Read Psalm 40:11-17. 11As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain your mercy from me; your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me! 12For evils have encompassed me beyond number; my iniquities have overtaken me, and I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head; my heart fails me. 13Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me! O Lord, make haste to help me! 14Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether who seek to snatch away my life; let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt! 15Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, “Aha, Aha!” 16But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the Lord!” 17As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God!
Just when we thought David was free from trouble, lifted out of the miry pit of destruction, and set firmly on the solid rock (v.2), we find him once again encompassed by evils and overtaken by his own iniquities. Rightly so his sin breaks his heart while his enemies rouse his heart. But all the King can do is trust the preserving covenant mercy, steadfast love, and faithfulness of God. The God who is pleased to deliver him. The God who takes thought for him. And that is enough.
How do we get to this place of complete trust in God especially in times of great distress? By moving from petition to declaration. David moves his heart from deliver me, help me, to Great is the Lord! From pleading to praising. To declare the glory of God is the only way to steady our hearts in times of trial. A truth Jesus himself also knew well.
John 12:27-28. 27“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”
When our prayers move from save me to glorify your name then, and only then, do we know that our hearts have moved to the liberating faith of Jesus in us. A faith that can truly say to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Prayer. Jesus, great are you Lord! Glorify your name in and through my life. Amen.
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To Live is Christ 