July-23-0474-Converting our tears into a new song
474_Converting our tears into a new song Psalm 40:1-10 I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. 2 He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. 3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord. 4 Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie! 5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told. 6 In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. 7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me: 8 I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” 9 I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord. 10 I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation. In a small mining town nestled in the hills of Wales, a young boy fell into an abandoned mine shaft. No one knew he was there. Hours passed. Cold and darkness surrounded him. His cries echoed in the hollow pit, but there was no response. Above, a frantic search was underway. Finally, a passerby heard his shouts and gathered the townspeople. Afer several long hours, a rescue team managed to pull him out. The boy later said, “I kept yelling, but after a while, I realized I just had to trust that someone would come. I couldn’t get out on my own.” This is David’s story in Psalm 40. He finds himself in a similar pit—not a physical one, but a spiritual and emotional one. He calls it a “pit of destruction” and a “miry bog.” It is a place of helplessness, confusion, and despair. There was no way out unless God intervened. And in that dark place, David waited—not passively, but patiently and actively—hoping in the Lord. David wasn’t rescued because of his strength or cleverness, but because he trusted that Someone was listening. “I waited patiently for the Lord,” he says in verse 1, “and he inclined to me and heard my cry.” In the Hebrew, the word waiting is not associated with helplessness but with expectant watchfulness. It is like the dawn-watchers waiting for the first glimpse of sunrise. While David waited, he didn’t abandon his responsibilities. Like Joseph in the prison who remained faithful even when forgotten by the cupbearer for two long years, David trusted that God’s