I heard a story recently about a young girl with a perfect voice. One day she auditioned for a musical and absolutely nailed it. The guy who created the musical was in the room as she performed. A man leaned over to him and asked, “Well, what did you think?”
The creator of the musical responded, “She’ll sound better once she gets her heart broken.”
David knew what it was to have a broken-heart. So do you. Following Jesus doesn’t grant immunity from darkness. But following Jesus does guarantee that you won’t be in the darkness alone.
David had already been anointed king but he probably didn’t feel a lot like one while he was sitting in the cave of Adullam. He was on the run for his life. According to Saul, the current king, he was public enemy number one. The power of the state was crashing in on him. The shepherd boy who had killed Goliath was now running for his life, hiding out in one bad place after another.
That great theological duo known as Brooks and Dunn once sang about, “a run down bar across the railroad tracks.” This was David’s version of that. But instead of a table for two, four hundred men showed up to join David in the cave. The good news is that at least those 400 men weren’t trying to kill David. The not so good news was that these weren’t exactly five star recruits coming to join Team David. 1 Samuel 22:2 uses three phrases to describe David’s new friends.
“Everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him…”
The old saying is that misery loves company. That’s never been more true than it was in that cave. David was surrounded by the distressed, people in debt, and the broken-hearted. It’s in this context that David writes Psalm 142, one of the more comforting passages in the Bible for those who are in a dark place.
“With my voice I cry out to the LORD; with my voice I plead for mercy to the LORD. Psalm 142:1
Countless Bible studies can and have been written about David’s mistakes. Through them all, by God’s grace, David remained a man after God’s own heart. This is evident in his prayer life. The man took prayer seriously. In that cave, away from the home he grew up in and the throne he had been promised, David still communicated with God and told Him his trouble (Psalm 142:3).
I’ve heard people say many times that they want to pray but don’t know how. Jesus gives us a guide in Matthew 6 where he teaches His people to pray to their Father in heaven. This instruction still applies to believers today. David did not pray to an impersonal being or force. He prayed to the LORD. When you see LORD in all caps, that references God’s personal name. So Christian, when you are in a bad spot, pray. But remember, you are not talking to the wind or your ancestors but to your heavenly Father, because of the Son’s sacrifice (Hebrews 10:19-23), and by the Spirit’s help (Romans 8:26).
By the time we get to the second portion of David’s Psalm, depression has set in. I remember some years ago when a Christian artist came out with a blues album. This created a bit of controversy among the elites. Their argument was something along the lines of, “Christians can’t have the blues.” These elites had clearly never read Psalm 142. Or Jeremiah. Or a lot of other portions of scripture.
“Look to the right and see: there is none who takes notice of me; no refuge remains to me; no one cares for my soul.” Psalm 142:4
That sounds like a pretty good blues song to me. We can all relate to David’s feeling of despair. Anyone who has lot a child, buried a parent, or struggled to get free from the entanglements of sin done to them or by them can relate to that feeling of isolation and need for refuge. Denial isn’t the proper Christian response to depression. This is a battle that must be fought head on. The only way out is through (Psalm 23:4).
Many Christians forget this. As a result, they tend to identify with their depression rather than their Savior and spend the rest of their lives taking pills that don’t work and missing out on all that is available to them in Christ. David wrote, “No one cares for my soul.” But he didn’t stay there. The next portion of this Psalm is pivotal.
“I cry to you, O LORD; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living” Psalm 142:5.
In his communication with God David was able to transition from, “No one cares for my soul,” to “You are my refuge.” His freedom from depression didn’t come by pretending it wasn’t there. He addressed it and attacked it with the overwhelming presence of God. We must do the same. Depression may be knocking on the door. Perhaps it has even broken into the house and put it’s muddy feet up on the couch. The Enemy’s fiery darts of depression may have even found their place in your back. Either way, for the Christian, those who are with us are greater than those who are with them (2 Kings 6:16).
Let’s go back to the cave at Adullam. There we’ll find one more subtle but important lesson from the soon-to-be king. David was suffering. In his suffering, he was surrounded by people who were also suffering. But this turned into something much greater than the run down bar across the railroad tracks.
“And he became commander over them. And there were with him about four hundred men.” 1 Samuel 22:2b
These broken-hearted, financially broken, and broken-spirited men would eventually become a mighty army (1 Samuel 23:5). One of the marks of someone who has a heart after God’s is how that someone reflects Jesus in the worst moments.
Our greater Suffering Servant King would also surround himself with a crew that wasn’t all that great.
“Come to me, all who labor and are heaven laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
David was surrounded by the heavy-laden and turned them into a great army. Jesus chose to surround himself with the weary and heavy-laden and turned them into His body, the church.
Christian, you might be in a cave of your own but you are not there on your own. God is your refuge, even in the face of depression. Come to Him and find rest for your soul.