We have been created to sing.
Nations have national anthems; armed forces march to martial music, colleges have alma-maters. Almost every organization you can think about has a theme song. Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts,...we sing in the shower, we whistle while we work, at times we even find ourselves pausing along the way to hear a bird chirping in the trees.
We, by our nature, love to sing, even when we sound terrible.
When we come to the Bible we find that the God of Creation and Redemption IS the God of Song.
When the universe was brought into existence, Job 38 says
“The morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy”
When God brought the Children of Israel out of bondage to Egypt, the Israelites sang the song of Moses. Ex 15
One day when this world is over and God’s plan of redemption has reached its consummation and we’re all gathered before Him, we’re all going to sing the song of the Lamb.
So we see that our singing is evidence of our life.
No one helps us understand this better than the Psalmist David, who wrote, “He put a new song in my mouth; a song of praise to our God”.
Read with me, Psalm 40, verses 1-3
(Pray)
The new song David is referring to is a song of deliverance.
He is describing in graphic terms, what it is like to be delivered from a hopeless situation by a God with Whom nothing is hopeless.
verse 2 says, “He brought me up out of the pit of destruction; out of the miry clay” One commentator approached this passage as though it addressed exclusively, those caught in the grip and guilt of sin. And it can be truthfully said that those without Christ are in a pit of destruction; a mire against which they have no strength.
But this commentator seemed to have skipped over verse one, which clearly indicates that the words are written by one who is a believer, and also has the wisdom and spiritual insight to wait for the Lord.
So we need to look more closely at these verses today and be careful not to miss what the Lord has to say to us just because we’re assuming it is only for the unsaved.
Christian, this passage refers to YOUR situation.
It is talking about the trial that seems to be leading to your destruction; if not spiritually, then perhaps physically, financially, whatever. It is talking about the mire of your circumstances, against which you feel helpless, being dragged down.
“He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out the miry clay”
He is able, believer! He is able to save to the uttermost;
which means not only is His arm long enough to save initially, but to keep us saved; to successfully guard that which we’ve committed to Him.
When I was stationed in Thailand, I went with a few GIs and some nationals to a local swimming hole. Not owning a bathing suit, I swam in my jeans (which get very heavy when wet). On the far side of this very beautiful mountain pool there was a large cave, into which the water was emptying. I didn’t realize how strong the current was going into that hole, until I ventured too close and began to be pulled into it. I still have no idea where it emptied out; whether a very high waterfall on the other side of the mountain, or if it resurfaced at all for a long time; I don’t know. I only know it was dark, and it went down, and I was quickly running out of strength and losing my battle with the current.
Just when I thought I could not swim another stroke, I saw a hand reaching out to me from a rock at the entrance to the cave. It was one of my buddies, Michael E. Babbitt. I’ll never forget his name, because I believe he saved my life that day. I grabbed onto that hand, literally for dear life, and he pulled me to the side, where I could get my own grip on the rock.
Now, I realize this is a type of story we hear from many places, and whatever the circumstances are of different stories, we hear them used to illustrate our weak and hopeless condition, and Christ’s strength to save us. But why is it we so soon forget that He is the strong One; that He is able to save. We wait until we’re waist high or higher in the miry clay before we cry out.
Or maybe we realize the God is strong, but we’re just not willing to wait patiently.
Well, a word of caution here for you; when you’re sinking in quicksand, the harder you struggle, the faster you go down. When swimming against a strong current, the more baggage you carry (like those wet blue jeans), the faster you’ll grow tired.
Maybe we should talk here for just a few minutes about different reasons God’s deliverance may sometimes seem slow in coming.
One might be disobedience. Let’s take the worst first.
Are you perhaps suppressing within yourself the knowledge that you’re refusing to do something He wants you do to?
Go to that certain person maybe and offer forgiveness;... or ask forgiveness?
Cease doing something that you know displeases Him but you’ve been making excuses for yourself? Or begin doing something you know He has been calling you to do, but you’ve been very creative in finding reasons to put it off?
These are all things that can delay answers to prayer. The Bible says that our prayers are hindered when we have something against a brother or they against us.
Another reason may be that He’s just teaching us a lesson.
