The King James Version rendition of Psalm 40:1-3 reads as follows: 1 I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. 2 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. 3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.
Though on the surface, this verse may seem as a testament of God’s deliverance in the natural, closer scrutiny reveals that the undercurrent in the spiritual dimension is far stronger. ‘I waited patiently for the Lord’ is indicative of the Sinner’s Pause. Instead of trying to go through life and self-save, the sinner must first take a moment to pause and patiently wait on the LORD. But the waiting must not be a passive downtime experience, it must be active which we see from the second part of the verse, ‘and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry’. To cry out to the Lord is indicative of the Sinner’s Prayer. ‘He brought me up’ gives us insight, that it is not our power, but it is the Lord’s doing. This is indicative of the Savior’s Power. ‘Out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay’ is indicative of the Sinner’s Place before he is saved, but once the LORD inclines his ear to the sinner’s prayer of repentance, the Saint’s Place is no longer the horrible pit and miry clay, but it is on a solid Rock which we get from ‘and set my feet upon a rock’. From ‘and established my goings.’, we learn about the Savior’s Provision for the sinner-turned-saint; to all those who have trusted in the Lord. But once we are saved and our pause turns to praise, because of our prayer and God power, then what? From ‘And he hath put a new song in my mouth,’ we gain insight into the Saint’s Proclamation of the goodness of God and ‘even praise unto our God:’ tells us of the Saint’s Praise which is the output from having been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Our proclamation and praise is to be seen by many, who shall fear, and shall trust in the LORD. In other words, those who are saved must proclaim the good news and praise the Lord, for that will be observed by others in our life and they will themselves turn from sinners to saints, by fearing and trusting in the Lord. This is the modus operandi (M.O) of Salvation and that cycle continues.
Points to ponder:
If you have not believed in Jesus Christ yet, pause and pray for by God’s power, he will save and pick you up out of the horrible pit and miry pit and place you on a rock and become your provider.
If you have already believed in Jesus Christ, then proclaim and praise for by that others can see and turn to God from their sinful ways, trusting in him.
Psalm 40:1-3 (KJV)
1 I waited patiently [Sinner’s Pause] for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry [Sinner’s Prayer].
2 He brought me up [Savior’s Power] also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay [Sinner’s Place], and set my feet upon a rock [Saint’s Place], and established my goings [Savior’s Provision].
3 And he hath put a new song [Saint’s Proclamation] in my mouth, even praise unto our God [Saint’s Praise]: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD [Sinner-to-Saint Process].
