Summer in the Psalms
Psalm 40:1-10 Rescued and Redeemed (Part 1)
Pastor Jefferson M. Williams
Chenoa Baptist Church
8-29-2021
Baby Jessica
On October 14, 1987, a little girl fell into a well in her aunt’s backyard in Midland, Texas. Do you remember her name? Her name was Jessica McClure, but she became nationwide as “Baby Jessica.”
For 56 hours, rescue workers frantically tried to figure out how to get her from the well while 18 month old Jessica could be heard singing “Winnie the Pooh.”
Paramedic Robert O’Donald finally emerged with Jessica.
[Show video of rescue 3:00-4:00]
This rescue lead to rejoicing all over the world. I remember it and, if you are my age or older, I bet you remember it as well.
This morning, we will see that David’s rescue from the pit lead to not only his personal worship, but the worship of his people as well.
Background of Psalm 40
In Psalm 37-39, we hear David’s cries for God to deliver him for the guilt and shame of past sins.
In Psalm 40, this plea is answered in an amazing way.
David wrote this psalm to the Chief Musician and it is called a “mizmor,” which means a song written for stringed instruments. Remember these are songs that Jesus would sing with his family.
We don’t know exactly what was happening when David wrote this. Was it a betrayal? Was it a sickness? Was it when he had to run from his son Absalom? We don’t know. But he is remembering a time when he was as low as you can go and God rescued him.
We going to split the psalm into two parts and study verses 1-10 this morning.
Turn with me to Psalm 40.
Prayer
Rescued
“I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. 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. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.” (Psalm 40:1-3)
David begins with waiting and as Tom Petty sang, “The Waiting is the Hardest Part.”
We are a microwave society who get road rage when we have to wait in traffic. We get annoyed at the workers and fellow customers when we have to wait in line. We get furious when we have to wait on hold forever.
The Hebrew is very strong. It literally says, “In waiting, I waited.” Doubling the term conveys the intensity of the activity.
There are several different kinds of waiting. There is the patient endurance waiting that most drive thru windows force you into and then there is expectant waiting than you experience at concert.
You enter the arena and there is an electricity in the air. You know that the band is somewhere backstage getting ready. Then the lights go down and the crowd begins to roar.
Waiting is often part of God’s program. But waiting is not the same as inactivity. It is an active expectation of God keeping his promises.
Abraham waited 25 years for the child that God had promised.
Jacob waited for 14 years to marry Rachel.
Jacob waited two years in prison.
Job waited for God to reply to his cries of confusion.
Paul waited 14 years before he went to Jerusalem to tell the other apostles what he had been preaching.
Jeremiah wrote these words when surveying the ruins of his beloved Jerusalem:
“The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” (Lamentations 3:25-26)
And David waited years between being anointed king and finally becoming king.
David remembers waiting with endurance and expectation for the Lord. This is the covenant making, promise keeping God.
And this God came near. He inclined, “he bent down,” and listened with a tender heart to David’s cries for help.
He not only leaned in and listened but he lifted David out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire.
The picture of being stuck in a pit is seen several places in the Scriptures.
Jospeh’s brothers threw him into an empty well (Gen 37:24) and Jeremiah was thrown into a well;
“They lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the cistern; it had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.” (Jer 38:6)
There would be no way to get out of the cistern on his own. The bottom would be muddy and the sides would be slimy. He was hopeless. If he was going to be rescued, it would have to come from outside the well.
David wrote in Psalm 69,
“Rescue me from the mire, do not let me sink…” (Psalm 69:14)
And that’s what God did! David writes that God pulled him out of the pit but wait, there’s more, and then placed his feet on a rock and gave him a firm place to stand.
In Hannah’s prayer in I Samuel 2, she says:
“There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.”
He went from sinking into the mud like quicksand to standing safe and secure on a solid rock.
He couldn’t help but rejoice because God had rescued him. A.P. Gibbs writes that David “went from the mire to the choir!”
