Free at Last!

Psa 142:7 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.

You have heard the these words from the old spiritual, “Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty I'm free at last!”

Soul prison is the worst kind. We define the soul as a person's mind, will and emotions. When this part of a person's being is being held captive, they are unable to function in a normal fashion.

What does soul prison look like? It is when a person cannot think, have normal emotional function, and cannot make even the simplest decisions. The captor may take the form of depression, oppression, suppression or obsession.

The soul can be locked up due to sin, offense by another, destroyed or stolen relationships, overwhelming circumstances, deep loss, or many other reversals in a persons in life or combinations thereof.

The Psalmist had been brought very low. David had gone from the heights of success and victory to hiding out in a cave for his very survival. He felt persecuted, weak, abandoned and alone. This was the soul prison to which he felt he had been sentenced.

Jesus to the Rescue!

The Lord proclaimed, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

These words of the dear Savior has set billions of captive souls free.

Those who are physically captive have been able to have freedom of the soul. Those prisoned emotionally have felt their chains drop and have gone on to live in glorious freedom.

What is the "truth" which sets the captives free, and free indeed?

Jesus proclaims that He alone is the way, the truth and the life. When a person places their trust and faith in Him, no doubting whatsoever, the prison doors pop open. They no longer have to live in the squalor of mental and emotional dungeons. Christ truly provides for their freedom. Forgiveness is complete, the past can be left behind, there is no condemnation, old things are passed away and behold, all things are become new!

Honestly though, the problem I have experienced myself and have seen others suffer, is that we refuse to get up and leave the cell! The door is open, the manacles are loose, freedom beckons, yet, like the prisoner who doesn’t know how to function on the outside, we prefer to reoffend and reenter the cell. It is within our comfort zone. The prisoner is okay with his “three hots and a cot” and he doesn't have to worry about the responsibilities of freedom, so there he stays.

Many Christians languish with the same kind of penuous mentality. They could learn to function outside of their soul prison but choose not too! On the outside there exists little pity or charity, no allowance for self loathing and self condemnation.

Friend, when the soul breathes free air and can function in liberty, the cheap comforts of stocks and bonds of the soul cannot compare.

When we are ready to proclaim with David, "Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name" Jesus will surely make a way. Then you can freely praise the name of the Lord. The prison doors have swung wide open, get up and get on out of there!

Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, I am free at last!