The title of the message is The
Cave of Prayer. The Cave of Prayer. The title of this psalm is very
important. Psalm 142, the title is given
Mashiel, of David, 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 supplications. 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 have they privately laid a snare for me. I looked on my
right hand and beheld, and 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. David said, I cried unto the
Lord with my voice. This prayer of David took place
when he was being pursued by Saul and his bloodhounds. It
was a time when David's only refuge was the gloom and solitude
of a cave. A time when he was alone. A time
when there was no man for help. David was in the solitude of
this cave, and yet it was this instance the psalmist recalls
to instruct us as to how we are to order our prayers, and how
it is that we should come before the presence of God, who alone
is able to give us our petition. This word, mashiel, Mashiel of
David, it means to teach or to instruct. In other words, this
is the instruction of David. The instruction of David. Now, believers, we know this,
that all Scripture is given by the inspiration of God and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and
for instruction in righteousness. Dear child of God, is it not
needful for us to be instructed in this matter of prayer? Who among us does not need to
be instructed as to how to pray? Is that not what the disciples
asked our Lord? They said, Lord, teach us to
pray. Are we so affluent in the language
and syntax of prayer that we need no instruction? Do we not need any lessons in
prayer? Remember what the apostle said
in Romans chapter eight. He said, we know not what to
pray for as we ought to know. And the more I grow in grace,
the more I realize this, I don't know what to pray for. You would
assume that it would be the opposite. You would assume as a man grows
in grace, that if a man grows in understanding of the Lord
Jesus Christ, that he should be able more to know what to
pray for. But I'm realizing this. The more
I understand of myself, I am nothing at all. I don't know what to pray for.
But this is why the Holy Spirit intercedes for us. This is why
we need the Spirit of God. So as we pray to God, as we approach
to the throne of God's grace, the Spirit of God intercedes
for us in our prayers. Because we don't know what to
pray. So by no means are we too knowledgeable about prayer. For prayer is a very mysterious
thing. You know that? Do you know prayer
is a very mysterious thing? I want to show you this. I want
to show you how mysterious this is. Go over to Ezekiel. Look
over in Ezekiel chapter 36. Now this chapter is full of promises. The promises of God. God is going
to tell His people exactly what He is going to do for them. He
instructs them, gives them such wonderful things. God speaks
to Israel, look at verse 22, we'll just begin there, because
there's just no way for time that I could go through all of
this. 22, it says, Therefore say unto the house of Israel,
Thus saith the Lord God, I do this, I do not this for your
sakes, O house of Israel, but for my holy name's sake, which
you have profaned among the heathen wherewith you went. And listen,
I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the
heathen, which you profaned in the midst of them, and the heathen
shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God. when I shall
be sanctified in you, in you before their eyes." Is this not
the promise of salvation? Is this not God's electing grace?
God says, I did this. I'm going to sanctify you. I'm going to set you apart for
my own namesake. Not for yours. You were sinners. You defiled my name among the
heathen. Isn't that what we've done? We've
sinned against God. And yet God says, according to
His own grace, I will sanctify. I shall be sanctified in you
before their eyes. For I will take you from among
the heathen and gather you out of all countries, and I will
bring you to your own land." Is that not grace of what God
done for us? We were among the heathen of
Adam's race, and He gathers in all of His elect. He says, I
will gather you. Has He not gathered us? You bet
He has. We who believe, He has gathered
us in, just as He promised here. Then I will sprinkle clean water
upon you, and you shall be clean from all your filthiness. And
from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I
give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. And I will
take away the stony heart out of your flesh. And I will give
you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within
you, and cause you to walk in My statutes. And you shall keep
My judgments and do them. And you shall dwell in the land
that I gave your fathers. And you shall be my people, and
I will be your God. Is there any question in all
this? Did he ask any questions? No,
he said I will I will you shall you shall no questions This is
what God is determined to do. He's determined to save his people
from their sins He sent his son into the world. He has obtained
righteousness for us. He's died on the cross redeemed
us from all of our sins He's risen again for our justification
and the Spirit of God has called us even according to the will
of God There's no question here. God says, I'm going to do it.
