“Bring my soul out of prison …” ~ Psalm 142:7a
This is a very small purple stone.” But it is the heart cry of every imprisoned human heart, and so we will turn it for these next few days, and share what we see.
“Bring my soul out of prison …” What is a prison? The souls of men who are actually behind iron prison bars, may be in need of deliverance. Perhaps most of them are. But just as many men and women behind bars have been delivered by Christ, so many outside actual stone and steel walls are nevertheless “in prison” We will look at a few “prisons” in which the so-called free citizens may live. What about the prison of selfishness?
Has anyone aver escaped serving time in this most crowded of all “soul prisons”? Have you? Are you in it now? Am I in it now? We will never get out, until we are absolutely honest. Surely, the alcoholic is a striking example of a human soul in the prison of selfishness. Anyone will agree with this. Particularly anyone who is not an alcoholic. But there is another human type as frequently locked in the stuffy shadows of the prison of selfishness and that is the selfish mother whose mother love has turned to smother-love! She is usually excused by society. But not by God. He loves her as much as He loves the alcoholic and He wants them both free. In His heart, it isn’t os much a matter of “excusing” either one as of breaking both their captivity. Captivity is captivity and we are of no use to God when we are locked up in our own selfishness. And days passed in this airless prison lead invariably to bitter rebellion, but there is great hope. Great hope. A promise, in fact:
“Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive; thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them.
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