#DailyDevotion Bring Your Complaints To The LORD. Don’t Grumble Against Him.
Psalm 142 I call out to the LORD and plead with the LORD for mercy; 2I pour out my complaint before Him and tell Him my trouble. 3When I am weak enough to give up, You know my way. On the path where I have to go they have hidden a snare for me. 4Look to the right and see — no one’s concerned about me. My escape is cut off — no one cares about me. 5I call You, O LORD, and say, “You are my Refuge, my own Portion in the land of the living!” 6Listen to me calling loud – I am very low. Rescue me from those who pursue me — they are too strong for me. 7Get me out of prison so that I can praise Your name. The righteous will crowd around me when You do good to me.
There is a difference between grumbling against the LORD and bringing your complaints to Him. The first is done in unbelief. It does not turn to the LORD for help and does not believe the LORD can or will do anything about it. The second is a prayer of faith, trusting in the LORD that He not only hears our complaint but also He is willing and able to help us. That is what David is doing here.
The inscription of this psalm says David prayed this while in a cave. So it is likely during the time Saul was seeking to kill him. When Israel’s king and his army is out to get you, that can seem like a bleak situation. On top of that there would have been Saul supporters who may report David’s whereabouts when they see him.
From the sound of verses three and four it looks like David is tired from running. He’s been in the wilderness running from one town to another. Now he is in the wilderness hiding in a cave to save his life. He feels weak enough to give up. He’s really had it. He feels isolated and alone. Perhaps you too have felt this way under other circumstances. It could be from people mistreating you at school or work. Perhaps it’s just people in your general orbit. Maybe it is just one bad circumstance after another. You lose your job, you get a flat tire and then you blow your engine. When will it stop? Perhaps you’re having bouts with an illness or a number of illnesses. You could be experiencing all of the above, one thing after another like Job. But David has this faith the LORD knows his way.
So David cries out to God, “You are my Refuge, my own Portion in the land of the living!” He looks to the LORD as his refuge, his shelter where he can find his rest. The LORD is his portion, that is his inheritance. If he has the LORD and possesses Him then he can deal with everything else. This promise of the LORD sustains him. Pauls writes of us in Romans 8, ” 17and if children, then heirs, God’s heirs, and joint heirs with Christ since we share in His suffering in order that we may also share in His glory.” James also says in ch. 2, “5Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?” (ESV)
So being heirs of God i.e. having the LORD as our portion and inheritance in the kingdom to come we ask Him to rescue us from our troubles and trials. We ask Him to be our strength when everything that opposes us and our well-being is too much for us. When the LORD answers us, then we are able to praise Him and invite all fellow believers to rejoice with us and praise His holy name.
Gracious God and Father, bestow Your mercy upon us in all times of trials and tribulation. Deliver us from them that all Your holy ones may join us in thanksgiving and praise to Your name. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.