I'm going to save you. I'm going to call you. I'm going
to redeem you. I'm going to cleanse you from
all your filthiness. And this is the elect. This is
those who He's loved from eternity according to His sovereign grace.
These are sinners gathered. And notice in verse 29, He says,
I will save you from all your uncleanness. And I will call you, I will call
the corn and will increase it and lay no famine upon you. Look
at verse 33. Thus saith the Lord God, in the
day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities,
I will cause you to dwell in the cities, and the waste places
shall be built, and the desolate places shall be tilled, wherein
is it laid desolate in the sight of all that pass by. Isn't that
what He's done to us? He's built up the waste places.
We're the waste places. And He's created in us a new
heart. He's given us a new spirit whereby we love Him and serve
Him and honor Him. This is what He's promised to
do. Who then will stop Him? Who can stay His hand or say,
what doest thou? He will till up the desolate
places. Oh, see the righteousness and blood of Christ has done
For us is he has raised up, he has saved us, quickened us, and
we grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord. And how is it that
we grow? He says, I'm going to till up
the land. Isn't that what he does? Doesn't
He till up the old? And doesn't He break the clods
of our flesh? Doesn't He crush our dreams?
Doesn't He dash our little ones against the stones? You bet He
does. He kills the flesh. He tries
our faith to what end? This is the end of it all. Look
at verse 36 at the end. I, the Lord, have spoken it,
and I will do it. Believer, our salvation is completely
the work of God and none of ours. That's just so. Anybody says
different, they're a liar. And they don't know anything
of salvation. Our salvation is completely the work of God's
I will and we shall. It is for His own glory He chose
us in Christ, and it was for His own glory that Christ came
in the flesh and saved us, and it's for His own glory that the
Spirit of God comes and quickens us. If this is so, and it is, why pray? You ever thought about that? If God
has determined and purposed everything, and nothing can stay His hand,
or say unto Him, What doest Thou? If God purposed to save His people,
and He will. If God promised to gather His
people, and He will. If Christ redeemed them, and
risen again from the dead, and has sent His Spirit to quicken
them, and they shall believe, why pray for it? Have you asked
yourself that? Why pray for something that's
going to happen anyway? If God will deliver His people
from all their troubles and trials as He ordained and purposed,
and He will cause us to grow in the grace and knowledge of
Christ, then why should we pray for it? Look at verse 37 of Ezekiel
36. This is why. Thus saith the Lord,
I will yet be inquired Is that not reason enough? Thus saith the Lord God, I will
yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel. What a mystery. That's the only reason I can
tell you to pray. Because God said to. And that's
good enough for me. That's good enough for me. I
know he'll save his people from their sins, so what is my prayer?
Lord, please save your people from their sins. I know this, he'll gather them.
What is my prayer? Lord, please gather them. I know this, he'll till up the
ground of my heart, and what is it? Lord, please till up the
ground of my heart. Please cause me to grow in the
grace and knowledge of Lord Jesus Christ. We pray because God said to.
We pray because God desires to hear our voice. I know that sounds... I don't desire to hear my voice. He does. He does. He said, I will for you to pray. So is it not incumbent upon us
then to learn how to pray? We should learn how to pray.
