Let us turn again to God's Word
in the Psalm that we read, the 142nd Psalm. And I want, with
the Lord's help this morning, to direct your attention for
a while to the words that we find at the end of this Psalm. Psalm 142 and verses 6 and 7.
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 the subject matter that lies
before us in these verses is that of the prisoners prayer
doesn't that form one of David's petitions in the verses here
at the beginning of verse 7 he cries out bring my soul out of
prison that I may praise thy name Psalm 142 does have a title and
as you know the titles are really a part of the inspired text And
so we should read the title of the psalm. As we read the psalm,
it's part of the Word of God. And here, as is often the case
with these titles, we're told something of the circumstances
that David found himself in when he was moved by the Spirit of
God to write the words of this psalm. It's a maskil of David,
The word masculine literally means giving instruction. It's a psalm to give instruction,
a prayer when he was in the cave. Now, we read, of course, that
portion in the first book of Samuel, beginning of that 22nd
chapter when we see David taking refuge in the cave at Adullam. There's another occasion also
when we find David. It seems hiding again in a cave
just a little later on there in 1st Samuel 24. We see him
in the wilderness of Engida as Saul is pursuing him. It came
to pass when Saul was returned from following the Philistines
that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness
of Engida. Then Saul took three thousand
chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his
men upon the rocks of the goats. And he came to the sheep coats
by the way, where was a cave. And Saul went in to cover his
feet, and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave." David
could have taken advantage of the situation on that particular
occasion but he didn't he didn't kill Saul he recognized that
Saul was indeed the Lord's anointed but David you see oftentimes
had to find refuge in some cave or some den of the earth and
remember when the apostle Paul speaks of those of the Old Testament
those of faith in Hebrews chapter 11 He mentions how oftentimes
they were to be found in dens and caves of the earth. And so here, this psalm was composed
by David. As I said, he is moved by the
Spirit of God, those holy men of God, Peter tells us, because
they were moved by the Spirit of God. And there, hiding himself
in the cave, most likely it was the cave at Dolom, rather than
that at Engida. But there, he makes his prayer
unto God, 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," he says here in the opening words
of the psalm. But we come this morning to consider
what he says here at the end of the psalm, the prisoner's
prayer. Bring my soul, he says, out of
prison, that I may praise thy name. And as we come to consider
the text, I want us, of course, to understand the spiritual significance
of the words. Whilst we've sought to say something
with regards to the very real situation and the physical danger
that David was in, as he has to flee from the rages of King
Saul. Yet surely there is a spiritual
interpretation to be made with regards to the words that we
have before us this morning. What is this spiritual interpretation? It brings my soul out of prison. These are the words of a man
who is concerned for the well-being of his soul. Here is a man who
has known something of the conviction of sin. He's aware of what his
natural condition is. He is one who is in bondage to
his fallen nature. He is one who is a sinner and
is imprisoned by his sin. Remember man's natural condition. All men by nature are in that
state where they are in bondage to sin, but they are so ignorant
of what their real state is. They're ignorant because they
are those who are spiritually dead. And when the apostle writes
in those various epistles, Oh, he reminds us time and again
of the natural state of men. Writing there in Romans chapter
3 at verse 9, Paul says, We have before proved that both Jews
and Gentiles, that they are all under sin. All men are under
sin. they are in bondage and we see
it again when Paul writes in the epistle to the Galatians
he speaks there once more of what man's natural state what
man's natural condition is in Galatians chapter 4 for example
and there at verse 3 he says even when we were children we
were in bondage under the elements or the rudiments of the world
and he goes on to speak in the way of analogy he speaks of Sarah
and Hegel the two wives of Abraham and he says concerning Agar. This is Mount Sinai, he says,
in Arabia, there at verse 25. And answereth to Jerusalem, which
now is, and is in bondage with her children. The Jews in bondage. In bondage to what they are as
sinners. And yet how these sinners so
vainly imagine that they are free. Oh, the Jews, for example, were
so convinced they were the children of Abraham they were not in bondage.
