Sermon series: A SUMMER IN THE PSALMS

Psalm 40
"I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord. Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods. Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders You have done. The things You planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare.
Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but my ears You have pierced; burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not require. Then I said, "Here I am, I have come-—it is written about Me in the scroll. I desire to do Your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart.
I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, as You know, O Lord.
I do not hide Your righteousness in my heart; I speak of Your faithfulness and salvation. I do not conceal Your love and Your truth from the great assembly.
Do not withhold Your mercy from me, O Lord; may Your love and Your truth protect me. For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me.
Be please, O Lord, to save me; O Lord come quickly to help me. May all who seek to take my life be put to shame and confusion; may all who desire my ruin be turned back to disgrace. May those who say to me, Aha! Aha!" be appalled at their own shame. But may all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; may those who love Your salvation always say, "The Lord be exalted!" Yet I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; O my God, do not delay."

David, in this Psalm, tells us of times in his life where he was stuck in a slimy pit, bogged down in mud and mire, but then was rescued by God, who set his feet on a rock and gave him a firm place to stand.
And remember, David was the beloved king of Israel who reigned powerfully and well for forty years. He was installed, blessed, and approved by God, who called him "a man after His own heart." So there is one truth that is very clear in life...even the greatest saints have times when it seems that life's journey has taken them into slimy pits, mud and mire...experiences that break the heart and blind the eyes with tears.
The Psalm we are studying today is considered by many Bible scholars to be a Messianic Psalm, that is, it’s a prophetic psalm about Jesus Christ. Such great men as Saint Augustine, Charles Spurgeon, William L. Pettingill and Harry Ironside were convinced that verses 6 through 8, as referenced in the Hebrews,

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identifies this complete psalm as a prophecy relating to Jesus Christ. Many other great scholars do not agree with this position.
A more interesting question concerns the relation of this psalm to Psalm 70, which is an almost exact repetition of verses 13 through 17. Psalm 70 reads: "Hasten, O God, to save me; O Lord, come quickly to help me. May those who seek my life be put to shame and confusion; may all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace. May those who say to me. Aha! Aha! turn back because of their shame. But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation always say, "Let God be exalted!" Yet I am poor and needy; come quickly to me, O God."
A number of Bible scholars think that Psalm 40 was originally two psalms, verses 1 through 12 being the first and verses 13 through 17 being the second, and that they were put together somewhat awkwardly by an unknown editor. They think it awkward, because the first part speaks of deliverance from the pit and the second part is still seeking a deliverance. Such a combination of apparently diverse ideas is not strange to the psalms, however. It is equally possible—-I believe this is actually the case--that Psalm 70 was detached from the longer psalm in order to salvage it for general use in a later period. The placing of the two psalms in the Psalter, the first in an early section among the many psalms of David and the second in a later, somewhat more eclectic section, may point in this direction.
Psalm 40 has three clear sections: an opening joyful testimony of God's past deliverance (vv. 1-3); a present reflection on God's goodness (vv. 4-10); and a prayer for God's deliverance in the future (vv. 11-17).
The first verse of our psalm tells us a great deal about the subject of PRAYER. "I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry."
The expression "I waited patiently" actually suggests "I waited and waited and waited" ("waiting, I waited" would be the literal rendering). It looked to David as though the answer to his prayers would never come! But it did come.
"Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass. And He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. Rest in the Lord, and wait patently for Him; fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off; but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth" (Psalm 37:3-9)
"Yes Lord, walking in the way of Your law, we wait for You; Your name and renown are the desire of our hearts" (Isaiah 26:8) "O Lord, be gracious to us; we long for You, Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress" (Isaiah 33:2).

