Tenses of His Work
Notes
Transcript
I love the psalms; that’s no secret. It’s not my favorite book in the Bible (that would be Judges), but if I could only preach from one book of the Bible, I’d probably pick Psalms.
I’d pick Psalms because it covers the widest range of emotion and greatest variety of content and every single psalm points to Jesus in some way or another.
So far this summer, the content of the psalms preached has been largely the same.
It’s been a lot about wickedness; the titles of the sermons in Psalms this summer have been: “In a Wicked World”, “The ABGs of the Wicked”, “Sin Psalm”, and “This Fleeting Life”—all of which (Psalm 36, 37, 38, 39) really do focus on wickedness (both within and among us).
Today is a shift in tone. Psalm 40 has a different feel to it, not entirely, but it is markedly different. And this Psalm, at least the first few verses are going to be familiar to you. These are some of the most incredible verses penned in Psalms.
Listen and exult along with me:
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.
These are some of the most descriptive and illustrative words in the Psalms, describing what the LORD has done for David.
Past Rescue (vv. 1-3)
Past Rescue (vv. 1-3)
The word patiently is too calm for the intensity of the opening words. David’s not sitting nicely, hands in his lap, as if he’s leafing through copies of Time magazine, waiting for the nurse to call him back to see the doctor.
The word waited is actually repeated in verse 1. It would be better if we read this as “I waited, waited for the LORD.”
You know what that’s like. You’ve waited, waited for the LORD. If you’ve walked with Him for any amount of time, you’ve felt the waiting, waiting that’s sometimes necessary.
It’s more than a little patience. Sometimes it’s well-beyond our capacity to wait. “I waited, waited for the LORD...”
David knows what it is to wait. He’s written about waiting, advised his readers to wait for the LORD. David is waiting, waiting.
His waiting, however, is expectancy. David is certain that the LORD will come to him and help him. He’s waiting patiently for the LORD, showing a positive and active trust in the LORD.
There was an old Latin title for Psalm 40: Expectans expectavi, translated: “Expectantly, I expected the LORD to act.”
As David’s waiting, waiting, expectantly expecting, the LORD turned to David and heard David’s cry.
This is deeper, more significant than the LORD merely “inclining” His ear to hear David.
Picture the LORD bending down to David; He turns to listen to David. David has captured His attention. “He turned to me and heard my cry.”
That’s an incredible occurence all its own. That the God of Heaven hears lowly little people...
It gets more incredible yet.
The LORD lifted David out of the slimy pit. This is obviously poetic, not a literal slimy pit. Whatever he’s envisioning, we don’t know. A horrible pit. The pit of destruction. The pit of despair.
There’s a ton of speculation about what this miry pit is, or, more specifically what it symbolizes. I won’t go down all the rabbit holes of speculation (it’s fruitless and foolish). A lot of it’s just plain dumb. Like, real dumb. Lot’s of baseless allegory and spiritualization.
We don’t know what this pit is, other than something from which David needed rescued. David was in a bad way. He was sinking. He’s stuck. He was covered in mud and clay, muck and mire.
Whatever the situation symbolized here, it’s clear David needed lifted out of the pit by another.
The LORD comes to David’s rescue. He lifted me out…He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
The point of this description is to highlight the sudden and incredible change. David had been stuck fast in the miry, slimy pit. And now, the LORD has lifted him out and has set [his] feet on a rock. The LORD has given David a firm place to stand.
From the miry pit to the sure footing of a rock. This is David’s story. This is the LORD’s rescue of David.
It’s easy to get lost in the poetry here (and, honestly it’s good to get lost in the poetry). Verse 2 alone is worthy of our time and contemplation, whatever attention we can give to it:
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.
That’s absolutely beautiful. It’s a stunning picture of what the LORD has done for David. It’s a really good picture of what the LORD has done for all of us.
But the key to understanding this is found by focusing on the action.
David has cried out to the LORD, and that’s all David does—beside getting himself stuck in the muck and the mire. Dummy.
Apart from David getting stuck and crying out, from that point on, it’s the LORD’s work. Listen to David’s verbs:
The LORD turned, the LORD heard, the LORD lifted me out, the LORD set my feet on a rock, the LORD gave me a firm place to stand.
