Psalms 40:1-3

DISCOURSE: 569
DAVID’S SUCCESS IN PRAYER AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO US

Psalms 40:1. I waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. 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.

THIS psalm undoubtedly refers to Christ, being expressly applied to him by an inspired Apostle; and so applied, as to have the whole weight of the Apostle’s argument depending on the truth and propriety of his citation [Note: Hebrews 10:4.]. Yet it certainly refers to David also, who, in some parts of it, speaks in his own person, and, in others, in the person of the Messiah. It is in this way that the prophetic writings generally speak: there will be found in them a primary or historical sense, and a secondary or mystical sense; the two senses being sometimes more blended, and sometimes more distinct. Here, as in several other psalms, some parts of the psalm are more applicable to David, and others to the Messiah. To David, we conceive, the words which we have just read more immediately belong: and, as spoken by him in his own name, they will lead me to set before you,

I. His conduct in a season of deep distress—

What the particular distress was, we are not informed. Sometimes the language which he here uses has respect to sufferings under persecution. Thus in the 69th Psalm he says, “I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing; I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters [Note: Psalms 69:1; Psalms 69:14.].” Again, in the 142d Psalm; “Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low: deliver me from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I: bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name [Note: Psalms 142:6.].” But in the psalm before us, he speaks more particularly as under the pressure of sin: “Innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up: they are more than the hairs of my head; therefore my heart faileth me [Note: ver. 12.].” On this account I understand his distress to have arisen chiefly on account of sin, under a sense of which,

1. He “waited patiently upon the Lord”—

[He betook himself to prayer. And where should a weary and heavy-laden sinner go, but unto his God; or how should he approach his God, but in a way of humble, fervent, and continual supplication? In what manner he prayed, he tells us in another psalm: “Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice; let thine ear be attentive to the voice of my supplication! If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. I wait for the Lord; my soul doth wait; and in his word do I hope [Note: Psalms 130:1. See also Psalms 38:1.].” He was not like those who “pour out a prayer only when God’s chastening is upon them:” he would call upon his God day and night; and never cease to wrestle with him, till he had prevailed [Note: Genesis 32:26; Hosea 12:3.]

2. He “waited patiently for the Lord”—

[He well knew how often he had turned a deaf ear to the voice of God; and therefore, how justly God might turn a deaf ear to him. Yet he hoped in the multitude of God’s tender mercies. He came not pleading any merits of his own, nor trusting in any outward services whatever: he knew that God required not the sacrifice of bulls and of goats to expiate sin, but faith in that better sacrifice which should in due time be offered for the sins of the whole world; and he came pleading the merit of that sacrifice, and trusting that through it he should ultimately find acceptance [Note: ver. 6–11.]. However long therefore God should withhold an answer of peace, he would wait, and patiently too, without murmuring; satisfied, if, after ever so many years of continued supplication, God should at last say to him, “Fear not; thy sins, which are many, are forgiven thee.”]

The wisdom of this conduct may be seen in,

II.

The benefit he derived from it—

God “inclined his ear to him, and heard his cry;” and, in answer to his supplications, vouchsafed to him,

1. Liberty—

[The image under which David depicts his unpardoned state is very beautiful and just. He was as one in “an horrible pit, and sunk in miry clay.” Say, ye who know what it is to be shut up, as it were, under a sense of guilt, and an apprehension of God’s wrath, whether any words can adequately describe the darkness, the misery, and the bondage of a soul so circumstanced? The state of Jeremiah, when cast into a dungeon, and sunk in the mire, and ready to perish with hunger [Note: Jeremiah 38:6; Jeremiah 38:9.], was distressing to flesh and blood: but what was that to a sinner shut up in hourly expectation of the wrath of an offended God? Oh! it is inexpressibly tremendous: no tongue can tell how a soul trembles, and sinks, and faints under such appalling apprehensions, as are called by the Apostle, “a certain fearful looking-for of judgment and fiery indignation to consume it” — — — But from this state David was delivered by means of fervent and persevering prayer. Who will say that he was not well repaid for waiting, for waiting patiently upon the Lord, and for the Lord? Had his supplications been unintermitted for ten thousand years, they would have been well compensated by such an answer as this at last. And, if a promise of such an answer after such a period were given to any one that is now gone beyond redemption, we may well conceive with what ardour he would commence, and prosecute his labour through the appointed time: the very hope of deliverance at last would more than half annihilate the anguish with which despair has already overwhelmed his soul.]

