Prayer and psalm 40

By: Chris Gaffney

The major theme of this psalm is the relationship to the plans, wonders and thoughts of God, despite a myriad of difficulties and distresses surrounding the psalmist David.

Verse 2 says," He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire, he set my feet on a rock, and gave me a firm place to stand."

There would be twofold aspects to this. One is asking the Lord to get you out of a bad situation or the bad which is a first priority, but while also asking him to set you up with a good situation metaphorically expressed by the setting of the David's feet on a rock. I might rightly say that this is bad, as I begin to call the shots as to what to prayer about and seek amending help for. This metaphor could also be applied to what is best for our body as well, which could apply to healing. I am not only asking God to get me out of the bad situation of my aching back, I am asking for a good pain free back and to be set up with that situation. The healing not only set's me out of a bad situation, but sets me up in the good situation of good health. For example, God wouldn't have us swimming in waters that were way to cold for us. He is also doing what is best for our physical being according to this metaphor.

Someone could apply this to any number of life situations. Of course, anyone is going to want to get out of the mire, but if they feel so stuck in the mud, the focus might be totally on the escape route they are looking for as they attempt to escape from rather than also what they are escaping to. You might be going from one difficulty to another, or at least you don't know yet that you are going to find a clearing as you try to escape. You see this in movies sometimes, people running threw a thick forest trying to escape the monster only to find some roaring river as just another obstacle to the the way out. What you want to do when in a situation that qualifies as stuck, is keep the prayer two fold even though you might be so bothered by the lousy situation you are trying to escape from that all and the only thing you are thinking about is getting out and escaping this trouble.Also focus on asking the Lord to set you up or get you to a place where you can have your feet on the rock after they are out of the mud, indicative of a situation that take hold and is right for you. You heard the expression, you're all set, and this is what the Lord can also do for you, besides getting you out of the mud,he can also set you up. I had talked with someone today who mentioned a conversation with some troubled person and he said he just wanted more than anything else to get out of the lousy conversation This was an example of wanting out in a smaller way. But then, he could ask the Lord for the good conversation rather than just only the escape from the bad one, keeping this prayer twofold in nature. An example from the New Testament is the Lord leading the blind man out of the village, and then giving him healing. First he led him out, of a place that had only held bad news for him and where he could only be known as the blind man he always was. Then, he did the set him up with a healing where now he was on more equal terms with everything that way.

Also, this verse indicates what to look for in prayer as well. Look for God not only to get you out, but to also set you up with a good situation as the answer. The answer is not just one dimensional answer that I am seeking, but an answer that has a two fold aspect and I need to look for the two fold aspect as I progress in my prayer and hoped for answer.

In verse 3 it says, " He put a new song in my mouth, many will see and fear and put their trust in God."

One of the things to watch for and ask for in prayer in the new, as God will bring in this other dimension. God will always have something new. We can ask, what is your newness for this day, this issue, this situation. Because of this newness, we are called to additional prayer to seek and find this continual newness. In David's case, others are watching and many will see and put their trust in God as well.

Verse 4 says, " Blessed be the man, who makes the Lord his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false Gods." Prayer is how we work towards trusting in God and it is where we should be looking in relation to any possible issue. It seems that everyone is looking somewhere, it is only natural, but if you want true blessings, look to the Lord and begin to trust.

Verse 5 says," Many oh Lord, are the wonders that you have done, the things you have planned for us, no one can recount to you, were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare.

This verse is talking about wonders of God as being addressed to or coming to light for an individual person. We can up the ante on our prayers by asking about the wonders of God, and glide just a little bit higher in our contemplations of just what God actually has for us as we approach him in prayer by pondering wonders. We could ask God, what are the wonders you have for me today? Historically God did have wonders for his people. Why wouldn't God have wonders for you then?

