Pouring out our hearts before God

I’ve already written one post concerning Psalm 142, but it was in combination with another psalm, so I decided to give it its own post.

Here we see David in one the caves he spent his time hiding in during his flights from Saul and perhaps from Absalom.

And one can imagine the feeling of being closed in that David had.  He refers to it in this psalm as like being in a prison  (Psalm 142:7).

So from this cave, he cries out to God.  He says in verse 2,

I pour out my complaint before him;
before him I tell my trouble.

As I look at this psalm, one thing I notice is that in his anguish, he did exaggerate his problems at times.  He said,

Look to my right and see;
no one is concerned for me.

I have no refuge;
no one cares for my life.  (Psalm 142:4)

When you look at his true situation, however, that wasn’t strictly true.  He had other soldiers with him, who definitely did care whether he lived or died, and were quite loyal to him.

During his flight from Saul, David’s best friend (and Saul’s son) Jonathan came out to visit him, and to encourage him.

During his flight from Absalom, another of his friends acted as a spy for him, helping lead to Absalom’s demise.

But sometimes, when we’re going through trials, things seem worse than they really are, so we tend to exaggerate our complaints before God.

The nice thing about God, however, is that he understands us.  He doesn’t rebuke us when we pour out our hearts to him.  Instead, he shows us mercy and compassion.

That’s why David could be so open and honest with God.  He knew that God would still accept him.

More than that, he knew that God was still with him, and still had great plans for him.  So he sang,

When my spirit grows faint within me,
it is you who know my way. (3)

And again,

You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.  (5)

So when we too are struggling as David did, let us not hesitate to pour our hearts before him, knowing that he won’t condemn us for it.

And let us never lose our confidence in his plans for us, remembering that if we have him, we have all we truly need.