Now we have to be very careful here that we’re not trying so hard to figure out what the lesson is, that we miss the lesson altogether. It may well be that He’s just trying to teach us, “You must be still, and listen to Me”
And when we get into trials, when we’re in the midst of our troubles, we’re so busy either seeking deliverance from it by our own hand, or asking, “Why am I going through this?” that we’re not listening to Him.
Are you having financial difficulties? It may not necessarily be that the lesson has anything to do with finances; it may be He just knows that’s the quickest way to get your attention.
For a lot of us, it gets our attention real fast, huh?
Actually, that’s one of the easier ways. There are others who have suffered much worse things, and admitted to themselves later that the only way God could get their attention was to get them on their back; or remove something (sometimes a person) from their lives because they placed that something (or someone) before God.
Maybe it’s just a test of faith. Maybe there’s no problem at all. Maybe it’s just one of those times in His divine plan for your life that it’s time for a faith-strengthener.
Remember, He never promised we wouldn’t have problems; He promised we would have problems. He said, “In the world you will have tribulation” but He also said, “fear not, I have overcome the world”.
Hear that? He presupposes our trust in Him and just says “fear not”.
and “I have overcome the world”
I believe that many times our problems linger because WE’RE trying to overcome the world.
Y’know, we could go all day supposing, and I don’t believe we’re deep enough or wise enough or spiritual enough to figure out all the reasons why trials linger and don’t come to a more rapid end. In fact I really believe that’s the basis of our problem; we keep asking “why” .
Who are we to question why God does anything?
If we really believe that we belong to Him...I mean REALLY belong to Him...bought with a price...and we profess to trust Him, where do we get the audacity to question His wisdom?
Or His actions? Or His timing?
That’s what got us in trouble in the first place y’know.
“Why shouldn’t I eat the fruit from that tree? It looks good; and if it’ll make me wise, why not?”
Because God said not, that’s why! And the whole garden was His...including that tree.
God made one law. “If you eat of this tree you’ll die”
That’s why.
Why do I have to go through this trial? I’ve been here before, and I handled it pretty good!” Have you ever thought about that?
Have you gone through something for the third and fourth time and thought. “I’ve been through this routine before, and the last couple of times I kept a pretty good attitude; I handled it pretty well. Why do I have to go through it again?”
Who knows, maybe God is saying “I know you’ve been through it before, and you handled it so well I wanted to see you do it again.”
In the end, my friends, whether in a long or a short time, He brings us up out of the pit of destruction; out of the pit of our circumstances; the mire of emotional turmoil, and He sets our feet upon a ROCK.
As Christians, when we hear or read these references to the Rock, we automatically think of Christ. The rock of ages, the rock that followed the children of Israel in the wilderness; the rock upon which our salvation stands firm...
“On Christ, the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand” That is our position before God, through faith, firm and unchangeable.
AS far as our daily walk is concerned though, we’re not always on that solid ground. All those things we listed earlier are the reason.
disobedience, slothfulness in doing those things we know to do, or just the combinations of circumstances coming against us.
But He sets our feet back firm on that rock of faith, and if we look to Him and trust in Him and learn through the time of testing, our footing will be surer than it was before.
There was a lady who approached an evangelist after a service and complained, “Satan is always after me. He’s always on my back. How can I defeat Satan in my life?” His answer was, "Submit to God. Come out the other end of your trial more like Jesus. That defeats Satan in your life".
Don’t look for deliverance, look for development.
“Making my footsteps firm”, it says in verse 2
In Psalm 37:23 a parallel verse says “The steps of a man are established by the Lord”
I said this was a song of deliverance, well, it’s also a
song of DIRECTION
Notice that the wording implies movement. “Footsteps” in Ps 40, “Steps” in Ps 37
He puts us back on solid ground regarding our faith, and guides our steps forward and onward in our daily walk.
For anyone who has experienced a time of testing and with spiritual discernment looked back and known that God has delivered Him out of it, there is no greater sense of victory.
The deeper the pit, the brighter the light of day.
The thicker the mire, the greater the sense of release.
It also gives a renewed sense of purpose.
Eph 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them”.
Hear that word, ‘beforehand”? The God of foreknowledge, planned our lives. One of the most exciting aspects of the Christian experience is to find and follow that plan as we walk in faith and obedience.
Ever notice that the times you’re doing the least good deeds and feel least like you’re on the right path are when you’re in the mire of a trial and looking more at the circumstances of the trial than at the one who is able to set your feet on solid ground?