David from this verse can identify that the Lord has numerous plans for him and others.What is interesting here is that David was able to differentiate things and identify plans from God. Most of us might question, are these my plans, the world's plans, someone else's plans, or God's plans? That would be next to impossible without the help and aid of personal prayer. What this verse also tells us, is that while engaging with this rather difficult process of discernment of God's plans. David was able to discern God's plans enough to where he could say that he could speak of them and recount them. This is the overall direction we want to move in as our prayer relationship deepens and widens. We know that we aren't looking for one grand plan but numerous plans that are coming from the Lord to us as individuals.

Later in this psalm, David does exactly that, he doesn't hide or conceal but does recount God's wonders to the great assembly and he does speak and tell of them.

Verse 11 and 12 says, " Do not withhold your mercy from me, may your love and truth always protect me, for troubles without number surround me, my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs on my head, and my heart fails within me."

More or less, David is saying he might as well give up, unless the Lord is going to come threw. Withholding mercy to him would be withholding what he needs to survive these troubles. He can't see his way out of all these troubles, they are literally like a blinding storm coming from every possible direction and the challenge he is facing is rather daunting and insurmountable. He admits that he is failed or failing. His own sins are rather innumerable which is just adding to the difficulties and the blinding storms around him.

Verse 13 says, " Be pleased oh Lord to save me, O Lord, come quickly to help me." Here is asking for God to show up and show up rather quickly. Be pleased to help me, is an interesting way of approaching God. We can mention the idea in prayer on whether answering the request would please the Lord. What would please you is something we might say to others, but we should also say in our prayers. You might say, be pleased O Lord, to give me a vacation in the Bahamas. Or if it pleases you, I would like this or that, or some communication from you on this. If it is pleasant to you Lord, I would like to go to the beach today.

Correlating this with verse 5, there are almost uncountable plans coming from the Lord for David and others,yet the backdrop to all this for David is just about uncountable troubles as well. There is no way he can see his way up, above and around all this without God's mercy, love, righteousness coming forward into these situations. All this is cause for lot of confusion, something that David mentions will fall upon his enemies, they will find shame and confusion and disgrace. Things that David is also subject to without the Lord's mercy, which he has sought in prayer unlike his enemies, but because of his appeals to the Lord, he gets away from these troubles, but those who are bothering him will get stuck and find themselves appalled to be in the very same ruinous situations or troubles they tried to bring to David. What they were trying to do to David, will actually happen to them. An example of just what can happen with those that plot evil against God's elect. Those who are on the Lord's side however and duly seek Him and trust Him, will be rewarded with gladness.

The final verse is 17, says" Yet I am poor and needy, may the Lord think of me, " You are my help and my deliver, O my God, do not delay."

Here David is honing in on, the core issue in that he knows that the Lord thinking about him is key. Because if he is thinking about him personally, then everything else will follow. For us, a key to prayer itself is focusing in on what God is thinking, and his thinking towards us will bring about wonders in our lives, as we seek and pay attention to the Lord's thinking.

With all these prayers, we can be more specific than this psalm is, we can ask about and speak to God of specific wonders, specific thoughts, specific things he has done and specific things that we hope he will do for us. David at least realizes his sorry state as he bares his soul and we can also without going into a constant complaining, bring some situations like this to the Lord as we ask him to amend the difficulties that we are experiencing. We are setting before the Lord what we want to have addressed and healed. David talks about what his troubles are doing to him and could have specified many troubles in detail. He says he can recount numerous plans of the Lord in verse 5 and you know that many of those were quite specific to him in his own mind and memory.

He mentions that he is failing, and doesn't have the heart to go on. He is recognizing what is happening to him and what his present state is as he is being overwhelmed in his troubles. In his appeal to the Lord he is desirous of or wanting to do His will, as mentioned in verse 9 and he is discussing with God not only what God can do for him, but asking what God wants from him in realizing that the Lord's will or what he desires for him, is something that has the basis of trust for him and is the rock that he can set his feet on

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