From Stronghold to Prison to God - Psalms 140-142

Psalms 142:1-2 (ESV)
You Are My Refuge
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.
I pour out my complaint before him;
I tell my trouble before him.

I have never had to hide from someone in a cave.  I have never, like young David, had to hide from the King of the land who was out to kill me.  I can’t imagine the horror and fright that this would be.   David knows the rocks and the hiding places in the rocks.   When King Saul becomes jealous of David’s popularity among the nation of Israel, King Saul goes on a hunt to destroy David.    David surrounds himself with men of questionable character and goes on the run.   He is hiding in one particular cave and realizes that the cave can’t be his refuge.  This is a stronghold for him to hide, but it is a prison whereby he lives. Notice what he writes at the end of this prayer-song:

Psalms 142:7 (ESV)
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.

He wants strength AND freedom.   This is what perpetuates Psalms 142.  This is a prayer of deliverance.  David is crying out for help from the only source that can give him help, his God.    Remember, it is God, who only years before this cave situation, that promised David HE WOULD BE KING.  We don’t know the timing of this particular prayer in the story of David and Saul, but on two separate occasions David had a chance to kill Saul.  In both cases, despite the urging of his men, David refused to kills Saul.   Instead of killing Saul and taking advantage of God’s announced king at the time, in this song of prayer, David simply turns the entire thing over to God.   David, by faith in the promises of God for both deliverance and for the position that HE WILL BE king, gives his life and situation over to God and pours his heart out in prayer.   That is what God expects from us.  He expects us to lean into His promises and He expects us to seek refuge in Him and not in caves.   God will deliver David.   In the process of that deliverance, however, David learns to seek God and to pour out his complaint before God to seek refuge in God.