57:1-3, 1 To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David, when he fled from Saul, in the cave. Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by. 57:2 I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me. 3 He will send from heaven and save me; he will put to shame him who tramples on me. Selah God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!
David began amid the gloomy shadows of the cavern, but he gradually emerged into the open daylight. How many times has this happened to me and you?
It was in the cave that David underwent the greatest change from depending upon his scheming and manipulation to trusting in God alone for his safety. There are some lessons we need to glean from this tonight:
1) Never underestimate the power of prayer to change your heart.
C. H. Spurgeon said, "Had David prayed as much in his palace as he did in his cave, he might never have fallen into the act which brought such misery upon his latter days."
It is no wonder that James 5:16 says "The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working."
When I was a boy, my dad put a sticker on our car dashboard that said, "Prayer changes you first. Have you prayed today?"
David has been the worried fugitive turning to Jonathan, the lying fugitive to Ahimelech, playing the madman at Gath. His maneuvers may seem clever to the shallow reader, but left him empty and dry in his soul.
Here, David turns to the only One who could do him any real good. “142:1-2 - With my voice I cry out to the LORD; with my voice I plead for mercy to the LORD. 2 I pour out my complaint before him; I tell my trouble before him.”
In this cave, David thoroughly unburden his heart to God. And look what 1 Samuel 22 says about David's changed ability to minister.
1Sa 22:2 And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became captain over them. And there were with him about four hundred men.
First, I want you to notice something. What does David say in Psalm 142:4?
"4 Look to the right and see: there is none who takes notice of me; no refuge remains to me; no one cares for my soul."
Compare that to 1 Samuel 22:2 above.
2) Never underestimate the power of prayer to change your situation.
3) Never underestimate the purpose of trials.
We can see 2 Corinthians 1 turned into action here:
2Co 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.
You have heard it here before and will hear it again. God never wastes a trial on us. God brought David comfort through the comforting of those who were "in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul".
Let's conclude by looking at how this also uses an imperfect example to point us to Jesus.
1) David and Jesus were both rejected by the high courts and religious leaders, only received by the outcasts, rejected, and hurting.
This parallel is timely placed after David’s closet recovery.
2) David and Jesus were homeless.
And Jesus said to him, "And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." (Matthew 8:20).
Read too, "They went each to his own house, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives." (John 7:53; 8:1).
3) David and Jesus attracted the outcast, expressing the heart of God.
This passage doesn’t mention the captains of the army, the men of state, the princes of the realm, preferred the court and the palace going to the cave of Adullam. It was the outcasts who came first.
Compare Matthew 15:30 to Luke 14:13.
Matthew 15:30 – “And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them,”
Luke 14:13-14 - “But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just."
If that is God’s heart, what are we to learn from this? (1 Cor. 1:26-29) - For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God."
The truth is, only a "few" tread that narrow way which leads unto life (Matthew 7:14). For David, this included the particular type of people who were described as "in distress, in debt, and discontented."
All of us were in distress by the chains of sin. We were in debt and could not pay. We were discontented, knowing there was more to life and living than what we had. One has said, "So wretched is the convicted sinner, he wishes he were dead, yet he is terrified at the very thought of death.”
It was these people, in debt, in distress, and discontented, sought out David. Other than family, they were the only ones who did so. And they did so from a deep sense of need which drove them to him, and a hope that he could relieve their suffering.
Why would God allow Satan so much latitude to cause pain? Matthew 11:28 - “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Larry Gatlin once sang a song that said, “I was looking up through the bottom when it (the redemption of God) finally shined on me.” Some people have to hit bottom before they look up.
4) David and Jesus moved people to walk away from their former lives.
Those who sought David in the Cave of Adullam turned their backs upon both the court of Saul and the religion of Judaism. There was none to pity them there. They had to leave their homes, properties, and in many cases, families.
Same is true with those who come to Jesus from the beginning. Those who are "poor in spirit" have nothing in common with the self-satisfied Laodiceans. And what is to be the attitude and actions of God’s grieved children toward those having nothing more than a form of godliness?
"from such turn away" (2 Tim. 3:5) - having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
Identify yourself with Christ on the outside; walk with Him even if you have to walk alone.
5) David and Jesus moved people to pledge allegiance to them alone.
"And he became a captain over them" (1 Sam. 22:2). Christ is to be received as "Lord" (Col. 2:6) if He is to be known as Savior. Love to Christ is to be evidenced by "keeping His commandments" (John 14:15).
6) Their followers took on new identities.
It didn’t matter what these people had been, they were now his servants and soldiers. Some had been farmers, laborers, craftsmen, etc.... They had turned away from the evil influence of Saul, to be subject unto the authority of David.
This is what Christ requires from all who identify themselves with Him. "Take My yoke upon you" is His demand (Matthew 11:29). But that is not something we should fear. "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
