Victory through Christ:
When we are discouraged and even persecuted, we should patiently trust our
Lord to deliver us from difficult circumstances.
Here now is Gene Getz:
Here in Psalm 40, there's no question that
David is describing some pretty difficult circumstances.
And to do that he uses a metaphor that,
again, is pretty vivid.
He calls it a desolate
pit. And that is pretty graphic. Notice what he says
in Psalm 40, verses 1 and 2: "I waited patiently for the LORD,
and He turned to me and heard my cry for help.
He brought me up from a desolate pit,
out of the muddy clay, and set my feet
on a rock, making my steps secure."
Great metaphors to explain the situation. Now
David experienced a lot of
desolate pits in his life. Some of them
were because of his sin. Others were just because of life
and the challenges of life. For example,
he talks about the pit of immorality.
The pit to fear, which gripped him at times. The pit of being misunderstood.
The pit of pride. The pit of false accusations.
The pit of failure. And we could add other
pits, as it were, that David experienced in his own life. And as we think about
what David faced, in some way
or other, most of us can identify with some of those pits
in our own lives. And the fact is, no matter how much we love God.
No matter how much we serve Him. We can all
face situations--we all face situations that sometimes feel like
desolate pits. It's a graphic, graphic
metaphor. But we also have a reference to David's deliverance
from those pits. Or whatever pit
that he was talking about in this particular situation. And here's what he said:
"He put a new song
in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God."
And notice the result: "Many
will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD." I love that
because basically what he is saying is that there are people
who see us in a pit. They see us in a time of difficulty.
They see us in these very desperate situations. But they also see
how God sees us through. And because
of the way in which God sees us through these difficulties,
they also trust God.
Or fear God and put their faith in the Lord.
And we see that as a result. And I believe that
in some respects, in God's sovereignty and His divine plan,
He weaves all this together in terms of
the challenges we face in life, and how He can take
these challenges, which are very difficult, and make them work together
for good
to glorify God. And the way in which
God comes to our rescue in these situations. And that can be
a tremendous testimony. You know,
when Paul wrote to the Corinthians. It's amazing to me--
the apostle Paul's life-- where he describes
some of the pits that he faced. Not because of
sins in his life or failures in his life.
Simply because of persecution because of his calling
in life. And he wrote this. He said:
"We are pressured in every way but not crushed;"
"We are perplexed but not in despair;"
"We are persecuted but not abandoned;"
"We are struck down but not destroyed."
Those are all pits in his life
because of persecution. Because of the challenges that came his way
from being obedient to the Lord in preaching the gospel as the
apostle to the Gentiles. In fact, in this very letter, 2 Corinthians.
When you get a little further on, in
this letter, he outlines more graphically
some of these pits. And as I read these, I just--
it's hard for me to even comprehend
how he survived these. I'm reading
from 2 Corinthians, a little further on,
where he says this: "Five times
I received 39 lashes
from [the] Jews."
Five-times, 39 lashes.
And that left his back bloody every time.
If you understand how they
interpreted this within the Jewish community. He says: "Three times I was
beaten with rods."
And if you read about the rods in the Old Testament, this was brutal.
By the way, some say that Paul actually was bowlegged
from the beatings that he received with those rods.
It was such a severe, severe thing
on his body. He says: "Once I was
stoned by my enemies." And there is a story of that
in the book of Acts when he was in Lystra.
"Three times I was shipwrecked. [He says,] I have spent a night
and a day in the open sea.
On frequent journeys, I faced dangers from rivers,
dangers from robbers," ...
And if you understand for example, even the first missionary journey,
where he went up to Antioch of Pisidia, up through the Taurus Mountains.
It's over a hundred miles.
It was an incredible, incredible
journey over that mountain. And they say that robbers were everywhere.
And the heat by day was almost unbearable and they froze at night.
This was a huge situation. ... "dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from
my own people,
dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the open country, dangers
on thes sea, and dangers
among false brothers; labor and hardship, many
sleepless nights, hunger and thirst,
often without food, cold, and lacking
clothing." These were all
pits in Paul's life
because of his commitment to the gospel. I can't even imagine.
I can't even imagine that situation.
But here's the culminating one, I think: "Not to mention [he says]
other things, [he says] there is the daily pressure
on me: my care
for all the churches." In other words, he's saying
that all these physical problems was one thing.
But the spiritual burden that I had for these churches.
That they were not living up to the gospel as they should. And the problems
that they faced.
If he'd said, I face those every day. When he wrote to the Galatians, he says,
"I travail," as it were, "in birth again."
I led you to Christ but I travail in birth again
so that you might be formed into the image of Jesus Christ.
So those are some of the pits that Paul faced.
I don't know about you, but that challenges me
in relationship to my own life.
And my commitment to Jesus Christ. Because I've never even come close
to that kind of challenge in my life. Here's a reflection and response question:
When we experience various "desolate pits" in our Christian lives,
how should our past experience help us to trust God to see us through our present trials?
As I thought about that--in fact it was a good exercise for me
in terms of my own teaching. Because frequently,
as I reflect and share my own experiences,
I'm reminded of how God brought me through those experiences.
Because when we're in the pit, it's dark.
It's uncomfortable. Using the metaphor, it's muddy. It's dirty. It's difficult.
And somehow we need to get beyond
that to be able to see how God,
in the past, has brought us through those situations.
And I think we need a record of that through prayer journal
or other ways, so we can look back and say: When I was in this before, God
did this. He brought me through it.
And that, I think, is encouraging. But the other thought I have in relationship
to the pit and the difficulties--
and Paul could identify with this in his own life--was the body of Christ. The family
of God. Because when he wrote to the Thessalonians he says, what is my hope? What is our
rejoicing? It's you. Writing to the Thessalonians. You believers. You're part of
of the family. You've encouraged me.
He wrote to the Philippians. He said the same thing.
And so we are members of the family of God.
And we need to keep that in mind. Because God uses the family of God.
Members of the family of God to help us get through these difficult periods in our life.
1 Corinthians 12 refers to the human body
with application to the body of Christ.
"So if one member suffers, [Paul wrote,] all the members suffer with it;
if one members is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
Now you are the body of Christ, and [individual members of one another]."
And throughout the New Testament and Paul's writings, particularly,
over 40 times he uses the basic word translated "one another"--"allelon."
What we're to do for one another:
to bear each other's burdens, to encourage one another,
to rejoice with each other, to help one another, to have mercy towards one another,
to pray for one another. And again and again Paul really
refers to these concepts that relate to the functioning
body of Jesus Christ. So let's
remember this principle that God has given us:
"When we are discouraged and even persecuted, we should patiently trust
our Lord to deliver us from difficult circumstances.