The dark night of the soul

Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise your name: 

These words, penned by David in Psalm 142, come from the heart of a man who knew the depths and heights of an experience of both defeat and failure, and victory and triumph.

He talks of his soul being imprisoned. Imagine what he must be talking of here. Constricted, entrapped, restricted, and incapable of finding his own way out of his circumstances that had left him as a prisoner in his own heart and mind, having lost the sweetness of communion with God and living a joyless life.

His situation was such that even his normal practice of praise and worship had been affected in such a way that it would only be restored when God delivered him and released him from his troubles.
He was as the living dead, and never is there a more woeful or endangering state to be in, when the breastplate of righteousness and the helmet of salvation seem to be absent, allowing the assaults of Satan to inflict frightful wounds upon the fainting warrior.

He cried, 'O God, set my spirit free, that I might worship thee'. 'Deliver me, so that I might once again praise you as I used to'. 

It does not speak in this Psalm of his specific circumstances, or what it was that imprisoned his soul, but he laid out his complaint and problems before the Lord, knowing that God must assist him, as no one else could or would.
It is a dark and lonesome walk when the soul is out of tune with God. Light and gladness seem to fade away, and the strength and vigour that comes from the normally indwelling joy of the Lord is turned to sorrow and backsliding. It may be termed 'a black night of the soul'.

He looked all around for someone to help him, but he said that no one at all cared for his soul.    
An interesting statement that, and utterly true.

People might care for your physical welfare, your emotional state, your future and your comfort, your finances and your security, but who cares for your soul when it is your spirit that is troubled and imprisoned? Or, for that matter, who can even understand the troubles of your heart, especially when those troubles are utterly spiritual in their nature, and cannot be discerned or perceived by others. And further, who is there that is spiritual and wise enough to be able to penetrate and divide asunder soul and spirit? None but God. We sit like a sparrow on the roof top, or wander as a pelican through the wilderness. Our sweet harmonious songs turn into the haunting, hooting of the owl in the desert.

David looked for someone who could perceive and understand where he was spiritually, but there was no-one, no, not one. He would die in this state, unless a friend and saviour was found to open the prison doors and release him. 
Without the life of the Spirit of God our souls die.

David turns his despair into hope when he declares, 'the righteous shall compass me about: for you O God, shall deal bountifully with me'.

Pilgrim Warrior