You Know My Way
“When my spirit faints within me; You know my way”
Psalm 142:2
It is critically important for us to know that God knows everything about who we are and what we are going through. Especially when we feel all alone and are at the end of our resources. If there is ever a time when we need to understand that there is one more knowledgeable than us, it’s when things appear hopeless and out of our control.
This was exactly the environment David found himself in when he composed his song found in Psalm 142. David’s words of lament and hope were written from his dark experience at the back of the Cave of Adullam mentioned in 1 Samuel 22.
His words reek with a tone of isolation. It must have been so quiet and desolate that the only sound he heard was the panting rhythm of his own breath.
If that wasn’t enough, his soul is starving as he writes “there is none who takes notice of me…no one cares for my soul” (vs.4).
Have you ever felt this way? A season or time in your life when you were not noticed by anyone, and your aching soul longed to be understood or touched by another?
Jesus felt that way. David felt that way. And sadly, at times we feel that way.
David was at one of the lowest points in his life as he penned “Attend to my cry for I am brought very low” (vs.6) and “bring me out of this prison” (vs.7).
Despite all this turmoil, the low bass tones of his sad song begin to strike higher notes as he reflects on his faithful God. David cries out one side of his mouth, “When my spirit faints within me” then immediately follows it with this declaration out the other side of his mouth, “You know my way” (vs.3).
It is okay to vent to God as you pour out your grieving heart and broken soul. He knows how we feel anyway, so lay out your thoughts and tears before him completely. He alone understands.
So, what was it that took this discouraged and fractured King from complete despair to rise to his feet and punch the sky with confident faith?
God KNOWS my way (vs.2)
We don’t know what’s around the next bend of our life. Read Psalm 139 for a quick pick me up if you doubt that the Lord knows everything about you, what you are facing and that HE is involved at this very moment in your circumstances. We see this truth in David’s words. No matter how cold, dark, and isolated David felt in the belly of the cave, he reminded himself that God knows!
God IS my refuge (vs.5)
We live in a very unsafe world right now. I had an acquaintance tell me the other day that because I received the vaccine, I could be dead in three years. God is our protector and the author of life and death regarding His people. He surrounds us with the strong walls of his grace and guidance. Our role is to trust him in whatever he allows to touch our life. We belong to him and our body, in fact, belongs to him. He doesn’t want us to live in fear of the future, rather, to be wise and discerning. The scriptures promise that no one and nothing can harm us apart from his allowance. David knew this as he poured out his concern to the Lord with confident trust in him.
God DOES surround me with his people (vs.7)
It’s interesting that David says this while he is at one of the loneliest moments in his life. As he reflects on composing Psalm 142 and how he felt in those dark moments and what God was doing through it, he mentions that his loved ones arrived.
We read in 1 Samuel 22:2 “And David escaped to the Cave of Adullum. And when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him.”
In the last 16 months, we as a church, community, and country have experienced discouraging moments like David’s. I have had some introverts tell me it wasn’t that much of a change for them to be isolated since they enjoy being alone. However, times of separation with limited moments for the Body of Christ to gather can leave us missing what we deeply enjoy and love.
The first time Jenny and I attended a service when many of us gathered in the sanctuary again (about a month ago), I couldn’t hardly get the words of praise and worship up through my vocal cords because I was choking back tears of relief and gladness.
David ends the psalm on this note of relief, “the righteous will surround me, for you will deal bountifully with me” (vs.7).
Friends, if there were ever a time in which we needed to trust the Lord and be around Godly friends (as is appropriate), it is now. And soon, “this too shall pass.”
Pastor Bill