Shane Haven

Places of wonder and psalm 40

Psalm 40 reads as follows from the NIV version of the Bible:

a] 1 I waited patiently for the LORD;
he turned to me and heard my cry.

2 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.

3 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.

4 Blessed are those
who make the LORD their trust,
who do not look to the proud,
to those who turn aside to false gods. [

5 Many, LORD my God,
are the wonders you have done,
the things you planned for us.
None can compare with you;
were I to speak and tell of your deeds,
they would be too many to declare.

6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire—
but my ears you have opened  
burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require.

7 Then I said, "Here I am, I have come—
it is written about me in the scroll.

8 I desire to do your will, my God;
your law is within my heart."

9 I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly;
I do not seal my lips, LORD,
as you know.

10 I do not hide your righteousness in my heart;
I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help.
I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness
from the great assembly.

11 Do not withhold your mercy from me, LORD;
may your love and faithfulness always protect me.

12 For troubles without number surround me;
my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see.
They are more than the hairs of my head,
and my heart fails within me.

13 Be pleased to save me, LORD;
come quickly, LORD, to help me.

14 May all who seek to take my life
be put to shame and confusion;
may all who desire my ruin
be turned back in disgrace.

15 May those who say to me, "Aha! Aha!"
be appalled at their own shame.

16 But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who long for your saving help always say,
"The LORD is great!"

17 But as for me, I am poor and needy;
may the Lord think of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
you are my God, do not delay.

The major theme of this psalm is the relationship of the psalmist to the plans, wonders and thoughts of God, despite a myriad of difficulties and distresses surrounding the psalmist David. The wonders are represented as a place or places that can be set upon by an gingival, as when David said he set my feet upon a rock which is a representation of a wonder or wonders that he could actually set his feet upon.

Verse 2 says," 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."

There would actually be twofold aspects to this. One is asking the Lord to get you out of a bad situation or the bad which is a first priority and first proximity, but while asking for this relief or escape, also ask him to set you up with a good situation metaphorically expressed by the setting of the David's feet on a rock, which would be representative of something firm, tangible and even great and from this psalm would actually be a place of wonders. I might rightly say that this is bad or isn't the best situation for me, as I begin to call the shots as to what to pray about and seek amending help for. This metaphor could also be applied to what is best for our body as well, which could apply to healing. I am not only asking God to get me out of the bad situation of my aching back, I am asking for a good pain free back and to be set up with that situation, as the rock would be a healed and fully functional and pain free back. The healing not only set's me out of a bad situation, but sets me up in the good situation of good health. For example, God wouldn't have us swimming in waters that were way to cold for us. He is also doing what is best for our physical being according to this metaphor. The Lord's wonders are something according to this psalm that we can set upon. He wouldn't bring us into an experience of wonders that couldn't be properly handled. So again using the example of maybe a wondrous sea that we could actually swim in, the temperature would have to be of a certain range to do this comfortably or at all. The earth itself is a wonder that is over ally made to be habitable in many parts by mankind.

Someone could apply this to any number of life situations that could be good but also could have a way of leaving us metaphorically shipwrecked or on the mire... Of course, anyone is going to want to get out of the mire, but if they feel so stuck in the mud, the focus might be totally on the escape route they are looking for as they attempt to escape from rather than also what they are escaping to and what could possibly be those places of hope that are maybe harder to contemplate when you are stuck. A dictionary definition of mire is."an area of wet, soggy, muddy ground; a bog ". You might be going from one difficulty to another, or at least you don't know yet that you are going to find a clearing as you try to escape and the mire doesn't give you good traction either towards what is good and what you would like or prefer. So it is not only discouraging but also a situation where it is hard to move from. You see this in movies sometimes; people running threw a thick forest trying to escape the monster only to find some roaring river as just another obstacle to the way out, the situation is one of continually feeling stuck. What you want to do when in a situation that qualifies as stuck, is keep the prayer two fold even though you might be so bothered by the lousy situation you are trying to escape from that all and the only thing you are thinking about is getting out and escaping this trouble. Also focus the prayer on asking the Lord to set you up or get you to a place pf wonder where you can have your feet on the rock of wonder after they are out of the mud, indicative of a situation that take hold and is right for you. You heard the expression, you're all set, and this is what the Lord can also do for you, besides getting you out of the mud, he can also set you up in places of wonder... I had talked with someone today who mentioned a conversation with some troubled person and he said he just wanted more than anything else to get out of the lousy conversation This was an example of wanting out in a smaller way. But then, he could ask the Lord for the good conversation rather than just only the escape from the bad one, keeping this prayer twofold in nature and a great conversation itself can be an example of a place of wonder... An example from the New Testament is the Lord leading the blind man out of the village, and then giving him healing. First he led him out, of a place that had only held bad news for him and where he could only be known as the blind man he always was, so it was not only the illness but the place that seemed to also have a hold on him. Then, he did the set him up with a healing where he was now in a place of newness and freshness and even wonder where he had an overall great experience of healing; the experience of this blind man's healing was looked at by Jesus in more than one way. Jesus saw that the place of healing was also important for this man and in his wonder of healing for him, place was also important, this blind man also needed to set his feet upon the rock.

