I want us to turn to the 142nd
psalm. We'll read the 142nd psalm and you'll see the significance
of the short portions that we have just read in 1st Samuel
from what we have as the title of this psalm. It's a maskil
of David which of course means a psalm to give instruction,
a prayer when he was in the cave. I cried unto the Lord with my
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. When my spirit was overwhelmed
within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I
walked, if they privily laid a snare for me, 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. I cried unto thee,
O Lord. I said, Thou art my refuge and
my portion in the land of the living. Attend unto my cry, for
I am brought very low. Deliver me from my persecutors,
for they are stronger than I. 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 taking up then this prayer for deliverance or the
prisoners prayer And really the text is those words at the beginning
of verse 17, bring my soul out of prison. This is his prayer
when he was in the cave. Bring my soul, he says, out of
prison. It's interesting, isn't it, how
we read of the the godly, the men, the women of faith there
in the Old Testament in that catalogue that we have in the
11th chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews and many different
individuals, various names are spoken of but Paul as he comes
to the end acknowledges that the time would fail him. What
more could he say? He has little to say about some
of the great heroes. He just mentions in passing Gideon,
Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, all the prophets. And
then he goes on to speak of the experiences of these saints of
old. Verse 37, They were stoned, they
were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They
wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute,
afflicted, tormented. of whom the world was not worth,
they wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and
caves of the earth. And of course amongst these characters
is David, the sweet psalmist of Israel. And we have those
two incidents. It's difficult to know which
of the two is being referred to in the title of the psalm.
Was it the cave at Adullam, or was it that cave where he was
hiding in the sides when the king Saul entered in, the cave
at En-Gedi? It was one or the other. But
as we come to look at the psalm, and in particular at these words
at the beginning of verse 7, I really want to address really the spiritual
significance, the spiritual interpretation. What does it tell us concerning
the states of the soul of the man of God? In another Psalm,
Psalm 66, we have those words, Come and hear all ye that fear
God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul. And
here, of course, David is very much concerned about his soul,
not so much his physical condition. He says, bring my soul out of
prison. And I want to mention some three
things then as we consider this prayer for soul deliverance. First of all, where there is
such a prayer, there must first of all be that sense of sin,
that conviction of sin. We know what the natural condition
of all people is really. All by nature are in a state
of bondage, having bondage to sin. The very notion of free
will is nothing more than fallacy. But men, of course, are so ignorant
of their real condition before God because they are those who
are dead in trespasses and sins. And that's true. That's true
of all people. It's true of Christian believers
by nature. Where are we? Well, you know
the words of Ephesians 2, "...you hath he quickened who were dead
in trespasses and sins." wherein in time past ye walked according
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation in
times past, in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children
of wrath even as others, with those who by nature then being
dead in sin we're in bondage to what our fallen nature is. And this is the truth that Paul
seeks to establish in his ministry as he makes plain when he writes
to the church at Rome there in the third chapter. He says we
have before proved both Jews and Gentiles that they are all
under sin. There is bondage then that's
the condition of Jew and Gentile by nature and again Paul writing
in the epistle to the Galatians and there in chapter 4 and verse
3 says even so we when we were children were in bondage under
the elements of the world and he goes on to speak of Jerusalem
which now is which is in bondage with her children even those
Jews so privileged in the Old Testament what were they by nature?
well they were as others and they still are in that bondage
they recognize not him who has come as the promised one the
Messiah of God and how often in scripture we have references
to this awful prison that the natural man, the unbeliever is
in in Zechariah 9 verse 11, prisoners in the pits wherein is no water. What an awful state. And yet,
we know our sinners vainly imagine that they have free will, that
they can make choice if they would. and the Lord, the Lord
himself in the course of his ministry, how he reminds those
Jews what their real state was. We have the language there in
the 8th chapter of John's Gospel as the Lord is very much addressing
those Jews who were continually, of course, opposing him and seeking
to find fault with him. In that 8th chapter at verse
33. They answered Him, We be Abraham's
seed, and were never in bondage to any man. O sayest thou, Ye
shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant
of sin. And all have sinned, all have
sinned and come short of God's glory. All are in bondage to
sin. That is the teaching of the Lord
Jesus even as he addresses the Jews in his own day. The natural
condition of men then is that of bondage to what they are. The will is not free. Man's nature
is a fallen nature. He's in that state of rebellion
against God. What a mercy then when the sinner
is made conscious of that condition. when he comes to know his real
state. And another psalm, Psalm 68,
we read, Of God he bringeth out those which are bound with chains,
but the rebellious dwell in a dry land. And there is a contrast
there, of course, in those parallel statements. There are those who
are brought out, those who are bound in their chains, those
who feel their awful bondage, but then in contrast there are
the rebellious ones, and they continue to dwell in a dry land. It is a great mercy when God
then brings us to our senses, as it were, and makes us see
what we are and where we are. I am shut up and I cannot come
forth, says Heman in Psalm 88. Oh, it is the work of the Spirit,
is it not? There must be that awakening
in the soul, there must be that work of regeneration in the heart
of a man to cause him to feel what he is, to learn the awful
doctrine of his total depravity, his inability to do anything
for himself. Job says, He shutteth up a man,
and there can be no opening. The Lord brings His people to
that. He brings them to that state where they're at the end
of themselves. And it's the experience of so
many. It's there in Jeremiah. And He
speaks in that book of Lamentations, especially in the third chapter.
