READ: Psalm 40
THINK: This Psalm is ultimately a Psalm of distress (and it’s also the inspiration for one of my favorite songs of all time), but from the beginning David turns his thoughts to how the Lord has met him in his distress in the past. He doesn’t just complain to God about how horrible his situation is (which is exactly what I do when things are not going my way), but he makes himself think back to the faithfulness of the Lord. In verse 2, “He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.”
These things that the Lord has done for us in the past are not to be kept to ourselves. Verse 10 says, “I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help. I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness from the great assembly.” What good is it to keep the wonders of the Lord to ourselves? If we truly know that God has done all these amazing things for us, in us, and through us why in the world would we “conceal His love and faithfulness?” I think for me it’s because I care way too much about what other people will think of me rather than what my God has done for me. This is why we plead with God, “Do not withhold your mercy from me, Lord!”
Only at this point, after the acknowledgement of what the Lord has already done and a call to share these things, does David bring his requests and pleading before God. David has gotten to the end of himself. “…my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see.” He knows that God, in his mercy and grace, is pleased to save us, even in our darkest hour. Through God’s salvation (aka Jesus, if you haven’t picked up on the foreshadowing yet) those who seek him are able to rejoice and be glad in Him. Yet at the end of the passage, David still acknowledges that he is small and God is ultimately the one who is the help and deliverer and on His time, not ours.
PRAY: Lord, remind me of when you have been faithful to deliver me in the past. Thank you for these. Show me the areas in my life where sin is keeping me in the mud and mire. Deliver me from this and set my feet on the rock that is Jesus. Let me not conceal your love and faithfulness, but speak of your saving help.
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