December 17 - Prayer from inside a Cave
Prayers to God from a desperate situation find a parallel in David’s prayer from within the cave. He was trapped, inside the darkness of the cave with nowhere to go. While he was in the cave, Saul and his men were at the entrance of the cave, seeking his life. So David cried out to the Lord and pleaded for mercy. He poured out his complaints before God and told Him his trouble. Even when his spirit was fainting within him, as he was afraid of the traps his enemies had hidden for him, he felt alone with no help and with no one who cared for his soul.
In the middle of his prayer, David seemed to have found the Lord as his refuge and portion in the land of the living. He again asked God to deliver him from his persecutors who were too strong for him. He asked to be brought out of the prison, the cave. He knew that God would surround him with the righteous people and He would deal bountifully with him. Even in his darkest days, he still cherished hope found only in the Lord.
Yes, God is righteous and holy. One side of Him is vengeance and wrath as to punishing sin. Although He is slow to anger, but His anger still comes. He is all-powerful but He will by no means clear the guilty. No one can stand before Him in His righteous anger. But on the other hand, according to the prophet Nahum, the Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble. He knows those who take refuge in Him. King David knew it well as He trusted the Lord to deliver him when he was in the cave of darkness and desperation.
To take away God’s wrath, we must walk in holiness. The only way to attain it is to confess our sins. Once we take away the rebuke from God, we then can claim His promises of protection and deliverance. This is the good news of the gospel and we need to proclaim this news to more people. As Nahum said, “Behold, upon the mountains, the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace!” Before he declared judgment upon Nineveh, he published the good news first. The heart of God is to redeem and to save.
Even when we read about the coming of the trumpet judgments, God is preserving a remnant and there is no complete destruction for He is waiting for the people to repent. For every trumpet blown, it is only one-third that is destroyed, leaving two-thirds untouched. There is mercy even in the midst of judgment, revealing the nature of God as He deals with the sinning world.
Are you in a cave? Cry out to God now and ask for His deliverance. Declare to the world the good news: God is not only righteous, He is also our loving Father.
Ps 142:1-7 Nah 1:1-3:19 Rev 8:1-13 Prov 30:7-9