May God teach us, even tonight, how to pray. Therefore, believer,
are you in trouble? Are you in need of grace and
power and strength Then let us inquire of our God. Let us, in
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, come boldly before
the throne of God, making our requests known unto God. And believer, when you pray,
know this, you are not going to a distant monarch. But to your Father, to your Father, our Father, who
art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. We are going to our Father. May the Holy Spirit then teach
us to pray because it is a mystery. I know this, God's will will
be done. And I know this, God says, I
will be inquired of my people. So what should we be doing? Should
we second-guess this? No. We should pray. We should
learn to pray. So first of all, I want us to
notice this about David's lesson. Go back to your text in Psalm
142. I want us to see David's lesson. First of all, let's see
the best place of prayer. What is the best place to pray? Well, the title of the psalm
says a prayer when he was in the cave. The best place to pray
is in the cave of affliction. The cave of affliction. David learned to pray best not
in the palace, but in the cave. And even so, if we're to learn
to pray, the best place for us to learn is in the cave. in the cave. Consider, had David
prayed in the palace, even as he prayed in the cave, how much
trouble would David have saved himself from? Had he prayed like
this in the palace when he was up on the roof, instead of watching
the woman bathe, instead of being drawn away by his lust, had he
been in the cave, he would have been better off, would he not? This may teach us the benefits
of trials and troubles and the dangers of prosperity and ease. When do you pray more? When you're
at ease? When everything's going well?
Do you pray more? No. Are you at ease now? Are you rich in the things of
the world? Are you rich in the love and praise of men and family? If you are, I tell you, you're
in more danger than you would be if you were afflicted. You're
in more danger to forget prayer. And yes, even to forget Christ. Why do we do the Lord's Supper?
What is the purpose of the Lord's table? He says, do this in what? Remembrance of me. Why did he say that? Because
you and I, in times of prosperity, are more prone to forget Christ
than in times of affliction. Yet consider, when we are being
pressed on every side, when troubles and afflictions flood our souls,
when the enemies of our souls chase us into the cave of gloom
and despair, where do you find God's people? On their knees. That's where you find them praying.
Isn't that what happened to Saul when he was knocked off of that
horse and the scales were over his eyes and he was led to that
city? What did God tell Ananias? He
said, behold, he prayeth. That's where you find God's people
in affliction. You find them on their knees
praying. It's there we learn best how
to pray. It's there we learn how to cry out to God for help
where? In trouble. Isn't that what the
psalmist said in Psalm 46 in verse 1? God is our refuge and
our strength. A very present help. Present. I like that. What good is past help? What good is the promise of future
help when I need help now? He is a present help when? In trouble. In trouble. When sin and darkness, evil thoughts
and hatred flood and overwhelm our souls, Though the fleshly
heart is hard and cold. Listen, that's when you need
to pray the most. If we are waiting for a smoother
time to pray, we will never pray at all. Don't wait for a more convenient
season. Pray now. And listen, God will help you
now. Now. He is a present help in
trouble. Caves then are the best place
for prayer. Affliction is the best teacher
and motivator to call us to the presence of God for help. May God teach us that. Affliction,
listen, affliction is good. It's good. It draws us closer
to God. Isn't that what you wanted? Isn't
that what you prayed for? God help me, give me faith, give
me love, give me hope, give me all the graces. And affliction
comes and we say, God, why are you afflicting me? He said, that's
what you asked for. Isn't that what you asked for? Didn't you want to be closer
to me? And I made it specially for you.
Whatever yours is, it's specially designed for you. Your cave is
decked out for you. Your affliction is personally
designed by God to draw you closer to him. So caves are the best place to
learn to pray. Second of all, we can learn the benefit of private
prayer. We should learn the benefit of
private prayer. Look what David said. He said
in verse 1, I cried unto the Lord with my voice, with my voice
unto the Lord did I make supplication. Now, I don't know which cave
this was that David was in, but I do believe that it was the
cave of Adullam. That's how you pronounce it,
Adullam. I believe this because at the
time David was there, he had nobody with him. He was alone. And listen to me, the best place
for you to pray is alone. Get alone with God. Now, I'm sure that public prayer
is right and good and it benefits us all. But let me ask you, when
you are praying in front of people, are you not always searching
for the right words? Are you not always trying to
fit it in so it's doctrinally sound and everything works out
right so nobody is going to make fun of you when you're done?
