Look and see, there is no one at my right hand;
no one is concerned for me.
I have no refuge;
no one cares for my life.
-Psalm 142:4
Ever felt like everything just sucks? Ever felt like the whole world is against you? Have you ever felt like no one is concerned for you and that no one cares? Well, you’re in good company. David was the divinely anointed and appointed king of Israel, yet Saul remained on the throne. Saul even drove David into the wilderness. King David hid in caves fearing for his very life. Meanwhile, Saul had him hunted down. That’s the backdrop upon which David wrote Psalm 142:
... no one is concerned for me.
I have no refuge;
no one cares for my life.
There are times in life when we all feel stuck, trapped, confined, imprisoned, forgotten... even disposable. It may be due to depression, divorce, unemployment, or great loss. Regardless, in these times through the Valley of The Shadow of Death we are overwhelmed and overburdened. Joy seems a vague memory and impossible future.
David’s one hope for deliverance amid bleak circumstances stemmed from his relationship with, and faith in, God Almighty. We know this with all certainty because David prefaced Psalm 142, the prayer of hopelessness, with:
I cry aloud to the Lord;
I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy.
I pour out before him my complaint;
before him I tell my trouble.
The only real difference between utter hopelessness and confident hope is God. Apart from a long and rich relationship with God David would have been utterly consumed with dire overwhelming circumstances. He may have readily given up. He might have taken his own life. Instead, we see David -doing- not just some random thing, but -doing- the one thing that BREAKS US OUT, bringing us into communion with God. David prayed. Not only did David pray, but he prayed in 4 distinct and beautifully authentic ways:
I cry...
I lift...
I pour...
I tell...
David didn’t seek to adopt a worldview of coexistence. David didn’t pray to an impersonal universal force. He didn’t crack open a secular self-help scroll. David didn’t burn incense, light a candle, or rub crystals together in an effort to gain inner peace. David didn’t fire off a random prayer to a random god somewhere in the void of outer space with fingers crossed behind his back.
Instead, David prayed to the God of creation. David sang to the God of Scripture. David praised the God who promised to redeem humanity (Gen 3:15); the God of Abram, Isaac, and Jacob. David sang to the Covenant Maker and Covenant Keeper who promised that through Abram, all the families on earth would be blessed (Gen 12:3). David heralded and worshiped the Eternal Sovereign who delivered Israel from 400+ years of slavery (Exodus), thus demonstrating His power and authority to deliver us from slavery to sin, Satan, death, and eternal torment.
David prayed to the one true God. He prayed to the One who cares for orphans and widows (Deut 10:18). He prayed to the One who is patient, kind, merciful, and overflowing with grace. He prayed to the Transcendent One of eternity who would not only personally step into His creation as Jesus Christ but would come to dwell with us and eventually die for us at the Cross.
David prayed to the God who would eternally defeat sin and death in rising from the grave on the 3rd day. David prayed to the one God who fulfills His every promise. David prayed to the God of Holy Trinity - Father, Son, and Spirit - who created us to experience abundantly extravagant life. David prayed to the God in whom true lasting satisfaction and joy are found exclusively.
That’s Who David prayed to.
In praying, David was immediately delivered in, not from, dire circumstances to a place of unshakable and steadfast peace. Eventually, David was also delivered from those circumstances. Saul died in battle. David was not only restored to the throne but was given a promise by God that someone from his line would never cease to sit on the throne (2 Sam 7). Jesus, the God-man, fulfilled that -and every other- covenant promise.
Like David, we can take hold of the life and hope offered in Christ. Jesus is our anchor holding firm behind the veil (Heb 6:19). Jesus is our anchor behind the veil of current circumstance, the veil of depression, the veil of crushing loss, the veil of Satan’s lies designed to keep us permanently divorced from our Creator, Savior, Redeemer, and Friend.
Joshua was Moses’ successor Israel’s leader. The name Joshua means the LORD saves. At the inauguration of Joshua’s ministry he said to the nation of Israel:
This Torah must not cease to leave your mouth, but rather you are to meditate, ponder, recite, speak it day and night toward the goal of keeping watch…
-Josh 1:8a
The verb “to keep watch” is the same one God issued in Genesis 2:15 prior to the Fall. According to Jesus, remaining in God’s Word is what allows us to cultivate relationships with God and others. We know this because He said:
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
-John 15:7
In this, Adam failed miserably. It led to his wife’s temptation - and ultimately to humanity’s epic rebellion. Even after our systemic, universal, comprehensive coup d’état against our loving Creator, humanity’s expulsion from God’s life-giving presence wasn’t the end of the story...
God chose to demonstrate Their perfect eternally Trinitarian altruistic love for us by expressing what They meant in saying: “Let us make them in our image; according to our likeness” (Gen 1:26). God’s likeness is most perfectly expressed by Their selfless altruism and eternal love for one another within the context of eternal Trinity. Love is the essence and foundation of God’s compassion, mercy, and grace - thus mission - to restore, reconcile, and redeem fallen, broken, distraught, and hopeless humanity back into the life-giving presence of The Holy Trinity.
Joshua began saying, “This Torah must not cease to leave your mouth, but rather you are to meditate on it day and night toward the goal of keeping watch..." He concluded with God’s promise of hope in saying, “... for then you will BREAKOUT via understanding.”
What’s the application?
Study Scripture under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Meditate on it to unveil the true character and nature of God. Allow Scripture to guide, instruct, and correct how you cultivate and keep watch over thoughts, actions, and relationships. That’s what Jesus meant in saying, “If you remain... ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” God promises you will BREAKOUT under the light of His revelation.
God doesn’t bring evil upon us. The muck of our lives is ours alone. God certainly allows us the freedom of folly. It’s only in the Valley of the Shadow of Darkness where we come to the end of ourselves. Only then can life in Christ truly flourish.
Do you feel like no one cares?
Do you feel like no one is concerned?
Jesus is calling.
Maybe it’s time to listen, to sing, to break out!
Blessings,
-Kevin M. Kelley
aMostUnlikelyDisciple.com
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