Psalm 142: A Caveman’s Theology

Maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A Prayer.

I cry out with my voice to the Lord;

With my voice I implore the Lord for compassion.

2 I pour out my complaint before Him;

I declare my trouble before Him.

3 When my spirit felt weak within me,

You knew my path.

In the way where I walk

They have hidden a trap for me.

4 Look to the right and see;

For there is no one who regards me favorably;

There is no escape for me;

No one cares for my soul.

5 I cried out to You, Lord;

I said, “You are my refuge,

My portion in the land of the living.

6 Give Your attention to my cry,

For I have been brought very low;

Rescue me from my persecutors,

For they are too strong for me.

7 Bring my soul out of prison,

So that I may give thanks to Your name;

The righteous will surround me,

For You will look after me.”

In short, this Psalm is contemplative prayer put to music to instruct the Israelites in the ways of God.  Godliness is often more visceral than vogue. This Psalm is off the charts for Emotional Intelligence Quotient.   In these difficult days,we must learn again to take any and all complaints, offenses and hatred directly to the LORD.  Like David, we must first learn to slay the hungry “bear and lion” inside of us!  The public intellectual battle for truth begins with the slaying of inner predators of unrighteous anger, immorality, unforgiveness, arrogance, toxic bitterness, unbridled greed and excessive grief…to name a few.

These seven verses, a Maskil, are dipped in the musical notes of  Pneuma-scholarship.  True theology is first forged in the fires of persecution, practice and deep prayer. Secondly, true theology ( the thinking of God’s thoughts and ways with God) is deliberately taught at the dinner table and  the Communion table.  Thirdly, true theology percolates into our Hymnody  and is sung vigorously and gratefully by the people of God.  Let me say this another way,  God’s truth is discovered by the pilgrim, tested by the soldiers in the battlefield, finally, composed by the chief musician to be sung by all in the Temple.  The good news? Eventually, our personal experience tested over time becomes an inspiration to others.  Our personal testimony, the blood of the Lamb inspires the community to lay their lives down for the gospel.   

The Scripture, in a nutshell, is the God-inspired history of salvation in the faith of Jesus Christ.  The Godhead simply desires to “dwell” with His chosen people everywhere by revealing Himself in the midst of  all the seasons of life (2 Tim.3:15-17).  Psalm 142 is the composition of the pilgrim David in a personal battle that eventually was sung in the celebrations of the entire nation! Men and women of God who love the word are highly intelligent in carrying out the will of God in a hostile world. 

 The most difficult and the lowest points of our lives  are the matrix of releasing hope and joy to others.  The uniqueness of this gut wrenching lament is that it was composed in a cave. This gusher of prayer is not simply David feeling sorry for himself, but he is perhaps literally stuck in a cave and completely alone in his misery with zero allies, no exits, no companions.  In other words, if God does not “rescue” him, he is as good as dead. Near death or death itself can bring about radical transformation of the worst parts of us or make the good parts even better. 

David’s experience was often used as a shadow to forecast the trials of Yeshua, the son of David.  The Incarnation of the Son of God is the final redemptive act that forever confirmed  eternal dignity to the singular human race.   Indeed we are “fearfully and wonderfully” created of dust invigorated by the breath of the Eternal Most High God from conception to death.  Speech is one of the highest faculties which the Creator wove into our soul.   Prayer is our soul breathing back our borrowed life directly to the Father.  Prayer is creativity in reverse, “Father you gave me your breath, I give my life back to you in prayer”…”not my will be done but Your will be done.”

 In particular, cave prayer is the loud boisterous cry of the human spirit in a kind of solitary confinement of the soul.  The fragrant incense of cave-prayer is offered up in a stinking  (used like a port of potty for humans and wild animals), moldy, musty, dank  and dark place.  There is no electricity, no microphones, no Bose speakers, no offering plates, no Holy Furniture,  no TV cameras, and  no audience….nobody and nothing.   Psalm 142 is the removal of the veil of a Secret Place to listen and observe how a true  pilgrim communes with God the Father in the midst of soul-crushing pressure. 

