May it please God to bless us
together this evening as we consider his word. Let us turn to the
book of Psalms, Psalms 142, and we'll read the fourth verse.
Psalm 142, I'm reading verse four. I looked on my right hand
and beheld, but there was no man that would know me. Refuge failed me no man cared
for my soul We should be very thankful that
the Lord in his great mercy and providence has not only given
us an historical account of the saints of God but also in some
instances has given to us a a clear indication of their spiritual
state, their spiritual concerns. And perhaps no one more than
God's servant King David. And we have a detailed account
of his life from the time that he was anointed king until the
day of his death. And we also have a very detailed
account of his innermost feelings his spiritual life and It should
be an encouragement to us As we walk on this earth no doubt
in not the same way That David did because of course he was
anointed to be king But nonetheless there were those experiences
physical ones that he came into which brought about a spiritual
experience, and we can align ourselves with such situations. And this particular Psalm 142,
we read, it was a prayer when he was in the cave. We're not
told which cave it was. He was in at least two caves
in his time when he was fleeing from King Saul, but nonetheless
it was clearly a time of great need and so we are thankful that
the Lord has recorded his prayer in this situation and we see
in it the destitution that he was really in and yet the confidence
that he had in his God and this is a wonderful thing that when
we may feel to be perhaps at the ends of the earth, perhaps
not knowing how and where deliverance will come, yet to be able to
speak in the words, like David, as he came to the last verse
in this short psalm and said, bring my soul out of prison,
that I may praise thy name. The righteous shall compass me
about, for thou shalt deal bountifully with me. Now that's confidence
in his God. And that's God-given faith to
be able to speak such things as that. And it's important for
us today to realise that although we may be cast down, we may have
much opposition, we may feel, as David no doubt felt here,
to be absolutely alone and overwhelmed, yet to believe that there would
be a good end, as there will be, for all God's people. without any doubt there will
be a good end and the end will be to take a safe home to glory
see our life on this earth is a preparation for our eternal
home and how good it is when the Holy Spirit directs us to
recognize the truth of that so that when we come into times
of temptation and trials and opposition to realize it's the
hand of God upon us The hand of God upon us for our good,
and not for any evil toward us. It's there for our good because
of His love toward us. And in that condition, in that
situation, what is occurring, I believe, what occurs is this. The Spirit of God gradually weans
us from the things of time. The things perhaps that we wanted
to enjoy, perhaps want to enjoy and get involved with. And yet
we find that those situations have not prospered our soul.
And we found that the Lord has withdrawn himself from us. And
we find ourselves then overwhelmed, oppressed. We wonder what the
cause is, we wonder what the reason is. Sometimes it takes
quite a long time. But in the end, it's a blessing
when the Spirit of God directs us to realise the reason why
we perhaps have found ourselves in the situation. And when the
Lord directs us then to enable us to observe this, then you
see we can expect a time of deliverance, a time of favour, a time of blessing. Well, here was David running
away from King Saul, and here he was found in this cave, and
a cave is not a very comfortable place to live in. It's usually
pretty damp and cold, you don't see the sun really, and it's
not a pleasant place. And so, here we're told, what
does he do in this condition? Well, he cries unto the Lord
with his voice. It would appear that he was able
to speak out loud, no one there to hear him perhaps. He was able
therefore to speak with his voice. With my voice unto the Lord did
I make my supplication. I poured out my complaint before
him. I showed before him my trouble.
We get the impression, don't we, when something is poured
out, it flows out freely, doesn't it? And again, what a favor,
when the Lord God gives us that spirit of prayer, so that prayer,
as it were, is poured out of our hearts. And in such a situation,
It is the favour of God when he gives us that spirit of prayer
to be able to pour out, as David tells us, his complaint and to
show the Lord our trouble. The Lord, of course, knows our
complaint and he knows our trouble, but that doesn't alleviate us
from coming to God because we're told that he will be inquired
of by the house of Israel. He loves to hear. the voice of
his people, he loves to hear us calling upon his name in prayer
to seek his face to seek for his favour and to seek for his
blessing if we just carried on in our life without any difficulty
well one thing is pretty clear we wouldn't pray, at least we
wouldn't pray from our heart we might say a few formal prayers
we may mouth a few words by tradition but it wouldn't come from our
heart But when we have a real spiritual need, it's then, that
as it were, prayer is wrung out of us. There's no alternative,
we've nowhere else to go. And that's just where David was
at this time, and therefore explains to us his situation. He says, when my spirit was overwhelmed
within me, Sometimes, we may understand what he means when
our spirit is overwhelmed. That means we are really cast
down. Why art thou cast down, O my
soul, and why art thou disquieted within thee, says the psalmist,
hope thou in God. That's our place of refuge, that's
our place of support, isn't it? 61st Psalm that David tells us
from the end of the earth that means to be very far off from
the end of the earth when I cry unto thee when my heart is overwhelmed
now then we may sometimes feel at the end of the earth we may
feel sometimes cast out and cast off But in that situation, the
prayer, the cry of David was to this end. He says then, lead
me to the rock that is higher than I. He knew the place of
refuge. He knew the place of comfort. And what a favor for us when
we know that also. Doesn't mean to say we're not
going to come into these hard times, but nonetheless to pray
like this. And sometimes it almost seems
praying against our will. Our will perhaps doesn't want
God to lead us because we know that if God leads us, we'd have
to go in a path which perhaps we didn't really want to go in.