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ONE OF THE GREAT SECRETS OF UNDERSTANDING PRAYER IS PATIENCE IN WAITING FOR GOD'S TIME AND GOD'S WAY.
"The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride" (Ecc. 7:8).
"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer" (Romans 12:12). "You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised" (Hebrews 10:36). "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." (James 1:2-4).
The Amplified Bible translates the above verses in this manner: "Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience. But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [People] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing."
"Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains." (James 5:7).
David, in our Psalm, says that he waited, and waited and waited...and He heard me! Oh! the power of patient trust in prayer. Prayer is the keynote of the most sanctified life. He does the most for God who is the highest skilled in prayer.
Brother Lawrence: "That we ought to give ourselves to God with regard to things both temporal and spiritual, and seek our satisfaction only in the fulfilling of His will, whether He lead us by suffering, or by consolation, for all would be equal to a soul truly resigned. Prayer is nothing else but a sense of God's presence."
Philip Henry: "Prayer! Be sure you look to your secret duty; keep that up whatever you do. The soul cannot prosper in the neglect of it. Apostasy generally begins at the closet door. Be much in secret fellowship with God. It is secret trading that enriches the Christian. Pray alone. Let prayer be the key of the morning and the bolt at night. The best way to fight against sin is to fight it on our knees."
I PRAYED AND PRAYED AND PRAYED...and He heard me and 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.
THE MIRY PIT...MUD, AND SLIME! In the thirty-eighth chapter of Jeremiah there is a well-known incident in which Jeremiah is thrown into a cistern because of his unpopular prophecies about the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians. It is a grim story. The cistern was empty of water, or Jeremiah would have drowned. But the bottom was filled with the accumulated mud of centuries so that Jeremiah sank down into it, into the "mud and mire." He would have perished there if a foreigner from Cush named Ebed-Melech had not interceded for him with the king, who instructed the friendly Cushite to take thirty men and draw Jeremiah out of the cistern with ropes. This story is found in Jeremiah 38:1-13.

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Jeremiah was placed in the mud and mire of a pit quite literally, but there is no reason to think of the words PIT, MUD AND MIRE as anything more than metaphors in Psalm 40. We do not know what David was describing in this way, but it must picture a period of his life in which circumstances had trapped him so that he was unable, as we might say, to free himself.
It is good that we do not know the literal meaning of this pit, because we can the more easily see our own slimy pits in David's reference. Let's consider some of the MIRY PITS that we as human beings can find ourselves in and only God can help us!
THE PIT OF SIN. Some people are caught in the mud and mire of sin. David himself was an example of this at one time at one point in his life, although we do not know whether this is what he was describing in Psalm 40. He began his descent into this pit by staying home from battle in the season when kings were supposed to be at war and fighting along side their soldiers.
While enjoying himself in Jerusalem, he saw a woman named Bathsheba bathing herself on the roof of a home near the palace. He asked about her and learned that she was married to a soldier named Uriah. In spite of that, David brought her to the palace, tempted her and shamed her, and later learned that she was now with child...his child! David arranged to have Uriah abandoned in battle so that he would be killed by the enemy soldiers. David had sinned the sin of neglect, of adultery and murder...and his pit was very deep! The story is in 2 Samuel 11.
Maybe you are caught in just such a sin. Perhaps one sin has led to another. You know what is happening, but you can't get out of your pit. That is no surprise! Sin is like that! Romans 1 describes the downward pull of sin on all people. When you are caught in this way, there is no point beyond which you may go. You need help...you need to pray like David! "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness; according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions; and my sin is ever before me" (Psalm 51:1-3).
AND THEN THERE IS THE PIT OF DEFEAT.
Some people have a very different kind of pit from which they need to be lifted. It is the pit of personal defeat, whether at work or school or in the home or in some other setting or relationship. Some people would say that their entire lives have been one long and unending defeat and they suffer from great discouragement. I do not want to trivialize your discouragement or make light of it, but I can tell you this...God does have things He wants you to succeed at, and He will enable you to succeed at those, even though they may be different from what you are doing now. And the place to begin is where David began. He began by laying his problem before the Lord...and in patient, trusting prayer, he placed his situation in God's hand, waiting for God's timing and God's way to solve the situation. I repeat that I do not know what David was referring to by his metaphor of the pit, but there was a time early in his

