February 27th, 2013

Sometimes Wanderings seems to turn into just slogging along trying to find a path that will lead out of the mud and muck.  I took a look at Psalm 40 and the writer seems to have anticipated my feelings for today.

He starts out by saying, “I waited patiently for the Lord”; He said that, I didn’t.  I’m not sure I can say that every time I think I have a problem.  I should, I know, because what comes next just reminds me of my impatience.

“He (the Lord) turned to me and heard my cry”.    Could I ever doubt that he would?   But in his concern and care for me, that wasn’t enough.  He also “…lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire…”  I don’t know about your self-pity pit, but I can make mine pretty messy, so being pulled out of it is definitely a plus.

“He also set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand”.  What’s better than getting off the merry-go-round of circular thinking about something we should or should not have said or done, or something that someone did to us.  Hooray!  A clean start for the day or the moment.

OK, we’ve got one more for you.  A song!  Well, maybe more of a joyful noise in my case.  “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God”. Maybe you aren’t a hymn singer, and I won’t say anything about contemporary music, but after being pulled out of a muddy pit, or away from defeated thinking, and given a fresh, firm start, a little rockin’ praise music ought to be in order.  Right?

And out of that comes the final tidbit.  I know you can’t quantify this, but the psalmist says many will observe the outcome and put their trust in the God that rescues us.

Ciao

Norm