David was experiencing a protracitive season of rejection and persecution by then King Saul (1 Samuel 18- 2 Samuel 2).  Scripture reveals David’s forbearance with Saul required him to live in exile among the caves of Judea (Adullam & En-gedi), in various wildernesses and even among his sworn enemies.  Eventually, David is anointed King of Judah and all Israel.  This extended season of waiting, hiding, and trusting was necessary to prepare David for his kingship.  The rugged individualism and piety  of Davd in Psalm 142 is forged in the lifestyle of a cave-dweller living off-grid but online with the Spirit of the LORD through prayer, praise and contemplation of God. 

Unlike today’s political opponents, David was not throwing stones at his enemies, attacking the armies of Saul, or poisoning the waters of his enemies with bitterness, fault finding and envy. He was anointed king by Samuel years ago. An obedient heart to God was being fashioned in David during this time of rejection and persecution. He was not gathering votes, consolidating a party platform nor slinging journalistic mud on the garments of his political rival Saul. On the contrary, he was waiting patiently on the Lord to be lifted by His hand into the stewardship of his calling to serve the will of God in his generation. Caves of undetectable intimate isolation with seeming silence of God are necessary to prepare kings for their heavy crowns.

In our Covid-caves of today, our lesson is to reorient ourselves, if necessary, and embrace our eternal purpose to be conformed to the likeness of the Son of God.  This holy calling  both transcends and precedes our public service for the glory of God.  We never graduate from the school of Christ conducted in the chairless and couchless gloom of a cave.  At times, in necessity  we must seem to be on the brink of being extinguished before God distinguishes us. John the baptist, priestly cousin of Jesus, announced “He must increase that I  might decrease” (John 3:30).  This statement by the Baptist is not one of value but of purpose.  Unfortunately, all too often, we confuse purpose with value, thus, we fail tests that are given to both simultaneously transform us and validate us. We must learn to let go and trust God even when we don’t understand what is happening to us.   Gethsemane (though not a cave)  was clearly the private customary place of decisive victory wherein Jesus forged and eventually yielded His will to the Father and prayed for resurrection from the dead. 

In the days of His humanity, He offered up both prayers and pleas with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His devout behavior. 8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. 9 And having been perfected, He became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey Him, 10 being designated by God as High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 5:7-10)

This Greek word for “cry” (krauge), this is not voluntary crying but the involuntary “cry” that emerges as someone is ‘wrung out’ by extreme pressure or chronic searing pain. Jesus has agonized and wrestled with everything the human spirit can encounter. The rabbis had a saying (Barclay): “There are three kinds of prayers, each loftier than the preceding–prayer, crying and tears. Prayer is made in silence; crying with a raised voice; but tears overcome all things.” The loud vigorous private prayer life of Jesus was the watershed for the valley flow of the still waters of silence before Jesus accusers and adversaries.

 He has been excommunicated from the palace of Saul and is like a roaming convict, a prisoner in the land that he would eventually rule over as a king.  The sweet Psalmist of Israel was taking care of his family, defending defenseless villages, and training his small army of 400 distressed, indebted and discontent men. These soldiers would eventually distinguish themselves as the “mighty men of David ” ushering in a glimpse of the Messianic kingdom under Yeshua of Nazareth. 

The cave-fires of this period, like our fiery trials, refined the impurities of David’s heart by removing excessive pride, unforgiveness, vengeance etc. David was certainly not a push-over by any stretch of the imagination, but rather a hardened elite warrior. He was like an ancient Army Ranger who carried a sharp sword, a sling with laser accuracy, and an elegantly fashioned Gibson guitar. He allowed himself to be salted with the grace of God through his love and passionate heart for the Presence of God developed as a youthful shepherd boy. The memories of the soft wool of sheep inlined the heavy armor of his heart with an ephod of graciousness and compassion necessary for survival in deceptive, dirty and difficult days.