This is the story of what the LORD has done for David. It’s the LORD’s work; the LORD’s rescue.
Don’t you see? We’re just like our pal, Dave. We can’t rescue ourselves. We don’t “pull ourselves up by our bootstraps.” No one does, no one can. Not David, not you, not me.
It’s a lie from the pit of hell that “God helps those who help themselves.” Sadly, the majority of professing Christians surveyed believe that phrase is found in the Bible.
“God helps those who help themselves,” was coined by a fellow named Algernon Sidney, and then stolen by a real fine gent named Benjamin Franklin. It’s the furthest thing from Biblical truth.
Here’s what the Bible teaches: God helps those who ABSOLUTELY CANNOT help themselves!
You can’t begin to help yourself. David couldn’t begin to pull himself out the pit he was stuck in. The LORD had to lift him out and place his feet on a rock.
David couldn’t do anything to rescue himself; couldn’t do it. You can’t do it either!
I could not possibly pull myself from the mess my sin has wrought, not if I had a thousand lifetimes to try. I’d only make matters worse. The quicksand would only overtake me faster, for all my effort.
The Bible says of you and me that we were dead in our transgressions and sins. Dead is what you are apart from Christ. Dead is a pit from which you cannot escape.
4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
Psalm 40 is the story of what the LORD has done for David. It’s the LORD’s work; the LORD’s rescue.
It’s a really good picture of what the LORD has done for us, too. The LORD has lifted us out of the pit (sin, death, destruction) and set our feet on the rock whose name is Jesus—a firm foundation, the only firm foundation.
What the LORD did caused David to praise Him:
Ps 40:3 “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.”
What God has done to rescue David puts a song in his mouth, a hymn of praise that rises gratefully to God and goes out for the benefit of the people around him.
Many will see and hear what the LORD has done for David, and many will put their trust in Him.
How God has rescued David, how He rescued us (whatever that looks like) is meant to cause reflection, thankfulness, and praise.
The tense shifts at verse 4 from past to present.
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.
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—
burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require.
7 Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—
it is written about me in the scroll.
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.
The LORD wasn’t just active in David’s life some time ago; He’s currently at work.
Present Work (vv. 4-10)
Present Work (vv. 4-10)
Every experience of the LORD’s grace in the past should lead us to look up to Him with trust for the present and the future.
Blessed, David says, is the person who trusts in the LORD. Why? Well, namely, because the LORD Yahweh—the covenant, Creator God is real. The LORD is not another of the false gods people tend to look to.
You’re blessed if you put your trust in the LORD, because the LORD is actually at work. The LORD can actually accomplish what He wills.
There is no blessing attached to trusting or looking toward popular and fallible sources of help. False gods/lies and earthly helpers will fail. Always. Every time.
But the LORD, well, the LORD does many wonders, many wondrous deeds—too many to declare, in fact.
Too many to declare. Boy, isn’t that the truth. If we started to speak about all of the LORD’s marvelous deeds, His wonders, His plans for us—we would never complete the task.
Like painting the Golden Gate Bridge, the work of declaring His praises is an unending task. We will never reach the end of declaring His wonders.
Nor should we ever plan on stopping!
David, with quill in hand and parchment beneath, with years of songwriting under his belt, and a catalogue of words at his disposal, comes to the point where he has to say: None can compare with you.
There is simply, for David, no comparison between the LORD and any other.
Put your trust in the LORD, Psalm 40 urges, for this is the only behavior that makes sense.
Trust Him and give Him your heart.
Saul, the first king of Israel, went through the motions of offering God sacrifice, while insulting God with the disobedience of his heart.
Samuel rebuked Saul, saying, 1 Sam 15:22-23 “To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams…Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.”
Against the background, David knew what God desired. God didn’t want sacrifices for sacrifices’ sake. He wanted faith and repentance and obedience (always has, from the beginning).
David knew, far better than empty sacrifices, was the desire to do God’s will, a readiness to listen, a willingness to do what God has said.
The LORD is working in David’s life as David pens this psalm. David is eager to serve the LORD (in him, we get a glimpse of Jesus—the One who was perfect in His willingness to give His life as a perfect sacrifice).
David is eager to serve the LORD, and even more eager to tell about Him (vv. 9-10).