Let me say that in reverse.
While in the midst of a trial, if you concentrate on praying for others and seeking to meet their needs, you’ll be amazed at how much less you focus on your own problem. It’s impossible to do both.
Imagine standing on the inside of a room at a window, looking out. You can’t see both. If you’re standing with your back to the window looking at the room, you can’t see what’s outside. If you are looking out, you can’t see the room behind you.
While we’re focusing inward, we can’t see other’s needs. But while we’re looking outward, it gives God the chance to clean the room behind us. Maybe even move some furniture around.
Well the new song is also a song of devotion.
It’s a song of praise.
The Westminster Shorter Catechism says, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”
Therefore man’s greatest activity is that of worship.
More is said in the scriptures of worship, than of service.
That makes sense. Christ reminded the Pharisees, that God desires obedience over sacrifice. And worship is a form of obedience, and true worship, by it’s very nature, is a witness. If God’s praises are on our lips, someone’s going to hear.
Ps 40 promises that many will see and fear (meaning “awful” or “awe-filled” respect) and will trust in the Lord.
Acts 4:13 follows one of Peter’s early, eloquent sermons. it says, ‘they saw his confidence and that of John and recognized that they had been with Jesus”
Imagine people seeing your faith in trial, and hearing you give praise to God; and just by His glory reflected in you, saying, “he/she has been with Jesus”
What a witness!
Y’know, the trials we go through in this life, no matter how minor or how severe, are all just a part of what Jesus went through. When we go through our trials, looking to Him and with His praises on our lips, what we become is a reflection of the great work that He did.
We’re mirrors, reflecting the Son
When we suffer in this life, and continue trusting and waiting on Him, we are reflecting the glory of what He accomplished.
Back to verse 1:
I waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined to me and heard my cry.
I want to assure you here today that I am speaking from some experience. I do know what it’s like to be in trials.
My wife and I were going through some times a couple of years ago that had her saying in frustration:
“I’m not afraid of the trial, just what kind of garbage I have to face going through it.”
And I know exactly what she meant. We know God is going to deliver us; we just don’t want to go through all the garbage in the meantime.
It’s one thing to say “I know He’ll get me through”, but it’s another thing to praise Him while considering the possibility of having a car repossessed, or running out of food, or seeing a child go to jail, or watching a spouse wither away with disease.
Psalm 27:14 says, “Wait for the Lord; Be strong, and let your heart take courage”
You see, that is precisely what we must do!
Faith involves being courageous and strong. Psalm 27 expects that we will deliberately and with mental determination, decide to be strong; and open to Him.
While we’re saying “Lord, I need this car”, He may be saying “You need more, to develop faith for what I know you will have to face in the future”.
While we’re saying “Lord, my children have holes in their shoes”, He may be saying, “I’m more concerned about their souls. Are there holes there?”
While we’re saying “Lord, I can’t live with this person any longer”, He may be saying, “My rewards far exceed any degree of suffering here. Continue to hope in Me”.
While we’re grumbling, “I have nothing in my cupboard but a potato”, He may be saying, “Your neighbor has nothing. Share it and let me fill your table”.
That’s why we must wait and look to Him. In the Hebrew, this first verse would say, “Waiting, I waited” You see, it’s not enough to wait for an answer...wait for the Lord. He IS the answer.
If I find a quick end to my troubles, I have temporary relief. But if I let God bring the end in His time, I have growth, and I have a song of praise on my lips.
Go ahead and pray. Go ahead and cry. There’s nothing wrong with that.
“He will incline to you”, says this verse. He will hear your cry. He is a loving Father who both answers our cry and saves to the uttermost.
He is able to do exceeding, abundantly above all that we could ask or think.
Cry out and be patient, and know that this song of deliverance and direction and devotion will be on your lips; and according to this promise I see in scripture, “Many will see and fear, and will trust in the Lord”.
“HE RAISED ME FROM A HORRID PIT
WHERE, MOURNING, LONG I LAY,
AND FROM MY BONDS RELEASED MY FEET;
DEEP BONDS OF MIRY CLAY.
FIRM ON A ROCK HE MADE ME STAND,
AND TAUGHT MY CHEERFUL TONGUE
TO PRAISE THE WONDERS OF HIS HAND
IN A NEW, THANKFUL SONG.”
-songwriter unknown by author
