Spend time in prayer and silence with God asking him to meet you and speak to you.
Bible Reading
A maskil of David. When he was in the cave. A prayer.
I cry aloud to the Lord;
I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy.
I pour out my complaint before him;
before him I tell my trouble.
When my spirit grows faint within me,
it is you who know my way.
In the path where I walk
men have hidden a snare for me.
Look to my right and see;
no one is concerned for me.
I have no refuge;
no one cares for my life.
I cry to you, O Lord;
I say, “You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.”
Listen to my cry,
for I am in desperate need;
rescue me from those who pursue me,
for they are too strong for me.
Set me free from my prison,
that I may praise your name.
Then the righteous will gather about me
because of your goodness to me.
– Psalm 142
Devotion
As we walk through David’s life, we occasionally have the opportunity to look through a window into his thoughts by way of the Psalms that he authored. The period of his life that we are looking at this week include many such windows. Psalm 142 was written at the time of the events we read yesterday in 1 Samuel. It gives us an excellent look at what David was thinking during these events.
One thing that rings through loud and clear in this Psalm is David’s reliance upon God alone. He may have overstated how isolated he truly was, since he had men with him, but I think the point of this statement is to express that his hope is not in people or himself, but solely in God. He consistently speaks of his need for God and that he is counting on God to pull through for him. Perhaps his reliance upon God enabled him to trust God instead of acting on his own when Saul was at his mercy in the cave.
In life, we typically seek help through our own means or what other people can offer to us. Regardless of what problems we are facing, it is necessary to remember that in everything, we must have full reliance upon God.
The Big Question
Are you relying upon God alone for life’s struggles? Have you expressed that reliance to God? How can you increase your reliance on God this week?
Conclude in prayer and silence reflecting on what you’ve learned.