40...

10.13.11

Psalm 40:1

"I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry."

Psalm 40:17

"You are my help and deliverer; O my God do not delay."

Do you think that you could sum up an entire relationship with someone in 17 verses? Isn't that exactly what David does here with His relationship with God? Although David wrote many Psalms, it's Psalm 40 that catches my eye as far as how He feels about God and his life.

He starts out in verse one as someone seeking God and needing to wait patiently for God to answer. From the very first verse of this Psalm we see that David recognizes that there was something missing from his life before God. He also recognizes that he needs God in his life, but why?

As he continues in the Psalm we see that it is because David knew without God he was in a "slimy pit" and the "mud and mire". David describes himself as being stuck in the mud, in a swamp without God in his life. He knew he was stuck to sin without God. When he recognizes what God does for him he says he wants to sing praises to Him. When he sees how God saves him from his sin, from being stuck, He says that God has changed his life and given him a new purpose, or as he puts it "a new song in his mouth".

David then begins to speak of spiritual growth. He talks about how blessed we are to trust in God. In the midst of the psalm we see David's heart for those who are far from God. He recounts the wonders of God. Next he moves to a place of wanting to give everything of himself back to God. To truly make his entire life an offering to God. He gets to a place where he says to God protect me as I stand for You Lord.

Even in the last verse of the Psalm we see David humbly saying I am "poor and needy" and praying for God to remember him and praising God for being his help and deliverer. We can truly see someone who has gone from far from God to praising Him with every ounce of his person.

Psalm 40 paints a great picture of what I wish my life to be. I wish to be able to say that God you have saved me from my sin. Jesus you have changed my life from what it is, to a place of salvation and mercy. I want to be able to sing the praises of grace from my new heart. I want to get to a place where everything I have is a sacrifice back to the God who saves. I want to get to a place where all that I am is for the use of God, for others to see how amazing His grace really is on this Earth.

In other words I would love to make Psalm 40 the story of my life.

Thought questions:

What do you think it takes to get to a place where our lives reflect Psalm 40? Is there something that keeps us from making this the story of our relationship with God?