Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to Psalm 40, the psalm that we
read. We'll read for our text, verses
2 and 3. 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. 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. Psalm 40 verses 2 and 3. This is a Psalm of David. Even if we don't immediately
specify what is meant by the horrible pit and by the miry
clay, yet we know it is a horrible situation a position that the
psalmist is referring to. And while in this horrible pit
and miry clay, this horrible place, we are told of two things
that he did. One was he waited patiently for
the Lord. He knew that if he was to be
delivered and brought out of this horrible place he was in,
then it was the Lord that was going to deliver him and save
him out of it. And we would remember that, whether
this be a horrible place literally, or whether it be in a soul's
experience, whether it be under the temptations of Satan, or
the onslaughts of our own wicked and evil heart. Whatever it is,
there is a message for us here that we are to wait patiently
for the Lord. We read in Psalm 107 of those
that were brought into many different situations in which they were
unable to extricate themselves. They obviously tried very hard
to deliver themselves, but they fell down, there was none to
help, and then they cried unto the Lord. The psalmist here,
in a way, is different. is waiting for the Lord. I remember
years ago, dear mother in Israel, sister in faith, that I had over
in Melbourne when I was very young in the way. And she was
many, many more years my senior. In fact, I took her funeral when
I was 25, she was 81. And she was such an example to
me. The trials that she came into
spiritually and physically, in the things that she went through
and her patient, quiet waiting, her whole demeanour spoke that
she truly trusted in the Lord and the Lord would deliver her
and would bring her in his time and way out of that situation. And yet there were times that
she was really in trial, spiritually as well, trouble, in her own
soul and trouble in circumstances, but her very demeanour, and I
believe in some way that is what Ruth saw in Naomi, in one that
was also a widow and afflicted and going through trials, that
she still was prepared to go back to Bethlehem and was to
trust and lean in the Lord though he had dealt bitterly with her. And so we have here David testifying,
I waited patiently for the Lord. But he did not wait silently. And one thing to wait and wait
patiently Another thing, to wait in silence, and here we read
that he was crying unto the Lord. He inclined unto me and heard
my crying. In his waiting, it was waiting
in prayer, waiting and crying unto the Lord. Again, it's a
lesson, a direction, to us, that instead of running hither and
thither and trying to do things ourselves, not only are our eyes
unto the Lord, but our prayers are unto the Lord, our cries
are unto the Lord. Faith is working here, believing
that God will hear and answer prayer, speak the word said the
centurion to our lord and my servant shall be healed he said
he was not worthy that the lord should come under his roof and
the lord commended him as having found in him no not so great
a faith no not in all israel and that faith was shown in him
knowing all the lord had to do was to speak the word and it
was done. And so we have these two things
that David testifies as the path that he was walking in, in this
horrible pit, in this miry clay. And what is your horrible pit
and miry clay this evening? Your part, your position, your
trial, Your difficulty, your impossibility, that which your
flesh shrinks from, your spirit groans under, that which is the
trial, the burden, that is too much for you, unable to extricate
and deliver yourself from. The Word of the Lord here points
you a way, a way to walk. And not only the way to walk,
but the answer that David had, and it is the answer that is
the word of our text. It is David's testimony of deliverance,
what the Lord did in answer to his crime. 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. 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. In this testimony,
he uses the word also. He doesn't just say, he brought
me up out of an horrible pit. He says also. What has he done? As well as bringing him up out
of a horrible pit and out of the miry clay, I believe the
things that he has done already is give him grace and faith to
wait patiently and to cry unto the Lord. his very demeanour,
his very seeking, was also of the Lord and a blessing of the
Lord. And if we'd known what it is,
when we've been so churned up, so tossed to and fro, so Martha-like,
running everywhere but prayer, and so full of unbelief, we'll
be able to recognise what a blessing it is. And especially if we'd
known this blessing like David had, have been able to wait patiently
for the Lord, really believing the Lord is in control and the
Lord will hear and answer prayer. So I want to look this evening
