Caves can be fascinating places to explore. A number of years ago, when my children were younger, we took a trip down to the State of Kentucky and went on tours of several of the many caves in that state. King David was familiar with caves, too. In his case, though, he was not taking a tour to see their magnificence. David used the caves he was in for hiding, hiding for his life. The heading to our psalm this week gives the information that this psalm was a prayer David said when he was hiding in a cave.
David, the youngest of his father’s several sons, had the job of tending his father’s sheep. While visiting his brothers in King Saul’s army, God used him to slay the mighty enemy Goliath. After that, Saul brought David to his royal court as both his personal musician and special warrior in his army. David’s victories and sudden great popularity caused King Saul to go into jealous rages, rages that were directed against David, and were a threat to his life. He was very familiar with caves, as there were many of them in the mountains and hills of the wilderness where he was forced to flee for his life.
As we begin this psalm we can easily picture David sitting in a damp, cool, dark cave. King Saul meant business. If he ever found David, he was going to kill him, so this was serious. David was desperately crying out to the Lord God (vs. 1-3). Just like a mouse or a rat fleeing from a pursuing cat, David was forced to run all over the wilderness, hiding where he could. He cries out for God to help him. David may be a mighty warrior, but that doesn’t mean that he was never afraid.
What’s even worse, at this particular time David was all alone (vs. 4). All of his friends had abandoned him, possibly out of fear for their own lives. When the king was hunting for the life of their friend, they might have felt that it wasn’t too safe to be too close to him. So there he was, totally alone in a cave, hunted like an animal.
We read in the Bible of another great man of God who, centuries later, also had to stand alone in a time of great need - the Apostle Paul. Paul had been arrested several times for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In II Timothy 4:16-17, we read that when Paul was brought before the court to give his plea, everyone had abandoned him, possibly also like with David, out of fear for their own lives. Our Savior, Jesus, also stood all alone during His time of need, all of His disciples having fled for their lives (Mark 14:50; Matthew 26:56).
There may be times during the greatest trials in our lives when we may look around, and like David, Paul, and even Jesus, we see that there is no one to stand with us. That is often even harder than the difficulty itself, to see that no one is there. As David says, to see that “No one cares for my soul”. It is then that we have to do what David did, what both Paul and Jesus did, and that is to turn completely to God. As we read in this psalm, though David was feeling utterly forsaken, he knew that though all human help was gone from him now, he had a refuge, a help in God (vs. 5-7). Paul knew that, as well, since he could tell Timothy that he knew that God was standing with him.
There may come a time when all of our friends and our family turn their back on us. Our troubles are overwhelming, drowning us, holding us tight like a prison. David felt like he was in a prison (vs. 7), as he couldn’t freely leave the cave or else he’d be killed. If we have the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we are never alone. He has promised us that He will never leave us, nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). David knew that no matter what, God was with him. Paul knew that, as well. Most importantly, Jesus knows this, and He promises to be there with us and take care of us.
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