Having Faith Through Trails: A Sermon on Psalm 40:1-3

Psalm 40:1-3…

1I waited patiently for the LORD;
   he inclined to me and heard my cry.
2He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
   out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
   making my steps secure.
3He 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.

Exposition on the Psalms, Augustine says:

2. Let us say then what this Psalm says. "I waited patiently for the Lord" (ver. 1). I waited patiently for the promise of no mere mortal who can both deceive and be himself deceived: I waited for the consolation of no mere mortal, who may be consumed by sorrow of his own, before he gives me comfort. Should a brother mortal attempt to comfort me, when he himself is in sorrow likewise? Let us mourn in company; let us weep together, let us "wait patiently" together, let us join our prayers together also. Whom did I wait for but for the Lord? The Lord, who though He puts off the fulfilment of His promises, yet never recalls them? He will make it good; assuredly He will make it good, because He has made many of His promises good already: and of God's truth we ought to have no fears, even if as yet He had made none of them good. Lo! let us henceforth think thus, "He has promised us everything; He has not as yet given us possession of anything; He is a sponsible Promiser; a faithful Paymaster: do you but show yourself a dutiful exactor of what is promised; and if you be "weak," if you be one of the little ones, claim the promise of His mercy. Do you not see tender lambs striking their dams' teats with their heads, in order that they may get their fill of milk? ..."And He took heed unto me, and heard my cry." He took heed to it, and He heard it. See thou hast not waited in vain. His eyes are over thee. His ears turned towards thee. For, "the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cry." What then? Did He not see thee, when thou usedst to do evil and to blaspheme Him? What then becomes of what is said in that very Psalm, "The face of the Lord is upon them that do evil"? But for what end? "that He may cut off the remembrance of them from the earth." Therefore, even when thou wert wicked, He "took heed of thee;" but He "took no heed to thee." So then to him who "waited patiently for the Lord," it was not enough to say, "He took heed of me, He says, "He took heed to me;" that is, He took heed by comforting me, that He might do me good. What was it that He took heed to? "and He heard my cry."

          It is key to wait patiently for the Blessed Lord.  We must think of the Lord Jesus who in His agony, waited patiently for His Heavenly Father.  It is a characteristic of the Christian life to wait patiently for the Lord.  For this was a holy characteristic of the Lord Jesus.  When we demonstrate this characteristic we show to ourselves, others in and outside the church of our commitment to faith, and our devotion to the will of God, and to His blessed Word.  For when we asked, we did so in holy faith, and when we did this it shows who we trust, for it is God whom we speak to.  We must ask the Lord in true faith and reliance upon Him.  So, then, after we ask in faith—for those who ask not have not—we show we wait in faith.  It is a waiting faith.  God may have us wait for a long time.  It may be more then what we expect.  It may be a time of fear and doubt because we frail and feeble.  We tend to doubt His Word, yet when we come to our senses, we can easily see, that His Word is the surest of all, and there is nothing more sure then His blessed and holy Word.  So, then, it is time to trust the Lord.   We can do this by His beloved grace.  We might be afraid because it seems too long to wait, and we fall to sin.  Dear sinner, trust in the Lord.  Has He forsaken His own?  Isn’t His promise of answering His people surer then life itself?  Commit thy soul to His beloved ways: wait, and watch; then, see and accept.  For His ways are true and sure.  His ways are more finer then the pearls of the world, and His Word is sweeter then honey.  God’s Word is sure and true.  We can wait for the Lord yet we fear, and we can be confident that He will deliver us out of our troubling circumstances.  For the trouble of the righteous are many, but the Lord delivers us out of them all.  Yet do not imagine that the believer is without trouble.  He has much trouble.  What else should be expected for a Christian is supposed to be a light in a dark world?  We will encounter opposition.  But the text speaks of, perhaps, it was a “inward disquiet and perplexity of spirit was now his greatest grievance” as Matthew Henry speaks of.  He notes, “Despondency of spirit under the sense of Gods withdrawings, and prevailing doubts and fears about the eternal state, are indeed a horrible pit and miry clay, and have been so to many a dear child of God.” 

