The Mud
A friend shared in a small group, "I think y'all are Christians because you want to be good people. And you are good people." Another friend shook her head and scrunched her shoulders. Then she said, "No, actually, I have to correct the record, that's not right. My life was a mess, and I tried everything I could think of to fix my problems. None of it worked." She went on, "And so one day, I just said to Jesus, 'I give up. You have to deal with all of this.' And he did! He started to change everything. I'm not a Christian because I'm a good person, but because I didn't know what to do and Jesus showed up."
Read Psalm 40
In Israel, most of the rain falls during the winter season, so they dug cisterns to store water. Think of a large hole in the ground, shaped somewhat like a flask from your high school science class, lined with limestone plaster. When it was empty, you could sink into the mud at the bottom, and no one would hear you yelling for help. If I'm ever forced to participate in Fear Factor, I'll tap out as soon as they bury me alive, underground. In Psalm 40, being trapped in a pit is what it feels like to suffer and feel helpless. In English, Psalm 40 sounds like it starts on an impressive note, "I waited patiently for the Lord." But the sense is more like "I longed and longed for the Lord to deliver me." It's only now, in retrospect, that the Psalmist can joyfully celebrate what God has done. We need to hear the testimony of those who have been rescued to get us through the seasons when we are unable to see a way forward, when our problems keep multiplying, and we feel defeated (40:12). When God rescues us, he doesn't just rearrange the physical details. He speaks to us. Even when Jesus became incarnate, we are told the Word became flesh (John 1:14). Because God's revelation is verbal, our faithful response looks like hearing him. In the pit, the Psalmist hoped God could hear him. But now that God has delivered him, he thanks God for opening his ears so that he could hear God. The testimony is not only that God has improved his circumstances, but changed his character. The Psalmist went deep into suffering, but now God's instruction lives deep within him, and he loves to do God's will (40:7-8). The Psalms were written for communities to use in worship. So even as we read it in the first person, it forms us as we rehearse it together. After I heard my friend's testimony of Jesus rescuing her from her mess, it prompted me to speak up. Until she spoke up, I wasn't planning to share my story that morning. I would rather talk about God in the abstract than disclose the specific ways I needed him. Hebrews 10:5-10 tells us that when Jesus came into the world, he spoke Psalm 40. Everything that had been written before came to fulfillment in his body, sacrificed for us. Jesus heard God's will, and came to do it. The pastor who wrote Hebrews is teaching us how to read the Psalms. They find their fulfillment in Jesus, the perfect worshipper, who was delivered from the mud of death to resurrection life. Knowing what God has done for us, we can't help but praise him together.
Why do your friends think you are a Christian?
What does it tell us about Jesus that he prayed this prayer?
How would you feel if God helped you hear his voice but didn't fix your problems?
Tonight, text a friend: "I have to tell you what God has done for me..." Then mention one small way you've seen God at work. End by asking, "How have you seen God at work? No pressure if this is a hard time."