We thought we could somehow skirt round it. Well, let's be quite clear, God
has a path for you and me. And that path, we will walk in. However, we may try and avoid
it. That path, we will walk in. And the Lord will give us that
grace to come round eventually to be able to plead like this,
lead me, And it wasn't in an abstract way. It wasn't an abstract
form. There was reality in the cry,
in the prayer. And what does he say? Lead me
to the rock that is higher than I. And what, of course, is that
rock? None less than the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now here he was when my heart
is overwhelmed. Here he is when my spirit was
overwhelmed within me. Yes, it wasn't an unknown path.
And it won't be an unknown path. to the Church of God. We may
think, well, my way seems so difficult. It doesn't seem to
get any easier. And perhaps we feel like the hymn writer said,
as soon as one troubles awe, another doth him seize. It seems that we go from one
valley to another valley. We don't seem to come wholly
out of it at all. Well, the Lord, in his sovereign
mercy, knows what you and I need for the health of our souls.
You see, if we were left to deal with our souls, we would never
be healthy. We'd be lean and straggly. Wouldn't be any life
hardly at all in us. But you see, God, in his sovereign
mercy, brings his people in that right way. as we read in the
psalm, he led them forth by the right way, that they might go
to a city of habitation. And how blessed it is to think,
therefore, that there is that leading. And so, when we may
feel to be overwhelmed, remember to pray like this, lead me to
the rock, lead me to Christ. The Lord brings us to these situations
so that we do cry, we do pray, we do desire to be led to Christ
because in that position it'll be a comfort to our souls and
we will have the evidence the Lord is dealing with us in love
and mercy. He's drawing us to himself. There's no greater blessing to
be drawn to the Lord Jesus Christ and in that drawing position
to walk with him, by his side, by faith, to have a little understanding
of how he was overwhelmed. You see, we should not expect
to be any different, should we? We should not expect to be delivered
from a condition which brings no fellowship with the Saviour. we shall expect and hope that
by his grace we shall be found one day in glory, one day with
that saviour who has delivered, who's led, who saved our souls,
and will it not be that we will then understand a little of the
path that the saviour walked on this earth, that we shall
then appreciate a little of his great love toward us, And so
here we have then the testimony of the psalmist and let us not
forget here he is in the 61st Psalm commencing in a similar
way but as he comes down to the end of this Psalm he encourages
himself and may we be encouraged when he says he should abide
before God forever. Oh, prepare mercy and truth which
may preserve him. So will I sing praise unto thy
name forever, that I may daily perform my vows. And the Lord
does bring his people into a wealthy place, into a spiritually wealthy
place, so that we're able to say, with regards perhaps to
our spiritual life, it is good that I have been afflicted. We
don't like being afflicted naturally, do we? The people of God don't
like to be afflicted spiritually. But it is the path that the Lord
adopts to draw us to himself. And so we have this statement
of David in this 140 second psalm. When my spirit was overwhelmed
within me, then thou knewest my path. Yes, God knows the path.
And we all have an individual path. And we're thankful that
there are those accounts in the Word of God that we can compare
our little path and find some comfort as we read the path of
those saints of God who've gone before and they have been blessed
and have had the work of God fulfilled in their life and they
have arrived safely home in glory. In the way when I walked, Have
they privily laid a snare for me? Be sure of that. The devil's
there all the time trying to trip us up, trying to ensnare
us. And he's successful sometimes.
That's why you and I need to be on our watch, on our guard,
because he's ever anxious to bring us into his snares so that
we're taken prisoner, really, by him. And we don't have any
freedom. We're ensnared. Now here was
David telling us, in the way when I walked have they privately
laid a snare for me. You see it was a personal snare
for David. My friends, there are personal
snares which are set for you and set for me. We're not to
judge one another. And we're not to think, well,
I'm very surprised that person was taken in by that snare. We are never to speak in that
way because if you and I think we're strong in our own eyes,
strong in ourselves, be very sure of this, the Lord will soon
show how weak we are. He'll bring us down. The Word
of God tells us this. He weakened their strength in
the way. Our strength was weakened to
make us dependent not on our strength but on the Lord's strength
and to look to Him and therefore from the end of the earth to
look to the Lord that one who is able to come and able to deliver
us and so as we see snares set may we be able to avoid them
be on the lookout for them be aware the devil's trying to ensnare
us every day of our life Perhaps many times a day in our life,
and how easily sometimes we're taken in. How easily we are absorbed
by his cunningness. And the words are true, aren't
they? Oh fools and slave heart. That's what we are, isn't it?