And there at verses 6, and seven, he hath set me, says Jeremiah,
in dark places. As they that be dead of old,
he hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out, he hath made
my chain heaven. Who is he speaking of? He's speaking
of God and God's dealings with him to bring him to that state
where he knows something about himself and his true state and
condition before God. And that is true of all who come
to save in faith. Before faith came we were kept
under the law, shut up to the faith which would afterward be
revealed, is the language of the Apostle to those Galatians
there in chapter 3 and verse 23. I read this recently. Speaking
of redemption, redemption is always intended to set before
us that we are in bondage and captivity. Who need to be ransomed? They are those who feel their
awful bondage. They are captive to what they
are by nature. Or they need to know that redemptive
love of the Lord God. There is then with those who
are in that awful prison, that realization that they're in bondage
and captivity and cannot release themselves. So what do we see? We see faith. And we see the
cry of faith here. This is a prayer. The words of
our text. We have a particular petition.
We know that the content of the whole psalm is a prayer. That's
the title, isn't it? A prayer. When David was in the cave. And here is David's particular
prayer and petition. Bring my soul out of the prison
is what he asked the Lord to do. And we know that this is
really the first evidence of spiritual life entering into
the soul of that man who has been quickened by the Spirit
of God. We see it so strikingly in the experience of the Apostle,
who was such a religious man, who was a Pharisee, the son of
a Pharisee, schooled at the feet of one of the great rabbis, Gamaliel,
He could boast of his Jewish pedigree to the church at Philippi,
but he was brought, of course, to count all those things as
nothing but dross and dung. And yet we know, as a Pharisee,
he must have made many prayers. He would have observed all the
set hours of prayer. He knew what prayer was. He thought
he knew what prayer was, but What were his prayers? They were
just a form of godliness. But there was nothing of the
power of God in his soul at that time. But when we see him, after
the Lord meets with him at the very gate of Damascus and he's
led blinded into the city and that faithful disciple of the
Lord, Ananias, is sent to anoint his eyes, how that man is reassured
that there's something different in saw the persecutor and we
have those words don't we in Acts 9.11 behold he prayeth well
that was the assurance given to Ananias that this man is a
praying man you'll find him there in the street called strait and
he's praying his own elect which cry day and night unto him And
here we see it in the psalm, the second verse, I poured out
my complaint before Him, I showed before Him my trouble. Isn't
that what prayer is? To pour out our souls into the
bosom of God Himself. He bids us to come to Him. That's
the amazing thing. Take with you words, turn to
the Lord, say, take away all iniquity, receive us graciously. Oh, He is faithful and just.
to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I love those words there at the
end of that opening chapter of John's first epistle. And though he rests in the justice
of God, he is faithful, he is just to forgive us our sins. There is a ransom that has been
paid. The Lord Jesus Christ has paid
that awful price for the sinner, and in the Saviour the sinner
finds all that he could ever desire. Now David here in the
psalm is crying then to his God. Look at the language that we
have in verse 5. I cried unto thee, O LORD. I
said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the
living. Attend unto my cry, for I am
brought very low. Deliver me from my persecutors,
for they are stronger than I. Oh, how we know something of
our persecutors. Be it Satan, be it the world,
be it our own selves, our fallen nature. This body of sin and
death that we are continually carrying about with us. Who can deliver us? Oh, deliver
me. from my persecutors, says David,
for they are stronger than I. But that spiritual life begins
with prayer, as we see in the case of Saul who became Paul. So spiritual life also is that
life that continues in prayer. And that's why sometimes one's
brought to wonder, do I have any spiritual life at all? What
do I know of prayers? The Apostle gives that exhortation
to the Thessalonians, pray without ceasing. Pray without ceasing. And he's only echoing the words
of the Lord Jesus, and we speak a parable unto them that men
ought always to pray and not to faint. That was the point,
the purpose of the Lord's parable, to teach his disciples that men
ought always to pray And what a wonderful thing it
is when the Lord is dealing with a man to bring him to that situation
where he must pray. Look at what David is saying
here in verse 3. When my spirit was overwhelmed
within me, then thou knewest my path. It's when and it's then. When my spirit was overwhelmed
When I was brought completely utterly to the end of self, then,
then there was my path. God was in it. God was in all
those persecutions, in all David's wanderings. Isn't that what David
is saying? Oh, that's the life of faith.