They were those who imagined that all would be well when they
made that great claim that Abraham was their father. Again, the
language that we find in the Gospel there in John chapter
8 The Jews say to the Lord Jesus, 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 cometh of sin is the servant,
or the slave, of sin. And that's true not only with
regards to the Jew, but that is also the case with regards
to the Gentile. As Paul said, we have proved
both Jews and Gentiles, they're all under sin. Men are in that
state of bondage, they're imprisoned to what they are, though they
might like to imagine that they have a will that is free and
they can make their choices. If they will, they can decide.
and they can decide for the Lord Jesus Christ, but it is such
a fallacy. Man's will is bound up with his
nature, and his nature is a fallen nature. We often speak in terms
of that little mnemonic tulip concerning the five points of
Calvinism. And remember what the initial
letter, the T, stands for. It speaks of man's condition.
And man is totally deprived. He is totally deprived. He is
a fallen creature. He is unable of himself to do
anything spiritually good. He is in bondage. He is one who
is in prison. And this is how we are to understand
David's petition here at the beginning of verse 7. Bring my
soul out of prison, he says, that I may praise thy name. No
man can praise God unless he knows that deliverance from his
natural state. What we have here then is that
spiritual conviction that must come into the soul of a man.
Oh, it is a great mercy, is it not? when we're those who are
made so very much aware, so conscious of what our condition is. And this is the ministry of the
Lord of God. When Paul writes again to the
church at Rome, he reminds them. Now, he says, we know that all
by nature are under sin. He speaks about how the law is
that ministration, that ministration of condemnation, and that ministration
of death. That's the point, that's the
purpose of it. That's the lawful use of the
law of God. And there in writing to the Romans
in chapter 3 and verse 19, he speaks of that ministration of
the law. We know that what thing soever
the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every
mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before
God. Therefore by the deeds of the
law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. For by the law
is the knowledge of sin." Well here is the great purpose of
it. to stop the mouths of men, to bring all the world guilty
before God, to make the sinner see and understand what his real
condition is. It is a great mercy if we are
those who are brought to pray in the language of David here
in the psalm, bring my soul out of prison. or if we are those
who really want and long to know that deliverance from all the
guilt and all the bondage of our sins it is a mercy I say
there are many striking words that we find in another psalm
in psalm 68 and verse 6 it says he bringeth out those which are
bound with chains But the rebellious dwell in a dry land. What a contrast
we see there, the rebellious. Those who are so ignorant of
what their real condition is. Those who rebel against the Word
of God. Who find God's Word so offensive
when it speaks of man as a sinner. All they are dwelling in a dry
land. Ah, but those who feel their
bondage Those who have to confess that they are so bound with chains
and they can never release themselves, it is God who delivereth them. He bringeth out those which are
bound with chains. But the rebellious dwell in a
dry land. And where do we stand, you see,
with regards to that striking contrast that we have there in
the 68th Psalm? We must stand one side or the
other. or with those who are made to
feel anything of our natural condition, our sad states by
nature. Again in another Psalm, Psalm
88, the Psalmist cries out, I am shut up and I cannot come forth. Or when the sinner feels himself
shut into that prison, and he wants deliverance and he cannot
deliver himself he cannot release himself he cannot of himself
come forth this is the work of the Spirit of God this is God
the Spirit working that conviction in the soul of the sinner as
he comes and as he applies the law of God and makes that man
to feel what he is and how his condition is so hopeless, so
helpless. He cannot, for a moment, release
himself. He shutteth up a man, says Job,
and there can be no opening. Or when God shuts the man up,
and shuts the man up to what he is by nature, it is a fearful
experience. And yet, strangely, In the dealings
of God, it is but the beginning of God's mercy to that poor sinner. Look at the language again that
we find in the book of the Lamentations. Over there, Jeremiah is lamenting, of course,
the fall of Jerusalem. He sees the desolations that
have come as the Babylonians have overrun the city and destroyed
the temple and taken the people off into exile. But then, there's also that personal
element. Again, he feels his own spiritual
state and confesses it, particularly in that third chapter. Read the third chapter of the
book of the Lamentation. What does the prophet say? Verse
6, He hath set me in dark places, a sabre that be dead of old.
