Praise in the cave of loneliness

Approximately 15 miles east of Jerusalem, near the western edge of the Judean Hills, sits the Valley of Elah, a long flat valley that is overlooked by the ancient ruins of Adullam. In 1 Samuel 17, we read of the shepherd boy David being sent by his father Jesse to the Valley of Elah to supply provisions to his brothers who were camped there. The brothers were with King Saul and “all the men of Israel” fighting the Philistines. You know the story; after days of vicious taunting by Goliath and the Philistines, David is thrust, at his own request, right into the spotlight and kills the giant without breaking a sweat. This was a young confident David who stepped up to the fight, and the people of Jerusalem danced and sang his name (Sam. 18:6-7).

Fast forward a few years to 1 Samuel 22, where David, now a young man and heir apparent to the throne of Israel, is in a very different ‘head space.’ Rather than strutting his stuff on the battlefield, he’s hunkered down in the Cave of Adullam overlooking the same valley where he killed Goliath years earlier. Same place physically, very different place mentally. Where once he felt brave and confident, loved and admired, now he just feels scared, rejected, and lonely. While hiding alone in this cave, David is said to have written Psalm 142, “no one is concerned for me,” he laments.

David was famous outside his cave, well-connected, and seemingly loved by many. Still, his relentless flight from danger had taken its toll, and the words he wrote in Adullam give the sense of a man who was physically isolated, desperately afraid, deeply lonely, exhausted, and overwhelmed.

The word Adullam means refuge or hiding place, but some commentators also suggest it could mean praise, and that’s exactly what David began to do. He commanded his soul to praise God, which was the first step in breaking his feelings of fear and loneliness.

He was still in danger and alone, but a change was coming.

If you are fearful or lonely today, then begin by praising God, who sees your situation, hears your prayer, understands what you are feeling more than you do, loves you, and has a plan to prosper you with life in all its fullness.