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life what he could have spoken very graphically of his defeats. No matter what he did he was unable to please King Saul, and Saul in his hatred and jealously of David ruthlessly hounded the young man from place to place. It was many years before the Lord intervened to removed Saul and eventually bring David to the throne. If you are defeated, bring your defeats to God. Wait on God.
AND THERE IS ALSO THE PIT OF CIRCUMSTANCES. Oh! The Bible is full of illustrations. Joseph, Job and Paul are just a few! There is Joseph, sold into slavery by his own brothers, ending up in an Egyptian prison for fourteen years. None of us can imagine the pain of his soul and anguish of his mind during those long nights in prison. But when it was all over, and God's purpose had come to fruition, Joseph could say: "Fear not; for am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive." (Genesis 50:19-20).
And then there is Job! "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them. And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said. From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? Then Satan answered the Lord and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord" (Job 1:6-12). And we all know what Satan did! Destroyed his family, his assets and finally, his health! BUT THROUGH HIS CIRCUMSTANCES, JOB CAME OUT VICTORIOUSLY! The Book of Job ends with these words: "And the Lord turned the captivity of Job; when he prayed for his friends; also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before...So the Lord blessed the later end of Job more than his beginning..." (Job 42)
The last example of a slimy pit that I think of here is circumstances, like the pattern of severe trials the apostle Paul mentions in 1 and 2 Corinthians. These were not sin, or defeats necessarily, or even the result of bad habits. Paul had been persecuted because of his stand for Jesus Christ. Listen to his testimony: "Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and

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thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches" (2 Corinthians 11:24—28; 1 Corinthians 4:9-13).
But when his ministry is completed and he is preparing for his departure, he writes: 'For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing" (2 Timothy 4:6-8).
Paul joins his testimony with David! "I waited and I waited and I waited...I prayed...He heard me...and delivered me out of all my distresses, out of all my muddy and slimy pits of circumstances.
GOD WILL MAKE A WAY WHEN THERE IS NO WAY!
In our psalm, we observe that from verse four through verse 10, David reflects on the many times in the past that God has been good to him. It is characteristic of the psalms, particularly those of David, that they frequently first tell of the writer's personal experience of God's goodness and then reflect on that goodness, commending it to others. Someone has written concerning verse 3...Out of the mire, into the choir! "And He had put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God, many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord."
WHAT IS THE NATURE OF THE POET'S SONG? His is a song of deliverance. He had been delivered from the pit! How he ever got into this pit we are not told. He may have been plunged into it through some great and devastating calamity! He may have fallen into it through his own willfulness or carelessness or spiritual stupidity. But regardless of how he had come to be there, there he was and there was no shutting his eyes to his tragic situation. He could not forget the stark horror of it all. The pit was dark and cold, it was unspeakably lonely and as silent as death itself.
It is Victor Hugo, I think, that tells the story of a man caught in the quicksand. One moment this man is walking in safety. Then his path begins to cling to his feet a bit. A few more steps and he is bogged down to his knees. He then begins to struggle frantically. But the more he struggles, the deeper he sinks. Soon the treacherous sand has reached his waist. By this time the unfortunate victim has became desperate. He now realizes that he is being slowly swallowed by a hideous, blind mouth that is absolutely without mercy. He cries for help, but there is no response. He looks at the clouds floating in the blue and the birds as they soar above his head, and they seem to mock him. He prays, he shrieks, he curses. He struggles with every ounce of his energy, but the implacable mouth still swallows him only the faster. At last his final wild wail ends in a gulp. The cruel sand has filled his mouth, and the futile struggle is over. He has been swallowed by the pit!
WE HAVE REASON TO SING
WHEN GOD HAS DELIVERED US FROM OUR MIRY PITS!

