Psalm 40:1-5 (ESV)
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
[2] He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
[3] He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the Lord.
[4] Blessed is the man who makes
the Lord his trust,
who does not turn to the proud,
to those who go astray after a lie!
[5] You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
none can compare with you!
I will proclaim and tell of them,
yet they are more than can be told.
It is not hard to find the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. It permeates it. It is found everywhere.It is found in this Psalm.
1) Verse 1 -We cannot save ourselves – David says here that he waits for the Lord patiently. Salvation is in God’s hands and we cannot rush it or force it outside of His time table. We may cry to Him but the salvation that He gives is in His hands. He must incline His heart to us and answer.
2) Verse 2 – But when God does hear and answer we will be saved. When He does His saving work we will not stay in the pit of sin and hell any more. He will draw us out and He will establish us on solid ground when before all the ground we were on was unable to hold us. This ground represents both our sin and our hope. Hope in anything other than Christ and you are going to sink. Your sin, as enjoyable as it may be, is the cause of your problem. It will kill you. It cannot do anything but destroy you.
3) Verse 2 – Jesus is the rock. We are only secure in Him. There is no other rock than Him. But He is there and He will save those who call. The timing may be His but He turns none away who call upon Him in faith to save.
4) Verse 3 – Those who are saved by Christ will sing the praises of Christ.
5) Verse 3 – The change in life of those who have been saved will be obvious to those who encounter them and cause them to come to repent and trust Christ as well.
6)Verse 4 – Those who put their faith in Christ will be happy. This doesn’t mean that he will never be sad, but it does mean that there is nothing that can destroy the happiness that comes from having our sins forgiven, being brought into a relationship with the triune God and living for Him. He took the punishment our sins deserve and we get counted as ours, the perfect obedience of Christ. The happiness will also be because we know God. We enjoy Him. He is the goal of our salvation and when we are saved we can grow to know Him better and that gives great joy to the heart of the believer.
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