Also, this verse indicates what to look for in prayer as well. Look for God not only to get you out, but to also set you up with a good situation and places of wonder as the answer and that part of the answer to prayer might be bringing you to another place, another situation, here for the psalmist described as a rock but all described as wonders. The answer is not just one dimensional answer that I am seeking, but an answer that has a two fold aspect and I need to look for the two fold aspect as I progress in my prayer and hoped for answer. Would the opposite be true, would the Lord bring you to an undesirable location while giving you an answer or as we might feel intrinsically he would bring you to a nice location and then bring you what you need? If someone say is prosing marriage, they usually bring the person to what they think is a wonderful location.

In verse 3 it says, "He put a new song in my mouth, many will see and fear and put their trust in God."

One of the things to watch for and ask for in prayer in the new, as the Lord will bring in this other dimension. The Lord will always have something new. We can ask the Lord for his newness for this day, this issue, this situation. Because of this newness, we are called to additional prayer to seek and find this continual newness and the wonderment of this newness. In David's case, others are watching and many will see and put their trust in the Lord as well. This also relates to verse 1, the Lord, in bringing you out of the mire, or giving any answer, might also use the tactic of bringing you into a positive situation of newness and freshness, even the places of miracles and wonders... While answering the prayer, he is giving maybe a fresh blessing, anointing and healing in a way that is new, and the situation that brings about the answer may be new. So we can discern that the Lord may move us into something that is new as he answers us in a positive way.

For David, the rock was more how the Lord came to him. He came to him in solid fashion, in ways that he could actually experience the wonders of the Lord. Even in a negative way, as in the case of the Egyptians and the wonders that were sent their way, they also were in the midst of the wonders, the wonders were right there such as the swarm of locusts and so on.

Verse 4 says, "Blessed be the man, who makes the Lord his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false Gods." Prayer is how we work towards trusting in God and it is where we should be looking in relation to any possible issue. It seems that everyone is looking somewhere, it is only natural, but if you want true blessings, look to the Lord and begin to trust.

Verse 5 says," Many oh Lord, are the wonders that you have done, the things you have planned for us, no one can recount to you, were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare.

This verse is talking about wonders of God as being addressed to or coming to light for an individual person and the Lord does bring about wonders for us which would also be something new even as we maybe recognize some of the wonders that have already been there. In this verse the idea of wonders is that they are something that come out of the Lord's thoughts and plans for us, and are pointed to individuals that can actually set into them. David says that he set my feet on a rock, and again the rock is some representation of a wonder of the Lord that can actually be experienced and can be treaded upon. We can up the ante on our prayers by asking about the wonders of God, and glide just a little bit higher in our contemplations of just what God actually has for us as we approach him in prayer by pondering wonders, wonders which have to be to a degree not yet known as they will be something new and something previously not experienced. We could ask God, what are the wonders you have for me today? The wonders are also a place of discernment as they come from the thoughts and plans of the Lord according to this psalm and the wonders are to be seen as a way of discerning these thoughts and plans of the Lord. Historically God did have wonders for his people. Why wouldn't God have wonders for you then?

David from this verse can identify that the Lord has numerous plans for him and others. What is interesting here is that David was able to differentiate things and identify plans from God. This statement is in part based on faith because these plans are from verse 3 coming from the place of newness from the point of view o the psalmist. Since the plans are new, he hasn't seen them yet, yet he knows that they are a reality because they are from the Lord from which reality derives. Most of us might question, are these my plans, the world's plans, someone else's plans, or God's plans? That would be next to impossible without the help and aid of personal prayer. What this verse also tells us, is that while engaging with this rather difficult process of discernment of God's plans. David was able to discern God's plans enough to where he could say that he could speak of them and recount them. This is the overall direction we want to move in as our prayer relationship deepens and widens, yet it remains very specific because the wonders are something that is actually set upon, just a David set upon the wonders that the Lord had for him. And the psalm talks about how even in the miry clay, this was also something that could be set upon or tread upon and experienced and also the wonders were just as experiential as the mud or mire. We know that we aren't looking for one grand plan but numerous plans that are coming from the Lord to us as individuals as there are" wonders".

