7 Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name. Then the righteous will gather about me b

1
7 Set me free from my prison, that I may praise
your name. Then the righteous will gather about
me because of your goodness to me.

• What prison do you think the author is referring
  to in the following verse?
• What might it have to do with us?

2
Cave PsalmsPsalm 34, 57, 142

• Psalm 34--Of David. When he pretended to
  be insane before Abimelech, who drove him
  away, and he left--I Sam. 221a
• Psalm 57--Of David. When he fled from Saul
  into the cave
• Psalm 142-Of David. When he was in the cave. A
  prayer

3

• Of David. When he was in the cave. A Prayer
• 1 I cry aloud to the LORD I lift up my voice
  to the LORD for mercy. 2 I pour out my
  complaint before him before him I tell my
  trouble. 3 When my spirit grows faint within
  me, it is you who know my way. In the path where
  I walk men have hidden a snare for me. 4 Look
  to my right and see no one is concerned for me.
  I have no refuge no one cares for my life. 5
  I cry to you, O LORD I say, "You are my refuge,
  my portion in the land of the living. 6
  Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need
  rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are
  too strong for me. 7 Set me free from my
  prison, that I may praise your name. Then the
  righteous will gather about me because of your
  goodness to me.

Psalm 142
4
Cave Psalms

• Overview of Cave Psalms
• Cave Principles
• Cave Practices
• Cave Perspectives

5
Cave Principle 1

• Caves reveal our true need and
  Gods care--v. 1
• Psalm 571-- Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy
  on me, for in you my soul takes refuge. I will
  take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the
  disaster has passed.

6
Cave Principle 2

• Caves enable Gods purposes to
  ultimately be seen more
• clearly--v. 2
• Psalm 572-- I cry out to God Most High, to God,
  who fulfills his purpose for me (see Rom. 828).

7
Cave Principle 3

• Caves make visible
• Gods Provision
• Gods Protection
• Gods Presence
• Psalm 573--He sends from heaven and saves me,
  rebuking those who hotly pursue me Selah God
  sends his love and his faithfulness (see v. 6b,
  too).

8
Cave Practices--Ps. 57 (Specific Responses
Called For)
What should we do if we find ourselves in a cave?

• 1) Honestly state our condition to God
  --vv. 4,6 1422
• 2) Seek Gods glory above all things
  --vv. 5. 11
• 3) Be steadfast/focused--v. 7a
• 4) Speak to ourselves about praise and then do
  it--vv. 7b-9 (See Ps. 425,11)
• 5) Recall Gods attributes--vv. 3b,10

9
Cave Perspectives (General Observations
about Caves)

• 1) Caves are universally visited.
• 2) Caves will make us and break us.
• 3) Cave disciplines need to be maintained.
  (Disciplines that we begin in the cave to
  survive need to continue so we can grow.)
• 4) Cave experiences need to be written down
  and/or shared.
• 5) Caves reveal our friends and our enemies.
  (They take initiative.)

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5) Caves reveal our friends our enemies.
(Continued)

• I Samuel 211b David left Gath and escaped to
  the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his
  father's household heard about it, they went down
  to him there. 2 All those who were in distress
  or in debt or discontented gathered around him,
  and he became their leader. About four hundred
  men were with him.
• Distress
• Debt
• Discontented

Friends forged in the crucible/cave will be
able to grow in spite of differences or
stressing circumstances
11
CONCLUSION Psalm 34, 57, 142

• We all need Safe Places--I Samuel 221a
• We all need Still Times--Psalm 34
• We all need Special Friends--I Samuel 22
• Psalm 1427 Set me free from my prison, (safe
  place) that I may praise your name (still
  times). Then the righteous will gather about me
  (special friends) because of your goodness to me.
  

12
I Will Give Thanks to Thee

• I will give thanks to thee,
  O Lord among the people.
  I will sing praises to
  Thee among the nations. For Thy steadfast
  love is great,
  Is great to the heavens,
  And Thy faithfulness,
  Thy faithfulness to the
  clouds.
• 
  Be exalted, O
  God, above the heavens. Let Thy
  glory be over all the earth.
  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,
  Let Thy glory be over all the earth.

13
Appendix

• Example of friends forged out of caves--The
  School of Urban Missions. President of New
  Orleans school said to Robert Burns Id take a
  bullet for you.
• Was that an empty statement? No. In New Orleans
  the murder rate is around 400 people a year. In
  the last several years, 5-6 pastors have been
  shot in their churches.
• I was very impressed with the quality of
  friendships in these schools, e.g., they quoted I
  Samuel 212 All those who were in distress or
  in debt or discontented gathered around him, and
  he became their leader.

14
Appendix

• Jim Baker--indicted for fraud, was in prison for
  5 years. The whole Bible is built around
  knowing Christ and the fellowship of his
  suffering. Those kinds of things dont preach
  very well. But I found through the fellowship of
  His suffering, my time in prison became not a
  time of loneliness--though it was terribly
  lonely--but a time of solitude. It became a time
  where I walked closer with Christ than I ever
  had. Christianity Today--12/2/98
• Today he works on the streets of L.A.
  volunteering as a staff member with the Dream
  Center.