SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
2/7/2012 7:52:48 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Patience
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm
40
Message
of the verses: I have been looking
at introductions for the psalms that we have been studying from different sources
and then try and pick out some or at least one of these to begin the commentary
with. I looked at Spurgeon’s,
MacArthur’s, John Gills, and Matthew Henrys for Psalm 40 but have settled with
Warren Wiersbe’s introduction. I have
mentioned in the past how much that I enjoy the writings of Warren Wiersbe, and
how it has been said of him that “he puts the cookies on the shelf where you
can reach them.” This is probably the
best compliment that could be given to anyone who teaches about the Scriptures.
“Hebrews 10:5-9 quotes 40:6-8 and
applies the passage to Christ, which makes this a Messianic psalm. Some see the birth of Christ in verse 7, His
sinless life in verse 8, and His sacrificial death in verse 6. However, it was first of all a psalm about David
and his needs and how the Lord met them, but the historical setting is
obscure. David may have written it
during his difficult exile years or perhaps during the early years of his
reign. It’s unusual for a psalm to have
a prayer for mercy following praise and dedication. However, if verses 1-5 picture his
deliverance during the dangerous exile years, and verses 6-10 describe his
dedication as the new king, then verses 11-17 could be a record of his prayer
for personal forgiveness (v. 12; see 38:3-5 and 39:8-9) and victory over his
enemies following his coronation. It
does seem that verse 16 is a royal prayer for God’s blessing on the
nation. You find verses 12-17 repeated
in modified form in Psalm 70. From
whatever experiences led to the writing of this psalm, David learned some
valuable lesions and gave us three important instructions to follow in the
difficult times of life.”
Praise
God for All He Has Done (vv. 1-5): “1
For the choir director. A Psalm of David: I waited patiently for the LORD; And He
inclined to me and heard my cry. 2 He brought me up out of the pit of
destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my
footsteps firm. 3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear And will trust in the LORD. 4 How blessed is the man who
has made the LORD his trust, And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who
lapse into falsehood. 5 Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders which You have
done, And Your thoughts toward us; There is none to compare with You. If I
would declare and speak of them, They would be too numerous to count.”
In Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary on
this portion of this psalm he takes it from the perspective that David is
writing about his exile years, some ten years of David’s life where he was
hunted by King Saul who tried to kill David many times, and yet David knew that
the Lord had chosen him to be king over Israel and it was all in the Lord’s
hands as to the matter of timing as to when that would happen. David waited for ten years and this
constitutes “waiting patiently for the Lord.”
I have to insert that I have waited for almost nine years to have part
of my life restored, and yet I hope like David I have learned what Dr. Wiersbe
writes about what David learned in his exile years, “If David learned anything
from his exile years, it was that ultimate success depends on faith in the Lord
and patience during His providential working so that you will not be sluggish, “’but
imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.’” (Hebrews 6:12)
It seems like many years ago that I
put Psalm 40 to memory and so it has always had a precious spot in my
heart. As I look at verse two where
David writes that the Lord had brought him up out of the pit I could not help
but think of the salvation experience that I had on Jan. 26, 1974. That pit could represent Sheol, the place of
the dead, and it must be remembered that all humans are born spiritually dead
and so metaphorically we could say that we were all in the pit. God called me out of the pit (Sheol) and my
life has never been the same. It seems
that there have been few moments since then when I was not conscience of the
presence of God in my life, and one of the ways that this materializes is the
hunger for the Word of God. I don’t
think this should come as a great surprise for after all the Holy Spirit of God
has taken up residence in my life the moment of my salvation and He is the
“down payment” given to all who believe and all who believe will receive full
payment of God’s salvation when we enter heaven’s gates.
In writing of the pit Dr. Wiersbe says
that the pit is also called Sheol and David wrote of this because during those
years in exile he was near death on many occasions, so we should not think of
the “pit” as a slimy or muddy place.
It was nearly seven years ago that
after reading Dr. Wiersbe’s book “The Bumps Are What You Climb On,” that I was
given the desire to learn contentment as Paul writes about in Philippians
4:11b, and I have written in previous SD’s that contentment has something to do
with patience and David writes of the patience he demonstrated in waiting for
the Lord who does not disappoint, for David states that the Lord heard his
cry. When I was in school I hated tests,
and yet tests are not just taken in school, but life is full of tests, for God
gives his children tests and we see that David had a test that lasted for a
long time while he was in exile and David learned patience. They say not to pray for patience or God will
send you trials, or tests, well praying to learn contentment is similar.
David states that after the Lord
brought him up from the pit that the Lord has put a “new song” in his heart,
and because of that new song David would praise the Lord and others would see
or hear of his praise. How true this is
for much of the OT is about David.
I can understand about that new
song, for my desires have changed 180 since God brought me up from the pit and
I too have a desire to tell others about how the Lord saved me that is one of
the reasons for posting my Spiritual Diaries on the WWW.
David calls all who trust in the
Lord blessed and we are not to turn to those who boast, who care more about
themselves than they do God, and we are not to turn to liars. Sometimes this is something that happens and
when it does we need to repent and turn back to the Lord. Dr. Wiersbe seems to find a place in most of
his books to quote an old Scottish pastor who said, “The secret to living the
Christian life is a series of new beginnings.”
Verse five is a wonderful verse for
God’s wonders are amazing and they will only get better when we get to heaven
and do not have to put up with the old nature and will get to see the face of
Jesus and be with Him for eternity. Like
David writes these wonders are too numerous to count, but they all begin with
salvation.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I will
have to admit that much of this commentary was personal, but true and hopefully
will help others in their walk with the Lord.
I have to begin with patience and contentment and I am still working on
both, but hopefully am more patient and content than seven years ago when I
began.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1. Continue to learn patience and
contentment, trusting the Lord for the plans that He has for my life.
2/7/2012
9:17:10 AM
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