I cry out to the LORD, I plead for the LORD’s mercy.
I pour out my complaints before him and tell him all my troubles.
Psalm 142:1-2 (NLT)
David wrote Psalm 142 from a cave. A fugitive from the Philistines who saw him as a threat, and King Saul who wanted him dead, David fled to the cave of Adullam. Dismayed at the way his life seemed to be falling apart, David cried out to the LORD. This wasn’t the way things were supposed to turn out. It had been fifteen years since Samuel had shown up at his father’s house and anointed him. So why was David, the future king of Israel and Goliath-slayer, hiding in a dark, dank cave?
Charles Spurgeon’s commentary on this passage offers some insight; “Caves make good closets for prayer; their gloom and solitude are helpful to the exercise of devotion. 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 later days.”
David encountered God in that cave. He discovered that even in one of his darkest moments, God watched over him and ministered to his soul. Not even the darkest dark could separate him from God’s love and grace. In Psalm 139, David states, “I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!… I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night – but even in darkness, I cannot hide from you. To you, the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you.”
Have you ever found yourself hunkering in some dark place? What happened to the victorious Christian life? My friend, victories are often won through prayer. Caves make great prayer closets. Caves are the place where we encounter God. It’s the place where He makes us fit for whatever He calls us to be. It’s the place where we are stripped of everything and offered God’s everything.
Thought: “Caves make good closets for prayer.” – Charles Spurgeon
For further reading:
- Psalm 139:7-12
- Romans 8:38-39
- Deuteronomy 31:6
- Isaiah 41:10