God gave David a new song, a “hymn of praise to our God.” This new song is probably what we are reading right now - Psalm 40!
The band U2 ends their concerts with their version of Psalm 40.
[Show U2 clip 4:30-6:30]
This was a public rescue and David knows that his people had been watching. His prayer is that many will see and fear the Lord. The Hebrew words for see and fear are very similar. It’s a play on words.
By seeing God’s power in the King’s rescue, David prays that they would fear him.
This isn’t the fear of a prisoner for their executioner. But it is the awe, wonder, and respect a toddler has for their daddy.
Seeing and fearing would lead to trusting in God. David trusted God and the people witnessed David’s rescue and his rejoicing. Just like we saw with Baby Jessica.
But it all started with waiting.
Paul Tripp writes that:
“Waiting is not about what you get at the end of the wait; it’s about what you become as you wait.”
Maybe you are in a season of waiting right now. Maybe you are waiting for a prayer to be answered. Maybe you are waiting for healing. Or for a husband or wife. Or for the pregnancy test to finally come up positive. Or for your child to come back home. We are all waiting for Covid to be over.
J.D. Greer points out that I Peter 5:6-10 is a great set of verses to consider when waiting:
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” (I Peter 5:6-10)
Here’s a prayer you can pray while you are waiting,
“God, I don’t exactly know what’s going on right now. I don’t want to wait. I don’t want to be in this season. But I trust You. You are good and I know that you are working behind the scenes for my good and Your glory. I wait in faith.”
Blessed
“Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods. Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare.” (Psalm 40:4-5)
David continues that the one who sees, fears, and places their trust in God will be blessed. As we learned last week, “blessed” means happy and is plural, “doubly joy!”
These people will not follow the proud’s example, with their self-sufficient smugness. Who turn aside to gods made in their own image.
Charles Spurgeon wrote:
“A man may be as poor as Lazarus, as hated as Mordecai, as lonely as Elijah, but while his hand of faith can keep its hold on God, none of his affliction can prevent him being numbered among the blessed, but the wealthiest and most prosperous who has no faith is accursed, no matter who he may be.”
David is overwhelmed with God’s wonders. When you see the word “wonders” in the Old Testament it speaks of His redemptive actions to rescue his people, like His delivering His people from bondage in Egypt.
I love how Eugene Peterson paraphrases these verses:
“Nothing and no one compares to you! I start talking about you, telling what I know, and quickly run out of words. Neither numbers nor words account for you.” (Psalm 40:5, The Message)
David’s mind and heart overflow with praise because of the goodness of God. God has plans and purposes for his people that are beyond their imagination.
When’s the last time you simply told someone else who good God is and what wonders He’s done in your life?
Committed
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire— but my ears you have opened— burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—it is written about me in the scroll. I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.”
Because David has been rescued he can rejoice. His people, who witnessed this, will see and fear and trust in God. This God is immeasurably good and wants our best.
He now goes right to the heart of the matter. Wait, I thought God did want sacrifices and offerings? There seems to be a lot of rules and commands about sacrifices in the Old Testament.
These sacrifices were a word picture. They symbolized the ultimate sacrifice that the sacrifices pointed to.
They weren’t to be simply empty religious ritual. He didn’t desire or require “going through the motions” religion.
David lists four different ways of interacting with God
Sacrifices - These would be blood sacrifices
Offerings - These would be bloodless, like grain, oil, or wine
These two were about the people’s relationship with God.
Burnt offerings and Sin offerings were a way to atone for sins.
What God wants more than sacrifice was surrendered, sincere, willing service.
When rebuking Saul, Samuel said,
But Samuel replied:
“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.” (I Sam 15:22)
Amos delivers these stinging words:
“I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.” (Amos 5:22-23)
David writes that his ears have been opened, or literally “dug out.” He can hear God’s voice clearly with not just his physical ears but also his spiritual ears.
