When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who watch over my way. In the path where I walk people have hidden a snare for me. – Psalm 142:3

Today's Scripture Reading (April 22, 2022): Psalm 142

We are complex people and people with complicated emotions. There is no contradiction between committing to ourselves that we will praise God amid the storm (i.e., see my post from Psalm 57:9, published on April 21, 2022) and realizing that we are overwhelmed by our situation. It is important to recognize that Psalms 57 and 142 were both written in the same general era of David's life. One, Psalm 57, is a Psalm of praise, and David commits to turning the Cave of Adullam into a place of worship, filled with songs of praise sung to his God. Psalm 142 is a poem that reveals the deep depression that David was suffering at that moment. And the two are not inconsistent with each other; in fact, it deepens the respect we should have for the poet King. Both Psalms were written while David was hiding in the Cave of Adullam after escaping from the hands of the Philistines. But it was also a time when David was still running from the forces of Saul, who had staked out his home in the hope that David would show up there and could subsequently be captured by them. David shows us that even amid our deep depression or our dark nights of the soul, we can still echo David and commit to praising God.

David has come to a point in his existence when life is threatening to overwhelm him. He admits that he doesn't have much left; his spirit grows faint within him. Charles Spurgeon responds to David's words in this Psalm with this thought;

The bravest spirit is sometimes sorely put to it. A heavy fog settles down upon the mind, and the man seems drowned and smothered in it; covered with a cloud, crushed with a load, confused with difficulties, conquered by impossibilities. David was a hero, and yet his spirit sank: he could smite a giant down, but he could not keep himself up. He did not know his own path, nor feel able to bear his own burden.

David had found himself at the end of his rope, yet he still had faith that God would hold him up. As David reaches his end, he still has confidence that his God will watch over his way. Maybe this thought prompted Jesus to say in his Sermon on the Mount that "you're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule" (Matthew 5:3, The Message).

David's need at this moment is for less of him and more of his God. And we share that need whenever we are forced to go through the storm or David's valley of the shadow of death. With more of God, there is truly no need for us to fear any evil that might fall upon us.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 23