When You Are Hiding In a Cave….

 

David had perhaps the most difficult path to becoming king of Israel of any king in history. He did not seek the throne; rather the throne sought him. Samuel anointed him to replace Saul as king, and David remained true to his anointing, but it could not have been easy.

We have already seen in 1 Samuel 18-21 that David lost his position in Saul’s army, his wife, his mentor, Samuel, his friend, Jonathan, and his dignity and self respect. When 1 Samuel 22 opens, David is fleeing from Saul and he “escaped to the cave of Adullam.” He had no security, he had no food, he had no one to talk to, he had no promise to cling to, and he had no hope that anything would ever change. He was in a dark cave, away from everything and everybody he loved. Everybody except God. The only people with him were 400 people who themselves were “in distress or in debt or discontent.”

That would not be the last cave in which he would hide from Saul. We get a glimpse at how he felt about these experiences in Psalm 142, which is a record of David crying out to God while in the cave.

I cry aloud to the LORD;
I lift up my voice to the LORD for mercy.
I pour out my complaint before him;
before him I tell my trouble.
When my spirit grows faint within me,
it is you who know my way.
In the path where I walk
men have hidden a snare for me.
Look to my right and see;
no one is concerned for me.
I have no refuge;
no one cares for my life.
I cry to you, O LORD;
I say, "You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living."
Listen to my cry,
for I am in desperate need;
rescue me from those who pursue me,
for they are too strong for me.
Set me free from my prison,
that I may praise your name.
Then the righteous will gather about me
because of your goodness to me.

What does David do while he hides in the cave? He cries out to God; he pours out his complaint to the Lord. He recognizes that God is his refuge. He would continue for quite some time to flee from Saul, but in the cave he renewed his commitment to trust in God no matter how difficult his circumstances.

None of us are hiding in a cave with 400 distraught people, but at some time, we have all felt we were alone, with no one to help us, no promise to cling to, and no hope for the future. If you have faced such circumstances in the past, you will likely face them again in the future. There is only one person who can really help at such times. We should learn from David to cry out to the Lord, make our complaint to him. As he was for David, the Lord will always be there for us.