at the testimony, David's testimony of deliverance and in three ways. Firstly, Christ the deliverer
that is seen in this psalm and that David no doubt saw and as
a prophet wrote of the Lord. Secondly, what he has done. that is mentioned in these two
verses. And then thirdly, the testimony
of a blessing to others. He says that many shall see it
and fear and shall trust in the Lord. The answers that he had,
the deliverances he had, Many others saw it, and certainly
the example of the Sister in Faith that I spoke of from Australia,
I saw many times. The Lord heard her prayer, delivered
her, and not just me, but many others as well, and it was a
real testimony to the nursing home where she lived. So I want
to then look, with the Lord's help, at these three points. Firstly, Christ, the Deliverer
that is seen. In this psalm, there are some
verses that very clearly speak of the Lord Jesus Christ. It
doesn't take us much to recognise and think This is a prophecy
of the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, the Apostle Paul quotes
it in his epistle to the Hebrews. We read in verse six to eight,
sacrifice and offering that is not desire. Mine ears hast thou
opened. Burnt offering and sin offering
hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come, in the
volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will,
O my God, yea, thy law is within my heart. And the Apostle points
us to this being the Lord Jesus Christ, that this is a prophecy
of his coming, and that those sacrifices and offerings made
under the law, they could never, ever put away sin. But the Lord
Jesus Christ coming, then he would perform, he, the great
anti-time, who put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And the willingness, lo I come,
in the volume of the book it is written of me. And we can
see that in this psalm, in those verses. We could see perhaps
also if we went on in verse 9 and 10, I have preached righteousness,
the Lord Jesus Christ is the righteous one. And He Himself
set forth that which is righteous and upright and set forth that
righteousness which is not in the law but is in Him. And certainly
even in the law, He magnified the law and made it honourable. And the righteousness that He
wrought out in obedience to that law is what is to be imputed
to the people of God. I have preached righteousness
in the great congregation, though I have not refrained my lips,
O Lord, Thou knowest. That verse is always precious
to me. When I was exercised on the ministry
and was reading through this psalm, and I read that verse,
And I had to say, Lord, as yet I have not preached righteousness
in the great congregation. I have not gone forth. I have
refrained my lips. And it was this burden that was
upon me until the Lord brought me forth to preach the word of
God. He says in verse 10, I have not
hid thy righteousness within my heart. I have declared thy
faithfulness and thy salvation. And this was what the Lord did
on earth. He had a ministry, not only his
work of redemption, the sacrifice at Calvary and his perfect sinless
life, but he had the ministry and the preaching. of the gospel
and declaring the good news of the kingdom. I have not concealed
thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation.
And we can see those verses, and especially those that are
really highlighted to us in Hebrews, and we say we can see the Lord
there. but some of the other verses
we may not readily be able to see. But we should ask ourselves
if we can clearly see in some respects, is it not possible
that the Lord actually is there throughout the psalm and yet
we cannot see that? The verses that we've referred
to speak of his sacrifice, speak of his ministry, his doing the
will of God. But we are told our Lord is a
man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and that he came
and he humbled himself even unto death, the death of the cross,
and he came to this world as a man to take our nature and
to suffer here below. He endured the wrath of God upon
him, but not only that, the contradiction of sinners against himself. He
endured the being in the midst of a people that were full of
sin, full of contradicting him, those that blasphemed, those
that called him the prince of devils. And he endured this. How long shall I suffer you?
How long shall I be with you? He was brought to bear the sin
of his people, to groan in Gethsemane, to be weighted down and saw amazed. And when we start to think of
the suffering Saviour, our Lord saying to the two on the way
to Emmaus, ought not Christ to have suffered these things? and
to enter into his kingdom. And then we start to look at
Psalms like this. What does then speak of suffering? What is the path that not only
the people of God walk, but the Saviour walked? And so the people
of God have fellowship with the Saviour in the path that they
walk. There's some And godly Robert
Hawker, who I esteem very much as a commentator, Paul Mann's
commentary, his comment on this psalm is, if we see anything
else but Christ in this psalm, then we miss the whole point.