2. Holiness—

[When God, by a sense of pardoning love, “brought David up out of an horrible pit, and out of the miry clay,” he at the same time “set his feet upon a rock, and established his goings.” What that rock was, we are at no loss to determine: it was no other than “the Rock of Ages,” the Lord Jesus Christ, who is “a sure foundation” to all who stand upon him [Note: Isaiah 28:15.], and who will impart of his own stability to all who put their trust in him. “On this Rock the whole Church is built; nor shall the gates of hell prevail against it [Note: Matthew 16:18.].” It is not pardon only that we obtain by union with the Lord Jesus Christ, but strength also, to walk steadfastly in the ways of God. Separate from him, we can do nothing [Note: John 15:5.]: united to him by faith, we can do all things [Note: Philippians 4:13.]: and so established shall our hearts be by his grace, that we may defy all the powers of darkness, and already, by anticipation, enjoy our final triumph [Note: Zechariah 4:7; Isaiah 41:14; Romans 8:35.].” What a fruit then was here of persevering prayer! Yet so shall all who wait patiently upon their God be favoured: they shall be “turned from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God.”]

3. Joy—

[“A new song was now put into the mouth of David, even praise unto his God.” And praise is indeed a “new” song to one who is but just brought to peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: the unconverted man knows it not: he has not a heart attuned to it. He may feel somewhat of gratitude for temporal mercies; but for the communication of spiritual blessings he cannot render any cordial thanks, because he never has received them, nor ever felt his need of them. Jeremiah might be sensible of his obligations to Ebed-melech for deliverance from the dungeon, because he had a deep consciousness of the peril and misery from which he had been rescued: but without that consciousness all professions of gratitude for such a deliverance would have been absurd. And so, till we are sensible what a horrible pit we have been taken out of, we can never have our mouth filled with praises and thanksgivings to our redeeming God. But this ardent love to God and holy delight in him invariably spring out of a manifestation of God’s mercy to the soul. David would praise his God every day, and all the day long: and it should seem that the greatness and the multitude of the deliverances vouchsafed to him, disposed him, beyond all other of the sons of men, to pour out his soul in acclamations and hosannahs to his God.]
What then is,

III.

The improvement we should make of his experience—

St. Paul tells us, that the mercy vouchsafed to him was intended by God for the instruction and encouragement of others; for their instruction—that they might know how great was the long-suffering of God; and for their encouragement—that they, from so glorious an example of mercy, might learn to expect the same. Thus David, speaking of this experience of his, says, “Many shall see it, and fear, and shall put their trust in the Lord.” From his experience then we may learn,

1. To use the same means—

[We are not to say, David found mercy of the Lord, therefore I may expect the same at all events; but, therefore I may expect the same in a diligent use of the same means. David feared; and therefore I must “fear:” I must fear the displeasure of my God: I must fear lest I be left in the horrible pit, and sink for ever in the mire of unforgiven sin. My fear also must be operative, stirring me up to earnest prayer, and stimulating me to “flee for refuge to the hope that is set before me.” The use we are apt to make of any extraordinary displays of mercy, and which many make of the mercy vouchsafed to the penitent thief upon the cross, is to say within ourselves, God is too merciful to punish men in the eternal world: if I in a dying hour do but ask forgiveness, I also shall obtain mercy: and therefore I will not trouble myself about turning unto God, till I find, or think I find, that death is coming upon me. But let not any of us be guilty of so perverting the mercies of our God: let us “not so despise his goodness and patience and long-suffering; but let his goodness lead us to repentance.” Let us say, David found deliverance by waiting patiently. I then will wait patiently also. But it was with strong crying and tears that David sought for mercy: and in that way I will seek it also. It was in these holy exercises too that he was so constant: and in them also will I be constant, and persevere unto the end, assured, that it is only by patient continuance in well-doing I can ever hope to obtain the desired benefits.]

2. To expect the same end—

[We should never imagine ourselves to be in so low a state, but that God is able to deliver us from it. If, like Jonah, we were, as to our own apprehensions, “in the belly of hell,” yet from thence we should cry to him, assured that he would hear our voice, and “bring up our souls from the pit of corruption [Note: John 2:2; John 2:6.].” The state of David was as desperate as it could well be; yet from thence was he rescued, to his unutterable joy. Hezekiah also seems to have been in a similar state, and to have experienced a similar deliverance: “Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back [Note: Isaiah 38:17.].” Thus shall it be with all who will seek God in sincerity and truth, especially when, like David, they seek him through the sacrifice and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Their feet shall then be extricated from the mire, and set upon the Rock, where “their feet shall not slide,” and from whence “they shall never be moved.” And though their lives hitherto may have been spent in sighing and mourning, yet shall there be given to them “the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.” In a word, let them only pray in faith; and however “wide they open their mouth, it shall be filled [Note: Psalms 81:10.].”]