Scripture Focus: Psalm 142.1-2
1 I cry out to the Lord with my voice; 
   With my voice to the Lord I make my supplication.
2 I pour out my complaint before Him; 
    I declare before Him my trouble. 

Student Writers Month is here: The student writers featured from July 15 to August 9 have received free coaching, ministry training, and seminars by special guests in addition to this publishing opportunity, the ability to re-publish their work elsewhere, and a stipend/scholarship for their work. A portion of all donations during these dates will be applied to the students’ stipends/scholarships. Find out more about the students at this link or give a one-time or recurring gift at this link.

Reflection: Spiritual Caves 
By Vicente Quiñones-Aponte

Psalm headings convey an idea of what the psalm is about. In the case of Psalms 142 and 143, these headings indicate that David was praying in a cave and asking God for guidance and deliverance. For seven years, he was evading and hiding from King Saul. He did not find rest for his soul and opened his heart to the Lord in supplication. For David, in his anxiety, the cave was a place of temporary relief, but also represents the end of one’s possibilities of self-redemption.

As David realizes his condition, he turns to God in supplication and expresses his desperation: “Lord, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief” (Ps 143.1)  and “I cry aloud to the Lord; I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy. I pour out before him my complaint; before him I tell my trouble” (Ps 142.1-2).

Like David, most of us have experienced anxiety, despair, loneliness, and lack of rest for our inner being. These might represent an entrance to a “spiritual cave.” At this point, we are at the cave opening but still have some hope for a spontaneous solution. Inside the cave the hope is gone, and it feels like life is over.

For David, the cave was a place of testing. The Lord responded to David by placing his enemy, King Saul, at his disposal, seeming to say, “Do you want to end your problem here and solve it yourself, or would you wait a little longer and trust me?” David passed the test, realizing that if he killed Saul, he would not need to hide anymore; by doing this, he would distrust God.

The cave might represent depression, addictions, deep frustration, or a place of temporal refuge. But when you enter the cave, you do not know how to come out. But God is working for us all the time. Jesus said: “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working” (John 5.17).

Do you want to come out of your cave? Jesus can help you right now!

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Who is like the Lord our God, who sits enthroned on high, but stoops to behold the heavens and the earth. — Psalm 113.5

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.


​Today’s Readings
Isaiah 65 (Listen 5:00)
Psalms 142-143 (Listen 2:35)

Read more about Prayer From the Cave
“Caves make good closets for prayer; their gloom and solitude are helpful…” — Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Read more about Supporting Our Work
Donations during Student Writers Month help our students. Support ad-free content that brings biblical devotionals to inboxes across the world.

Selected by reader, Mrs. DeKuiper from Franklin, TN
As I read this post, my students and I were preparing to visit Mammoth Cave. In preparation for the cave tour, I began shifting from self-focused fear to cave-minded determination to train my heart and body to move strong through the cave. This devotional directly inspired me to become physically ready for the dark, slippery trek as it spiritually reminded me to keep kingdom-focused in my teaching.  

Scripture Focus: Psalm 142.1-2
I cry aloud to the Lord;
    I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy.
I pour out before him my complaint;
    before him I tell my trouble.

Reflection: Prayer From the Cave :: Readers’ Choice
Originally published July 8th, 2019
By John Tillman

Watching a skilled athlete, chef, or performer may be entertainment for the masses but can be a master class for the observant. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

When we read the Psalms, we observe masters at prayer. If we read with more than a passing glance we can see their technique well enough to improve our own. Like someone analyzing the handgrip of a pinch-hitter may improve his own swing, we can analyze how tightly the psalmist grips the hand of God and do likewise. Like someone noticing the way a champion tennis player shifts her feet in the instant before the serve may adjust his own return technique, we can detect the psalmist’s shift from self-focused complaining to kingdom minded proclamation and train our hearts to move in a new way. 

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, in his commentary on Psalm 142 notes the importance of being instructed in prayer in this manner:

“This maschil is written for our instruction. It teaches us principally by example how to order our prayer in times of distress. Such instruction is among the most needful, practical, and effectual parts of our spiritual education. He who has learned how to pray has been taught the most useful of the arts and sciences. The disciples said unto the Son of David, ‘Lord, teach us to pray’ and here David gives us a valuable lesson by recording his own experience as to supplication from beneath a cloud.”

We have but to watch and read the Psalms with careful observation and our own prayers may be approached with new energy, new attitudes, and new aptitudes.

Prayer does not come easier in dark times, but we may feel it does since we more quickly and easily turn to it in distress. Spurgeon also notes that caves, such as the one this psalm is written from, make excellent places to pray:

“Caves make good closets for prayer; their gloom and solitude are helpful to the exercise of devotion. Had David prayed as much in his palace as he did in his cave, he might never have fallen into the act which brought such misery upon his later days.”

May we pray in our caves.
May we pray in our palaces.
May we pray in our soul cages, and pray for those in physical cages.
May we not allow any earthly light to keep us from seeking an inner, humble cave to pray in.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting
As the deer longs for the water-brooks, so longs my soul for you, O God. — Psalm 42.1

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
1 Samuel 7-8 (Listen – 5:34)
Romans 6 (Listen – 3:28)

This Weekend’s Readings
1 Samuel 9 (Listen – 4:42) Romans 7 (Listen – 4:09)
1 Samuel 10 (Listen – 4:34) Romans 8 (Listen – 6:62)

Thank You!
Thank you to our donors who support our readers by making it possible to continue The Park Forum devotionals. This year, The Park Forum audiences opened 200,000 free, and ad-free, devotional content. Follow this link to join our donors with a one-time or a monthly gift.

Submit a Readers’ Choice
Let our community hear how your faith has grown. What post comforted you?

Read more about Prayer from the Belly of the Beast
Prayer and thankfulness seem natural around a table of friends and family. But prayer can be even more powerful in the dark places of our lives.