He would look right past David completely and just see Christ. But I believe where we see Christ
and where we see his people and the experience of the people
of God, then it is in that way that there's that fellowship
between Christ and his people. But we do want to see our Lord
Jesus Christ here and we would see him in the words of our text,
see him in the horrible pit, in the miry clay, see him in
the grave, see him buried, see him into death, see him hidden
in the tomb and then see him raised up, lift up, he's going
established and the song, the gospel put in his mouth and many
shall see it. You think of the gospel that
is set forth throughout all of the world and many shall see
what the Lord has done. They shall see his death and
resurrection. They shall see it set forth in
baptism, buried with him in baptism, and risen again in newness of
life. They shall see it through the
Old Testament as Christ suffering, ought not Christ to have suffered
these things. And they shall see it in the
words of this psalm, in the words of Psalm 22, in the words of
Psalm 69, where it sets forth things that we think, how can
that be? Setting forth the Lord when he
says that I'm a worm and no man. But we see the humility, the
sufferings, the depths that the Lord Jesus Christ went to redeem
his people. And we are to understand that
the Lord did go into the depths of what sin and the reproach
of sin and the burden of sin and the headiness of sin that
his people, by their own experience, know a little bit of. And so throughout this We have
the picture of our Lord with those sins laid upon him. He
takes the iniquities of his people as his iniquities and their evils
as his, in verse 12. Mine iniquities have taken hold
upon me so that I'm not able to look up. They are more than
the hairs of my head, therefore my heart faileth thee. And those
sins that were his people's, They didn't make the Lord a sinner,
but they were laid upon him. He was made sin for us, who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. And so we have pictures as well
of those that mocked him even on the cross, saying, aha, aha,
I am poor and needy. Yet the Lord thinketh upon me,
Thou art my help and my deliverer, make no tarrying, O my God. We have again in Hebrews that
he cried, he was heard, in that he feared. This poor man cried,
we have in Psalm 34, and the Lord heard him and delivered
him out of all his troubles. And we have this same poor man,
we have the same, the Lord Jesus Christ, humbled, brought down
low, and exalted, his cry heard, delivered, saved, and all his
dear people with him. In all that we may pass through,
may we always be brought by the Blessed Spirit to consider in
our fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ in his sufferings,
his death, So we have Christ, the deliverer
that is seen. David's testimony is of a deliverance. But wherever there is a deliverance,
there must be a deliverer. And there is no deliverer for
the people of God, but the Lord Jesus Christ. And he is here,
right in this psalm. He is here delivering his people.
delivered himself at Calvary, the empty tomb, assurance given
unto all men, God raised him from the dead. So firstly, Christ the deliverer
that is seen. Secondly, what he has done. There
are four things that David sets forth as what he has done. The first thing is he has brought
me up. That low place, that horrible
place, that miry clay, that which held him down, that's what really
is set forth in that miry clay. It holds, it sucks down, it doesn't
let go easy. It's a place that one cannot
bring one out from, our fallen nature. Sin is such a place. Well, he
says, he brought me up also. Brought low, but he brought me
up. Lifted me up. What a testimony
that the Lord lifts up a poor, downcast, bowed down sinner. Bowed down as a bulrush, bowed
down without hope, bearing heavy burdens, too heavy for them,
and yet he lifts up. He brought me up. Dear soul,
if you are low and in a low and hard and despondent and dark
place, listen to David's testimony. The Lord heard his cry, his patient
waiting, and he brought him up, he lifted him up. What a hope
that he's raised up for us and for a poor sinner in a low and
dark place is such a word as this. He brought me up. The second thing is that he set
my feet upon a rock. Set my feet upon a rock. What a different establishing,
what a different place than the miry clay. No sinking here. Upon this rock, says our Lord,
will I build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. The Lord Jesus Christ is that
rock, the rock of ages. He is the one that built upon
that that the storms and the attacks of Satan and assaults
of sin and all nature shall not move the people of God. Set my feet upon a rock. The
Lord did that, not him. Every poor sinner that is put
on Christ is put there by Christ. is brought there and established
there. That's the third thing that was
done for him, and established my goings. If something is established,
then it is confirmed in that way that it's gone in. If a plant is put in the ground
and is very weak, it's not established, Usually there's protection put
around it until it is time to send forth its roots and grow
stronger. And so it is that here not only
is one brought to be blessed and placed on Christ, but established
in that goings. The Lord said to those that believed
on him in John 8, that if ye continue in my words, Then shall
ye be my disciples indeed. Ye shall know the truth, and
the truth shall make you free. Those that first believed, when
they heard the gospel through Christ or through the apostles,
they were very ignorant of many, many things. Many of the epistles
are to churches telling them how to act, how to walk, what
to do, why they are safe, what is underneath the blessings that
they've had. And in that way they are being
established in the truth. and in the way that they should
walk. And it is something that every one of God's people needs
to be established in, and it is trials and tribulations that
are used. You think again of the illustration
of a tree is when those saplings have to endure the wind first
from one way, then from another way, and that actually strengthens
them. It establishes them. ready then and able to stand
alone. And then the fourth thing that
is said before us is that he hath put a new song in my mouth. What was the other one? The other
one was his cry, and no doubt many a groan and many a sigh,
but here it is, a new song, and this is a song of praise unto
our God. the testimony that is set forth
here. And we think of the other testimonies,
come and see all ye that fear God, and I will tell what he
had done for my soul. We think of the difference of
the two on the way to Emmaus. The Lord asked them what manner
of conversation that they had and why they were so sad, but
how different it was when they returned even late at night.
