Read: Psalm 40
Read: Romans 8:18-30
It’s always sad to see the summer come to an end. It seems to go by so quickly. The fall is actually my favorite season, but even I feel a little bit disappointed that I didn’t get to do everything I had wanted to during the summer. But the real reason I’m sad to see the summer come to a close is that it means we will be done with our Summer Psalm Series.
Psalm 40 is unique in that it brings an arch to its logical conclusion. Psalm 23 talks about how to live life in the good times, learning to trust God in the small things before going through the valley of the shadow of death. Psalm 27 tells us how to persevere in the midst of trouble and trust in God even though things are going horribly wrong. Now, Psalm 40 tells us what ought to happen when God comes through in the end and rescues us from our distress.
Wait for It
The expression, “I pulled myself up by my own bootstraps,” certainly isn’t very biblical. The idea that we can rescue ourselves from our trouble is laughable for anyone who has walked with God for a significant length of time. Yet we certainly do our best to be our own saviors.
A lifeguard is trained to wait for a drowning victim to stop fighting for their own survival before rescuing them. Otherwise, they would both end up drowning. God will let us struggle on our own and only reach in at the last minute before we completely expire in order to show us that we cannot save ourselves.
I love the image of the slimy pit or miry bog that is described here. If you ever find yourself stuck in quicksand, then you should take this lesson very seriously. The more you struggle, the more the quicksand pulls you down. The best thing to do is wait, rest, and move slowly. So it is with us. The more we struggle with God, the longer we suffer. God is rooting out of us our self sufficiency so that we can learn to trust in Him.
Count Your Blessings
When the psalmist realizes how he is drawn out of the pit and placed on a rock, it puts a new song in his heart. Notice the elements of this song of praise, “Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie! You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.”
First, he proclaims the wisdom of waiting for the LORD. Many falter at this point. In the first place, people are too proud to admit that things are going wrong. It’s seen as a blemish on their self preservation and they won’t ask for help or accept it when it’s offered. The other person is the one who turned to other gods. This happens when people try to find their own solutions out of the situation and they’ll accept any remedy as long as it promises to be quick and easy. Both of them fail to see the lesson in the trial, to deepen their trust in God.
Secondly, the psalmist praises God for His wondrous deeds. Count your blessings, name them one by one. Here, the psalmist says that would take too long. His deeds are too numerous to declare. Notice, though, how the psalmist points out that everything God is doing is part of a wonderful plan. That means that the hardships are just as crucial as the celebrations for us to be within God’s will.
Here I am, Ready and Willing
This next section is a little bit difficult to translate, and the variants are diverse. You might have been reading through this and come across the phrase, “My ears you have opened,” or “A body you have prepared for me.” Idioms are not always clear from culture to culture, even if you get the words correct. Let’s try to work it out together.
Like those who have turned to false gods to get out of their trouble, we can tend to approach the one true God as though He works on the same economic system. If we give God a sacrifice, He’s bound to give us what we want. If we could just get the whole Church together to pray, then God would heal our land. But God is not a cosmic gumball machine. He doesn’t want our sacrifices or burnt offerings, He wants us to learn to trust Him. He is teaching us to listen. That’s what it means that God has opened our ears.
The only way that we will learn our lesson is when we surrender ourselves to God. We are a living sacrifice. We must deny ourselves and take up our cross daily in order to follow Christ. When we finally learn what the trial was all about we’ll cry out, “Here am I. No longer my will, but your will be done.” That’s when you understand the purpose of the Law of God and it pleases you to obey Him. It takes a long time to learn that lesson. Hence, we’re not really waiting on God, we are waiting on ourselves.
Don’t Keep the Good News to Yourself
The last phrase of verse three makes a profound proclamation, “Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD.” Well, how are they going to hear about it? I’ll take Evangelism 101 for $200, Alex.
When I first placed my trust in Jesus Christ at the age of six, I was a fervent evangelist. Even though I was incredibly shy, I was not ashamed to profess my faith. Whenever I would have a sleepover with one of my friends and my parents would turn out the light at the end of the night, I would get to work convincing my friends that they were sinners and they needed to be saved or else they’d end up in hell. I found the darkness of the room was a great motivator. I’d get them to a point where they were ready to confess and run out of the room to get my dad to lead them through the rest of the way. I have to admit, it wasn’t the most effective system and it didn’t always work, but you couldn’t deny my passion.
The psalmist says that he will publicly proclaim that he has been redeemed. He’s not going to keep his mouth shut or keep it only for himself. This is worth sharing and he won’t conceal it. But He knows that it’s going to require help from the LORD. As I eventually learned, sharing the gospel does not always bring out the best in people. Sometimes, you get ignored, rejected, or mocked. That is why the psalmist prays for God’s mercy so that even when antagonists surround, discredit, and persecute him, they would be able to see something that causes them to step back and take notice. He even prays that his own sins would not prevent him from speaking boldly that he is saved.
Let the redeemed of the LORD say so. We should not be ashamed of our sins because Christ has already paid for them and God has already forgiven us. Our greatest quality is not our own. We claim Christ’s righteousness. Let’s proclaim His glory to save.
Adam Miller is the president and host of Songtime Radio and serves as the pastor of South Chatham Community Church. This article is a condensed version of one of his sermons.