"I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry." -Psalm 40:1ESV.
What kind of hard times does God bring people through? David describes how God brought him out of hard time in his own life. David waited on God patiently and trusted him. God then brought him out of this time in his life to a solid ground where he could rejoice. After he had brought David out of this time in his life, he praised God for his faithfulness.
God brought me out of two hard times in my life that have defined me. During my junior year of high school, I was in a car wreck. The wreck caused the other person to be hit and they were injured. I could not judge the distance in front of the car between me. From that time to through the summer of the year I went into a depression. I felt as if God was not on my side and there was nowhere to turn.
God spoke to me in the beginning of my senior year, and I started reading the Bible again. It was almost like he revived me from the pit of where I was in. It is also like the times where God revived David from the pit that he was in.
Another hard time in my life that God brought me out of was after I had graduated from college and was out in the world looking for a job. God used the past summer at Discipleship Focus to help me desperately depend on him for everything. I was able to present things and abide in Christ in this time. God was revealing to me that I needed to be more reliant on him. To use a cliche phrase God closed one area of my life that I thought would be my direction and God led me to another path in life.
David describes God's faithfulness in bringing him out of this time in his life by saying, "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. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord." Psalm 40:1-3 NIV.
We do not know exactly what event in David's life he is writing about at the moment. David saw God's faithfulness when God helped him defeat lions and bears tending his fathers sheep. He trusted God and he helped me through this time.
David describes this event when he says, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or bear came and carried off a sheep from its mouth, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the bear and lion; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the had of this Philistine." 1 Samuel 17:34-37
Another hard event in David's life was when he took on Goliath. He went out to fight David with just five stones and his sling in his hand. Goliath came out to battle with his huge sword, trying to intimidate him by yelling at him with insults upon insults. Goliath only cared about himself and trusted in himself to defeat little David, while David trusted that God would lead him through this time and defeat Goliath.
David describes his trust in God to bring him through this time by saying, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give you to the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves, for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands." 1 Samuel 17:45-47
The character is the Pursuit of Happyness struggled through a hard time in his life with trying to find a job and support his son. He knew what it what like to be stuck in a pit like I did and David. He did what he could to make it until he found job.
Another hard event in David's life that God brought him out of was when he was fleeing from Saul. God led him out of the hands of the King of Achish in Gath to the cave of Adullam. David fled to Gath a second time to get away from Saul and time it was for a year and four months.
Ted Williams, the homeless man, who was a radio announcer and did voice-overs for a while before falling prey to drug and alcohol problems. Somehow someone heard him on the street and record his voice. The person from the newspaper that recorded his voice put it on the internet. From that he gained instant fame across the world. Though he still struggles with his alcohol and drug problems, he has a job now as the official voice with the New England Cable News.
David heaps praise upon praise on God during Psalm 40. He praises him of his faithfulness in Psalm 40:10.
David says "I have not kept the good news of your justice hidden in my heart; I have talked about your faithfulness and saving power. I have told everyone in the great assembly of your unfailing love and faithfulness." Psalm 40:10 NLT
What has God has done in your life?
David told others of what God had done in his life because of the fact that he trusted God and he brought him through those times. David acknowledge that God was in control of all of his situations in his life despite what he was going through. After God had given David a peace after those troubled times, he praised God for his faithfulness in his life.
We have to consistently tell others about what he has done in our life on day to day basis. If we do this more people would want to come know what is different about us. David praised God in Psalm 40:16, saying,
May those who love your salvation repeatedly shout saying "The Lord is great!"
Will you tell others about what God has done in your life? This is what I ask you my readers wherever and whoever you are.