Nobody's going to come up and correct your doctrine in your
prayer. I know that because I experience that. I experience that when
I'm praying. I'm searching for words, feasible
words. That's not so when I'm all by
myself. When I'm alone with God, I feel free to express completely
my heart. When you are alone with God,
it is best that you are able to be free, to cry out, to cry
to God aloud, that you may feel free to lay your soul bare before
God. That's what David is doing. He's
crying out and he's laying his soul emptied out before God. It may be coherent, it may not
be coherent. You may have a list, you may
not have a list. Lay it out there. God knows it
anyway. God knows it anyway. Are you
in such a cave, believer? Are you alone? Are you afraid? Are you weary? Are you overwhelmed? And set your soul to seek God
alone. And use all your faculties to
do it. David here was in the cave where
no one else could hear him and he used his voice. It wasn't just a prayer in his
head. He could not hold it in. This
prayer was something that was overwhelming his soul that he
had to cry out. And he says it twice. He said,
I cried with my voice, with my voice. He said it twice. Prayer is the place where we
may pour out our soul and let it flow from the heart and use
words to express to our God what he already knows. You know, you use words in prayer. I believe it says that in one
place, I can't think of exactly where it's at, but the scripture
says, bring with you words. When you come before God, bring
with you words. Not for God's knowledge. When I pray out to God, I'm not
giving him information. I'm saying it so that I would
know it. Because I don't even know what's
in my heart. There are times that things come out that I didn't
even know was in there. But He let me see it. He allows
me to see it. And then He allows me to see
Him. I want to see Him. Believer, don't keep anything
back. How foolish is that to think that you can keep back
something? I know you do it because I do it. I know that if I don't
say it, I don't want to talk to Him about it because then
He would know. No! He already knows. He already
knows. When you're alone, Pour it out! Don't hold it back. Thy God knows. Paul says, be careful, be anxious
for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known
unto God. Private prayer. Now the prayer
of others is good and needful, isn't it? I ask you to pray for me. And I'm thankful when you do.
I pray for you. But I know this, your prayers
are not enough for me. And my prayers are not enough
for you. We must have our own personal communion with God. I must have it. In other words,
when you pray for me, that's great. But I know this, I must
pray for me. I must pray to my God. I must
commune with him. It is necessary for me to cry
out unto my God. And I can't keep silent, can
you? I can't keep silent. David said, I cried. I made my
supplication. Listen to me. Only the lost rely
on the prayers of others. Think of the whole Roman Catholic
Church. Think of that. What are they doing? They're
relying on the prayers of other men. Saints and priests and everything
else. They don't pray for themselves.
They rely on other men. Go over to Acts chapter 8. I'll
show you another man that relied on the apostles' prayers. Acts chapter 8. And if you take
the time to read this in verses 9 through verse 24, you read
about Simon the sorcerer. Simon was a trickster. He was
a man that had the attention of the people. And I did say Acts chapter 8, didn't
I? Okay, I hope I did because I turned to Romans 8. Acts chapter
8. And this was Philip, was preaching
in that area when he came. And the Scripture says down in
verse 12, But when they believed Philip
preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God in the name
of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Then Simon,
this sorcerer, himself believed also. And when he was baptized,
he continued with Philip and wondered, beholding the miracles
and signs that were done. You see, he followed the crowd. Everybody else was believing,
and so what did he do? He said, well, I'll believe too.
I'll be baptized too. But what was his focus? What
was his concern? It was the miracles. He was concerned as to how these
miracles were being done by Philip. And so the apostles came down,
and they were confirming those in the faith, and they were laying
on hands and giving the Holy Spirit to others, power, the
power and gifts of the Holy Spirit to others. And Simon, when he
saw that, he said, man, I gotta have that. Now that's the ticket.
Not just doing the miracles, but allowing me to give those
powers to others. And he says to the apostle Peter,
he said, let me buy it. He said that in... Verse 18, And when Simon saw
that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy
Ghost was given, he offered them money, he said, Give me also
this power, that on whomsoever I lay my hands they may receive
the Holy Ghost. And Peter said unto them, Thy
money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift
of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part
nor lot in this matter. For thy heart is not right in
the sight of God. Repent, therefore, of this thy
wickedness, and pray God. Pray God. What does he tell him?