He hath hedged me about that I cannot get out. He hath made
my chain heaven. Also, when I cry and shout, He
shutteth out my prayer. He hath enclosed my ways with
hewn stone. He hath made my ways crooked.
Oh, God is dealing with him. And God is showing him what he
is by nature. bringing to the end of any confidence,
any trust in himself. What can the sinner do? The sinner
can do nothing to help himself, to save himself. But this, as
I said, is the beginning of God's work. It's a good work. Paul
says to the Galatians before faith came, we were kept under
the law, shut up, to the faith which should afterward be revealed. And this is David, he's shut
up. Oh yes, in a very real physical sense, he's in the cave. But
he knew what it was in his own soul to feel spiritually imprisoned
and unable to deliver himself. But there is deliverance. And
all of that deliverance is in the person and in the work of
the Lord Jesus Christ. The language that we have there
in the book of the Prophet Zechariah, in Zechariah 9. By the blood
of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit
wherein is no water. Or where is the deliverance?
It's by the blood of the covenant. Or that New Testament sealed
with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, those who would
pray with David and make this their cry, bring my soul out
of prison, or they do not pray in vain, there is deliverance.
And that deliverance, I say again, is only in the Lord Jesus Christ. Bring my soul out of prison,
that I may praise thy name. What we have here, what we have
throughout the psalm, of course, is the cry of faith. That is
the language of prayer. Without faith, it is impossible
to please God. He that cometh to Him must believe
that He is, and that He is a rewarder of all that diligently seek Him. The very title, as we've said,
of the psalm is so important. It's a prayer. a prayer when
he, that is David, was in the cave. And what do we have here
in the words that we announced at the outset of our text, verses
6 and 7? We find particular petitions. He asks for specific things. Attend unto my cry, he says,
for I am brought very low. He wants God to hear him. He
wants to be assured that he is not praying in vain, that he
really does have the ear of God. Attend unto my cry. Deliver me from my persecutors. Oh, how he felt it, you see,
pursued by Saul and all those chosen men of Israel. Fleeing
in the wilderness. He wants deliverance from those
who are his persecutors. Bring my soul out of prison,
that I may praise thy name. It's a prayer. Now, you know
the significance, the importance of prayer. Where does spiritual
life begin? Does it not begin with prayer?
If you have any spiritual life in your soul you'll know something
of what prayer is there is the beginning, there
is the evidence that God is doing something in the soul of a man
when that man is brought to call upon the name of the Lord those who are much troubled with
regards to the doctrine of election they cannot know whether or not they are
of the election of grace and it troubles them and it torments
them and we know the secret things belong unto the Lord our God
and the Lord knoweth them that are his election is God's secret
will but we are bidden certainly to make our election sure Remember
the language of Peter? Give all diligence, he says,
to make your calling and election sure. But it's interesting that
he puts the calling before the election. When we think of God's
great purpose, of course, election stands first in the purpose of
God. and the effectual calling is that that the elect will experience
here upon earth in the appointed time. But when it comes to the
matter of our assurance how those two are reversed. We have to
attend first the matter of our calling. It's only as we examine
that matter that we can understand whether or not with those who
are eternally elected by God. We're to give all diligence to
make our calling and our election sure. How can we know whether
or not we're those who have been called by God? Well, where God
calls, He will put that in the hearts of His children whereby
they will respond, they will call. None can be beforehand
with God, He calls us. And as God calls us, effectually. So we have to call upon His name,
we have to cry to Him, we have to pray to Him. And there is
the mark, you see. There is the mark of election.
