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.[b]
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; [c] –
burnt offerings and sin offerings[d] you did not require.
7 Then I said, ‘Here I am, I have come – it is written about me in the scroll.[e]
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.
12 For troubles without number surround me;
my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see.
They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me.
13 Be pleased to save me, Lord; come quickly, Lord, to help me.
14 May all who want to take my life be put to shame and confusion;
may all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace.
15 May those who say to me, ‘Aha! Aha!’ be appalled at their own shame.
16 But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who long for your saving help always say, ‘The Lord is great!’
17 But as for me, I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me.
You are my help and my deliverer; you are my God, do not delay.
Here is a psalm which begins with joyous praise because of an experience, or many experiences, of God’s rescue. But then, unusually, it becomes a song of complaint and petition about great neediness as many troubles and sins ‘overtake’ the psalmist.
It is a pattern that is not common in the psalter – to move from a strongly positive outlook to something so very opposite. Yet the psalm brings comfort bring comfort because of this. We can identify with the person who has voiced these strong and competing emotions. The life of faith is full of contradictions, as the pendulum swings between joy and threat, adventure and safety, risk and comfort, exile and return, exodus and wilderness, cross and resurrection.
What the psalmist seeks is stability: a sense of standing on a rock rather than being pulled down by mud and mire. And what she or he finds is that God is the first mover. The psalm begins with the classic disposition of faithfulness – waiting patiently for God to act. The psalmist waits for God to turn (vs1) loving attention onto him or her. We are not told how long they waited. That is not the focus. What is swiftly told is that God acts:
· God hears their cry for help (vs1)
· God lifts the patient one out of the mud, mire and pit (vs2)
· God sets their feet on a firm rock (vs2)
· God puts a ‘new song’ in their heart (vs3)
· And all this so that many other people will hear, fear and put their trust in God (vs3)
This is not a private saving act. Its purpose is also to embolden others and encourage faith and trust so that ‘many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him’.
Today we hear a lot in the news about the way in which scientists are beginning to feel encouraged that the spread of the virus in the country is reducing. In March, the outbreak had a reproduction rate (R) whereby every one person who had it was spreading it to three other people (R=3). Now, the scientists are reporting it is falling below R=1. The key target is to bring it down to R=0.5. We all want to see the spread of the virus lessening.
But, our hope and prayer is that when it comes to people putting their trust in God, the rate of spread of this kind of faith would grow more and more in these times. Maybe each of us will be an R=3+ in our telling of the good news of Christ – by our words, by our actions, by the way we live.
The psalmist here is at least an R=1030 person of influence. Such is the beneficial impact of this psalm upon the faith of multiple generations. But it is because of God’s actions first and that patient waiting at the start that the psalmist had anything to sing about and also be honest about.
The truth is, we all perpetually need God. A life of faith does not stop the burden of sin. Neither does one experience of being rescued by God spare us from needing God’s help again, and again, and again. We live perpetually in the space of knowing God’s loving saving actions in our experience in the past and needing that new life again and again in the present and into the future.
The psalm continues (vs4-10) with an outline of that R=1+ attitude:· Not depending on self-assured people or false idols (vs4)
· Having an open trusting ear towards God (vs6)
· Offering the whole of my life, not religious piety, to God (vs6)
· Living life as an open book before God (vs7)
· Following God’s ways not my own (vs8)
· Being willing to speak about God’s saving acts in my life (vs9)
· Not keeping silence but telling others about the God’s loving faithfulness that I have experienced.
If the psalm ended here we might think this is all a bit of a tall order really. It feels to high an expectation. But what I love about Psalm 40 is that rather than presenting this all to perfect and unattainable idea of a perfect and blameless life, we are led back into the mire where the psalmist is again crying out for help.
In vs11-16 we hear again how difficult life is. Sin and troubles more numerous than the hairs of his or her head have overtaken them. They are overwhelmed again. They are again aware of others’ taunts. Life is hard. And so the psalm ends as it begins, with the call for help in vs17: ‘But as for me, I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; you are my God, do not delay.’ As you live this day may you find courage to speak of God’s goodness to you while recognising your own profound need for God’s mercy.
[1] New
International Version - UK (NIVUK) Holy Bible, New
International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved
worldwide.
How true to the life of faith this psalm is. It’s not a “and we all lived happily ever after” faith but it’s a life of trust in God that matures through the grit, dirt and glory of life. From waiting on God in times of distress to singing new songs in the congregation. From being bold in proclaiming the Lord’s faithfulness to being overcome with a sense of sin and need for mercy. No wonder we turn to the psalms when they describe the whole range of normal experiences and all in the knowledge that “the Lord cares for me” (v18).
ReplyDeleteThe psalmist’s experience of telling others really struck me. The words of v6 “If I were to proclaim them and tell of them they would be more than I am able to express” immediately reminded me of John 21:25: “But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written”. The challenge is that the psalmist tells others without restraint (v10 “I did not restrain my lips”) and kept nothing to himself (v11 “I have not concealed your loving kindness and truth”.) God’s salvation is not to be the best kept secret but declared boldly and with joy so that others may see and fear and put their trust in God.
Good news is for telling. Having been told by one neighbour about a WhatsApp group for our road my husband and I signed up: R +2. This morning we were all invited to celebrate the birthday of a boy on our road who is 7 today but of course cannot have a party with his friends. So standing at a safe distance, in the road and on both sides of the road, there were about 15 of us singing “Happy birthday” with birthday cake available. It made the boy very happy. Also it provided us the opportunity to put faces to names of people in the group. Good news was shared in the street’s congregation. I think that makes R +15.
I have been listening to and singing “a new song” since last Sunday. A song of the Lord’s goodness reworked by church members as part of our Sunday worship. It brings me so much joy that I’ve had to share it with others, including someone whose faith has taken a severe knocking through the experience of extreme suffering. That person, not a church goer, has now asked me to send our weekly service sheet so they can listen to the music and reflections. The new songs of music ministry arising out of lockdown declare God’s goodness much wider than just in church buildings but beyond our borders: R+++++