delivered from the prison of a cave

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.

Psalm 142:7

David wrote these words while hiding out from Saul’s wrath in a cave. And that cave at times felt like a prison. He longed to be a free man. He longed for God to keep His promise to him. But until then the cave would also become a sanctuary… a place to worship, to cry out, to trust God, and to wait.

David modeled this worship in difficult times in this way throughout the 142nd psalm:

• He lamented and prayed, unafraid to express his emotion to God (Psalm 142:1-2).
• He trusted that God knew his condition and had a plan for Him (Psalm 142:3).
• David felt alone and hunted (Psalm 142:4).
• He trusted God as a refuge, not just the physical environment of the cave (Psalm 142:5).
• David threw all his weakness and inability on a mighty God by faith (Psalm 142:6).

Eventually David’s cave would fill with hope, support, and power. God would bring “mighty men” his way to help him. The cave became a war room. And they too would hide with him until God brought an end to Saul and then exalted David as king. And when that happened, David was not alone anymore, crying in a cave or imprisoned by injustice. God clearly answered the prayer He heard from David in a cave!

Generations later, God would not abandon the Son of David in a cold cave of a tomb. He would resurrect Jesus to be King of Kings! And He who turns caves into war rooms will do the same for those imprisoned by a temporary cold cave!