Follow Jesus’ example
Psalm 40:1-8
When you are going through difficult times you will be strengthened as you remember past blessings and the times that God has delivered you.
David writes about the time when he was in ‘the slimy pit’, full of ‘mud and mire’ (v.2a). He may be describing some experience of sin, sickness or the depth of depression. Corrie ten Boom said, ‘There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still.’
‘The pit’ of depression can be a terrible place. In these times we remember all our failures and disappointments. We start to believe that nothing good could ever happen to us. We feel miserable and helpless. We start to think that we will never rise above our problems and fulfil God’s call in our lives.
In his helplessness David says, ‘I waited and waited and waited for God. At last he looked; finally he listened. He lifted me out of the ditch, pulled me from deep mud’ (v.1–2a, MSG).
After God lifted him out of the slimy pit, David recounts, ‘He stood me up on a solid rock to make sure I wouldn’t slip’ (v.2b, MSG). God put a new song of worship in David’s mouth and his witness led many others to ‘put their trust in [the Lord]’ (v.3).
David describes the great blessing of ignoring ‘what the world worships’ (v.4, MSG) and following the Lord: ‘Blessed are those who make the Lord their trust... 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’ (v.4–5).
David writes, ‘You have given me the capacity to hear and obey’ (v.6, AMP). The secret of his success was praying and obeying.
David offers himself to follow God’s will in its entirety. He says, ‘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’ (v.7–8).
This too was Jesus’ secret of success. According to the writer of Hebrews these verses found perfect fulfilment in Jesus. He tells us that Jesus himself quoted verses 6–8 in this psalm (see Hebrews 10:5–10). Jesus prayed and he obeyed. He said, ‘I have come to do your will, O God’ (v.7). The writer of Hebrews continues, ‘And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all’ (v.10).
Follow Jesus’ example and offer yourself to do God’s will. David says that those who make the Lord their trust will be blessed. You will see all kinds of ‘wonders’ (Psalm 40:5) and ‘things you planned for us no one can recount… they would be too many to declare’ (v.5).
