God cares for us personally – not for anything He gets from us.

“David prayed this when he was in the cave. 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.” (Psalm 142:4-5)”

“Does your bank give a fox?” This tag line is part of an advertisement for a bank where I live. So, you’re stuck in traffic staring at a bus stop that asks whether your bank cares about you. You realise, ‘no, not really.’ My bank doesn’t send me dark chocolate digestives. My bank doesn’t care about me personally, they only care if I make them money. (Since I own Mount Mortgage, I think they love me!)

But then you start thinking, ‘actually, does anyone care about me, me personally, not just for any benefits they may get?’ We all have people who care about us, but how many care about us for absolutely no benefit to themselves? Imagine a homeless person, grown up in an abusive environment, having being constantly exploited for what others can get from her – she knows what its like to have absolutely no one care about her as a person.

Maybe you’re thinking, ‘I don’t need someone to care.’ Maybe you think you’re self-sufficient, but if the day ever comes when you really believe that absolutely no one cares about you personally… well, that’s a place no one wants to be in. David was in that place.

David is sitting in a dark cave and thinking. He’s on the run because the King wants him dead and the country has rejected him. His happy, peaceful life as a shepherd was taken from him. Never mind ‘giving a fox’, his bank would have closed all his accounts. He has lost his family, his friends and the whole country has disowned him. His own wife has been forcibly given to someone else to marry! Can you imagine!

David says, ‘Look around. There is no one on my side.’ Actually, there were a few people on his side because if he becomes King they’ll benefit. But he’s not talking about that. Look closely at what he says: ‘No one cares for my soul.’ That’s the point. David is saying there’s no one who cares for his soul i.e. that is, for him personally – for who he is as a person and for no gain. Does anyone really, really care?

There is One. ‘I cry to you, O Lord.’ Sitting utterly alone in that cave, David finds the happy place in the dark. There is One who loves you selflessly and unconditionally. One who loves you for absolutely no gain at all. What could He gain from you? What do you have to offer the One who has everything and needs nothing? This One loves you for ‘you’ only. Not in heaven, but right now. ‘You are my refuge in the land of the living.’

Here is medicine for your soul. Here is nutrition for your heart’s well-being. How can I know? Because David’s Greater Son Jesus was utterly alone – even God abandoned Him – so that you will never have reason to doubt His love.