WE ARE NOT ALONE
Opening Prayer
Lord, thank You for never leaving me nor forsaking me.
Read PSALM 142
1 I cry aloud to the Lord;
I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy.
2 I pour out before him my complaint;
before him I tell my trouble.
3 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.
4 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.
5 I cry to you, Lord;
I say, “You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.”
6 Listen to my cry,
for I am in desperate need;
rescue me from those who pursue me,
for they are too strong for me.
7 Set me free from my prison,
that I may praise your name.
Then the righteous will gather about me
because of your goodness to me.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
‘“The virgin will conceive… and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”; Matt. 1:23).
Think Further
Have you ever heard the children’s rhyme “Nobody loves me, nobody wants me, I think I’ll go and eat worms”? Our psalmist today has not quite gotten to that point, but he is aware that, but for God, he really is all alone.
According to the heading of the psalm, David uttered this prayer when he was “in the cave.” Two possible situations have been suggested for this, both occurring while David was being hunted by Saul (1 Sam. 22:1–5 or 1 Sam. 24). In spite of his confidence that God watches over his way (3), David still voices his complaint, appealing to God to hear his cry (1,2). However, that confidence does not change his current situation, which is one of desperation (6), as, humanly speaking, he is all alone. His only help is that which the Lord will give him, so he appeals again for the Lord’s help, with the promise that, having been rescued from his current dilemma, he will be able to praise the Lord alongside those who will recognize just how God has transformed his situation (7).
Paul was well-versed in the Scriptures, so I wonder if he ever cried out this psalm in prayer to God. There were times when his only hope was God, and there may be times when we feel our only hope is God, because, humanly speaking, we really do feel all alone. We know both from David and from Paul that God never left them and that God brought his encouragement to them as he worked out his purpose for their lives. We may feel all alone today, but God is with us and we can put our hope in him. He is working out his purpose in our lives. David knew it. Paul knew it. Do we?
Apply
There is no place we can go that God’s presence cannot (Psa. 139:7–12).
Closing prayer
Lord, many are the afflictions of the righteous, but You deliver us out of them all.
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Encounter with God is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.