“Truth for Truckers” *June 22, 2014* Psalm 142a “No
man cared for my soul”
“No Man Cared for My Soul” is the title and most remembered phrase of
this sorrow filled song of instruction from David drawn from his experiences
when ‘He escaped to the cave of Adullam’
(I Samuel 22:1) during the days of his flight from King Saul. This period of
time in the life of young David was the source for many of the Psalms which
display the inner most feelings of the soul that is in dire straits of distress
and anguish as he was persecuted wrongfully and hunted like an animal by the King
whom he had faithfully served.
In (v.1-5) Conditions in the Cave are
declared as David makes his situation known to the LORD in detail:
‘I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my
voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication. I poured out my complaint
before Him; I showed before Him my trouble.’
These first two verses are addressed to
the reader giving his method and manner of communication with the LORD. His cry
show the urgent need, the audible sound of his voice demonstrates the complete
energy of his soul in appealing to the LORD for help. Then he begins his direct
plea to the LORD:
‘When my spirit was overwhelmed within
me, then Thou knew my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid
a snare for me. I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man
that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul. I cried unto
Thee O LORD: I said Thou art my refuge and my Portion in the land of the
living.’ (v.3-5)
Only the LORD knew the innermost details
of David’s plight, the condition of his spirit, the path he took, the way which
he walked and the trap laid by his enemy, the total absence of human help, and
his desperate cry unto the LORD demonstrating his full reliance upon the LORD
Who eventually came to the rescue as his place of safety and his very all in
this harrowing time of fierce persecution. In conclusion, David makes three
intensive requests of the LORD:
‘Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very
low: deliver me from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I. Bring my
soul out of prison that I may praise Thy name, the righteous shall compass me
about, for Thou shall deal bountifully with me.’ (v.6, 7)
David’s plea for attention comes in the
form of an urgent and desperate ‘cry’, he underlines his rock-bottom spiritual
condition and then appeals to the LORD for His rescue from an impossible
situation humanly speaking. He needs the miraculous saving strength of the
LORD! His final expression for help has
within it a powerful statement of his faith in the LORD as he looks forward to
praising the LORD when He brings his ‘Soul
out of prison’ knowing also that God will ‘Deal bountifully with’ him in the end of it all. This prison-like
experience in the cave of Adullam occurred early on in David’s adulthood and
was one of the incidents which served to give him the confidence in God that
carried him throughout his life.
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