“Bring my soul out of prison,
So that I may give thanks to Your name;
The righteous will surround me,
For You will deal bountifully with me.” (142:7)

Call upon the Lord in heaven and get deliverance.

Kahlil Gibran, the 3rd best-selling poet of all time, behind Shakespeare and Lao-Tzu said this statement, “Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.”
I believe Gibran’s statement is true especially when I look at the major characters of the Bible. King David is, of course, one of the many that belong to this group.
David was on the run from the evil king of Israel – Saul. Here he, the anointed future king is hiding in a cave in Adullam in fear of Saul. This is the background of Psalm 142. Bible says David was hunted like a partridge and he felt like a pelican in the wilderness, an owl in the desert, and he said his soul was among the lions. The one who killed the giant Goliath, the one who was anointed by Prophet Samuel to become the king of Israel in place of the disobedient and jealous king Saul had to go through such sufferings and painful circumstances? Bible says David ran from city to city, cave to cave for his life. He hid in Gath, Adullam, and Mizpah. He spent fearful and sleepless nights out in open places away from his loved ones and home.

Psalm 142 is a psalm of lamentation. It starts like this, “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.” Then he says when his spirit faint within him, it is the LORD who watches over his way. He says to the LORD in the path where he walks, his enemies had hidden snares for him. He also says- Look Lord and see, there is no one at his right hand and no one is concerned about him. He does have no refuge, and no one cares for his life. Then he cries to the LORD and said, Lord, you are my refuge. The LORD is his portion in the land the living. He says Lord to Listen to his cry because he is in desperate need. He asks the LORD to rescue him from those who pursue him. He acknowledges the fact that his enemies are too strong for him.

Immediately after these statements comes today’s insight. David says to the Lord, “Bring my soul out of prison So that I may give thanks to your name; the righteous will surround me, For You will deal bountifully with me. He feels like his soul is in prison, and he wants the Lord to bring it out of prison. If Lord does this, he says then the righteous would surround him because he believed the Lord would deal with him bountifully and graciously.

Beloved, are you in a desperate condition and do you feel like in prison? The most rewarding thing you can do in those difficult times is to cry to the LORD in heaven. Say to him that you are in a desperate condition. Ask him to rescue you from those who pursue you or from the problem you are facing. Like David said, ask LORD to bring your soul out of prison so that you may praise his name because he delivered you. Cry out to the LORD in prayer. Lament loud from your heart to the LORD.

Bible says in Psalms 145:14 & 18 the character and promise of the LORD, “The LORD upholds those who fall and lifts up those who are bowed down.” Verse 18, “The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” Did you notice the promise of God? He is near to all who call on Him. He is very near in our troubles and fears. It repeats the truth by saying “to all who call on him in truth.” Whatever condition you find yourself in, you can call on him 24 hours 7 days a week, anytime. It does not say he is near to some people only. Bible says He is near to all who call on Him.  In the USA people can call the number 911 for an emergency helps. However, sometimes even they fail to answer your call on time and come to help on time. The Mighty One, God, the LORD who speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to where it sets gives this promise “call on Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.” (Psalm 50:15).

David hoped the righteous would surround him again. Why? For he believed God would deal with him bountifully. Did God do it for David? Yes, He did. David testified, “You (the LORD) delivered me from all my troubles, and my eyes have looked in triumph on my enemies.” (Psalms 54:7). He also testified the LORD like this, “I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from my fears.” (Psalm 34:4). When David cried out to the LORD and explained his desperate condition to Him, the LORD delivered not only from all his troubles but also from all his fears.

The LORD surrounded him with the righteous ones again. The LORD dealt with him bountifully. He got into the history book as the greatest king of Israel in whose line Christ the savior, the Son of God, would born into this earth. Bible says, “this was the LORD’s doing, and it was wonderful to see” (Psalm 118:23). Let me tell you beloved; only God can do such things for you. If nothing else we learned from the book of Psalms in the Bible, just one lesson learned is good enough. That is this eternal truth that God delivers from troubles and fears and He wonderfully and supernaturally changes the circumstances and condition of people if they call upon Him.

Beloved, would you call on Him today? I encourage and challenge you to call the name of the LORD today and experience what wonderful works he would do for you. Bible says “all who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13). There is no doubt about this. Bible promises this with no shadow of a doubt. All who calls will be saved. We can come near to God and call upon Him because Christ, the Son of God, already shed his blood and gave His life to reconcile us with the holy God in heaven. Now we can boldly call the name of God and draw near to Him for help and deliverance any time by the merit of Christ Jesus -the broken body and the shed blood of Christ opened the new way to approach God any time. Call upon God today and come boldly to Him in the name of Jesus Christ because he wants to deliver and bless you.

Got a moment for today’s prayer? Father in heaven, I am in the midst of sufferings and pain Lord. I know you delivered David from all his troubles and fears. Please deliver me from troubles and fears. I call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and believe He died and rose again for all of my sins. Please come to my heart and save me. Thank you for the salvation and deliverance. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.”