Isaiah wrote:
“The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed. The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears; I have not been rebellious, I have not turned away.” (Isaiah 50:4-6)
Then David mentions a scroll. This could be the scroll that kings had to commit to when they were coronated. Or it could speak of the whole Old Testament law.
Or it could means something else…We’ll come back this. :)
David’s heart beats for God. He desires to do God’s will. He delights in God’s law.
Can the same be said of you? Is your worship sincere praise from a committed heart or are you just going through the motions because you know how to play church?
Public Proclamation
“I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, Lord, as you know. 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.” (Psalm 40:9-10)
Being rescued leads to rejoicing which leads to total self-surrender and then leads to public proclamation.
He frames this positively:
He will proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly.
He will speak of your faithfulness and your saving help.
He also frames it negatively:
He does not seal his lips
He does not hide God’s righteousness in his heart
He does not conceal God’s love and faithfulness in the great assembly.
Because David has been rescued he has a song to sing and a story to tell.
There is a small group that meets on Tuesdays and they are studying a book that teaches a very easy way to share the Gospel with others. One of that group attended a funeral this past weekend and heard someone say that they know that the will see the person again.
This CBC evangelist took a deep breath and then asked her how did she know. This lead to an opportunity to share the gospel with her and several others that were listening.
When Clayton Irmerger retired, he made a decision that he would live the rest of his life telling people about Jesus and disciplining men. He gathered a group of 12 guys and since that time he has discipled hundreds of men and lead many of them to Christ. He’s been to over 100 countries and recently wrote his first book. By the way, Clayton just turned 90 years old! I was on a Zoom call with him and other men recently and he ended the call with an impassioned plea to shout the Gospel from the rooftops and find a few young men and disciple them and live life with them.
This is our task. This is our call.
[Video of gang member changed by mission trip 3:40]
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story— those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.” (Psalm 107:1-3)
Where is Jesus in Psalm 40?
We don’t have to look very far to answer our question as to where is Jesus in Psalm 40?
David was writing about himself but in a deeper, more prophetic, way, he was also writing about the Messiah that was to come.
The writer of Hebrews actually quotes Psalm 40 in reference to Jesus:
“The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,? but a body you prepared for me;
with burnt offerings and sin offerings? you were not pleased.
Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, my God.’”
First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:1-10)
There were bad kings like Manasseh and good kings like Josiah but none of these kings were able to fulfill this prophecy. Only the Messiah, Jesus Christ, who was the ultimate sacrifice for our sins.
He died on the cross, in our place, to pay the sin debt we could not pay.
When you are in a pit, in a moral mudslide, in trouble, He is the one to cry out to. He’s the only one who has the power to get you out of the pit.
There is a parable told of a man who fell into a hole.
There was once a man walking through a dark area and he fell into a deep hole. He struggled and struggled to find a way out but couldn’t. Finally, in despair he sat down and buried his head in his hands.
Before long he heard footsteps above and called out. They stopped and walked to the edge. They immediately begin to lecture him from the top of the hole. Told him about the dangers of walking through dark areas and the foolishness of falling into holes you can’t get out of and how he should always avoid both.
And they walked on.
What they said was true, but the man was still in the hole.
Shortly afterward, he heard more footsteps above and called out. They also stopped and walked to the edge. There was a look of compassion on their face and they told him that his problem was primarily a spiritual one. They threw down a Bible and recommended some verses to read. Then they told him they would be praying and suggested he do the same.
And they walked on.
What they said was true, but the man was still in the hole.
A little while later he heard more footsteps but this time he didn’t bother calling out. They stopped anyway and walked to the edge. They didn’t lecture or offer spiritual advice, they did something even more drastic–they jumped in the hole with him.
He leaped to his feet and said, “What are you doing?! Now there’s two of us stuck in this hole.”
“No,” Jesus replied. “I’ve been here before and I know the way out.”
So both men climbed out of the hole together.