To the apostles when they told what was done in the way, and
how Jesus was made manifest and showed himself to them, how their
heart had burned within them, what a different testimony than
in the beginning. The song of the gospel, the song
of the deliverance of the people of God, and to him that had loved
us, washed us from our sins in his own blood. that praise is
unto the Lord, a returning unto the Lord, when the Lord had done
great things for us, whereof we are glad, and that we sing
the song of the redeemed, the song that Deborah sang, the song
that Miriam sang, those that were brought through the Red
Sea, those that saw their enemies upon the seashore, those that
saw the wonderful deliverance the Lord had wrought for them,
They sang their praise like Jehoshaphat did, as they came back from the
battle that they did not need to fight in, but saw the Lord
working for them. He hath put a new song in my
mouth, even praise unto our God. When the Lord works, he doesn't
do things by halves, he does it completely. And we see here
He doesn't leave in the pit, he brings up, he sets the feet
upon a rock, establishes the way and then puts that song in
their mouth. So this is the testimony of the
psalmist. What do we know of the cry and
of what the Lord has done and what the Lord has delivered us
from and the answer of the tongue. The working in the heart, the
answer of the tongue, that is of the Lord. The preparation
in the heart of man and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. And those things that God hath
wrought in the heart, out of the abundance of the heart, man
speaketh. The Lord said of those that praised
him as he came into Jerusalem, if these should hold their peace,
the very stones would cry out. that which they saw, that which
they believed, and they sang praise to God as they saw the
Lord Jesus Christ, the son of David. So what he has done, and then
thirdly, the blessing to others. Many shall see it and fear and
shall trust in the Lord. You think of the conversion of
Saul of Tarsus, the three days that he spent blind, no doubt
going over very much of what he'd done to the people of God.
That was never left him, the sense of that injustice that
he'd done in hailing men and women to prison. He said, unless
the least of all saints, because I persecuted the people of God,
But as much as it was evident his former life, so the Lord's
blessing upon him was evident too. It was not done in a corner. The whole church could see it.
They knew it. And many times throughout the
epistles and New Testament, the Apostle Paul is set forth. He
says of himself, the chief of sinners, that none might despair. The Lord had mercy upon him.
And a personal testimony is one of the Lord's chosen ways. Yes,
through the ministry, most certainly, but for the people of God, they
are witnesses, they are lights, they are salt of the earth, and
they are evidences of the power of Christ and of his ability
to save unto the uttermost, to deliver from these low places
to deliver out of nature's pit, out of Satan's hold, and those
that see it. We think of the mad Gadarene,
when they came out of the city and they saw him that was possessed
of the devil's clothes and his right mind sitting at the feet
of Jesus, and we read that they were afraid. They were afraid
in the presence of such power and such authority. and solemnly
they pray that he should depart out of their coasts. It is a
blessed thing if we see that which the Lord has done and fear,
and it follows on as in the verse here, and trust, shan shall trust
in the Lord. The psalmist, that's what he
had done, trusted in the Lord. And what a message this is, this
testimony is, that we are to trust in the Lord and not man,
to trust in He that raised up the dead, to trust in the Lord
who hears the cries of His people, to trust in the Lord that has
delivered. And that long cloud of witnesses
that walk by faith and the Lord delivered them in the Word, they
all testify of the same thing. and may we be amongst those that
see it and fear and trust in the Lord. What a description
of those that shall follow and be blessed in the ways of the
Lord. Seeing the Lord's work, seeing
especially Christ's work as set forth here and have the fear
of God and trusting in the Lord. May this be Our blessed lot,
and may this be our trust. The Lord at his blessing. Amen.