          We can now turn our attention to the doubts and fears of our eternal home.  What do you base your assurance on?  Is it based on false understandings of having assurance?  Is it based on the Word of God?  Put your confidence in the divine Scripture and you cannot go wrong because it should be the basis for our assurance of our salvation.  Do you repent of past and present sins that you have commit?  Do you breathe out repentance?  Do you know that if you believe in Christ, the Son of God, you have assurance of salvation?  Are you committed to sound doctrine, and therefore do you not know that Christ is the very basis for your blessed forgiveness?  Do you understand that Christ is the sole reason why you are forgiven?  He atoned sufficiently for sin.  Tears, signs, good works—nothing except the blood of Jesus Christ will remove sin.  He is the divine Lamb of God who was spotless and without blemish.  He was purity itself.  By seeing Him in divine Scripture we see the beauty of His character, mannerisms and actions.  We see that grace, and all of grace comes solely through the Lord Jesus Christ.  It is not through the Virgin Mary.  It is not through penance.  It is not through the ways of the world.  It is through the matchless Savior.  He is the way; He is the truth; He is the life.  Salvation is exclusively found in the Lord Jesus Christ.  It is not through modified universalism, nor is it through the evangelical universalism.  We see the divine Savior who seeks the lost and save the lost.  He finds His own, and He completely paid for the debt of His people.  His people were given grace before the world was, and the Lord Jesus lived a perfect life and died a vicarious death as our divine Substitute.  He had a mission, and His mission was to save.  The basis for saying, “I believe” is not your free will.  Rather the basis for your belief is your election.  Yes, it is proper to say, “My belief demonstrates that I have been elected.”  Be certain of your divine election.  Be confident that God has elected you.  Do not be discouraged about it because it is meant for your encouragement. 

Augustine, again, says:

3. And what hath He accomplished for thee? What hath He done for thee? "He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings" (ver. 2). He hath given us great blessings already: and still He is our debtor; but let him who hath this part of the debt repaid already, believe that the rest will be also, seeing that he ought to have believed even before he received anything. Our Lord has employed facts themselves to persuade us, that He is a faithful promiser, a liberal giver. What then has He already done? "He has brought me out of a horrible pit." What horrible pit is that? It is the depth of iniquity, from the lusts of the flesh, for this is meant by "the miry clay." Whence hath He brought thee out? Out of a certain deep, out of which thou criedst out in another Psalm, "Out of the deep have I called unto Thee, O Lord." And those who are already "crying out of the deep," are not absolutely in the lowest deep: the very act of crying is already lifting them up. There are some deeper in the deep, who do not even perceive themselves to be in the deep. Such are those who are proud despisers, not pious entreaters for pardon; not tearful criers for mercy: but such as Scripture thus describes. "The sinner when he comes into the depth of evil despiseth." For he is deeper in the deep, who is not satisfied with being a sinner, unless instead of confessing he even defends his sins. But he who has already "cried out of the deep," hath already lifted up his head in order that he might "cry out of the deep," has been heard already, and has been "brought out of the horrible pit, and out of the mire and clay." He already has faith, which he had not before; he has hope, which he was before without; he now walks in Christ, who before used to go astray in the devil. For on that account it is that he says, "He hath set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings." Now "that Rock was Christ." Supposing that we are "upon the rock," and that our "goings are ordered," still it is necessary that we continue to walk; that we advance to something farther. For what did the Apostle Paul say when now upon the Rock, when his "goings had now been established"? "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended." What then has been done for thee, if thou hast not apprehended? On what account dost thou return thanks, saying, "But I have obtained mercy"? Because his goings are now established, because he now walks on the Rock?... Therefore, when he was saying, "I press forward toward the prize of my high calling," because "his feet were now set on the Rock," and "his goings were ordered," because he was now walking on the right way, he had something to return thanks for; something to ask for still; returning thanks for what he had received already, while he was claiming that which still remained due. For what things already received was he giving thanks? For the remission of sins, for the illumination of faith; for the strong support of hope, for the fire of charity. But in what respects had he still a claim of debt on the Lord? "Henceforth," he says, "there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness." There is therefore something due me still. What is it that is due? "A crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day." He was at first a loving Father to "bring him forth from the horrible pit;" to forgive his sins, to rescue him from "the mire and clay;" hereafter he will be a "righteous Judge," requiting to him walking rightly, what He promised; to him (I say), unto whom He had at the first granted that power to walk rightly. He then as a "righteous Judge" will repay; but whom will he repay? "He that endureth unto the end, the same shall be saved."

