Friday September 20, 2024

Today is Friday, September 20 and we are learning what the Bible says about foundation.

Holy and loving God, In the quiet of the morning, I pause to connect with Your Holy Spirit. You are my firm foundation. You are the rock on which I stand. When the future is uncertain, when the world doesn’t make sense, when I am anxious, worried, or afraid, I stop to remember Your good promises. Thank You for being with me in every circumstance and reminding me that You place my feet on solid ground. I can trust You completely. Amen.

I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. 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 the Lord and put their trust in him. Psalm 40:1-3

Psalm 40 is a song of trust in God and patience in a season of adversity. The psalmist is in a bad place. He describes himself as being in a slimy pit trapped in mud and mire. This is a place of stuckness. He is trapped. He cannot get out by himself. Consider those times in your life when you have been in slimy pits or places of mud and mire. We can be stuck in grief, trapped in sin, confined by negative thinking, imprisoned by guilt, immobilized by anxiety, bound by depression, frozen with fear, or enslaved by an addiction. It sometimes feels like quicksand slowly and consistently pulling us down. The more we move in the muck and the mire, the more deeply we become entangled. The more we try to extricate ourselves from the slimy pit, the more we realize we cannot get out ourselves. We need a savior. We need God.

The psalmist cries out to God and says, “He turned to me and heard my cry.” God hears our cries for help as well. He turns His face to us and listens. He hears our cries of frustration and sees our tears of sorrow. He knows our stuckness. The psalmist waits patiently for the Lord. That is the hard part, isn’t it? Patience. Faith that God is going to provide a way out of our circumstance or situation. Trust that we are not all alone in this slimy muddy place, but God is near. We can take a deep breath and rest, knowing that He is already at work on our freedom. God is all about freedom. Christ came to set us free. He wants us to be free to live the life He has for us, the glorious, joyous life He has called us to. He is a God who sets us free from everything that traps us and weighs us down.

The psalmist realizes his freedom. He says, “He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.” I can almost feel God lifting me up out of my situation, I can feel my feet pulling out of the mud and my legs being set free from the mire. I leave the dark, smelly, slimy pit of my former existence and am brought into the bright light of blessed freedom. My toes touch down on the firm rock of Jesus Christ. He is a strong foundation. A solid rock on which I stand in confidence and assurance. I am set free. I never need to go back to that place ever again. I am released to live the blessed life God has offered me. A new song is on my lips. My heart fills with joy and I sing with gratitude and praise.

Ask: How have I felt entrapped by negative feelings, actions, emotions or circumstances? How has God set me free in the past and how might God want to set me free today?

Pause and Pray

Blessed Lord God, grant me awareness of the slimy pits waiting to entice and entrap me. Show me where I have allowed myself to become entangled in the mud and the mire of the world. I cry out to You for help. Remind me to wait patiently and confidently for You to act and move in my life. Set me free from all that binds me. Pull me up out of the dark places into the light of joy and goodness You offer. Thank You for consistently loving me, hearing me and answering my prayers. Amen.

Printer Friendly Version

Sign up to receive The First 15 in your email