Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise Your name; the righteous shall surround me, for You shall surround me, for You shall deal bountifully with me. 

Psalm 142:7 

Why do we praise God’s Name? David was in a hard situation. He describes his reality throughout the psalm. He speaks of his persecutors, his peril, his isolation and his anxiety. He declares his faith in God in clear terms with particular petitions that call for intervention. Our text is the conclusion of the psalm. In it David calls upon God to deliver him out of prison. To that he adds, ‘that I may praise Your Name.’ Again, why praise the Name of God? Although we may praise God for what He does, it is more important to praise God for Who He is. His Name reflects His character. It is out of His character His works come forth. He does what He does because He is Who He is. We especially see this in Christ. He is Jesus, ‘God is salvation.’ When the angel appeared to Joseph, his message included the instruction: ‘You shall call his name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.’ Jesus is also, Christ, the Anointed One. He is the promised Messiah of the ancient prophecies, the fulfillment of the promise of God. When we praise the Name of God, we are magnifying the character of God. By doing so we are demonstrating our love for Who He is, not merely what He has done for us. We love the Host, not merely His table. David desired God’s intervention, but was keen to praise the Lord Who liberated Him. We praise the same God and the same Christ.  

Our Glorious Living God, 
we rejoice in Who You are. 
We praise You that You are utterly dependable, 
for all our circumstances. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Attend to my cry, for I am brought very low; deliver me from my persecutors, for they are stronger than I. Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise Your name; the righteous shall surround me, for You shall deal bountifully with me. 

Psalm 142:6-7 

Christ is the Great Liberator of His people. When He arrived at the synagogue in Nazareth, they gave Him the scroll for the Sabbath reading from Isaiah. Part of the passage reads, ‘To proclaim liberty to the captives…to set at liberty those who are oppressed….’ What follows is: ‘Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’  Christ came to set His people free. If we cast an eye back over history, we see He has been liberating His people in various situations for centuries. The exodus from Egypt; His liberation of the three Hebrew children from Nebuchadnezzar’s  furnace; and Daniel from the lion’s den, all serve as examples of Christ liberating those who trust in Him. David’s cry was ‘Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are stronger than I. Bring my soul out of prison.’ David’s Liberator is our Liberator. If we look to human leadership, it will consistently disappoint. While we may exercise respectful and responsible citizenship, our confidence is not in them. When we find ourselves in the most discouraging of situations, we look to Christ. He can bring our soul out of prison. He succeeds were all others fail. Whatever imprisons your soul today, look to Christ to deal with that. He was David’s hope, has been the hope of saints throughout history, and will be your hope today. 

Our Great God and our Savior, 
we rejoice that You make us free. 
We praise You that because You do, 
we are free indeed. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Attend to my cry, for I am brought very low; deliver me from my persecutors, for they are stronger than I. Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise Your name; the righteous shall surround me, for You shall deal bountifully with me. 

Psalm 142:6-7 

We are not our own saviors. So much of what we experience in life is out of our control. David articulated some of what he was experiencing. Because Saul, the king, was pursuing him he had become a fugitive, forced to hide in a cave. Discontented souls surrounded him, some of whom he could not trust not to turn on him. His enemies plotted against him. He felt rejected, isolated, and utterly alone. Where would he find hope and help? He found it in God. His hope was in the only One Who could deliver him and bring him out of the prison of his circumstances. Because his understanding was evangelical, we can say his hope was in Christ. He had said of Christ, ‘You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.’ All the evil surrounding him was no match for Christ, his Shepherd. What was true for David is true for us. We cannot change the behavior of evil people who plot against us. We cannot control circumstances which adversely affect us because other forces have brought them to be. Where shall we find hope and help? We find it in Christ. He is Our Shepherd. He delivers as no one else can. What the arm of flesh cannot do, He can do and does for the sake of those who call upon Him. Our cry to Him is, ‘Deliver me.’  

Our Gracious God and our Savior, 
we rejoice that You are greater than our enemies. 
We praise You, that in our most desperate hours 
we can call upon You, and You will deliver us. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Look on my right hand and see, for there is no one who acknowledges me; refuge has failed me; no one cares for my soul. I cried out to You, O LORD: I said, You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. 

Psalm 142:4-5 

David needed a greater refuge than the cave could afford him. He was hiding from Saul, the king, who was pursuing him in jealousy and fear of his potential for becoming king. As a person of wisdom, David was doing the sensible thing, which was to physically find refuge in the cave. As a person of faith, he was appealing to God and pouring out his heart to his Shepherd. While the cave was his earthly refuge, Christ was his true refuge. David was feeling isolated and friendless. He remarked that there were those who sought to entrap him, while others distanced themselves from him. He felt this so keenly he remarked, ‘No one cares for my soul.’ He follows that statement with, ‘I cried to You, O LORD: I said, You are my refuge. My portion in the land of the living.’ When everyone and everything else fails us, we still have Christ. He was David’s refuge and He is ours. We may feel abandoned, isolated, hated, and shunned, yet, Christ is still our portion in the land of the living. He still hears us when no one else will listen. He still claims us when all others shun us. He has been the portion of His people in all generations. Because He is the same, yesterday, today, and forever, He will be to us, what He was to David, Our Refuge; Our Portion in the land of the living. 

Our Gracious Master and our God, 
we rejoice that You are our friend 
when we have no one else. 
We praise You that in You we find refuge. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning