I want to get us started with our message this morning by sharing an illustration that I’ve used on numerous occasions: Back when I was in college, I used to go cave exploring with a friend as often as possible. Sometimes we went about twice a week. Well, one evening we followed a lead for a new cave that we had heard about, one that was in the top of a ridge and was supposed to be really big. Now, let me tell you, that when someone says a cave is really large, it’s probably not going to be any bigger than a groundhog hole.
So, after about an hour of walking up and down some really big ridges in Casey County, Kentucky, we finally saw a small hole at the top of a knob. When we arrived at the entrance, we got down on our hands and knees; and when we had crawled in about five feet, we started smelling something really bad. We then crawled a little further, and soon discovered the source of the smell, which just happened to be an old dead, decomposing dog.
Let me tell you, there is nothing worse than the stench of death. So, what does God have to say about the times that we smell the stench of death in our spiritual lives; when we enter the cave of despair and hopelessness? I’ve entitled our message this morning, “The Depths of Despair,” and I’m going to be sharing some biblical passages that speak about the cave of despair. We are going to look at how people tend to act when they find themselves in such a dark place; and we’re also going to see what we need to do, in order for God to deliver us into a place of hope and life.
You Cannot Hide from the Lord (1 Kings 19:9-10)
9And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 So he said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”
The dark cave that Elijah entered into was the cave of fear and self-pity. The Lord had just given Elijah a great victory by displaying His power over the prophets of Baal when He sent down fire from heaven to devour a sacrifice that was doused with many pots of water. The Lord had also allowed Elijah to capture and execute all the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:20-40). Because of this great display of God’s power, Elijah should have realized that the Lord would protect him no matter what, but Queen Jezebel had threatened to kill him and so he fled in fear (19:2-3).
Now, the way that Elijah acted is how we can sometimes act. The Lord can place a calling on our lives to serve Him. He can show us many signs to confirm that calling and His presence with us, and we can face many challenges bravely; but then, there will be something to come along that will unnerve us, and cause us to feel like we just can’t go on. For example, someone might criticize us and mock us; and when something like this happens, we might feel defeated and try to run away from God. Like Elijah, we might even come up with the excuse that no one really cares about the Lord or wants to hear about Him.
For Elijah, the cave of despair that he entered into was not just spiritual, it was literal. He really did hide from God in a cave. Now, in my own life I experienced something similar to this, which actually led me to picking up the sport of cave exploring or spelunking. Allow me to explain:
So, the Lord called me into ministry when I was a freshman attending Eastern Kentucky University. But when I transferred to a Christian college – Campbellsville University – I saw so many students being used by the Lord to do such amazing things, that I felt incompetent and became discouraged. God wasn’t using me like He was using them. So, in order to drown out my feelings, I preoccupied myself with caving. To me, caves seemed like the perfect place to get away from everything; and so, I guess you could say that I too tried to hide from God in a cave.
Now, the cave of despair won’t be literal for everyone, but when we run from the Lord we can feel as though we are in a deep, cold pit, surrounded by darkness. Maybe you feel like you are in a place of despair right now, and you’re running from the Lord as Elijah did; but God will pursue you when you run. In Psalm 139:7, David asked, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?”
You can certainly run from the Lord, but you cannot hide. And when He catches up to you, He is going to ask you the same question that He asked Elijah, which is, “What are you doing here?” (v. 9). When you feel led to ask yourself “why you are where you are,” then you need to know and realize that the Lord is the one prompting the question. So, a good question is, “How are you going to answer Him?” Now, let’s back up just a little to 1 Kings 18:4.
God Sustains You in Your Despair (1 Kings 18:4)
4 For so it was, while Jezebel massacred the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah had taken one hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty to a cave, and had fed them with bread and water.
So, as Elijah was focused on his own problems, the priests were also going through a difficult time on account of Jezebel. We can see from this verse that one hundred of the Lord’s prophets, as they were being pursued to be put to death, they took refuge in a cave. They were placed in an undesirable situation even though they had been faithful to the Lord, and they could have easily questioned God and asked what they had done to deserve their predicament. We see here, that sometimes the Lord will allow us to be put in a place we don’t like, but the purpose can be for our benefit; and since God is the one who allowed it, we must keep in mind that He will not forsake us.
Through the help of Obadiah, the Lord provided these one hundred prophets with bread and water in order to sustain them. In 1 Kings 19:6, as Elijah was fleeing from Jezebel, we read that the Lord provided him with bread and water too. When we feel like we’re in despair, it’s often because we have lost hope, perhaps for the reason that God hasn’t spoken to us lately or shown us a sign. We feel like we’re just not seeing any evidence of God’s presence.
