Psalm 40 - 7 Day Devotional - DAY 1

Psalm 40: 1-3 By Lisa Harrison

Psalm 40:1-3

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 the Lord and put their trust in him.

Picture a child stepping into thick mud on a rainy day. One step in and she is already sinking. She pulls at her own leg but cannot get herself free. She needs someone to come, reach down, and pull her out. And when her feet finally hit solid ground, she does not think about the mud. She thinks about the hands that reached for her.

That is the image David gives us in Psalm 40. A pit. Mire. Sinking. And then, a rescue!

Romans 8:28 tells us that God works all things together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. Notice it does not say all things feel good. It says God works them. He is active in the waiting.

Isaiah 40:31 promises that those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength. Waiting is not passive but it is a complete act of trust.

At a Psalm 40 event at Springvale Church back in 2016, I stood up and shared something I had held close for a long time.

My husband and I wanted a family. For four and a half years, that desire went unanswered. We walked through testing, treatments, disappointments, miscarriages, and GRIEF. There were months that I felt like I was sinking. Not just in sadness, but also in questions. Why is God silent? Does He see us? Why can’t He answer our prayers when we are asking for a good thing??

BUT - He did see us. And eventually, after medical intervention and a lot of tears and prayer, we received the gift we had asked for. (x3!!!)

But here is the amazing part.  The solid ground God gave me was not a positive pregnancy test. The solid ground came earlier, in the waiting, when he drew me close to himself in a way I had never experienced before. I learned to pray differently. I learned to trust when I could not control the outcome. He pulled me out of that pit, and my feet landed on him, not on the answer I so desperately wanted.

And then he gave me a new song. Standing up to share that story in 2016 was one of the hardest things I had done. But women came up to me afterward who were in their own mud, their own waiting. They needed to know someone else had been there. God used our pain to reach them, and that is the miracle I did not expect.

Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him. That is the verse. That is the point. Our stories are not just ours!

Lord, for the women who come to this event who are waiting, who are sinking, who cannot pull themselves out, we ask you to do what only you can do. Reach down. Pull them up. Set their feet on you, not on the outcome they are hoping for, but on you. Give them a new song, even before the answer comes. And use their story, the hard parts and the hopeful parts, to point others to you. You are the solid ground. You are more than enough!  Thank you for Michelle and Sarah who are coming to bravely share their new songs, and Lord, would their voices share your glory and bring others to know you. 

In your mighty & precious name we pray, Amen.