Psalm 40:1-3
Today we are allowed a peek into these verses which leads into the heart of King David. Scholars think that this Psalm was written during the time David was running and hiding from Saul.
In the text David is speaking about a time in his life when he felt trapped in a helpless and hopeless situation. But, even in that terrible time of darkness and fear, God heard his cry and reached into David’s pit and lifted him out. He tells us how the Lord lifted him out of the mire, placed him on a rock and put a new song in his heart.
David not only testifies about his life but his testimony is also a foretelling of the Mission, Death, Resurrection, and the ascension of Jesus Christ.
#1. The Determination of David: If the truth is told “David had a mission to fulfill and it seemed to David that life wasn’t but a mess”
Verse 1 I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
The Mission of David: David was chosen by God to lead “David was a man after God own heart” but David although God called him when he was a child, he couldn’t fulfill his duties as king until Saul was eliminated from his position by death. As, David ran from Saul, he waited patiently for the Lord to incline his divine ears unto his cry.
Waiting for the Lord is a great part of the Christian life. There are at least two essential elements in the way we should wait with the king: humility and hope. Look back at Psalm 37:9, "Evildoers will be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land”
Have you ever been in a large waiting room at a doctor’s office when the doctor is late returning from a call and the patients are stacked up? Who are the ones who get feisty with the receptionist and grumble to everybody? Not the meek, not the humble. Humble people can wait. They are not so in a hurry about their rights. So it is in waiting for God.
The Cries of David: “While in the waiting room sometimes you no other alternative, But! To cry…………..
One of the reasons God loved David so much was because he cried so much. Psalm 6:6, "I am weary with my mourning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping." Psalm 56:8 "Put my tears in thy bottle; are they not in thy book?" Indeed they are, because, "blessed are they that mourn." It is a beautiful thing when a broken man genuinely cries out to God. God loves to answer childlike prayers.
Somebody in here knows what it feels like to wait patiently on God and pray for an answer. When life issues tries to set you back, you didn’t take a step back, because God will make a comeback.
David’s biggest obstacle was his best friend daddy, which give the message watch the people who are closer to you!
b.) The Mission of Jesus: After the first breath that Jesus took on his human side in Bethlehem, Herod the Great sought to kill Jesus not to kindle around Jesus. Jesus was sent on a mission to redeem man unto himself but Jesus as seen in the life of David had to wait patiently.
Jesus was a master in waiting patiently:
Remember him in the temple at the age of twelve, saying, "I had to be in my Father’s house [about my Father’s business]" (Luke 2:49). There was a program to which God had called him, and he intended to wait on the Lord for it. Remember that he told over and over again to his disciples in his ministry, "My hour has not yet come." God was in charge of the timing.
The Cries of Jesus:
Jesus also knew ahead of time that God’s program would include humiliation and suffering and the agony of death. That is where the cry for deliverance comes in. We can identify with the horror of that Gethsemane experience when he cried out
The cry from the garden of Gethsemane: "Father, if Thou art willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Thine be done" (Luke 22:42).
The cry on Calvary: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" (Matthew 27:46).
All of us at one time or another will shed some sincere tears…………
REPEAT AFTER ME: “It was God that Got me outta that mess”
#2. The Deliverance of David: Verse 2 He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
David describes himself as being in a “horrible pit.” The word “horrible” means “roar, din, crash, uproar, tumult.” “Pit” refers to “a dungeon.” This has the idea of being trapped in a place of torment.
This is what the enemies did to Jeremiah when he proclaims destruction upon the city; they let Jeremiah down in a dungeon, in the mock and the miry clay to die. Ebedmelech went forth out of the king’s house, and spake to the king, saying, please let him go because there’s no food there and he’ll die from hunger. Ebedmelech went forth to retrieve Jeremiah from the pit with old rotten rags which he used for a rescue line.
David speaks as one who is wounded by the problems and burdens of life. But, God reached out to him, even in that horrible time and extended His hand to David.
The phrase “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay…” indicates that God did not just see what David was going through and He did not just listen as David talked; He did something about it! He got into the pit with David and he lifted David out.
Oh, when I look back and see the horrible pit that God took me out of, how thankful I am. I realize I was sinking, I was going down, but God put my feet upon a solid rock. He established my life in Christ.
You see, if a legalist came by a saw a sinner in a pit, he would preach a sermon about the dangers of the pit.
If a religionist came by a saw that same sinner in that pit, he would talk about steps the sinner could take to help him get out of that pit.
If a pessimist walked by, he would tell that sinner that he is going to die in that pit.
If an optimist passed by, he would tell the sinner that he had seen worser pits.
If a realist walked by, he would tell that man to just accept his pit.
If atheist came by, he would tell the sinner that there is no pit.
But, if Jesus came by, He would get into the pit with that sinner and lift him out the pit.
That is just what Jesus did for each of us. He robed Himself in human flesh, entered the pit of this world and died for us on the cross.
When Jesus Died:
God didn’t leave him in the tomb “God raised him up, and brought him out of the tomb”
#3. The Declaration of David: Verse 3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.
David cannot help but lift his voice in praise to the Lord for His grace in delivering him from that horrible pit. David wants to praise the Lord for what the Lord has done for him. The word “new” means “fresh.” David had always had a reason to praise the Lord, but now he has a fresh and new reason to do so. He has experienced a unique manifestation of the grace and work of God in his life and he wants to praise the Lord because of it.
When the saint is delivered from his horrible pit and set upon that Rock, something changes inside. Where before there was bitterness, darkness and hopeless; there is joy, light and peace. This change in the heart produces a change in the attitude. This change in the heart will put a song on the lips. Why? Well, what’s in the heart will always work its way out of the mouth, Matt. 15:18-19.
The same is true for each of us. We were all convicted by the same Spirit; saved by the same blood and are headed to the same heaven. But, your experience was nothing like mine. When He lifted me out, He did something that was special and unique in my life.
As a result of what He did when He saved my soul, I ought to be a praising man! I ought to lift my voice and exalt Him while I have breath in my body! He is worthy and we ought to be in the business of lifting His name for the fresh work He did in each of our lives!
