Psalm 13 may be the very deepest of all the pits of life David endured. In this Psalm David is all alone and momentarily felt that even God had left him. Note the exact spot these events take place in the text of I Samuel 21:15-22:2:
1 Samuel 21:15-22:2 Have I need of madmen, that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?” 22:1a David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam.
Then there is a space of an unknown duration of time; David is completely alone except for his fears and troubles which followed him into the cave; Psalm 13 is describing his experiences here.
22:1b So when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. 2 And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with him.
The Cave of
Emotional Darkness
David left Gath and was so alone that he despairs. And now David feels abandoned as moves to a new location that is very foreign to him. David wrote Psalm 13—how to overcome the feelings of despair, abandonment and loneliness when we are in a very dark situation that seems hopeless. The tone of this whole period of “cave times” is described by David in the first verse of Psalm 13. Look there with me and note the very first verse:
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? —Psalm 13:1
As a believer, regardless of the extent of our spiritual maturity, it’s possible to reach a point so low we actually feel that everyone—even God—has abandoned us. That was David’s desperate condition when he wrote Psalm 13.
Psalm 13 reveals that Christ can’t be our Refuge if we don’t hear His invitation to flee to Him, or remember He’s there. Sometimes we have to hit bottom, go through dark waters, or face incredible convulsions in our lives to really see Him even though He’s been there all the time.
Going through tough times truly does build character. You either gain the inner strength and endurance that you have learned through going through your battles or you become a "Character" or "Victim" of your circumstances.
David forged through his many distresses in life. He gained approval of his King and became his favorite musician only to have that very King become enraged and jealous of him.
David gained his first notoriety when he stepped up to the plate and faced a giant named Goliath.When other men in his city who were more experienced in battle cowered in fear David said that he would slay the Giant. Which he did and he saved the city.
Where did David get this courage? David was a Sheppard boy who guarded sheep. During those times in the fields with the herds he encountered Lions and slayed them to protect his masters flock.
No doubt when David saw the giant he pulled courage from his past battles with the lions.
If David had never encountered a ravenous lion while alone in a field full of tasty sheep and had never slayed the lion, he would not have been ready for the giant that was about to take hold of his city.
David used what he had at hand. He used experience. He conquered Goliath in the way he had conquered the lion. Not with his fists, a canon or an arrow. He used his trusty sling shot and some field stones that he picked up off the ground. He did not allow the mocks that came from Goliaths army to sway him. He did not listen to the people in the crowd in his own city who said he would not have a chance of survival. He listened to God. He listened to his heart. He knew what he could do.
If God is telling you that you can do something. If He placed it in your heart and mind. Be certain not to let naysayers discourage you. But, how do you really know if God has placed a desire in your heart to do something?
You pray and ask God to lead your steps and to take any desire away from you that is not His will. You hand it over to Him and ask Him to pave the way for you if it is really His will for your life. That takes the pressure off of you!
Keep slaying your lions everyday. You may even want to keep a journal and see the progress you have made even through you did not realize it at the time. Learning something worthwhile is tough and takes work.I have heard it said that God never wastes a hurt. It's true. God does not want us to suffer and not win. God loves us. He also loves His Son Jesus. He sent Jesus his only son that He adores to Earth to reach a lost world of people.Jesus went through a lot. He was scorned, mocked, called a liar among other things. Eventually Jesus died on a cruel cross and took all our sins upon Himself. This was Gods desire so that we could be saved from eternal doom, damnation and hell.
God wants us to be His hands and feet here on Earth. He still wants to spread the good news that all people can be saved from a life of doom, despair and hell if they will just ask Jesus to be their Savior and make Him Lord of their lives. We need to tell everyone they can have life free of despair and darkness. There is hope and Jesus is that guaranteed salvation! The good news is that we do not have to die for our own sins or for anyone else. Jesus already did that for us.
So the next time you come up against a struggle, that shatters all your dreams and your hopes are cruelly crushed. If you feel the urge with in you to submit to Earthly fears don't let the faith your standing in disappear. Throw the devil a curve ball. Do you know what that curve ball is? Praise the Lord! God can work through you when you praise Him.
There have been times when I have felt I could not even fathom words to pray in my sadness. So I began to praise God for the things I could see like the clouds, trees, my car, my breath. I could feel the emptiness leave me. I could feel God saying to my heart. Well done. I felt Gods embrace, and you can feel it also.
Phillipains 3:14
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