You should repent and pray to God. What does he do? Think of verse 24. And Simon
answered, Pray ye to the Lord for me. Do you see what he was doing?
He said, I perceive you're lost. And what'd he say? Well, you
pray for me about that. You pray for me. Well, that's
not gonna do him any good. Why? He must pray to God for
his own soul. He must believe himself and confess
he was lost. Prayer for true believers is
a very personal and necessary errand. Therefore, we cry not
only from the heart, in our cave, alone with God. We also use all
our faculties and earnestly seek God and make our requests and
supplications known to Him alone. You pray for me. But I promise
you this, I'm going to pray. I'm going to pray because I must
have him. I must have his voice. I must hear it. And thirdly,
let us learn that prayer is to empty all our complaints before
God. Go back to your text. Not only
is it to be taught in the cave of affliction, not only is it
to be personal and intimate between you and God, but it is also to
be to empty our complaints. David said, I cried unto the
Lord with my voice. With my voice unto the Lord did
I make my supplications. I poured out my complaints before
him. I showed before him my trouble. David sat in the cave and he
cried aloud to God. He opened his heart and said,
I pour out my complaints. Are you not full of complaints? Who here has no complaints? Anyone? May God teach us not to lie to
ourselves. Our God's shoulders are much
bigger than your complaints. Pour them out. Pour him out. Make him known. Tell him. You know, one thing
I think about when I think about this text is Jonah. Jonah was
a very honest prophet, I'll tell you that. He didn't want to go
and he took off in the other direction. He didn't pretend
he wanted to go. God dragged him back, made him
preach, and he didn't even preach the gospel with any heart of
love or affection. He said, 30 days and God's going
to destroy you. That was his message. And he
went out, folded his hands, and pouted underneath that tree,
waiting for God to destroy those people. When God didn't, what
did he say? Dost thou wail to be angry? He
was mad. He was mad. Yes, I do well to
be angry. I knew you would be merciful. He was at least an honest prophet.
Should you not be so honest when you go before God? You should
be. You should pour out your complaints.
Pour out your complaints before God. As we are oppressed by this world
and by our own sinful hearts, does not that fill our hearts
with bitterness? Are we become so weary and full
of sorrow and overwhelmed that we cry out in bitterness to God
because of our sin? You not cry out in bitterness
because of your sins. I hate my sins. I hate my flesh. You know what
God says in his promise? He says you should loathe yourself. That's a promise. That's what
God does to us. He causes us to loathe our flesh. We become bitter and because
we've sinned against the only one who truly loves us. We sin against Thee, my Lord,
my God, and alone have I sinned against Thee. Against Thee who
loved me, against Thee who chose me, against Thee who gave me
to the charge of Your own beloved Son. I have sinned against my
Lord, Jesus, who has loved me and endured such contradiction
of sinners against Himself. I have sinned against Thee who
bore my sins to the cross and died for me. I've sinned against
thee. Oh, how many times have we grieved
the Holy Spirit of God? Can you count? Does that not
make your soul bitter? Does that not make you loathe
your flesh? This is the bitterness of my
soul, even my sin, my sin. And truly, my sin is the root
of all my complaints. Isn't it? Isn't sin the root
of our complaints, our troubles, our difficulties, our trials?
Sin. And may God the Holy Spirit teach
us the cure for such bitter waters is only the cross of Christ. Isn't that what made the bitter
waters of Mara sweet was the tree? What can make the loathing
of our sin and flesh sweet? The cross of Jesus Christ who
has forever put away thy sin. Forever put away thy sin. Believer, take not thy sins before
men, but take them before God only. David here cries and pours
out his complaint only before God. I was listening to a young,
heard of a young woman going to what they have now in churches
is, I guess, group discussions. where they go around and confess
their worst sins to one another. Consider this, that if you confess
your sins to men, that may make you feel better for a minute. But consider that you have now
contaminated your hearer. who is himself a sinner. If you start telling me all of
the filthy things you've done, what does that do? It puts them
in my mind. I can't do anything for you. I can't forgive you your sins.