Do you call upon God? Do you cry to God? Do you seek
to pour out your soul before God? Here is the beginning of
spiritual life. That spiritual life is evidenced
by real prayers to God. The Lord Jesus speaks of His
own elect, God's own elect, He says, which cry day and night
unto Him. There's the mark. Crying to God,
calling upon God. We see it, do we not, in the
case of Saul of Tarsus. He was a Hebrew of the Hebrews,
of the tribe of Benjamin, a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. He lived
a most religious life. Doubtless he said his prayers
daily, he observed all the appointed hours of prayer. And yet, the
striking thing is that when the Lord Jesus Christ calls him by
his grace, and we have the record there in Acts chapter 9, and
here Saul is the great persecutor of these Christians, and he has
obtained letters from the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem and
he's now gone to Antioch to lay violent hands upon those Christian
believers and the Lord deals with him, the Lord meets with
him and you know the detail as it's
recorded there, how he's struck with blindness and he's taken
into the city and there's a believer there by the name of Ananias.
And Ananias is directed to go to the street called Straight
and he's to lay hands upon this persecutor that he might have
his sight restored to him. What a strange command it was
that came to Ananias. He wouldn't have known, really,
anything of what had been going on in the soul of that man unless
the Lord made it known to Ananias. But Ananias is assured that all
will be well. And this is the assurance that's
given to him concerning the state of that man's soul. It says in
verse 11 of Acts 9, Behold, he prayeth. Behold, he prayeth. Oh, there's the mark, the evidence
of the grace of God. That spiritual life in the soul
of Saul is seen in that he prays. He prays to God. And we see here
in the psalm how David prays. Oh, what prayer! He says in verse
2, I poured out my complaints before him. I showed before him
my trouble. At times, words completely failed
David. He says in Psalm 38, all my groaning
is before them. Or all my desire is before them.
And my groaning is not hid from them. Oh, he had to groan in
his prayer. Oftentimes His prayers were little
more than sighs. It's not great words. It's not having a wonderful gift
whereby we can articulate and say wonderful things. No, it's
those sighs and those cries. How the Spirit helps all our
infirmities. He maketh intercession for us,
says the Apostle, with groanings. that cannot be uttered. I poured
out my complaint. The Lord invites His people to
come even with their complaints, with their troubles. Take with
you words, He says through the prophet Hosea, take with you
words, turn to the Lord and say take away all iniquity and receive
us graciously. Oh we have to come you see, we
have to come with our confessions remember the language of John
there at the end of that first chapter in his first general
epistle what does he say if we say that we have no sin we deceive
ourselves and the truth is not enough If we confess our sins,
He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned,
we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us. Oh, if God's Word
is in us! If we know anything of the truth
of God's Word, we'll have to come as sinners, we'll have to
come and make our confessions, just as David does. Verse 5,
he says, I cried unto thee, O Lord, I said, Thou art my refuge and
my portion in the land of the living." All spiritual life,
where does it begin in the soul of a man? What is the evidence
of it? The man prays, behold, says the angel to Ananias, oh
look at this Ananias, consider this man, he's a praying man,
behold, He prayeth. And as spiritual life begins
with prayer, so that life continues in prayer. It continues in prayer. Luke 18, we're told, Our Christ
spake a parable unto them, that men ought always to pray and
not to faint. Well, there's the purpose of
the parable. that men ought always to pray,
continually to pray. Or we faint. How often we faint
in prayers. Certainly, I have to confess,
that's my experience. More fainting than praying really.
And we have to persevere by the grace of God. Why Paul gives
that exhortation when he writes to the Thessalonians. He says
to them, pray without ceasing. Don't cease to pray. Keep on
praying. As the spiritual life begins
in prayer, so that life must continue in prayers. And it will
not be in vain. Look at what David says here
in verse 3. When my spirit was overwhelmed
within me, then thou knewest my power. this is the language
of faith, this is the life of faith he was able to discern
that God was with him even when he was overwhelmed when he's
completely at the end of himself he knows that God is with him
then thou knewest my path God knows God knows all about him or when
we come to pray to God it's not that we're Imagining for a moment
that we're able to inform him of matters that he's ignorant
of, he knows all things. He knows the end from the beginning,
but he will have his people come and pray to him. And this is
what David is doing in the midst of all his troubles. Oh yes, there's that conviction
of his sin, that sense that his soul is in prison, he cannot
deliver himself, he cannot release himself. What can he do? He can only cry to God. I cried
unto the Lord with my voice. He comes in the language of prayer. He comes in the language of faith. And where does faith centre?