Later in this psalm, David does exactly that, he doesn't hide or conceal but does recount God's wonders to the great assembly and he does speak and tell of them.

Verse 11 and 12 says, " Do not withhold your mercy from me, may your love and truth always protect me, for troubles without number surround me, my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs on my head, and my heart fails within me."

More or less, David is saying he might as well give up, unless the Lord is going to come threw. Withholding mercy to him would be withholding what he needs to survive these troubles; no mercy would be like any rain for the farmland... He can't see his way out of all these troubles, they are literally like a blinding storm coming from every possible direction and the challenge he is facing is rather daunting and insurmountable. He admits that he is failed or failing. His own sins are rather innumerable which is just adding to the difficulties and the blinding storms around him. The Lord needs to tend to his situation out of mercy and from this quality of the Lord, what is needed for relief will come about.

Verse 13 says, " Be pleased oh Lord to save me, O Lord, come quickly to help me." Here is asking for God to show up and show up rather quickly. Be pleased to help me, is an interesting way of approaching God. We can mention the idea in prayer on whether answering the request would please the Lord. What would please you is something we might say to others, but we should also say it in our prayers. You might say, be pleased O Lord, to give me a vacation in the Bahamas. Or if it pleases you, I would like this change or that insight, or some communication from you on this. If it is pleasant to you Lord, I would like to go to the beach today.

Correlating this with verse 5, there are almost uncountable plans coming from the Lord for David and others, yet the backdrop to all this for David is just about uncountable troubles as well which might not be the case for most people but David was more on the spot due to his rank and position. There is no way he can see his way up, above and around all this without the Lord's mercy, love, righteousness coming forward into these situations. Therefore the Lord's mercy is in itself a wonder, because it can miraculously lift us into a new vision that is otherwise impossible to obtain.

All this is cause at first for lot of confusion within the mire, something that David mentions will fall upon his enemies, as they will find shame and confusion and disgrace as inescapable for them because they are not seeking the Lord. Things that David is also subject to without the Lord's mercy, which he has sought in prayer unlike his enemies, but because of his appeals to the Lord, he gets away from these troubles, but those who are bothering him will get stuck and find themselves appalled to be in the very same ruinous situations or troubles they tried to bring to David. They should have left David alone. What they were trying to do to David will actually happen to them. Those who are on the Lord's side however and duly seek Him and trust Him, will be rewarded with gladness.

The final verse is 17, says" Yet I am poor and needy, may the Lord think of me, " You are my help and my deliver, O my God, do not delay."

Here David is honing in on, the core issue in that he knows that the Lord thinking about him is key. The Lord helps and delivers from the thoughts for David. The word delay in this final verse indicates that action is expected, action that could be delayed but David is asking that it be swift.

With all these prayers, we can be more specific than this psalm is as the psalm gives the headings of how to generally approach but the specifics might be different, we can ask about and speak to the Lord about specific wonders, specific thoughts, specific things he has done and might do and specific things that we hope he will do for us even though at times we also may refrain from specifics and look at the wonders which again come from specific thoughts and plans of the Lord in particular times and places of wonder.

David at least realizes his sorry state as he bares his soul and we can also without resorting into a mode of constant complaining, bring some situations like this to the Lord as we ask him to amend the difficulties that we are experiencing that are tracking into the mire. We are setting before the Lord what we want to have addressed and healed. David talks about what his troubles are doing to him and could have specified many troubles in detail that we wouldn't always now because we weren't there and we only have the writings in the Bible that do detail many but not every event that involved David.. He says he can recount numerous plans of the Lord in verse 5 and you know that many of those were quite specific to him in his own mind and memory.

He mentions that he is failing, and doesn't have the heart to go on from the troubles that at this moment he is standing upon. He is recognizing what is happening to him and what his present state is as he is being overwhelmed in his troubles and the force of these troubles have become of an overwhelming nature for him. In his appeal to the Lord he is desirous of or wanting to do His will, as mentioned in verse 9 and he is discussing with God not only what God might do for him, but he is also asking what God wants from him in realizing that the Lord's will, wishes or what he desires for him, is something that has the basis of trust for him and is the rock that he can set his feet on

The Lord's will, is something that derives from the thoughts and plans of the Lord, it is something that has movement as David asks the Lord to neither delay and also to move quickly with his help. He is asking for fast help. The will of the Lord is not a place of dour acceptance of what must be, but it involves wonders that will be personalized and experiencial, in the realm of really at times the miraculous and indeed deriving from personalized thoughts and plans to an individual from the Lord, and manifest in places of wonder.

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