My Prison

I am about to sleep. But as usual, before I sleep, I opened my Bible and read Psalm 142.

My two kids are with me. We are just done evening devotion. And after that, I played chess with my second son, Ashriel Edward. He is 10. 

While reading Psalm 142, I talked to my self as usual. This is my way of talking to the Lord. 

Verse 2 states, "I pour out my complaint before him; before him I tell my trouble." I have so many complaints. I am in big trouble. No man can help me. I cannot help myself. I am not prepared for this kind of trouble. This trouble is too big for me. But my God is far bigger. So it is to him, I should pour out all my complaints. It is useless to pour out my complaints to men for they can do nothing to help me. But the Lord can.

Verse 3 reads, "When my spirit grows faint within me..." David is a man of courage but facing this particular trouble is too big for him. He is like a man walking in a desert looking for water to sustain him but he found none. He is about to loose consciousness due to weakness and losing hope and courage. But while fainting, he still holds to his faith that the Lord knows his way. 

"It is you who know my way," says David. This thought sustained him. This thought renewed his courage. He knew that he was not familiar with the path he's walking. There were many snares surrounding his path. Without someone familiar with the path, David would have fallen to one of those snares. But the Lord knows David's path. He knows all about the snares. The Lord guided David to avoid those snares and that's why David survived his troubles.

Are you walking a path that you are not familiar with? And every way you turn, it seems that you are stepping on a land mine? How can you survive walking on that path without you guided by Someone who knows the path and all the "mines"? 

The Lord knows your path. He knows your way. And he knows all the snares laid before you. He knows all your troubles. And he knows how to deliver you from all of them.

"No one is concerned for me, I have no refuge; no one cares for my life" (v.4). Is this how you feel? This is how I feel. Is this true to David? He has a family. He is a national hero. Even if he was not yet king this time, for sure, many were concerned for David. But this was how he felt. Maybe, he was overwhelmed by the size of his trouble. Maybe his thoughts were full of negative things. No...he still hopes in God. He still confesses, "You are my refuge" (v.5). As far as the help of man is concerned, David sees nothing but hopelessness. No one cares. No refuge. No one is concerned. 

I think a man has to come to the point of realization that a time will come in your life, in facing difficult troubles that the help of a fellow man is useless and futile. Unless you come to that realization, you will never see and learn to appreciate that the Lord is your only refuge. Not unless we come to the end of ourselves, we will never be convinced that the Lord's way is the best. 

People change. Times change. Things change. But the Lord remains the same. The help of man also change. But the help of God never....in his time and in his way. 

Three times David mentioned the word "cry" (vs. 1, 5, 6). I thought David was a man of courage. But David knew how to cry. He was a crying man. But his tears were directed to the Lord. He knew, it was useless to cry before men. Only the Lord can help him.

David mentioned a situation where he's facing pursuers "too strong for him." David killed lions and wolves. David killed Goliath. David won battles. But still, there were enemies too strong for him that made him faint, that made him desperate. But the Lord is far stronger than his pursuers who were too strong for him. And the Lord having been with him, he was able to overcome those stronger enemies. 

Knowing the story of David, I never read that he was imprisoned. I read of Joseph imprisoned but never David. But David was crying to the Lord for freedom from "his prison" (v.7). What was this prison specifically? I also do not know. The only thing I can say is that his prison is the primary cause why he was crying to the Lord. It was his trouble. It caused him to faint. It caused him to be desperate.

What is your prison? Are you in financial prison that caused you to worry about the future of your kids?Are you in emotional prison that caused you pain due to your loved ones betraying you? Are you in mental prison, which painful experiences in the past keep flashing back to your memory? Are you in spiritual prison, which a particular form of sin keeps on tormenting you? Whatever your prison is, the good news is, the Lord is able to set you free.

The CROSS of Jesus has power to set you free. The fact is, Jesus has already set you free when he gave up his life for you on the mount of Calvary. Through his blood, freedom from sin is received as a gift. Through his blood, your guilt and shame are all washed away. If the Lord sets you free, you are free indeed! And free men and women of God worship Him with gratitude and gladness. Praise the Lord! 

Photo Reference:

http://kitbelvilles.blogspot.com/2011/05/alcatraz-prison-picture.html