April 8thPsalm 142
God works the night shift
1-2 I cry out loudly to God,
loudly I plead with God for mercy.
I spill out all my complaints before him,
and spell out my troubles in detail:
3-7 “As I sink in despair, my spirit ebbing away,
you know how I’m feeling,
Know the danger I’m in,
the traps hidden in my path.
Look right, look left—
there’s not a soul who cares what happens!
I’m up against the wall, with no exit—
it’s just me, all alone.
I cry out, God, call out:
‘You’re my last chance, my only hope for life!’
Oh listen, please listen;
I’ve never been this low.
Rescue me from those who are hunting me down;
I’m no match for them.
Get me out of this dungeon
so I can thank you in public.
Your people will form a circle around me
and you’ll bring me showers of blessing!” [Message]
The psalm opens in darkness. The superscription says, ‘A maskil/prayer of David when he was in the cave.’ Reading David’s story in 1 & 2 Samuel, we are told of several ‘cave’ incidents in his story as he was often on the run. The cave of Adullam (to which this psalm may refer) is where all those in ‘distress, debt, and discontent gathered.’ Hardly an inspiring congregation! (1 Sam. 22).
Desperation is a terrible feeling, but desperation combined with loneliness is unbearable. David expresses this powerfully in his prayer. Twice we hear his ‘cry’ for help (vs.1,5). “Look and see, there is no one at my right hand; no one is concerned for me. I have no refuge; no one cares for my life.” (v. 4).
The act of ‘crying to God’ has important precedents in Hebrew scripture. In Exodus 2.23 the slaves cry to God for deliverance in their suffering. In Judges, the people cry out to God for help when oppressed by their neighbours. (3.9,15; 6.6-7).
To ‘cry out’ means the people trust that God is a God of mercy. It is that mercy upon which they depend. ‘When my spirit is faint, You know my way’ (v.3).
As one theologian says, ‘the Bible unfolds in patterns. And its master pattern is one of mercy.’ [1]
The Psalm reminds us of the story of Jesus healing the hemorrhaging woman. It all began when Jairus, a synagogue leader with high social status, came to Jesus for help. “My little daughter is dying,” he said. “Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live” (Mark 5:23). The girl was desperate, but her father was a loving and powerful advocate. Jairus approached Jesus boldly and directly for help, and Jesus agreed.
As they headed to Jairus’ home, Jesus encountered another fearful, desperate person seeking his healing touch. Unlike Jairus’ daughter, however, the bleeding woman had no one at her side. She had no advocate. And unlike Jairus, the woman had no power or status. That is why she came toward Jesus secretly and in silence hoping to go unnoticed. It didn’t work. Jesus felt power leave him when she touched the edge of his robe and was healed, and he immediately looked for who was responsible. Exposed for her irreverent and profane act—the law forbad an “unclean” woman from touching anyone—she confessed what she had done. Rather than responding with anger or condemnation, however, Jesus affirmed her faith and blessed her: ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’
Jesus never addressed any other woman as “daughter” in any gospel account. So why does he use such an affectionate term for this woman? Like David in Psalm 142, the bleeding woman had one to help her. No one was at her right hand. No one cared. Jesus did not reject Jairus’ request but in Mark 5 he prioritized the person who was both desperate and lonely. Jesus chose to privilege the woman who had no advocate ahead of the girl who did. Jesus prioritized God’s helpless daughter in the street rather than the synagogue leader’s daughter in the house. Through his decision to stop, heal, bless this woman, and call her “daughter,” Jesus declared that God is a Father to the fatherless. He will be the advocate of those who have no one else.
In this Lenten season leading to Easter, we are reminded God does God’s best saving work ‘in the dark.’
This prayer, shows us how to pray in distress and reminds us that a creative God always has options on offer that are invisible to us in the dark.
Thanks be to God!
[1] Byassee, J. – Psalms 101-150 (Brazos Theological Commentary).
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