Jump Start # 1552
Psalms 40:1-2 “I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.”
David’s Psalm is a tribute to the deliverance of the Lord. Like many of David’s Psalms, including the famous Psalms 23, the flow of the passage shifts from talking about God to actually talking to God. The chapter ends as a prayer to God.
There are three thoughts that we notice in our verses today.
First, I waited patiently for the Lord. God heard and God delivered but it was in God’s time table. Waiting patiently for the Lord is hard. While we wait, our faith can collapse if we are not careful. We may think that God isn’t hearing us. We may think that God won’t answer us. We may think that we are not worthy, which we never are, for God’s care and concern. Waiting patiently—that’s hard. Folks become impatient waiting in doctor’s offices. They become impatient waiting in construction traffic. We become impatient waiting on family members who simply do not move very fast. I waited patiently for the Lord. God’s coming through, don’t give up on Him. God’s going to do things, just hang in there. The patient wait means not losing your cool. Not getting upset. Not taking matters into your own hand. Waiting and waiting patiently.
Second, God delivered David out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay. That last expression, miry clay, simply means “mud.” David was in a pit of mud. We remember poor Jeremiah who was lowered into a cistern because the king didn’t like his preaching. You and I can fall into pits of mud pretty easily. Without careful attention, we find ourselves surrounded with people, co-workers, family members, and friends, who are always bringing our spirits down. They are negative, mean and gossipy. Before long, we find ourselves acting the same way. We wake up in the morning complaining and the day goes down hill from there. No thankfulness, no counting your blessings—just sour, ugly, dark and complaining. I tried watching the republican debates last night. Three different times I tried watching it. Each time, after about a minute and a half, I was through with all of them, and switched to a movie. It didn’t seem to get any better. People can do that to you. You feel that you are sinking in mud.
Sin also does that to us. Some are trapped in pornography, alcohol, drugs, lying, and a host of other addictive and destructive behaviors that just sink us into the mud. It’s nearly impossible to get out. Some days are better than others, but until we have climbed completely out of the pit, we will return to the cycle of sin. Some have been in the mud so long that they have gotten used to it. It’s not so bad, they have convinced themselves. Others have simply given up. They don’t see any hope of ever getting out of the mud. Everything they have tried has failed. They have tried to find a way out on their own, and it never works. They need the Lord and until they turn to the Lord, they will forever keep falling back into the pit. I expect the prodigal was looking at a lot of mud when he was feeding those pigs and wishing he could eat what they were eating. Sin can take us so low that we lose all respect and decency about us. Sin can lead a person to doing things that they never thought they would ever do, such as stealing from their own family, just to support an addiction, or, lying to the people that they love the most, just to keep their sinful secret hidden.
The pit of destruction and the mire of sin is impossible to get out of without God’s help.
Third, God not only pulled David out of the pit, He set his feet upon the rock. Have you ever walked in mud? Not only is it slippery, it’s hard to get a firm footing. What a contrast between mud and a rock. The solid rock. The rock of ages. Upon this rock I will build my church. The wise man built his house upon the rock. Solid. Firm. Not shifting. Absolute. It will be there tomorrow. David’s footsteps were firm because he stood upon the rock. What a contrast between sin and righteousness, mud and rock. What a contrast between error and truth, mud and rock. What a contrast between how we see and want things and what God says, mud and rock. God pulled David out of a pit of mud and stood him upon the rock.
In many ways, that is the process of conversion. A person learns the truth. As they come to see what God really says, they realize what they have heard before and what they once believed was nothing more than a pit of mud. It confined them and kept them in darkness. The truth of God’s word liberates and brings confidence and assurance. Paul wrote to Timothy, “I know whom I believe and am convinced…” Those are the words from someone who was standing firmly upon the rock.
The next verse in our passage today says, “He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God…” Not only did God pull David out of the mud and set him firmly on a rock, but now He gave David a reason to sing praises to God. God must like us praising Him. There are so many examples of that. What a contrast from being in a pit of mud, to standing upon the rock and singing praises to God.
God has delivered us. Be thankful. Be praising. Forget about the pit. Quit talking about how terrible the mud was. Look where you are. Be joyful. Be singing. Be glad that you have a deliverer. Forgiven. Clean. Singing. Standing. God did it.
The flow of this passage makes a powerful sermon. Better than that, it tells our story. From the pit to the rock. From mud to singing. We’ve been there and now, because of God, we are standing upon the rock.
Good thoughts to remember on a busy day!
Roger