^{1 “}I cry out to the Lord;
    I plead for the Lord’s mercy.”

Psalm 142:1, NLT

Sometimes troubles come to visit us in droves. It’s more than a simple hassle or two– rather it is devastating. It could be spinal meningitis, or a divorce. A car accident or a loss of a job. (Golly, I could go on and on.)

David is sitting in a cave. He is hiding. And he is completely overwhelmed by the twists his life has taken. He would never in a thousand years imagine it would end up like this. It all seems terribly out-of-control. And he is afraid.

Commentary

V. 1, ^“I cry out to the Lord;
    I plead for the Lord’s mercy.”

“I cry out, and I plead.” This is the language of beaten and overwhelmed believer. About 20 years ago, I returned to my home state of Wisconsin for a visit. In a wild and weird sequence of events, I found out that I was being pursued by the police. I didn’t know it, but they had an outstanding felony warrant for my arrest.

I hid out over the weekend, and got really desperate with God. On my hands and knees I began to beg for mercy. I have never been so earnest, it was like I was being torn in pieces. My wife and kids were with me, and I had already been a full time instructor at ABI.

As I prayed, I broke through some major issues. It was agony. At times, all I could think of was going to prison. Losing my family, and my young ministry. But I needed to deal with the enormity of my sin that I committed 20 years earlier.

On Monday morning, I turned myself in. I stood with my lawyer (who I met an hour before.) I had committed everything over to God. I was ready to go to jail. It was frightening. The judge, after conferring with the lawyers, made his ruling. He quashed the warrant, and dismissed me of all charges.

The lawyer told me later that he had never seen such a turn of events. “That was a miracle!”

**

ybic, Bryan