Fools and slave heart. But what a mercy to have a God
who is so gracious, And so David comes and he tells us then, here
he was in this condition. He looks on his right hand, he
looked for help. Was there any help? There was
no man that would know me. No man. Refuge failed me. No man cared for my soul. That's a painful path. when we realise that no one is
caring for our soul. Everyone's carrying on their
life. And I realise how downcast we
are, how far off we are, how desperate we are, how afflicted
we are. It just seems nobody cares about
us. Well, you've got a companion
with David. That's how he felt. No man cared
for my soul." So what did he do? Did he fold his arms and
say, well, nothing I can do about it, let's just carry on, get
worse and worse? In that very difficult situation,
we're told the secret and we're told the way of escape. I cried
unto thee, O Lord, I cried unto thee, when we seem forsaken. We come down to that situation
and again understand what David said when he said in the 46th
Psalm, God is a refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. What a mercy to have such a God
who understands us, who knows where we are, who knows the pitfalls
that are before us. and causes us to come in this
way, just like David, and cry unto thee, O Lord." And you see,
David again had confidence in his God. And if you and I are
born again in the Spirit, it may be weak sometimes, but nonetheless
there will be that humble hope that God will look upon us. And
He won't cast us off as a cumbra of the ground, as the Word of
God describes it. But he will look upon us in mercy.
And so he says, I cried unto thee, O Lord. I said, thou art
my refuge. A refuge, of course, is a place
where we can hide. A place where we can get away
from those who would attack us. And in this case, a place where
we can hide from the devil. Yes, a refuge. Thou art my refuge. What a hiding place is our God. It's good, isn't it, to realise
that He is a refuge for His people. And again, it's a mercy when
God therefore causes us to realise the blessing of this. You don't
come into this, you don't realise the mercy of God, you don't realise
how kind and gracious He is as you walk along the highway without
any obstacles and any problems. But when the Lord comes and brings
us down to this kind of condition, we understand the favour of God
and are able to come hoping in God. Where's your hope today? Is it in God? Is it in yourself? Hope thou in God. That's the
encouraging word. Hope thou in God. That's what
David was here. He was hoping in his God. He
says, thou art my refuge, a humble confidence in his God. And you
and I need that, don't we? In our time of need to come to
our God. Thou art my refuge and my portion
in the land of the living. Well, what does God mean to you
and me today? What does he mean? Is he just a name? Or is he really
that one who we go to? He's our refuge, not only our
portion, our refuge, but our portion as well. That means the
one that we come to and the one that we like to converse with
and also to receive that spiritual food and encouragement from our
gracious Saviour. and my portion in the land of
the living." Well, this is the man who feels that refuge has
failed him and no man's caring for his soul. Let us not forget
this is the spiritual experience. He's not saying, well, people
don't care for my body. It's far deeper than that. My
friends, it doesn't matter very much about our body. It does
matter about our soul. Our soul lives forever. Our body
will perish in the grave and rot. But my friends, our soul
will live forever. Oh, how we need then God to be
merciful to us with regard to the health of our soul and to
really be concerned. The Lord will hear. He will hear
our cry and lead us to that rock that is higher than I. Now then, you will bless God
if through this course, through this path, you are led to the
Lord Jesus Christ and you are blessed with some favour and
some union and some communion with the Lord Jesus Christ. Because
in these conditions, when the Lord grants prayer, when he grants
prevailing prayer, it's through the Lord Jesus Christ. He is
the intercessor. He is the great high priest. And what a mercy to realise that
we have such a kind and gracious God who does hear and does take
our prayers and does present them to his father and sure it
will make then the Lord Jesus Christ not just a name but a
precious name because there's no one else that we can go to
it may seem our prayers just bounce back at us pray to God don't seem to make
any impact, bounce back at us, that's painful, that's difficult.