Why would you tell me the details of your sins? Tell them to God. That's who you should tell them
to. You should confess them to God and you should be ashamed
of them before men. You shouldn't even want to open,
you shouldn't lift up your head concerning your sins. Isn't that
what the public... He could not lift up his head.
He was so ashamed. That's one thing about our generation.
There's no shame in sin. Why? Everybody runs around confessing
it. And so, well, she did it, so
they did it. Look, so we're all in agreement
that it's all right. No, it's not. You shouldn't be
ashamed. But believer, when you are ashamed,
and I am, the scripture, it plainly tells
us, confess to God thy sins, and he is faithful and just to
forgive you your sins. You not see that prayer, coming
to God and pouring out your sins and confessing them to God, do
you not see God has in his hand a ready pardon? He's ready to
give you a pardon. Why would you not come and confess?
Why would you not open your heart and confess your sins? He's ready
to forgive. And He's just to forgive you
your sins. When David confessed his sins,
what did Nathan say? The Lord hath already put away
thy sins. Why then would we ever hesitate
to come? and lay them out before our God. Behold, in thy prayer and confession,
the bitter sin, of bitter sin, the tree of Jesus Christ and
his blood is the propitiation, the mercy seat by which God forgives
us all our sins. What is always the result of
sin? Trouble. Trouble. David, in this trouble, he had
three thousand men searching for him, using all of their art
and skill to hunt for his life. Is this not also the gloom of
our cave? to be without strength or hope
of escape concerning our troubles? Believer in Christ, are you in
trouble? Are you made by your circumstances
to remember your sins as the root of all your trouble? Confess
them and then take the trouble and lay it out. That's what he
said. He said, I laid out my trouble.
laid them out like sticks and lined them up. Here's trouble
number one, my fault. Here's trouble number two, my
fault. Here's trouble number three,
my fault. I showed them all my trouble. Believer, we should learn to
do that. We should learn to lay it out like Hezekiah laid out
that letter before the Lord. He took that letter and He spread
it out. You should take all of your troubles
and spread them out right before His face. Is not our God all-powerful? Is He not able to deliver you
from your troubles? Is He not willing to deliver
you from your troubles? You bet He is. It may not be instantaneous,
but I promise this, according to the scripture, He always delivers
His people from their troubles. Always. Remember when the Lord
was crossing the sea with his disciples and they were caught
in that storm? What did they do? They came and laid out their
trouble. Here's our trouble. We're dying. We're perishing. That's our trouble. Our trouble
is we don't think you care. You're asleep. We don't think
you're caring about us. They laid it out there. And what
do you do? Peace, be still. And immediately,
it was calm. Now, is that always the case?
No. Most of the time, that's never
the case. Hardly ever do I get an immediate response. Sometimes he does. I like this
song. It says this, sometimes he calms
the storm, With a whisper of peace, be still. He can settle
any sea, but it doesn't mean he will. Sometimes he holds us
close and lets the winds and waves roll wild. Sometimes he calms a storm. Other
times he calms his child. Is that not the case? Is that
not what we need to learn? Peter said, cast all your care
upon him. For this is why you should do
it. He careth for you. Is that not reason enough to
pray? Where's the best place to learn
to pray? Affliction. In the cave of affliction. What's the best type of prayer? What should you do in prayer?
Lay it out. Lay it out. And your God shall
deliver you. Did he not deliver David out
of that cave? You could read it in 1 Samuel. Sure he did. When his family
heard that he was in the cave, they came to him. And I tell you, eventually God
established him on the throne. What is God going to eventually
do to us? He is going to establish us in glory. May God give us hearts of prayer.
Wouldn't that be God, please make us a praying
church. Teach us to pray. I pray that God bless this to your
hearts. Let's stand and be dismissed in prayer.