Psalm 40:1-3 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.
David was a man that experienced his share of troubles, some of them were self inflicted problems, but they were situations that would cause him to look to the Lord. Psalm 40 has always been one of my personal favorite psalms. It brings David from despair to victory, and puts a new song in his heart. He was in a place he called an horrible pit and miry clay. I always envision an old Tarzan movie with someone stuck in quicksand when I read that, that’s just my over active imagination I guess. Anyway, David says that the Lord brought him up and set his feet upon a rock, and established his goings. This brings David to a place of praise to God, to the point that others will see it, and fear, and trust the Lord.
Isn’t that what we hope that our times of despair will eventually reap? Victory! Praise! And a testimony! We will live with a new song in our hearts, spring in our steps, the Lord will establish our goings, we can walk in His will for our lives!! Just like David, all we need to do is to cry unto the Lord from our place of despair and…Oh, WAIT PATIENTLY. Really? I mean we were doing so well.
The truth is that we are an impatient people, the key to going from despair to victory is to wait patiently in prayer. The Lord will incline His ear. It is as if He will cup His hand behind His ear, and bend down, listening intently to hear our requests. He will hear our cry, but we may need to stay in the pit and the mire for a time. Then, He will bring us the victory and all that comes with it.
Remember that people are watching us, they see us in the pit and mire. Are we waiting patiently for the Lord, or are we handling the trial in our own strength? The more you wiggle in the mire, the deeper you sink. (Again a Tarzan reference)
Trust that the Lord hears you today! It’s not that we need to give God time to answer us, it’s that we need time to stop being self sufficient, and begin to be God dependent. In time we will be standing firmly on the Rock, and our faith will grow. Then, those around us will be impacted. They will see, and fear, and trust the Lord through our testimony.