"Patience" (Psalm 40:1-5)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/7/2012 7:52:48 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                               Focus:  “Patience”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                       Reference:  Psalm 40:1-5

 

            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 meet 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 lessons 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