Psalm 142 Cave-Communion Lessons: Embracing the LORD in Difficult Days

(Use this section to help develop a strong spirit of prayer & submission to God the Father in the midst of all circumstances)

• The Entrance & Exit is One in the Same…You enter crying and often leave crying with no immediate resolve or solution.  Find a place you can really let loose!  Confidently, draw near to the throne of Grace through the blood of Jesus. Caves are loud with anguish, arguments and the awesome Presence of the Father.  A cave is a place you can fully surrender to God free from any kind of religious performance. Let your heartbeat in your mouth and verbally pour out your soul to the Chief Shepherd and Guardian of your soul!

• Cave’s are private moments between you and the LORD. In Psalm 142, twenty-nine times David says, “I…my…me”.  Thirteen times David sets his eyes on the veiled Presence of the LORD…”the LORD…before Him…You knew…give Your attention….rescue me…Your name”. It is OK to divulge to the LORD your thoughts, feelings and circumstances.  He is not grading your prayer on form.  The Father draws near to those who draw near to Him (James 4:4)

• The deepest transformational truths are often discovered in what is NOT said.  After you “cry out”, take time to “selah” and pause to fill your soul back up with the intercessions of the Spirit too deep for words. Pray in the Spirit and with your understanding. Deep stirring, sighing, singing, and periodic silence are the atmosphere  of the cave. Caves can release deep healing from the presence of the LORD.

• In Cave’s you often latch on to a single attribute of God (v1, Compassion) and pray through until you receive some sense of peace (v7) because the LORD in the end “will look after” you.

• Cave’s are meant to be Temporary Address & a Transitional Season to Higher Purpose in the LORD.  We must not get stuck in caves beyond what is necessary.  We are called to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ from “glory to glory”. We behold Him in caves but we don’t build temples in caves. Caves, Gardens and Mountains are where we bow our hearts and we bend our knees… before we bow our heads to receive the potential reward of His crowns at the Judgement Seat of Christ. 

• The Patmos Principle: Revelation of God comes in short simple bursts of brightness in the midst of sorrow…My Refuge…My Portion. Prayer invites the Spirit of “revelation…and wisdom” into the true knowledge of Jesus Christ (Eph.1:15f)

• Cave-talk often begins with complaining but will end with the Hope of His help. God may or may not Speak, but you will find His Presence.  Caves are places to tell stories directly to the Father  about the hunt, the hurt, the journey, the evil in the  world,  and the sacred encounters.  

• Use a journal to write or draw, phrases, Scriptures and prayers than you receive into your mind. In the future, review these “cave paintings” and they will draw you back into a sacred and secret place for encouragement. Use your cave to write and draw!

In conclusion, Cave’s can liberate us from the limitations of human weakness.  These seeming  prisons can become refuges for our soul.  Deep Prayer, Exuberant Praise and riveting Revelation can be released to first help us and then to impart to others.  Moses’ cave, the Cleft in the Rock, was where he beheld the glory of the LORD and learned His name. Paul wrote the Prison Epistles from Rome.  In a cave, The Apostle John saw, heard and wrote the Book of Revelation from his room with a view in Patmos.  Israel was living in caves…Gideon’s cave was a “wine-press” of both complaint and revelation before  he transitioned to becoming a Judge of Israel.  Elijah fled from Jezebel to a cave wherein he was calmly given instructions from the LORD how to fulfill his ministry and finish strong.  John Bunyan, the English Protestant Reformer, wrote the classic Christian allegory Pilgrim’s Progress while in prison. Caves can become spiritual worm holes or portals to the heavenly places in Jesus Christ to discover the greatness of His power toward us who believe. 

Now is the time to cry out to the Father!!! WE must break the silence!