But then if a spirit comes and gives us that faith to be able
to say, for Jesus Christ's sake, there's a secret, and there's
the way of entrance into the holy place, for the merits of
the Lord Jesus Christ, then to appreciate the cost of that entrance. Yes, it wasn't just a formality. It cost the Lord Jesus Christ,
remember, the only begotten Son of God, his life. And he had
to endure and suffer a most painful death in order that he might
save his people, deliver his people from their sins, bring
them up out of this horrible pit. That's why, wasn't it, surely
David was again able to exclaim in that 40th Psalm the experience
and testimony of his own soul as he tells us, I waited patiently
for the Lord. Sometimes we are impatient, but
you know when the Lord shows us our guilt Shows us that we
deserve nothing Because of our sinful way and our hardness of
heart and our disobedience Then it is I believe the Lord does
give us that grace to wait patiently and It's his grace And so again,
David tells us, I waited patiently for the Lord, but he didn't wait
in vain. And if we're waiting for the Lord, we won't wait in vain. He tells
us, and he inclined unto me and heard my cry. Now the Lord will
incline unto us. He will hear our cry. He will
answer us. But you see, it's in his time
and for his honour and for his glory. And it's when we are brought
in down low as we read in this sixth verse, attend unto my cry
for I am brought very low, not just a mere theoretical position. But he was brought very low.
And here he was. Very low here. He brought me
up also out of a horrible pit. He was very low, wasn't he? And out of the M�ori clay. But
he wasn't left there. And that's the whole truth of
the word of God. His people are not left in this
condition. They are brought low. They are
brought into these times of trial and temptation. so that their
religion is real and tested. It really comes down to the question
that we just sang in our second hymn, in that second verse, that
great important question, do I love the Lord or no? We do
want that question answered, don't we? And you don't have
that question answered without any difficulty, without any trials,
without any opposition. No, it's when the Lord brings
us down and we're overwhelmed. It's then that we observe the
Lord's love toward us. It's then that we have the evidence
of His love toward us. It's then we go on and we're
rejoicing of His love toward us. And so, here is the testimony. He brought me up also out of
a horrible pit, out of the Mari clay. And what did he do? He took him and he set his feet
upon a rock, out of the Mari clay, out of the pit, set upon
this rock, the Lord Jesus Christ. We got ourselves, haven't we
often, into pits. We got ourselves into Mari clay.
We can't deliver ourselves out of it. He brought him out. He brings the people who got
out today. He doesn't leave us there. And the blessing is, He puts
us on the rock, He puts us on Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ. And in that position, He establishes
us in the things of God. Perhaps we became very weak,
perhaps we wandered off. Ah, the Lord knows, He knows
what we need. And established my goings, and
hath put a new song in my mouth. Do you know what that is? Do
you know what a new song is? Have you had a new song? I hope
we have. I hope we have perhaps many new songs. Praise unto our God. Praise unto
our God. Why? Because he hasn't dealt
with us our sins deserved. He hasn't cut us off has he? And so what's the effect? The
effect is for his honour and glory. We're told many shall
see it and fear and shall trust in the Lord. What a blessing
then, through our experience, through our testimony, that people
have moved to trust in the Lord, as they've seen the good hand
of God upon us. Well, here was David saying,
refuge fell me, no man cared for my soul. But when he cried
unto his God, in his low place. And he not only cried, but he
asked God. He cried to God. He said, attend
unto my cry. He didn't want God to pass him
by. It wasn't just a traditional prayer. He was in a real need.
And we are brought into real need sometimes. We have to say,
Lord, attend unto my cry. I do need an answer. Because I'm brought very low. Deliver me from my persecutors,
for they are stronger than I. Oh, what temptation sometimes
we pass through, and perhaps we fear the Lord will never look
upon us, will never look upon us again. We don't deserve any
favour from our God. But nonetheless, don't forget
the confidence that David had. Yes, as you look to the Lord.
You look to the Saviour. My friends, that's the only way
of deliverance for you and me. To look to the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a wonderful word, isn't
it? It bears repetition again and again. Those words in Isaiah,
look unto me. Be ye saved o'er the ends of
the earth, for I am God. And there is none else we need
to be reminded of that again and again and to come looking
to Jesus and to realize he is the author and the finisher of
our faith and so David comes and says bring my soul out of
prison that I may praise thy name the righteous shall compass
me about for thou shalt deal bountifully with me and just
to conclude remember the cry again of David in the 34th Psalm
he said they looked unto him now then that's a blessing again
look under him and were lightened yes the light shone and their
faces were not ashamed this poor man cried and God's people find
themselves like David poor man. This poor man cried. What happened? Was he ignored? And the Lord
heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of
the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him and delivereth
them. Oh, taste and see that the Lord
is good. Blessed is the man that trusteth
in him. Well, tonight, whatever condition
we may be in, may we be found looking under Jesus, may we be
found trusting in him, and may we have that humble confidence,
as David had in the midst of this cave experience, to be able
to come and say, for thou shalt deal bountifully with me a humble
confidence in his God, which he would prove to be true and
emanating from God himself. And may we also find the same. Amen.