Psalm 142 | Wayfarer

Set me free from my prison,
that I may praise your name.
Psalm 142:7 (NIV)

The key to understanding David’s “prison” is by reading the liner notes to this particular song’s lyrics: “A maskil of David. When he was in the cave. A prayer.” The fact that the note is specific in mentioning “the” cave means that it refers to the Cave of Adullam which was a secret fortress and a bandits hideout. David was on the run from King Saul who unjustly wanted to wipe him out. There was a price on his head. For David, as time passed, the cave transformed itself from a place of refuge into a personal prison.

One of the definitions of “prison” is “any place of confinement or involuntary restraint.” Our prison can be any number of places that have nothing to do with steel bars and razor wire. Our prison can be a house or a room within a house. For a weary traveller, an airport, airplane or auto can become a prison. Relationships can become tortuous places of confinement. For those struggling with addictions, disorders, disease or handicap, our very own bodies can become our prison cell. Any who have struggled with the weight of guilt and shame know that our very soul can become our personal penitentiary.

David’s song is a wailing blues number and a desperate cry for salvation from his intensely personal problems. Each of us experience our own places of confinement. Sometimes we have been placed there involuntarily. Other times we find, like David, that a place we once ran for refuge has become a source of torment. Crazier still, we sometimes choose to stay in our personal prison because the torment we know seems less fearful than the freedom that is available to us.

I am reminded this morning of the quote from the prophet Isaiah which became the core of Jesus’ first public teaching:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” [emphasis added]

Today, I am praying for myself and all those who know the pain of captivity in all of its diverse and personal manifestations. My prayer is rooted in Jesus’ words: “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Your people will form a circle around me and you'll bring me showers of blessing! Psalm 142:7b (MSG)

Last weekend we attended the birthday party for a young friend who was turning three years old. We sat with a veritable hoarde of family and friends to eat cake, drink punch, and watch him open his gifts. After opening each gift, his parents reminded him to go and hug each of the people who gave him the gift. Hugs for grand parents. Hugs for great-grandparents. Hugs for aunts. Hugs for uncles. Hugs for friends.

On the way home from the party, my wife, daughter and I commented on our young friend's large "circle of love." His three-year-old brain is just developing cognitive memory. It's likely he will forget 99 percent of the memories of that day. The presents he received, which were the highlight of his day, will soon be lost, broken, worn out, and grown out of. He doesn't yet realize that the greatest gift he received that day was the doting love of so many people. He will not grow out of it, and it will not be lost, broken or worn out.

I found it interesting how David's lyrics were all about how lonely he was, but the last verse finds him blessed within a "circle of love." It's easy to feel feel the isolation of our melancholy. Depression is often a blinding fog. In our fear we lose sight of, and keep ourselves out-of-touch with, the veritable hoarde who love us.

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