It always centres in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we see Christ
here in this psalm. Oh, in a sense the psalm is messianic. Some people say, all the psalms
are messianic. And the Lord Jesus did say to
the Jews, search the Scriptures, they testify of me. Surely we
see the Lord Jesus Christ here 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. Oh how the Lord Jesus has
to suffer alone, forsaken by all. There in Zechariah 13, smite
the shepherd, it says. Smite the shepherd and the sheep
shall be scattered. And so it was. So it was. We're told there in Mark's account,
of the Lord Jesus when they came to arrest him in the Garden of
Gethsemane and they all forsook him and fled. He was forsaken. I looked on my right hand and
beheld but there was no man that would know me. Refuge found me. No man cared for my soul. All this psalm, it speaks of
Christ and all that we might discern the Lord Jesus Christ.
You see, He is that one who is touched with the feeling of all
our infirmities. He was tempted in all points
like as we are, yet without seeing. When we feel so much alone, so
forsaken, so much misunderstood, are we not to look to the Lord
Jesus Christ who knows this path? The petition that we have here
in the seventh verse, bring my soul out of prison. How is that prayer answered? It's answered in the Lord Jesus
Christ. There's that lovely word, that
wonderful verse that we find in the book of Job, in chapter
33 and verse 24, deliver him from going down to the pit. I
have found a ransom. Oh, there's deliverance from
the pit. There's deliverance from the prison. Why? Because
God has found a ransom. The Lord Jesus Christ is that
One who has paid the price. He has redeemed His people. He
has satisfied all those demands of God's holy law. All God is
a holy God and a just God and a righteous God who can by no
means clear the guilty. His justice must be satisfied. The soul that sinneth it shall
die. The wages of sin is death. It
must be punished. If the prisoner is going to go
free The debt he owes must be paid. And this is what the Lord
Jesus Christ has done. I have found a ransom price,
says God. Why the Lord himself has made
that provision, has he not? The Lord Jesus Christ is here
in this psalm. We see him in verse 4. We see
him as that one who was paid the great ransom price. Or do
we not see him when we take account of the circumstances? There is
David. And he goes to the cave. And what do we read? We read
it there in verse 2 of 1 Samuel 22. Everyone that was in distress,
everyone that was in debt, everyone that was discontented, the Hebrew
the margin tells us is literally everyone that was bitter of soul
gathered themselves onto him and he became a captain over
them and there were with him about 400 men who all these gather
onto David there in the cave and what do we read in in Genesis
49 when Jacob dying Jacob blesses his 12 sons the blessing that
comes upon Judah and he speaks of Shiloh or the Lord Jesus comes
of that tribe of Judah the Lord Jesus is Shiloh and it says unto
him shall the gathering of the people be all those you see you
feel bitter in their soul All those who are so sorely afflicted,
why they are to gather unto the Lord Jesus Christ? Does he not
say, Come unto me, all ye that labour? And I have elated, and
I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest
unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, my burden
is light. All there is rest, you see. the
cave of Dollum, it literally means a resting place. It's the
resting place. The Lord Jesus is that one that
sinners must come to in order to find rest. Bring my soul out
of prison, it says, that I may praise thy name. Though ultimately, The great
consequence of all this is the glory of God. It's the salvation
of sinners that's in the Lord Jesus Christ, but isn't that
the glory of God? That God is not only the One
who is the Creator and the Sustainer, but God is that One who is the
Saviour of the sinful sons of men. All the Lord Jesus Christ
is here. But then also, and finally this
morning, is there not in this passage
that glorious truth of the communion of saints? The end of verse 7 he says, "...the
righteous shall compass me about, for they shall deal bountifully
with me." In the Apostles Creed We confess not only belief in
God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, but also we believe in one holy,
catholic and apostolic church. That's not the Roman church,
that's the true church, the universal church. And then again I believe
in the communion of saints. Oh, it's a precious truth, is
it not? The communion of saints Here is David, and he goes to
the cave. And what do we read? When he goes to Nob, to the priest of Himalek,
