Help, God!
Psalm 40:1-11 January 19, 2020
We’ve all been there. Sometimes life is good, and sometimes life is not so good. Sometimes you are the bird sailing high up in the air, and sometimes...you are the statue. Sometimes we’re on a mountain high, and other times we may be in the valley of despair. At times you may be desperate for God. What do you do in those moments? How do you survive? Psalm 40 gives us some clues from King David, a man “after God’s own heart.”
David described those off days as being in the pit, down in the miry, slimy, muddy pit (v. 2). Maybe you can picture it. You seem to be stuck. The walls are too slick, too high. That friend betrayed your name. The project you were working on fell apart. Your loved one stopped calling. Your doctor delivered bad news. These are just a few examples.
Let’s consider from David’s psalm why we get in trouble and then what to do about it. First,
We get into trouble...
1. Because of our sin
David writes, in the second half of v. 12, “My sins have overtaken me and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me”
Sometimes we just bring things down on ourselves. I have made some incredible blunders in life, and I have no one to blame but myself. I sent an e-mail that should never have been sent. I let the words fly out of my mouth that cut my loved one in terrible ways. I hurt others. My thoughts, words, and actions betrayed my faith in God. Like David, we have all had our own sins overtake us and blind us. What seemed like a good idea in that moment of temptation turned out to be a really bad idea.
My wife and I recently watched the movie, “The Shack.” Even though I had read the book before, I cried all the way through the movie! They were happy tears, marveling at God’s incredible grace. One line in particular grabbed me: The main character asked God, “What about that punishment you dish out when we sin? You have to punish us, right?” And God replied, “No, I don’t have to punish anyone; sin brings its own punishment without my help.” Isn’t that true? What you thought would give you kicks suddenly has a kick-back! Our own sin brings us trouble. And we also have trouble...
2. Because of others’ sin
David describes this in verse 14: “all who want to take my life” and “all who desire my ruin.” You don’t have to be paranoid to know there are people out to get you. No matter where you go or what you do, you’ll always have a critic. Someone once told me, “Critics keep you honest.” They keep you on your toes. And sometimes people go well beyond criticizing; they really hurt you in some way. They bring trouble down on you, with their actions or their words. It hurts. And lastly, we have trouble...
3. Because of trouble around us
That’s what David says in the first part of v. 12: “For troubles without number surround me.” Sometimes bad stuff happens for no good reason to perfectly good people. It’s not anybody’s fault; not your sin nor anyone else’s sin. For now, we live in a broken world. Sometimes bad things just happen. Maybe you’ve lost a loved one. I know a couple of chaplains who have lost kids to illness. How terrible is that? Trouble just happens sometimes.
So what to do about it? To deal with trouble when it comes your way, I recommend four things from David’s psalm. First,
To deal with trouble...
1. Take in God’s word
God’s word, the Bible, is God’s book of promises to you. It is your weapon against the evil one who seeks to bring your downfall. God’s word is powerful. So you need to keep your weapon cocked before you need it. In other words, you need to know God’s word before temptation strikes, before someone hurts you, before you have a bad day. Look at how David put it in the second half of v. 8:
“Your law is within my heart” (v. 8b)
A person’s heart was considered to be the innermost center of their being. Tuck God’s word into your heart, into your soul. Read it daily. Listen to it. Grab a copy of “Our Daily Bread” in the hallway. (I discovered that if you listen to that through their website or a daily e-mail they send you, they even include a longer chunk of scripture, the context of their verse of the day.) Come to our Bible studies to understand the Good Book better. Memorize verses. A verse I learned as a kid comes from the longest chapter of the Bible, Psalm 119. That entire psalm is a huge poem about the importance of scripture! Psalm 119:11 reads, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”
Have you hidden God’s word in your heart? You need to do this before you need it, so it is there, in your brain, when you do need it. In that moment of temptation or when you find yourself in a slimy pit, a verse will pop into your mind, and will give you the strength you need in that moment. Secondly,
2. Learn to wait on God
I say, “Learn,” because this takes a lifetime to master. We used to sing a praise song in one of our past churches that began, “I waited...for the Lord on high. I waited...and he heard my cry!” (That’s another good way to get scripture into your heart, by singing it.) That song came directly from verse 1 on your outline:
“I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry” (v. 1a)
Sometimes we have to wait on God, because apparently, God doesn’t operate on our timetable. Have you found that to be true? I think about Noah, who took 50-100 years to build the ark, and that was before it had ever rained! Noah waited. Or consider Abraham and Sarah, who were promised children at age 75 and 65 respectively, and they had to wait another 25 years before they received the child of promise, through which our Savior would ultimately come. No wonder they tried to help God’s plan along and have a son through a handmaiden. That didn’t work out so well, because they didn’t wait on God’s promise.
