Psalm 40 Devotions by Stephen Taylor

Psalm 40:1-3

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

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.

Unlike David, I didn’t wait patiently for the Lord. In fact, I was running the opposite way when He started to draw me to Himself. My life was racked and riddled with sin, fear, shame, guilt, loneliness, and rejection. I had quite a few more problems than this, but you get the picture. The song I sang was a song of selfishness and pride. A song to feed my flesh and all the demons and the bad choices that came with it. I was lost and lonely in a room full of people.

For most of my life, you wouldn’t have noticed it, but God could see the desolation and destruction that was going on inside. He saw a scared little boy, desperate for something but not truly knowing what, or better yet, Who, that was.

Like David’s pit, mine was slimy and impossible for me to climb out of on my own. Try as I might, there was no saving myself. But God! Like a roaring wind or a rushing river, He came into my heart. He broke a lifetime of pain-chains off of me, and in a second, set me free. He was not afraid to reach into that pit I had dug and pull me out into His loving arms. He did not condemn me in it, but comforted me out of it!

 Although I didn’t wait patiently like David, the Lord was still merciful, and like David, He set my feet on the Rock, Jesus Christ. He put a new heart, a new mind, and a new song in my mouth! A song of surrender to my King, a song of glory to my God, a song of obedience to the Truth, a song of love for my Savior. What used to be a life bound and blinded by the darkness is now a life lived in freedom in the light.

I used to think there was damnation and condemnation waiting for me at the foot of the cross. But trust me that wasn’t it at all. What I found there wasn’t death but life; my crucified and resurrected King, Savior, and Friend extending His hand of mercy and grace.  I looked at His nail marks and into His loving eyes, and He said, “Because you’re worth it!”

John 3:17- For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.

Galatians 2:20- I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

God bless! Glory, honor, and praise now and forever to Papa God, Jesus Christ our Merciful and Mighty Savior, and the Holy Spirit who leads us to love those around us!