          As Christians we believe in the place of eternal hell and torment.  I suggest to you that the ultimate horrible is the pit of hell.  We believe that it is a place of God’s perfect justice.  It is a awful and dreadful place of the presence of God’s furious wrath and retribution.  His punitive wrath is upon the reprobate in a terrible and tormenting way.  There is no escape for those who are there. It is a place of God’s disfavor.  It is also a place of the absence of God’s restraining grace.  This is the horrible pit.  It is outer darkness, flames of fire, and gnashing of teeth.  These symbols point beyond themselves to a far more worse spiritual reality then can be imagined.  God sends people there who refuse to repent and obey His blessed law.  His ways are not there ways.  All they wanted to do was live a life contrary to Him.  They are God-haters and reject His saving gospel.  Satan and his demons will be there.  So, then, beloved Christian, it is certainly not a place where we want to be.  It is a place that we escape because we have the Lord Jesus as our divine Savior.  He keeps His people and they are maintained by Him.  We need not fear then.  We have assured hope.  Christ’s payment of sin is far more blessed and far more heavenly then the religions of men.  The religions of men do not save.  They do not keep those who follow them out of hell.  No, no!  Rather they supply these sinners to hell by embracing doctrines of demons.  But we have the hope of Christ who died, and therefore we have abundant life.  This abundant life is an eternal value that will continue forever.  For it is true and good, and God will see His ways accomplished through His people because His truth triumphs through them.  Do not become, fearful, because we have a Savior who saves to the uttermost. 

          Let’s consider verses that speak to the reality of the place of hell for it is what divine Scripture speaks of. 

Matthew 25:41-46…

41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
44 “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”  NKJV

These verses speak of the everlasting fire and punishment of the wicked. 

Matthew 8:12…

12 But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  NKJV

Hell is described in outer darkness and gnashing of teeth….

2 Thess. 1:9…

9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, NKJV

Hell is punishment and everlasting destruction from the presence of His mercy but His presence of wrath is fully manifested in hell.

Revelation 19:20…

20 Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. NKJV

Hell is a lake of fire, burning with brimstone.

Revelation 21:8…

8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” NKJV

Hell is people taking part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone.  It is the second death. 

Revelation 14:11…

11 And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”  NKJV

Hell is eternal torment for those who have the mark of the name of the beast. 

Romans 2:8-9 (Hell is a place for the disobedient)…

8 but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, 9 tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek;  NKJV

2 Peter 2:4…

4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;  NKJV

Matthew 10:15…(Rejecters of the Gospel of Christ suffer judgment)…15 Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city! NKJV

Matthew 5:29-30…

29 If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. NKJV

Matthew 10:28…

28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. NKJV

Matthew 23:14…

14 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. NKJV

          When we think of the deep we are in when we sin.  We fall into sin because James 1:15, “Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”  And 1 John 5:17 says, “All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.”

We must put away sin, and run from it like Joseph.  We must commit our lives to holiness and continue in faithful repentance.  When we find ourselves in iniquity we must flee to Christ.  It is Christ took who took upon Himself the sin debt of His people.  He took the punishment for sin for His own.  He experienced hell upon His cross.  He did this for you dear Christian.  He did this so that you might live as He endured death for your sake.  He died so that you might live, and have abundant life.  This life is eternally costly and it was done for your sake.  We must not revert to our old nature.  Our nature is fallen and depraved.  It is a nature of sin and defilement.  It is a thing that God hates.  When we see we commit cosmic treason.  When we sin we rebel against God.  It is a terrible thing to fall in the hands of an angry God.  He will punish sin and He does it justly and righteously.  He will never be cruel to a single individual.  He will punish every sin who is without Christ.  We must repent on a faithful and regular basis. 

We must be a people who have the new song of Christ on our lips.  We must be a people who sing of the blessings of Christ.  May we sing this song of praise…

The blood that Jesus once shed for me,
As my Redeemer, upon the tree;
The blood that setteth the pris’ner free,
Will never lose its pow’r.

Refrain

It will never lose its pow’r,
It will never lose its pow’r;
The blood that cleanses from all sin
Will never lose its pow’r.

It gives us access to God on high,
From “far off places” it brings us nigh;
To precious blessings that never die,
It will never lose its pow’r.

It is a shelter for rich and poor,
It is to Heaven the open door;
The sinner’s merit forevermore,
It will never lose its pow’r.

And when with all the blood washed throng
We sing in glory redemption’s song;
We’ll pass the glorious truth along,
It has never lost its pow’r.

          May we trust in the Lord before we have to wait, and may we trust in the Lord as we wait, and may we turn in the Lord after we have prayed and waited!  He has delivered His people out of the horrible pit of sin and hell.  He has put the song of Christ in our hearts about redemption and His saving love in Christ Jesus.  May we praise and uplift Him and thank Him who gives us the true trust we need to honor and glorify Him.  Amen.