Psalm 40 - 7 Day Devotional - Day 6

Psalm 40:14–16 By Brigitte Foisy

In the Pit but NOT Forgotten! 

When Stephanie sent me Psalm 40:14–16, I stood in my kitchen and cried.

The words felt uncomfortably familiar. David writes about humiliation, about people hoping for his ruin. He cries out for God to act, to defend him and humiliate the people who are making fun of him, AND to do it quickly. I love The Message version that says “that they be embarrassed and lose face. So anyone who gets a kick out of making me miserable will be disgraced. So those who pray for my ruin will be booed! And then, in the very same breath, he pivots: “Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; let those who love Your salvation say continually, ‘The Lord be magnified!’” (v.16)

It is such a strange prayer to ask God to punish the bullies. On one hand, David is in the pit (for the second time in this chapter – it’s getting to be a familiar place isn’t it?). He feels exposed, threatened, desperate for deliverance - again. On the other hand, he calls people to rejoice, to magnify God, to keep declaring His greatness, even before the breakthrough has even come. He knows, he’s been there before!

That tension is where I have been.

This past year has been one of the hardest of my professional life. For the first time in 24 years, my business ran at a deficit. I prayed. I pitched. I emailed. I showed up every single day believing, “Today could be the day God turns this around.” I did not stay passive. I worked. I trusted. I waited. And waiting in the pit is humbling.

There is something deeply exposing about seasons where nothing seems to move. You begin to wonder what others are thinking, if God forgot about you all together, the pit feels deeper and deeper every day. You wrestle with your own expectations. You replay old promises. You ask God to hurry. David does the same thing in this psalm. Just a few verses earlier he cries, “Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; make haste, O Lord, to help me.” And again at the end, “You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God.” There is urgency in the pit! We want it done NOW but we know God has other purposes and if we believe that EVERYTHING works TOGETHER for our good, the wait should be a place of peace… Psalm 40 begins with testimony. “I waited patientlyfor the Lord; He inclined to me and heard my cry… He lifted me out of the pit.” David had been rescued before. That is why he can wait again. He knows how it ends! There’s hope there because if God did it before, He can do it again! 

When you are in the pit, you have two options: You can rehearse fear OR you can rehearse faith. If you decide God has abandoned you, panic follows. But if you remember His past faithfulness - in your life and in the lives of others -  hope begins to rise! Waiting becomes expectant rather than empty. 

Waiting gives you time to think. And what you choose to think about shapes everything. David shifts the focus away from humiliation and toward magnification: “Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You.” Notice it does not say, “Let all who seek deliverance rejoice.” It says, “Let all who seek You.” There is a difference.

If I am only seeking relief, I will forget God once the pressure lifts. But if I am seeking Him, then even the pit becomes holy ground. Joy is no longer rooted only in the outcome, but in the One who holds the outcome. The pit can be anything: financial strain, relational heartbreak, health issues, disappointment, depression, unanswered prayers. It is that place where hope feels thin and urgency feels loud. And yet, the pit is never wasted with God because just like in the gym, that’s where your faith muscle grow! 

David also writes earlier in this psalm, “He has given me a new song to sing… Many will see what He has done and put their trust in the Lord.”

Deliverance is never just about us. God uses our rescue to point others to Him. The pit becomes testimony.

Looking back over my life, I can see that pattern. The disappointment of divorce. The courage to walk away from what would not have led me where I was meant to go. The unexpected joy of meeting my husband. Seasons that felt like endings were actually protection. Preparation. Realignment. Delays are not denials. They are often refinement. 

This past year felt like pruning. Quiet. Stretching. Hidden work. And while my miracle has not yet fully unfolded, I can see blue sky breaking through. I can see God’s hand in daily details. Small provisions. Unexpected encouragements. Subtle course corrections.

If what God has done in the past we call miracles and what He will do in the future we call plans, than God’s plans are simply future miracles we have not yet seen! Because He is faithful, we can trust that He will continue to behave like Himself. The psalmist thanks God for past wonders and then essentially says, “Keep being God.” And he promises, in return, to keep recognizing Him as God.

In The Message version the last verse is translated as: “…BUT all those HUNTING for you, let them sing and be happy. Let those who know what you’re all about tell the world you’re great and not quitting... AND ME, I’m a mess… I’m nothing and have nothing – MAKE SOMETHING OF ME. 

That is where I am.

Still waiting. Still trusting. Still choosing to magnify Him before the full breakthrough arrives. Isn’t that our purpose as Christians? To be the magnifying glass to amplify who God is to the world in real ways?

Could the pit be just a way for God to bring others to Himself as a result of your experience of deliverance? That is why, every month in BE magazine we share stories of deliverance and inspiration so that our pits are not wasted but a way to demonstrate God’s power and love. 

Maybe you are there too. Maybe your pit feels longer than you expected. Maybe you are tired of asking God to “make haste.” Maybe you are wondering if you were meant for more, and why the more has not yet appeared.

What if the pit is not interruption, but preparation?
What if the delay is protection?
What if the refinement is positioning you for responsibility you are not yet ready to carry?

Before God uses us publicly, He often refines us privately. Just remember that He is in the business of new beginnings – that’s what He does best!

Psalm 40 does not end in despair. It ends in dependence: “As for me, I am poor and needy; but the Lord takes thought for me.” That’s the anchor! We may feel small. We may feel stretched. We may feel like nothing is moving.

But the Lord is thinking about us. So, in the pit, we wait. In the pit, we remember. In the pit, we seek Him and more of Him (not just His rescue). In the pit, we choose to rejoice in who He is. And we say, even before the outcome changes: “The Lord be magnified.”

Prayer: Lord, thank You that even in the pit You are present. Thank You that You are my help and my deliverer, even when the timing feels slow. Teach me to seek You, not just relief. Help me to magnify You before the miracle appears. Use every season — even this one — to refine me, realign me, and reveal Your goodness to those around me. Amen.