David says he proclaims in the present the LORD’s saving acts in the great assembly. He won’t seal his lips. He won’t hide what he knows. David speaks of the LORD’s faithfulness and saving help. He doesn’t conceal what he knows about the love and faithfulness of God. He shares this with the great assembly.
What the LORD is doing in this present moment should result in our proclamation.
Like David, we should not hold back. Nothing should be able to keep us quiet. “Hide it under a bushel?” “NO!”
The LORD’s present work is reason enough to give Him praise and to tell about His numerous wonders in the assembly of God’s people.
The LORD is currently at work in your life, Christian. He’s doing something, 10,000 things at once. It’s a guarantee.
Proclaim it. Tell all about it. Don’t restrain your lips (in speaking of Him). Don’t hide what He’s doing. Speak about His faithfulness. Don’t conceal the evidences of His never-ending hesed love in your life.
David begins this psalm speaking of his past rescue. He moves to the present work of God. And now shifts into the future tense:
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.
Future Deliverance (vv. 11-17)
Future Deliverance (vv. 11-17)
We might miss the future tense, the shift in tense, at verse 11 if we’re not careful (read a variety of translations in your study).
What David prays is this: “You, O LORD, will not withhold Your compassion from me.”
It’s not an ultimatum. It’s just what David knows to be true about the LORD.
I don’t really think it’s a request (as the NIV would indicate). I think this is David just absolutely assured that the LORD will not withhold compassion. He knows the LORD’s lovingkindness and truth will continually preserve him.
David is assured, beyond a doubt, that the LORD will show him compassion, that the LORD will preserve him.
Likewise, David knows trouble and evil are surrounding him. His sins are part of that picture (a large part of the picture, if he’s anything like me).
There are those who want to take David’s life, those who desire his ruin. Apparently even a Norwegian synth-pop band is out to get him (Aha!).
David’s numberless troubles and sins are gloriously outmatched by the numberless proofs of God’s goodness and faithfulness.
The LORD is not limited to just the past and the present. His rescue, His work, His deliverance extends into the future—His goodness and faithfulness know no bounds.
Nothing is outside His care, His provision, His protection. We will be in need of His deliverance a month from now, a year from now, 10 years from now, even tomorrow. And He will deliver His people.
The LORD is pleased to save. He delivers and helps (v. 13), because He is our help and our deliverer (v. 17).
I am poor and needy, but the LORD takes thought of me.
What the LORD will do for His people should always be accompanied by our proclamation.
May those who long for the LORD’s saving help always say, “The LORD is great!”
Ours is to rejoice and be glad in Him and to proclaim, over and over, “Great is the LORD! The LORD be magnified!”
>The truths of this psalm are quickly applicable to us, right where we sit. As those who are on the other side of the cross of Christ, we can see clearly our past rescue.
We are those who were not just stuck in the muck and the mire; we are those who were dead in our trespasses and sins.
And the LORD lifted us from the miry pit and set our feet on the Rock, whose name is Jesus.
When nothing else could help, when we could never do anything to save ourselves, the LORD condescended to us, stooped down to our level, took on flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus, as it’s said, became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.
Willingly, He gave up His life. The perfect sacrifice. His perfect righteousness in the place of our wretched sinfulness.
He, our substitute. He, our Savior.
Jesus rescued us from sin, darkness, death. And He’s at work in His people right now.
We’re being conformed to His image. He’s with us—presently. The Risen Jesus is praying for us—right now.
Past, present, and future. There is never a time we are without Him. And there is nothing we will face in the days, weeks, months, years ahead that we will have to face alone.
He is pleased to save. He is our Helper, our Deliverer.
As I close this sermon and pray, let us turn our hearts to the LORD, the wonder-working God. After I pray, we’ll stand and sing a song. Pay attention to its words and use that time to respond to the LORD. Think of the closing song as a response song.
You might need to focus on praising Him for His work in your life.
You might need to confess some sin or disbelief.
You might need to surrender your life to Him, entrusting yourself to Him. Cry out to Him; He listens and saves.
The LORD’s goodness and faithfulness know no end. He and He alone can lift you out of the pit and set you free.
The LORD is good—past, present, and future.