Cave Dwellers (Featured Devotion)

Day 22

Thursday

Cave Dwellers

Psalm 142, superscription & verse 1

A contemplation of David.  A prayer when he was in the cave.  I cry out to the Lord with my voice…

A recent story in the Los Angeles Times reported that 30 million people in the Shaanxi province of China live in caves.  Some of these cave homes have multiple rooms with brick masonry.  Some have electricity and running water.  They’re cool in summer, protected in winter, and energy efficient.  According to the story, a cave with three bedrooms and a bath is going for about $46,000.

When he wrote Psalm 142, David wasn’t so enthusiastic about his cave.  He was hiding there lonely and troubled (verse 2), overwhelmed (verse 3), thinking no one cared whether he lived or died (verse 4), persecuted and imprisoned by circumstances (verses 6-7).

That’s exactly what he told the Lord as he wrote Psalm 142.  He freely expressed his pain and perplexities in prayer.  His example reminds us that we don’t have to couch our prayers in lofty language.  We can tell the Lord just how we feel.  He listens patiently.  He understands.  And in His own way and time, He’ll answer.

Recommended Reading: Psalm 142

Quote

Before God we may speak out our minds fully, and name the persons that afflict, affront, and trouble us…I find not that such a prayer in Scripture ever returned empty.

Samuel Lee,

In Treasury of David

From: “Turning Points” Magazine and Devotional

Turning Points