Psalm 142

PSALM 142

1.    I cried unto the Lord with my voice; with my voice unto the Lord did I make my supplication.
2.    I poured out my complaint before him, I showed before Him my trouble.
3.    When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then I knowest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me.
4.    I looked to my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.
5.    I cried unto thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my refuge and the portion in the land of the living.
6.    Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low: deliver me from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I.
7.    Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me.

Psalm 142,

King James Version

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The psalmist revealed an essential part, the key, to recovery, here: “I cried unto the Lord with my voice; with my voice I did make my supplication. 2. I poured out my complaint before him, I showed him my trouble.”  

   Some might wonder why it is so damned important to name our disease and admit it out loud in front of others. We do it because it works and it works so very well if I pour it out whole-heartedly. This isn’t a minor part in the process of recovery. Indeed, I can see where it is the single most important admission I could have made other than when I ceded to my innermost-self the hopelessness of my condition. Everywhere I turned there was no help to be found via the hand of others… no phone call I could have made… no religious devotion… no contrivance other than surrender to that mystery of God… of the Heart of Compassion… in the midst of the soul wrenching grip of alcoholism. This disease is far stronger than me and my efforts alone so the next step was to enter the land of the living… surround myself in the Fellowship of others who had been likewise freed. Thus encompassed, I am guaranteed a life of bounty, a strong bond of love, which is dealt graciously by the Hand of God.

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