Restoration

Psalm 142

A psalm of David, regarding his experience in the cave. A prayer.

¹ I cry out to the Lord;
I plead for the Lord’s mercy.
² I pour out my complaints before him
and tell him all my troubles.
³ When I am overwhelmed,
you alone know the way I should turn.
Wherever I go,
my enemies have set traps for me.
⁴ I look for someone to come and help me,
but no one gives me a passing thought!
No one will help me;
no one cares a bit what happens to me.
⁵ Then I pray to you, O Lord.
I say, “You are my place of refuge.
You are all I really want in life.
⁶ Hear my cry,
for I am very low.
Rescue me from my persecutors,
for they are too strong for me.
⁷ Bring me out of prison
so I can thank you.
The godly will crowd around me,
for you are good to me.”

Today, the women in our church are going to an event titled Restoration, and it occurs to me that this psalm is very relevant to that.

When troubles come our way – when we are persecuted (like David was when he wrote this), when we are sick or in difficulty, this is what we should do. “Cry out to the Lord!”, “Plead for his mercy!”, “Pour out our complaints before him” because he has a thick skin and he listens. But then recognise that he alone knows the way we should turn.

The psalmist perceives, in verse 5, that the Lord is who we should turn to when we are low. He pares his life back to what is important, saying, “You are really all I want in life”. Some may say that his attitude is impractical – that we need constructive, workable solutions, not just spiritual ones. But what David understands is that it is when we turn to the Lord that those solutions come. “Seek first his kingdom, and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)

“All these things” may be practical solutions for our problems, or they may be changes of attitude within ourselves. God knows what we need, so cry, plead and complain to him, but then submit to him and his answers. That’s when we’re restored.

Written by Megan Cornell