I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry.

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.
And He has put a new song in my mouth,
even praise unto our God:
many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.
Withhold not Thou Thy tender mercies from me, O LORD:
let Thy loving-kindness and Thy truth continually preserve me.
But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me:
Thou art my help and my deliverer;
make no tarrying, O my God.
Psalm 40:1-3, 11, 17

I could not decide on just one thing to say about Psalm 40, so I decided to share three things with you. The verses above are also known to me as a song. It is a beautiful song in its own right, and if I could, I’d sing it for you now. But I like it mostly because it reminds me of God’s faithfulness, and it uses God’s words to do so. This is my testimony. The Lord brought me up out of the horrible pit of manic-depression, and out of the miry clay of sin. He set my feet upon the solid Rock, gave me a purpose for living, and a new song in my heart to boot! I can never praise Him enough for all that He has done, is doing, and will do for me.

Many, O LORD my God, are Thy wonderful works which Thou hast done, and Thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto Thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.
Psalm 40:5

Have you ever been in love? When you’re in love, the object of your affection is on your mind all the time. You go to sleep with thoughts of this person, you often dream of this person, you awaken with those same thoughts, and you carry them with you throughout the day. Here in Psalm 40:5, David says that God thinks of us just like that. Wow! Can you imagine? He loves you that much! You may think you know your beloved quite well, but you can’t possibly know all there is to know about him (or her), for you cannot see thoughts and motives. And you may have intentionally blinded yourself to his faults because you choose to focus only on what attracted you to him. God knows every detail about your life—even your thoughts and motives—and He loves you still. What’s more, if you are His child, then He chooses to only see you through the blood of His dear Son. God doesn’t look on our sins once the blood has been applied. They are gone forever! How great is that! But you don’t have to receive His great gift of forgiveness in order to receive His love. God loves everyone. He proved His love by sending His only Son the Lord Jesus Christ to be born, live, and die a sinless death. Jesus is the only One who was ever perfect. His blood was the only sacrifice worthy to redeem us. But the point is that God loved us before we knew Him and accepted His gift. His thoughts of you cannot be counted.

I delight to do Thy will, O my God:
yea, Thy law is within my heart.
I have preached righteousness in the great congregation:
lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, Thou knowest.
I have not hid Thy righteousness within my heart;
I have declared Thy faithfulness and Thy salvation:
I have not concealed Thy loving-kindness and Thy truth from the great congregation.
Psalm 40:8-10

When I sat down to study Psalm 40, I asked the Lord to show me something new and fresh, and He gave me these verses, particularly the phrase, “I have not hid Thy righteousness within my heart.” Immediately I thought of Psalm 119:11 which says, “Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee.” I am supposed to hide God’s Word in my heart because that way the Holy Spirit can recall it to my memory to keep me walking the right way whenever I’m tempted to do wrong. But I will not hide God’s righteousness, faithfulness, and salvation in my heart. No way! Those, along with His loving-kindness and truth, must be proclaimed. That is the main reason I started this blog, so that I can tell as many people as care to read just how good my God is, and the wonderful things He has done for me and wants to do for you too.

In what ways has God been good to you lately? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.

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Photo taken on Skyline Drive, Virginia, 2014.