Delivering is What God Does

Psalm 40 has always been one of my favorite Psalms, but I’ve not often thought of it as a Psalm predicting the coming of Christ. In this Psalm, David goes from deliverance (vs. 1-5) to talking about the incarnation of Christ (vs. 6-10) to praying for help and comfort (vs. 11-17). The Psalm is like a hologram, that if you look at it in the right light, you see Christ. In fact, the whole Bible is like that. There’s enough in the Bible that if you look at it simply one-dimensionally, you have plenty to live on. But, wow. How much more there is when you compare verses throughout the Bible and see what is going on underneath.

Anyway, let’s look at the first five verses and David’s deliverance from desperation.

Psa 40:1-5  To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.  (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.  (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.  (4)  Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.  (5)  Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.

Have you ever felt like you were in a bottomless pit, and unless God delivered you, you would sink further and never get out? I have. And I remember how God delivered me. That’s what He does. He takes us from the pit to a rock. A study of the pit in the Bible is fascinating. The first mention is in Genesis 37 when Joseph (a type of Christ) was thrown into the pit by his brothers. Satan probably thought he’d scored a victory. But actually, Satan ends up in the pit in Rev. 20. In David’s and our experience, we know God is in control of the pit. He sets us on a rock, Christ, but He also expects us to found our lives on the rock (Matt. 7). Don’t stop with being set on a rock. Build your life on it. I’m fascinated with David’s idea of going through the victory with a song in his heart. We know that’s not figurative. David wrote Psalms/songs. Those were new songs in his heart. And now, here’s the real victory… not putting trust in man, but in God. Here’s another way he put it: Psa 118:8-9  It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.  (9)  It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes. We can’t really trust anyone else to always come through for us, not even our spouse. Not even our pastor. Just God. We have to remind ourselves of that, like David did. Only God thinks of us constantly. Psa 139:17-18  How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!  (18)  If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee. Trust in the Lord today. He will deliver you.