In that life of faith he could discern that God was with him. And we know that's, of course,
the great promise, isn't it, that the Lord makes those familiar
words of Isaiah 43,2, When thou passest through the waters, I
will be with thee, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow
thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon them. Or when my spirit was overwhelmed
within me, then thou knewest my path or the Lord knoweth them
that are his and so what do we have in the psalm it's a prayer
but it's all the language of faith that spiritual life that begins
in prayer that continues in prayer or that might be true of Miriam
and true of you but then ultimately what we have here surely in the
psalm is Christ the centrality of our Lord Jesus Christ in the
scriptures in verse 4 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 wasn't that true of the Lord Jesus at the end,
or there at the end, how the Saviour did suffer. He was deserted. We're told,
aren't we, in the Gospel, Mark 14 and verse 5, rather verse
50, how they all forsook Him and fled. They all forsook Him
and fled. It's prophesied in the book of
Zechariah that that would be the Lord's sad experience there
in chapter 13 and verse 7. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,
against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts. Smite
the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. And so it was.
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. How is the deliverance for those
who are in the pit or in the cave, in prison? Well, that lovely
verse in Job 33, 24, Deliver him from going down to the pit.
I have found a ransom. There's the deliverance. The
deliverance is in Him who has paid the great ransom price,
the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. But remember how the language
that we have in the portion that we were reading where in that
22nd chapter of 1 Samuel we see David in the cave at Adolim. And we're told, aren't we, in
the second verse, how everyone that was in distress, and everyone
that was in debt, and everyone that was discontented, gathered
themselves unto him, and he became a captain over them, and there
were with him four hundred men. They gathered themselves unto
David, these poor debtors, these distressed sinners, These discontented,
bitter of soul, I like the margin reading, that's what the Hebrew
literally says, according to the margin. Oh, they were so
distressed, bitterness of soul was their portion, they felt
their sins. But they gathered unto David
there at the cave. Well, surely there's a greater
than David in that statement. Is it not the Lord Jesus Christ? Unto Him shall the gathering
of the people be. When we see David in the cave,
can we not discern something of the Lord Jesus Christ? He says, Doesn't He come unto
me all ye that labour and are heavy laden? I will give you
rest. Take my yoke upon you. Learn of me, for I am meek and
lowly in heart. Oh, there's rest for the soul.
in coming to the Lord Jesus Christ. And the word Adolim is interesting.
I know there are some chapels that have been given that name.
Often chapels are given simple names like a Bethel, or a Zion,
maybe a Bethesda, but you hear of one or two that are simply
called Cave Adolim. It seems a strange name to give
a building where you meet to worship God, but of course the
word Adolim literally means a resting place. A resting place. And that's what we have in the
Lord Jesus, that one place where we can rest. Bring my soul out of prison that
I may praise thy name. There's the consequence of the
deliverance It's not only ease and comfort for the sinner, but
it's ultimately all to the glory of God. That I may praise thy
name. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name give glory for thy mercy and for thy truth's
sake, we read in another psalm. It's all then to the glory of
God. He is the one who alone can deliver
his people and bring them to that place of rest and they're
in company aren't they with the righteous ones or they're a group
of justified sinners here 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. Oh, the Lord be pleasing to bless
his word to us tonight. Amen. Very few, but it's good to have
Cliff with us to lead us in prayer. But before we turn to prayer,
we'll sing our second praise. We're going to sing the hymn
989 and the tune is Oozlewell, is
that 201? 201. Ye captive souls in fetters bound,
who feel your misery, the way to liberty is found, the sun
shall make you free. 989, tune 201.