Waiting can be very active. It can include doing all that God has shown you to do in the past, while you are awaiting further direction. It can include doing all the things you see in God’s word. You can solicit input from Christian friends, from scripture of course, from prayer, from fasting. And God will show you. God loves you too much not to guide you when you earnestly seek him.
I love how David closes out today’s psalm, at the very end of v. 17. He shows his own impatience when he says, “You are my help and my deliverer; you are my God, DO NOT DELAY!” [my own capital letters added for emphasis]. Ha!
As God begins to show you your next step to move out of your troubles, you need to do #3, which is to...
3. Trust in God’s plans
David says, “Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD” (v. 4a). He talks about “the things you planned for us...” (v. 5b). And then he says, in v. 8, “I desire to do your will, my God.” As God shows you through his word, through your prayers and fasting and seeking Christian counsel and being still before God, then you must obey. It may not be what you FEEL like doing, but you know it is what God WANTS you to do. So your part, like the old hymn says, is to “trust and obey.”
And then lastly, you get to...
4. Brag on God to others
David says, in verses 9 and 10, “I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, LORD, as you know. I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help...”
He says, at the end of v. 16, “May those who long for your saving help always say, ‘The Lord is great!’” (v. 16b) I noticed this takes some faith, to say, “The Lord is great” before you have your answer. My wife saw in Facebook a wonderful blog on faith and doubting by Philip Yancey. I loved one of his quotes: “Doubt and faith coexist. Indeed, certainty, not doubt, is faith’s opposite” [https://philipyancey.com/a-time-to-doubt ]. That’s a deep thought! Yancey marvels at how Mother Teresa continued following her faith even in the midst of her doubts. And in so doing, she bragged on God before the world.
We say, “The Lord is great” even when we don’t know what he’s up to. That requires faith! And then you can say with King David, in v. 3 of today’s psalm: “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the LORD and put their trust in him” (v. 3).
As God brings you out of the slimy pit, you praise him loudly and clearly and tell everyone who will listen. It will grow your faith, and it will grow the faith of those around you. God is good. And God is greatly to be praised! Let’s pray:
Father, thank you for your love that always searches us out when we find ourselves in the slimy pit, even when it was our own sin that put us there, or the sin of others, or just the natural evil in this fallen world. Thank you that you don’t leave us there, but are ready to grow our dependence on your word, to grow our faith, to grow our trust in you, and to grow our testimony of you. To God be the glory, great things you have done! We praise you in Jesus’ name, amen!
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Psalm 40
For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.
1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 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.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the Lord
and put their trust in him.
4 Blessed is the one
who trusts in the Lord,
who does not look to the proud,
to those who turn aside to false gods.
5 Many, Lord my God,
are the wonders you have done,
the things you planned for us.
None can compare with you;
were I to speak and tell of your deeds,
they would be too many to declare.
6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire—
but my ears you have opened—
burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require.
7 Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—
it is written about me in the scroll.
8 I desire to do your will, my God;
your law is within my heart.”
9 I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly;
I do not seal my lips, Lord,
as you know.
10 I do not hide your righteousness in my heart;
I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help.
I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness
from the great assembly.
11 Do not withhold your mercy from me, Lord;
may your love and faithfulness always protect me.