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"Praise the Lord, Sing to the Lord a new song, His praise in the assembly of the saints" (Psalm 149:1) "Sing to the Lord a new song, His praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands, and all who live in them" (Isa. 42:10).
WE HAVE A REASON TO SING WHEN, IN HIS MERCY AND HIS GRACE, HE HAS RESCUED US FROM THE PIT OF SIN AND GUILT!
"Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it! Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb; redeemed through His infinite mercy, His child forever I am!
"In loving kindness Jesus came my soul in mercy to reclaim, and from the depths of sin and shame, Through grace He lifted me. From sinking sand, He lifted me, with tender hand He lifted me, from shades of night to plains of light, O praise His name, He lifted me!"
And our Psalmist gives us additional reasons to sing a new song!
"Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you have planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare" (v. 5). The song writer caught the truth of this verse when he penned the words of this hymn:
"When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed, when you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.
So amid the conflict, whether great or small, Do not be discouraged. God is over all; count your many blessings, angels will attend, help and comfort give you to your journey's end.
MANY ARE THE WONDERS YOU HAVE DONE! O LORD!
Our psalm continues with these words: "Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire, mine ears hast thou opened; burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required." (vv. 6,7)
David's mind ran over the sacrificial religious system demanded by the Mosaic Levitical law. The word for "sacrifice" was a general term for all communion-type offerings such as the peace offering, where offerer and priest sat down in the presence of God to enjoy a communion meal based upon the sacrifice.
The word for "offering" was used for the meal offering, which related to man's toil and which emphasized that there is no line to be drawn between the sacred and the secular. It was an offering which put the emphasis on the holy life of Christ.
The word for the "burnt offering" depicted the precious sweet-savor offering which spoke so eloquently of Christ's wonderful life of holiness all being offered up wholly for God in a way which brought immeasurable satisfaction to God.
The word for "sin offering" spoke of those sacrifices which dealt with all the dreadfulness of the human condition--with the principle of sin and with the practice of sin.
David entered fully into the truth concerning ritual. He saw that even though the sacrifices themselves spoke of Christ, they were inefficient and inadequate. Worse, these very sacrifices could be abused, for a

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person could come to the point where he actually believed that, because he had performed some prescribed ritual, he was therefore fully discharged of all further moral and spiritual obligation in the sight of God!
David saw through that, summed up all the ritualistic sacrifices of the Mosaic ritual legislation in four sweeping words, then wrote off sacrifice without sincerity and ritual without reality as worthless.
David has revealed some wonderful truths in this psalm! He began telling us that in the difficult situations of life which he called "pits" God had faithfully delivered him. Not immediately, but after waiting and waiting and waiting...God heard him and answered him. And after his deliverance, God had firmly established his feet so that he could continue his journey with a new song bursting forth from his soul. And that song was birthed from the realization of the gracious and wonderful God that loved him and had thoughts and plans for him which were beyond his imagination. These truths brought a deeper meaning to the relationship he now had with God. He was confronted with the continual ritual of all the sacrifices that were ordained for the sanctuary, but now to him, worship was far deeper than just sacrifices. His religion had now became something of the heart. "I delight to do Thy will, O my God; yea, Thy law is within my heart." (V. 8).
"This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest,’ declares the Lord." (Jeremiah 31:33-34)
WHEN, THROUGH LIFE'S DIFFICULT SITUATIONS, GOD HAS BECOME VERY REAL TO US AND OUR RELATIONSHIP HAS DEEPENED...WORSHIP BECOMES MORE THAN FORM AND RITUAL.
It is adoration that pours forth from the heart that is filled with thanksgiving for all that our wonderful God has done for us.
NOW, DAVID IS READY TO GIVE TESTIMONY AND BOLDLY CONFESS HIS FAITH TO THE WORLD!
"I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, thou knowest." I have not hid Thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared Thy faithfulness and Thy salvation: I have not concealed Thy lovingkindness and Thy truth from the great congregation" (v. 9-10).
David preached the righteous majesty of God! He had seen it at work during the perilous years when he fled as a fugitive from Saul. He had seen it at work during the prosperous years when he first ascended to the throne. He had seen his righteous majesty during his punitive years after his sin with Bathsheba. He could see it at work again in the peaceful years when, when his throne was finally restored.
We can thank God for His righteous majesty--that God does what is right, that God does what He does because He is what He is! He is righteous and He deals with us in mercy and righteousness. Praise our God!