Rescued From A Horrible Pit

Rescued from a Horrible Pit

Psalm 40:1–11 NKJV

I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me,

And heard my cry.

He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,

Out of the miry clay,

And set my feet upon a rock,

And established my steps.

He has put a new song in my mouth—

Praise to our God;

Many will see it and fear,

And will trust in the Lord.

Blessed is that man who makes the Lord his trust,

And does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.

Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works

Which You have done;

And Your thoughts toward us

Cannot be recounted to You in order;

If I would declare and speak of them,

They are more than can be numbered.

Sacrifice and offering You did not desire;

My ears You have opened.

Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require.

Then I said, “Behold, I come;

In the scroll of the book it is written of me.

I delight to do Your will, O my God,

And Your law is within my heart.”

I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness

In the great assembly;

Indeed, I do not restrain my lips,

O Lord, You Yourself know.

I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;

I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation;

I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth

From the great assembly.

Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O Lord;

Let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me.

Just the thought of being mired in a pit elicits terror. “Will someone hear my cry for help and rescue me?” “Or will I die a slow miserable death in the Slough of Despond?” We read of the prophet Jeremiah being lowered into a dungeon pit where he was mired to the shoulders in sticky mud, surrounded by the stench of death. This has been used as a type of capital punishment throughout the ages. For example, it was used in the Middle Ages as a means of execution which did not shed blood. Because violence was not used, the noble or whoever put the victim there was somehow not guilty of murder. The very horror of it also served as a deterrent for others.

We don’t know the exact occasion which David wrote this Psalm, but the very fact he compared his current plight to that of being stuck in a pit of miry clay indicated that he was in deep distress. He did what anyone would do who had fallen into such a pit. He cried out loudly for rescue. But what matters here is to whom he addressed his cry. He knew that there was no human means of rescue. Rather, he cried out to the LORD. Humans might pretend to be deaf to the cries. They can choose not to get involved. I can think many years ago of a poor woman named Kitty Genovese who was raped and murdered in New York. Many heard her desperate cries for help, but no one came to her rescue. They did not even call the police, as far as I know. We can also think of the man who fell among thieves and left for dead. The Priest and the Levite pretended not to see. They took no risk. They did not want to be unclean in their ascent to Jerusalem and the Temple. They may have felt if they stooped down to help, they would have become victim to the thieves who had been wounded and left for dead. Thankfully, there was a Samaritan merchant who did stop and care. Not only this, he provided for the wounded man’s cure.

So, we can see, we have no assurance of help when we are in the miry pit if we expect help from men. Even those who would have helped need to be aware of the need. But, David knew that the LORD sees and knows all. David knew he had a relationship with the LORD. And David was right because the LORD intervened in his situation and pulled him out of this pit, whatever the situation was. His feet were again planted on solid ground, and he could continue on life’s journey.

David gushes out praise for the LORD’s deliverance. He responded by singing a new song of praise. But it was not a song that David kept to himself. Many saw how God had delivered David from his troubles, whatever it was, regardless of whether it was self-caused, caused by others, or from other “circumstances.” They saw David whose life was in the pit, and then they see him singing for joy. Joy is infectious. Because the LORD had delivered David, the came to trust in the LORD themselves.