"In Times of Trouble"

PSALMS 142 [Masehil of David; A Prayer when he was in the cave.]

  It is really not surprising that we find ourselves dealing with this today, as it was then, it is still that way today; as it will be tomorrow also, for there will be no perfection until we are enjoying eternity with the Lord, wherever that might be, in His presence is all that really matters! Last night I was thinking about this Psalm and the cave part of this title, "A Prayer when he was in the cave." That word, "Masehil," is one that should be familiar, as it is part of many other titles before; it basically mean that this Psalm is meant to give instruction, or that this is something to contemplate; which is really no different than almost everything in the Bible, from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21. The most important thing to remember about the Bible is that it is God's Word; it is His Story that He has made available to us though various authors, but all of which were inspired and spoken to by God Himself. There are several points that I feel need to be made as we go through these seven verses; the most important being that God will not abandon us, no matter where we might end up hiding, and no matter what we might be hiding from. Have you ever had one of those days where you just want to crawl under a rock and hide? Don't feel ashamed if you have, because it is not something that does not happen to the strongest among us; we are never as strong as we think we are, there is always going to be something to frighten and teardown anyone; no one on this planet is beyond having trouble, in one form or another. If you think I might be wrong, think of Jesus in the garden the night He was arrested; there was no one stronger than Him, yet He wept so bitterly that the Bible says, "His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." (Luke 22:44) If someone might ask you, Why did God need to come down and die for us? There are at least three very important reasons that He had to do it the way that He did: First of which, was the fact that He had to become a man in order to save mankind; He needed to become flesh, in order to save all flesh! Secondly, He needed to be human to be sinless; to be tempted as man, so that He could overcome temptation! Thirdly, because only God was qualified to save us; a perfect sacrifice required a spotless Lamb! Oh ya, I forgot to mention what I was thinking about last night; because it was how Jesus was actually born in a cave, which is what we will celebrate tonight...

"And so it was, that, while they were there, the three days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn." (Luke 2:6-7)