he's alone. The beginning of chapter 21 there
in 1 Samuel. Why aren't they alone? And no
man with thee, asked the priest. But when he departs and escapes
to the cave we're told his brethren and all his father's house heard
it and they went down there to him. And everyone that was in
distress and everyone that was in debt and everyone that was
discontented or bitter of soul gathered themselves onto him
and he became a captain over them and there were with him
about 400 men. Lord David is no more alone. You see what God does? He sets
the solitary in family. Sometimes we feel that we're
so different, different to everybody else. Has anyone ever really
had my experience? I suppose all of our experiences
in a sense are unique. Of course they are. The Lord
deals with us in that way individually. But what a comfort it is when
we talk to fellow believers and discover that we can relate to the things
that they are saying that there are those aspects of the Lord's
dealings with them that answer our experiences Oh God set us
as solitary in families and when we speak of the communion of
saints it's not just the Lord's living people There in Hebrews, in Hebrews
11, we have that tremendous catalogue of those of faith, those from
the days of the Old Testament. And various individuals, as you
know, are spoken of in that great chapter. And then when we come
to the end of the chapter, Hebrews 11, Verse 36, we're told, others
had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, of
bonds and imprisonments. They were stoned, they were sworn
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 worthy. They wandered in deserts and
in mountains and in dens and caves, of the earth. And Paul comes to a conclusion,
then we come over into chapter 12, and he's still really continuing
with the same theme. And what does he say? We're foreseeing
we also are compassed about it. We're so great a cloud of witnesses. Or we're encompassed, you see.
The communion of saints, why? We can enjoy the communion of
saints when we read our Bibles. we can have communion with saints
like David and we feel at one with David
and we feel so thankful that the Lord has left on record the
experiences of this man this man after God's own heart what
a blessing it is we can have fellowship with Bible saints,
Old Testament, New Testament when Paul writes there to the
Philippians at the end of the first chapter he says unto you
it is given in the behalf of Christ not only to believe on
him but also to suffer for his sake having the same conflict
which he saw in me and now here to be in me they have fellowship
with Paul but we can also have fellowship with Paul Can we not
relate to the writings of the Apostle when we read such chapters
as Romans chapter 7? And we thank God that these things
are left upon record, they're all written for our learning.
It is a precious truth, the communion of saints. But it is that also that we have
to recognize as being important with regards to our coming together,
the corporate worship of God. the place of public prayer, when
we gather together in this fashion, Lord's Day by Lord's Day. Is
there not a purpose in it? It's all there in Hebrews chapter
10, not forsaking, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together
as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another and so
much more as you see the day approaching. or are we not those
who should be exhorting one another encouraging one another in our
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs the communion of saints and this is what David knew and
experienced the righteous he says shall compass me about for
thou shalt deal bountifully with my soul it was part of God's
great goodness his bountiful goodness to David that there
were those whom he knew and their experiences were the same experiences
and they were an encouragement to him and he doubtless was an
encouragement unto them. Oh how strange it is! David could
say in verse 4, I looked on my right hand and beheld but there
was no man that would know me, refuge found me, no man cared
for my soul, that's how he felt, but then the righteous shall
encompass me about, for they shall deal bountifully with my
soul. Oh the Lord be pleased then to
bless to us this morning David's prayer here in the psalm. 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 they shall deal bountifully with me." May the
Lord bless his word to us. Amen. Let us conclude our worship this
morning as we sing the hymn 989. The tune is Balaam 92. Ye captive souls, in fetters
bound, who feel your misery, the way to liberty is found,
the sun shall make you free. Hear the Redeemer's gracious
call. Poor captives, come to me, into
my arms for freedom fall. and I'll make you free, 989.