I’ll bet you have been in a cave. When I was much younger, my Uncle Jack and Aunt Addie took my cousin, Cindy, and I to Old Man’s Cave. It was a nice and big – nothing scary there! Then Eddie and I stopped with our three little girls at Ruby Falls. This was more like a cave! Even scary because they turned out the lights to show you how dark it was. The walkway of twists and turns were very uncomfortable only to come upon a waterfall someone had the idea to put a light on with colored bulbs and charge you to go “ahh, ohhh” and all I could think of was the walk back “ugh”!
In reading the story of David, I came upon several places where circumstances of his life caused him to hide in a cave. I compared his cave with the ones I visited and in doing so, the Lord laid it on my heart that these weren’t the comfy caves I had visited. My imagination takes over and I think perhaps David’s cave was dark with damp dirt or mud, sharp rocks, bone cold and a home for bats, rats and snakes, but nothing compared to David’s personal despair that he felt – being alone and lonely – the darkness reached his soul. This cave was not only a hiding place, but a “cave of despair” and sometimes I can relate to this cave.
The Concordance in my Bible says that despair means “without hope”, but David was not without hope and it was through these times that some of the best Psalms were written. The Psalms he wrote are full of prayerful questions, praise and acknowledgement of God’s love, refuge, goodness, love, mercies and so much more. I have used these same Scriptures to help me get through the murkiness of my own degree of despair to instill hope, comfort and acknowledge God through praise.
God inhabits praise, so I am not alone. The darkness of the cave is a blessing as it helps me focus on Him and I feel His presence and personal love for me. As I mentally walk out of my cave, circumstances haven’t changed, but my cave like David’s has. It is now a Cave of Hope because I trust and have confidence in the One who can change the circumstances I am in. Psalm 3.
Thanks for reading my thoughts….
