Psalm 40:1-17

God is our Rescuer.  We are in a desperate situation because of our sin but God’s grace is greater than our sin and He rescues all those who trust Him.  We are often reluctant to recognize our own plight and have a hard time admitting that we are in need of rescue.  Our tendency is to deny our sin, rationalize our sin or think that there is some way that we deliver ourselves from sin.  This is foolishness.  God is our only hope but He insists that we trust Him to rescue us instead of thrashing about in our futile efforts to save ourselves on our own merit.  Like a lifeguard who waits for the object of his rescue to be rendered unconscious before he attempts to help; God waits for us to surrender our efforts that He might lift us up in His time.  This Psalm is quoted in Hebrews as referring to Christ awaiting resurrection.  Our rescue was bought through the death and resurrection of Christ.  However, when we read this Psalm from a Messianic perspective it is vital to read verse 12 knowing that Christ did not have any iniquity of His own but that all of our iniquities were placed upon Him.  My considerations will be written from our point of view in that we are the ones that require rescue from our sin.

WE MUST WAIT ON THE LORD: When we cry out to the Lord for help we might expect for Him to come running immediately to our aide.  That is often not the case.  There are many times when we are under distress that the Lord has a purpose for us being in this situation and He will allow us to remain there.  This is when we must learn to wait upon the Lord.  We must not panic and start looking for other solutions outside of the Lord.  He is the Lifeguard.  He is the only one capable of recuing us from the bog of our sin and then establishing our lives on the Rock.  Only He can transform our screams for help into songs of joy.  Only He can change our hearts.  We must learn to wait on Him because He is worth the wait.

WE MUST TRUST IN THE LORD: The only way that we can please God is through our trust in Him.  As long as we rely on our own efforts or place our hope on the boasts of other lost souls we will remain hopeless.  God hates pride because as long as we think we can save ourselves, we will not trust Him.  God has done miraculous deeds and His word is beyond compare.  We would be foolish to place our hope and trust on anyone else, especially ourselves.

WE MUST BE OBEDIENT TO THE LORD: God is not impressed by our religiosity.  Our rituals, offerings and sacrifices are not impressive to Him.  God does not want our religious performances that are usually more concerned with impressing other men then pleasing God.  What God does want is for us to be sensitive to His Word, submissive to His Word and then surrender to His Word.  Our obedience should not be born out of a sense of obligation but should flow from grateful hearts.  When God rescues us our hearts are transformed so that obedience is not a duty but a delight.

WE MUST SPEAK OF THE LORD: When something amazing happens to us, we simply cannot stop talking about it.  When we are excited about something we have a tendency to repeat our story over and over again even to the same people who kindly remind us that we have already told them this story repeatedly.  There is nothing as amazing as our rescue from sin.  We must never stop repeating that story.  His Salvation should be constantly on our lips.  He has given us something to talk about and this great news should flow from our hearts through our moths and into the ears of everyone we meet.  We cannot hide His glorious work from others.

WE MUST CONFESS TO THE LORD: The key to being rescued is recognizing that we need to be rescued.  As long as we deny our sin we have no hope of finding forgiveness for our sin.  Once we come to the point that we are ready to recognize our own sinful state and then admit that we are powerless to save ourselves we become candidates for rescue.  We must resist the urge to trivialize our sin but recognize that we are trapped in it and then cry out to the Lord to come to our aide.


WE MUST BE HUMBLE BEFORE THE LORD: The path to rejoicing in the Lord goes through being humble before the Lord.  As long as we think we are great He will work to bring us down.  When we recognize that we are poor and needy He will work to lift us up.  God is glorified when we bow down before Him in worship.  He responds to our worship by sharing His glory with us.  As long as we are self-promoting He will put us to shame.  When we proclaim His greatness we will be amazed to see Him come to our rescue so that we can rejoice in Him.   

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