You see, all too often we forget that God is not always seen in large displays of power, but in the simple things like bread and water. In 1 Kings 19:11, the Lord revealed to Elijah that He wasn’t in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire, but in the still small voice. It may appear as though you are forsaken, but let me remind you that if you are still alive and breathing, then the Lord is with you, sustaining you; for you wouldn’t be here without Him.
When in Despair Cry out to God (Psalm 142:5-7)
5 I cried out to You, O LORD: I said, “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 stronger than I. 7 Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise Your name; the righteous shall surround me, for You shall deal bountifully with me.”
In Hebrew, the title for Psalm 142 is Maschil, meaning, “When he was in the cave,” and it’s possibly a reference to when David was in the cave of Adullam hiding from his pursuer King Saul.(1) David was dealing with fear in this passage, because Saul was trying to take his life. One commentary says, “It is obvious that he was in danger and depressed and feeling abandoned.”(2) David was hiding in the cave of Adullam, and this cave was symbolic of his feelings at that moment, for he said, “I am brought very low” (v. 6), and “bring my soul out of prison” (v. 7).
When we are in a state of despair we can feel as though we are in a dark cave surrounded by a prison of rock. But in times like this, instead of feeling down or feeling sorry for ourselves, we can rise from our depression and despair by crying out to the Lord for help and putting our hope and trust in Him.
David asked to be released from his prison so that he could praise the Lord (v. 7); but let me remind you that if we will go ahead and praise the Lord while in the prison, or while in the cave of despair, then that is the very thing that will result in emotional and spiritual deliverance; for, according to the Scripture, thanksgiving and praise actually results in us having peace.
In Philippians chapter 4, we’re told that if we will “meditate” on things that are praiseworthy (v. 8), and “with thanksgiving, let [our] requests be made known to God” (v. 6), then “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard [our] hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (v. 7).
Now, notice that David not only asked for help, but he was certain the Lord would deliver him, for he confidently declared, “The righteous shall surround me, for You shall deal bountifully with me” (v. 7). This tells us that when we cry out to God, or rather pray for His help, that we too must do so in the confidence that He both hears and answers. Jesus told us in Matthew 21:22, “Whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
David confidently declared that the Lord would surround him with the righteous (v. 7). And you know what? It actually happened! Allow me to read for you 1 Samuel 22:1: “David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. So, when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him.” So, David’s confidence in the Lord paid off, for we see that his brothers and all his father’s household, and many other God-fearing people, gathered to him at the cave of Adullam.
If we truly believe that the Lord will send us help in our time of need, then He’s going to do it. If you are in a place of despair right now, and feeling hopeless, then be sure to ask the Lord for help, because He is always near and ready to save.
Jesus Saves You from Ultimate Despair (John 11:38-41, 43-44)
38 Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” 41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying . . . 43 [Jesus] cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” 44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”
We need to understand that the ultimate cave of despair that a person can enter into is death. In any other form of disparity, we can often find a way to help ourselves, but there is no escape and no returning from death. No human being can resurrect another. We can be resuscitated through CPR, but we cannot be brought back to life after lying in the grave for many days on end. Jesus is the only one who can rescue us from death.
Now, the death that I’m talking about is not physical death, but a spiritual death. Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages (or the penalty) of sin is death, meaning death to our soul; but Jesus overcame death when He died on the cross and was resurrected the third day. In order for you and I to be raised from death into newness of life, we must believe that Jesus Himself rose from the grave as the Bible tells us; and we must confess Him as Savior and Lord.
Jesus has power over sin and death, and He will grant us that same power too, but only if we believe that He is able. Jesus said in verse 40, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” If you would believe, you would see a dead man raised to life. And if you will believe, then you, as a dead man or dead woman, will be raised from spiritual death into spiritual life. We must believe in order to have eternal life in Jesus Christ.
Time of Reflection
So, we have seen this morning that whenever we enter into despair we often feel as though we are in a deep, dark cave, and that death is slowly approaching. We are not alone, though, for the Lord sees us wherever we are. He sustains us in our time of need, He hears our cry, and He is ready to save us when we ask for His help. The Lord is even able to bring us back to life once we die – spiritual life, that is – but only if we call on the name of His one and only Son, Jesus Christ.
In Romans chapter 10, we read this: “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation . . . For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved” (Romans 10:9-10, 13).
I want to leave you with something the Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 6:2: “For [God] says: ‘In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” If you need the Lord to save you from anything, whether it be some kind of problem you’re facing, or maybe you feel led to ask for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life, God Himself says that today is the day of salvation. Today is the day to cry out to Him for what only He can do.
NOTES
(1) R. Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and D. Brown, A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc, 1997).
(2) Warren Wiersbe, “The Complete Old Testament in One Volume,” The Wiersbe Bible Commentary (David C. Cook: Colorado Springs, Colorado, 2007), p. 1042.
