Psalm 40: 2 - Part 1

OK, the study on Psalm 40 verse one now complete - here is the first of 3 parts on verse 2.

Read the verse from both the Authorised Version (KJV) and the English Standard Version as both are referred to and slightly different in wording. I'd recommend following each of the given links and checking the references... after all it was meant to be a bible study!!!!

“He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings.” (KJV)



“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.” (ESV)

Context:

There are 2 states of man. Saved and unsaved. Those in a covenant relationship with God and those outside of this relationship, alien to the Lord.

Consequently the can only be 2 destinies for a man.

Salvation or destruction.

Out of the pit or in it.

Heavenly glory or eternal damnation.

Where are you? In the pit or out? Destined for heaven or destined for damnation?

David has in verse 1 outlined his standing before the Lord. One of patience and subjugation. He has cried out to the Lord in his spiritual and physical distress and discomfort. He is stood arms aloft waiting for the Lord to ‘incline’ to him and answer his prayer.

David has subjected himself to God’s will, this itself a foreshadowing of the Lord Jesus at Gethsemane. He has offered a prayer, cried out; he has subjected himself to the Lord’s will and has done so for God’s glory.

David has demonstrated in one verse how he stands before the Lord. Now here in verse 2 he demonstrates his understanding of what the Lord has done for him in salvation. He is reflecting on where he has been picked up from and where the Almighty is placing him spiritually. From a pit of despair to a solid ground of safety. From destruction to being set on the narrow path.

The picture I want you to keep in mind throughout this is one of the whole verse reflecting salvation. We are in the pit of sin and despair; we hear the call of the gospel of Jesus Christ and repent, turning to him. He lifts us up out of that slippery, dangerous, filthy pit of despair and sets us on the rock. The rock is Jesus and on him we can stand safe and secure and from such a vantage point we can see 2 things. The pit from where we were pulled and the black pitch of sin we have been washed of and also a narrow, yet solid, clear path that winds its way up the Holy hill mount Zion, at the top of which is Glory. Jesus calls us, we repent/turn, he lifts us up, plants our feet in safety and points us in the direction of paradise with the guide book that is the bible in our hands.

So with that image in mind we’ll look at the following points:

1. Dangerous footing

2. Muddy feet

3. Firm Footing
1. Dangerous footing

To be in the pit is to be in despair, to be headed face first into hell and eternal separation from God, eternal damnation waits. And it is to do so utterly blind to your end. Those in the pit are full of cursing and bitterness, they’re on a path of ruin, destruction and misery (Romans 3: 14 - 16).

These lost souls do not have the vantage point of the saved; those sinners won who can look back at the pit and know from whence they came. They cannot see the destruction that awaits them.

These souls who are lost ignore the helping hand that reaches down to them and the imploring sound of the gospel that asks them, pleads with them to grasp that hand of Jesus and be lifted to safety and salvation.

Jeremiah 38: 6 – Jeremiah was thrown into a ‘cistern’ (ESV) or a ‘dungeon’ (KJV) which supplied water. There was a small opening at the top and they were hollowed out to be larger under the hole. Such a pit would’ve been inescapable without help. In this pit there was no water, just a mire, or thick mud, in which it was hoped Jeremiah would starve or sink and suffocate.

This is a reflection perhaps of the wonderful picture of redemption from the pit David describes in verse 2. We have seen how in verse 1 he has waited faithfully on His loving Saviour. He describes how he cried out to the Lord awaiting his reply with confidence and patience. But here in verse 2 he turns his reflections to God’s grace to him in lifting him up in salvation first, but also continued rescuing in times where David has slipped and slid into a despairing state of sin and wandering from God. As with Jeremiah, the only way out was with assistance, not by his own means.

He explains fully the experience of every saved soul, not just in an eternal context in a one off saving act of grace, but also in a sense of our backslidings. Those times when we have erred and fallen, when sin’s blackness has clouded our sight of Him. And He once again comes to our aid.

The image of Christian salvation is though so very clear here.

We see the unsaved sinner bumping around in the dark. He hears the gospel call and for the first time sees the nail pierced hands of the Lord Jesus Christ reaching down. John 12: 46 tells us “I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness” The sinner hears, repents and believes and is taken in the warm, firm grasp of the lord Jesus and the sinner is lifted from the pit into the light.

As he is lifted the sticky bog, the cloying mud of iniquity sucks at the sinner’s feet trying hard to claim its victim back. But Jesus lifts the sinner high and for the first time in the sinner’s life his feet are placed on solid ground. The feel is unfamiliar, not the shaky, slippery pit’s bottom but rock solid, safe, and unshakable. The rock is Jesus himself, the firmest of footholds. 1 Corinthians 10:4b “... and that rock was Christ.”

Psalm 18: 2 tells us “The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower”

It is only the Lord Jesus who can pull us from the pit of destruction. Only Jesus who can save. We can’t climb out. We can’t pull others out ourselves. Christ alone is the Saviour.

In hindsight the Christian can see from where he came, like David. We can see the pit that unbelievers live in. But this should not be a position of piety (as many Christians are accused of). But rather one of deep sorrow.

We should be imploring these lost souls to look for the hand of Jesus, telling them how we escaped the pit. Do we not love them enough to say so?! Do we not care that these people are going to hell?! If they slap that hand of Jesus away we should point them there again and again. It’s done in love of course, not piety or self satisfaction at ‘serving’, but out of love and genuine concern that so many we know are otherwise damned.

Amen.

As a footnote - It has thrilled me that this blog has been viewed from countries where the Church has such a battle and Christians are in danger due to their faith - Iran, Russia, China and curiously enough (more recently) Brazil! In the past there have also been hits from Turkey, Nigeria and Pakistan too.Many may have resulted from search engines referencing the blog due to one or two words - but as I said before, if only one hit helps then Glory to God!

I admit to being ignorant of the lives of those in the body of Christ in those countries, but I'm positive they don't enjoy the freedom of worship and abundance of literature we have in the UK.

So please pray for those brothers and sisters in Christ who are using this blog and other such websites as a way of feeding their faith, and too that the content of my posts is accessible and accurate (as not to mislead).

Next post: 'Muddy feet'.