Psalm 40 - 7 Day Devotional - Day 2
Psalm 40:4 & 5 By Lisa Pierosara Mihelcic
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.
Psalm 40 is a beautiful psalm of petition and lament yet the beginning, including Verses 4 and 5, speak Praise.
The psalmist is remembering how faithful God is. The very first word in this verse is ‘blessed’. When we abide by God’s commands (v4) and make the Lord our trust, there is reward of the Lord’s benevolence. Waiting may be required, but He will deliver. A person who trusts in the Lord (not other relationships, not other hopes, not our own deadlines) and a person who is careful about who/what they worship and associate with, will have His hand on them. This is a kept promise. And no word from God returns void (Isaiah 55:11).
We worship a good God who actually acts, in miraculous ways, which we cannot ever fully comprehend. The wonders mentioned in verse five are a praise by the psalmist of all God‘s actions on behalf of Israel to that point in time. NIV says “the things you planned for us”…. God thinks about us and plans for us. These thoughts and plans are good, guaranteed, and glorious because they are God's thoughts—the mind of the Creator thinking upon us as individuals. That is an image to pause on, the Creator God thinking on me, loving on me today.
When I think about my own life in this, I am rerouted in my journey, rooted in my identity as a child of a wondrous God who created the universe and continues to create! The psalmist says we cannot count all the good things He has done for us! He is a Creator God who never tires, never stops caring or creating. The Bible begins with creation and ends with New Creation. Two bookend miracles and everything in between is an invitation to recount all we can about His power and handiwork in us. Our lives begin with creation too, and as believers He continues to shape, shear, colour, and create new facets of our hearts and minds. Multiply that by all of the people who ever believed in Him and followed Him, ever. Countless (too many to declare).
Oh Lord Let us raise our voices to your incomparable nature and good work in our lives as testimony, abiding by your command to tell others and declare your many miracles and acts of creation in our stories. Make this a daily practice Lord, make our hearts see the mini miracles you create for us every day, even in the trials.
Lord, keep encouraging us to shift from relying on our human power to trusting in yours, based on the evidence of your countless, loving, and powerful acts in our lives.
In Jesus precious name, Amen!
