Psalm 142 & the Provision of the Church for Christ's People

He is in the psalms and so is His church

Among other things, Psalm 142 says Christ’s people will be blessed with the provision of a house and family—the church.

A Maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A Prayer.

With my voice I cry out to the Lord; with my voice I plead for mercy to the Lord.
I pour out my complaint before him; I tell my trouble before him.

When my spirit faints within me, you know my way!
In the path where I walk they have hidden a trap for me.

Look to the right and see: there is none who takes notice of me;
no refuge remains to me; no one cares for my soul.

I cry to you, O Lord; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”

Attend to my cry, for I am brought very low!
Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me!

Bring me out of prison, that I may give thanks to your name!

The righteous will surround me, for you will deal bountifully with me.

The cave of Adullam would not be David’s last place of residence. His life would not always be on the run with “everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul.” (1 Samuel 22:2) Nor would his life end in the dark. God had better things in store for him, and one of those better things to come was that he would worship again with the great congregation. Some of God’s people in every age are ready to give up on the church, believing that there are no “good” ones near them or maybe even despairing that there are no “good” ones anywhere. But this is not true. David prayed in faith, knowing that his greatest needs would be met.

“Look to the right and see: there is none who takes notice of me; no refuge remains to me; no one cares for my soul.”—this seemed to be true for the moment.

“The righteous will surround me, for you will deal bountifully with me.”—this would be true, if not any time soon, then in (and for) eternity.

In the Authorized Version, Psalm 68:6 begins, “God setteth the solitary in families,” and so he does. This is why the Westminster Confession of Faith says:

The visible church, which is also catholic or universal under the gospel (not confined to one nation, as before under the law), consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion; and of their children: and is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, the house and family of God, out of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation. (25.2)

The last clause may seem harsh, but it is not: It points both to the fact that God does a tremendous amount of saving in and through the church and that He can even save to the uttermost even those who are in the most unusual or extreme circumstances of life. Will not the Judge of all the earth do right? Indeed, He will.